Let God be True...
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What is your favorite Romans verse?
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
As we have worked through the first couple of chapters in Romans, we can see a theme begin to emerge:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
As we have worked through the first couple of chapters in Romans, we can see a theme begin to emerge:
All the world stands guilty and condemned before God. Mankind is in desperate need of some way to get right with Him.
Remember what we saw in
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
And our text starts the same way today. That verse you are so familiar with! ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ sounds hopeless. Left alone, I guess it would be.
v.24 we are justified by His grace as a gift! Here’s our BUT GOD moment!
Justify is a the verb that happens along with adjective righteous or the noun righteousness. Without the work of Christ justifying us, we could never be righteousness. Old explanation, oversimplification, just-as-if-I’d-never sinned. It is a legal term with the idea of ‘get the verdict’. Well, the verdict has been handed down, and if you believe on Jesus, you are the righteousness of God! The requirement has been fulfilled.
All this is true because of what we see in v.4: Let God be true even though every man is a liar. Then the quote.
True could mean directly on plumb. (The use of a plumb line and a plumb bob in Guatemala.) Not ‘half a bubble off’.
True could mean not false. Correct and without error. You remember the T F quizzes!
But in this use, true means faithful. Grease- true to your school. Now if Paul is using the word as loyal, to whom is God being true? Himself! He is straight up and down. He is correct and without error. He is trustworthy!
What we have read in Romans thus far points to the problem of mankind. The way Paul put that into words in this first section of Romans is related to disbelief. Mankind would rather believe anything else than believe God. That was the problem in the garden. When offered the promise of something else that would satisfy, they chose to stop believing God and took a bite.
But in today’s text we finally see the solution!
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
God’s grace, poured out on all mankind in the person of Jesus. He poured it on the Jews and the Gentiles. God is faithful regardless of the belief or unbelief of mankind. My unbelief or yours can never cancel out His faithfulness. Even though the Jews were trusted with the oracles of God and didnt trust Him, that did not, can not, nullify the trustworthiness of God.
And God’s faithfulness showed up in the fullness of time through Jesus. v.25 says God put Him forward as the propitiation by His blood. Propitiation- the gift that would remove God’s wrath. His innocent blood shed because of my and your sin.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
And that gift, according to v.25 is to be received by faith. By faith in the act of Jesus. By faith in the justness of God, to look at the sacrifice of Jesus and credit it to us.
And that gift, according to v.25 is to be received by faith. By faith in the act of Jesus. By faith in the justness of God, to look at the sacrifice of Jesus and credit it to us.
God is true. He is both just and justifier. The requirement of sin has been fulfilled.
Before time began, before He created any part of what we see, God was true. He was true even though He knew we would all rebel against Him. He held on to that faithfulness even to the point of sending His Son to take the payment for our sin. He holds true every time we ignore Him, every time we resist Him.
Will you let yourself see the kindness of God one more time? Will you let that draw you to repentance one more time? Will you make up your mind to never let an opportunity to share His kindness pass you by?
An invitation should be a time of conviction. Although we usually think of conviction as guilt, sometimes it is also convincing. Will you be convinced of His great faithfulness toward you and return it to Him?