Jesus as Savior

Romans 3 ESV

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 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. 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. 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. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

INTRO TO SERIES: We will be using a lot of the same passages and letters, because all these concepts are so intertwined

Romans 3

Introduction - Why did Jesus have to die?

Probably one of the most common questions about the message of Christianity, “Why is this all necessary?”

Paul addresses these questions in the book of Romans (and elsewhere)

Our universal debt ()

We ignored and forgot about God (1:16-32)

God will judge everyone (2:1-11)

Even if we were ignorant about God, we are guilty, and even more so if we knew better (2:12-29)

Have you ever done something that you knew was wrong? Or something you later found out was wrong? Or suspect that you’ve done something wrong in the past that you don’t even realize?

As a result, absolutely everyone stands guilty before God (3:1-20)

Jesus given as the solution to the problem ()

The problem - “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23)

What God did - redeemed us through Jesus, who was put forward as a propitiation

Propitiation - “The removal of wrath by the offering of a gift.”

(Morris, L. (1979–1988). Propitiate; Propitiation. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 3, p. 1004). Wm. B. Eerdmans.)

That universal debt must be dealt with, which incurs the wrath/punishment to make right what was wrong; Jesus satisfies that wrath and takes that punishment

Why he had to do it -

(Morris, L. (1979–1988). Propitiate; Propitiation. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 3, p. 1004). Wm. B. Eerdmans.)

“he passed over former sins” - didn’t drop the hammer every time, but was patient, with an end in sight

“So that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus”

Just - that the universal debt might be satisfied, show himself to be just and righteous by dealing with the wrongdoing

Justifier - God is the one who himself does the justifying

So God takes care of the problem we caused (showing himself just) by taking the punishment on Jesus/himself (therefore being the one who also justifies)

Abraham wasn’t earning it, he was relying on God () —> We receive it by faith

Reflections on the Gospel, Jesus as Savior ()

Consequence of this all - “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:1)

God’s love poured out on us -

Jesus died for the ungodly, the sinners, us, me, you

The weak and ungodly - the one who has incurred the universal debt - is you!

People don’t even die for other good people, but Jesus died for you, knowing what you were! (5:8)

We are saved by Jesus’ death from the wrath of God

More than that - “through [Jesus Christ] we have now received reconciliation” (5:11)

Universal debt

God as just

God as justifier

Morris, L. (1979–1988). Propitiate; Propitiation. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 3, p. 1004). Wm. B. Eerdmans.

The removal of wrath by the offering of a gift.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised Propitiate; Propitiation

The removal of wrath by the offering of a gift

Morris, L. (1979–1988). Propitiate; Propitiation. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 3, p. 1004). Wm. B. Eerdmans.

The removal of wrath by the offering of a gift.

Morris, L. (1979–1988). Propitiate; Propitiation. In G. W. Bromiley (Ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Vol. 3, p. 1004). Wm. B. Eerdmans.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Savior

Savior (σωτήρ, sōtēr) is also the meaning of the name Jesus (Hebrew יְשׁוּעַ, yeshua', “Yahweh saves”).