THE IMPLICATIONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH

[Introduction] I remember when I was a young man in high school. I was never good at sports. And because of a bit of pressure from my parents and friends, I signed up to be part of the basketball team. I was a lousy player. I was a substitute player 95% of the time. And when my team won some games, I used to boast about it. Don’t get me wrong.

From the perspective of being part of the team, yes, I was entitled to say “we won,” but in reality, I did not contribute to those victories.

When it comes to salvation, we see in Scripture that we don’t contribute to salvation. There is nothing we can do to gain the favor of God. All of it is given by grace through faith.

[Summary of the previous sermon]

Verses (21-26) as the heart of the epistle.

From 1:18- 3:20, Paul has argued that all people deserve God’s wrath and judgment. Not even the Jews are an exception since they have failed to keep the Mosaic Law.

Also, Paul previously explained that the Law itself does not and cannot save. What the Law does is reveal the sins or transgressions of both Jews and gentiles.

The only way to be saved from condemnation is to be righteous.

But we cannot be righteous because we cannot obey the Law.

Paul tells us in Romans 3:21-26 that the saving righteousness of God is not available through the Law (cannot obey it) but has been revealed in Jesus Christ and his atoning death on the cross.

From verses 27 to 31 Paul tells us what are...

[Implication 1] It shuts the door on boasting

Romans 3:27–28 (CSB)

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith. For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

What is boasting? It’s an excessively proud and self-satisfied talk about one’s achievements, possessions, or abilities.

Paul is saying here that when it comes to salvation from condemnation, if we are saved, it is because of Christ who gave us saving faith and not because we have done things that made us deserve such salvation.

Remember, in order for us to be saved from condemnation, in order for us to have a relationship with God, in order for us to go to heaven and have eternal life; we need to be righteous. But the problem is that none of us can be righteous because, in fact, we are sinners.

So, when we are saved, it is not because of us; it is because of Him. This is the reason why Paul says that there is no room for boasting.

Boasting is ruled out because righteousness is obtained by faith in Jesus Christ, not by the works of Law (circumcision, following the sacrificial system as taught in the OT, as well as the moral Law- don’t kill, don’t lie, don’t commit adultery, etc.)

Paul is saying that boasting would be fitting if righteousness were based on what we do. But since this is not the case, we don’t have any grounds to boast about our salvation. We cannot obey the Law of God. It is impossible!

This is the reason why Jesus Christ the Messiah came. He came to obey the Law perfectly, and He also came to pay the penalty for our sins when He went to the cross. He was the perfect substitute for us. He did everything for us!

This gospel teaches that when we genuinely repent of our sins and believe in Him, we are saved from condemnation. His perfect obedience, His perfect righteousness, was imputed to us. When that happens, we are declared “righteous,” righteousness that doesn’t belong to us but belongs to Him.

So, there is no room for us to boast.

When it comes to faith, we may fall into the temptation to place our confidence in our moral attainments and not in Christ's salvific work. (like people from other religions) In a way, we tend to believe that we are saved because we are good people. And to do that, we blind ourselves to our sins and selfishness; so that we are able to elevate our moral achievements.

When we do not grow in our faith and godly humility, we may feel that we are saved because we are good husbands/wives, good parents, good providers, go to church, give to the church. In a way, we boast for what we do, and we fail to boast in Christ alone.

Forgetting.. that the reason we are saved and that there is fruit in our lives is because of Christ and not because of us.

When we are saved, it is because the righteousness of God has been imputed to us. We have been declared righteous. This is what we call “Justification by faith alone.”

This doctrine cannot be and should not be another doctrine that you are supposed to know at the intellectual level only. This doctrine should warm our hearts because we have been accepted, forgiven by God through Christ. He paid for all our flaws and sins. What a wonder!

This doctrine should give us joy. This doctrine should make our hearts sing. Because by knowing that we are justified by faith, we know that we are free, we have this confidence to come to our Heavenly Father and tell Him our pains and be comforted in Christ.

When we are criticized, or receive bad news, or are in any type of trouble. All of that can be handled because bad news and hopeless failure and situations no longer threaten your confidence, your future, your safety, your destiny. (Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ)

As Timothy Keller says, “Now, the more you see your faults and failures, the more amazing and precious God’s love appears, and the more loved by him you feel. This is a critical test!”

Do you know why? Because Jesus was your sin-bearing substitute. Your worthiness and acceptability do not hang on your performance but on His performance. This knowledge gives you freedom and makes you feel closer to Him.

[Implication 2] It establishes God as the God of both Jew and Gentile

Romans 3:29–30 CSB

Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

Paul says this because the Jews are criticized for believing that their special relationship with God makes them superior to the gentiles. Paul replies that since God is one, both Jews and Gentiles must be justified in the same way, by faith.

[Subpoint 1- He is also the God of the gentiles]

Paul affirms that the oneness of God indicates that there is one way of salvation so that both Jews and gentiles are justified by faith. The God of the Jews is also the God of the whole world, including the gentiles.

Deuteronomy 6:4 CSB

“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Zechariah 14:9 CSB

On that day the Lord will become King over the whole earth—the Lord alone, and his name alone.

It says here that on the day of the Lord, the one Lord and King will reign over all the earth. In the day of eschatological fulfillment, the one God will save both Jews and gentiles since He will be the covenant Lord of both.

Romans 10:9–10 CSB

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:9–10 CSB

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

Paul affirms that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ.

[Subpoint 2- God justifies Jews and Gentiles by faith]

30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

Verse 30 is significant because Paul emphasizes that faith rather than circumcision is decisive for entrance into the people of God.

We said that the first implication of righteousness through faith is that “it shuts the door on boasting”

The second implication is that it establishes God as the God of both Jews and Gentiles.

And the third implication is that...

[Implication 3] It confirms the role of the Law

Romans 3:31 CSB

Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Paul said in the first implication that to be saved from condemnation, we need to have faith in Christ. We don’t need to obey the Law to be saved because we cannot obey the Law.

Does it mean that we do not need the Law anymore?

Does it mean that justification through faith nullifies the Law?

Does it mean that we need to abolish the Law?

Paul says, “Of course not.” Rather, faith establishes or confirms the Law.

Why does Paul say that faith establishes or confirms the Law?

Thomas R Schreiner Romans p.216 says that faith establishes or confirms the Law because “The moral norms of the Law are part of the Law of Christ.

In his commentary on Romans, Douglas Moo asked the question, Does our faith in Christ provide for the full satisfaction of the demands of the Law?

Romans 8:4 CSB

in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

“The brevity of Paul’s assertion and the lack of any immediate explanation make a decision difficult. But the stress on faith as establishing the Law suggests that it is Law as fulfilled in and through our faith in Christ that Paul thinks of here. In Rom. 8:4, Paul will argue that those who are in Christ and “who walk according to the Spirit” have the Law fulfilled “in them,” in the sense that their relationship to Christ by faith fully meets the demands of God’s Law. While we cannot be certain, it is likely that Paul means essentially the same thing here: that Christian faith, far from shunting aside the demands of the Law, provides (and for the first time!) the complete fulfillment of God’s demand in his law” (p. 255)

31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the Law.

Why was that? Because when Christ went to the cross, He not only took his people’s sin upon himself; but he also imputed his law-keeping—his righteousness—to them. When we put our faith in Christ, our sinfulness is given to him; he has died for it. And Christ gives us his perfect obedience to God’s Law, and we live through it.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

[Application]

If we are in Christ and walk in the Spirit, we are equipped to obey the moral Law of God. It will never be perfect, but it is the standard of how we should live. (that’s why the Law is important).

When we obey parts of the moral Law of God, we rejoice because He equipped us through the Holy Spirit to live like that.

When we fail to obey the moral Law of God, we come to Him humbly recognizing that we can be forgiven in Him and that He paid the penalty for my sins that I deserve. In both cases, we are humble, and we rejoice.

So, the Law cannot be nullified. The moral Law of God is central in the life of the believer.

[Conclusion]

If you are obeying the Law to be saved, I think you are deceiving yourself because none of us can obey it.

When you think you are obeying the Law, you are probably changing the Law to make it easier to meet its requirements. You want your commands to be limited and achievable. You don’t want: “Love your neighbor as yourself;” you want: Don’t drink alcohol or: Go to church.

Whether you are a Christian or not, It is my prayer that the Lord allows you to see your own heart, to see your sin, and to recognize that you need Christ, not religion. Stop placing your confidence in your morality (law of works) stop running away from the living God!

The Law is a perfect reminder that Christ obeyed it perfectly, and you cannot.

He obeyed it for you so that you can be free. That is liberating and it’s a perfect reason to celebrate and to worship Him and to give Him thanks!

My calling to you today is to get closer to Him. Have this organic relationship with Him!