Romans 3.21a-The Manifestation of the Righteousness of God Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday November 11, 2007
Romans: Romans 3:21a-The Manifestation of the Righteousness of God Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Lesson # 95
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 3:19.
On Thursday we began a study of the third major section in the book of Romans, which appears in Romans 3:21-5:21.
This section is divided into four parts: (1) Divine righteousness is imputed through faith in Christ (Romans 3:21-26). (2) Divine righteousness is available to both Jew and Gentile (Romans 3:27-31). (3) Justification by Faith: The Example of Abraham (Romans 4:1-23). (4) The Results of Faith (Romans 5:1-21).
On Thursday we studied an overview of the first part and studied that this passage teaches that justification is received as a gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
This morning we will begin a study of the first part that appears in Romans 3:21-26 by noting Romans 3:21a, in which Paul teaches that the righteousness of God as revealed by the Person and Work of Jesus Christ is manifested through the communication of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let’s read Romans 3:19-26 and then we will concentrate on verse 21.
Romans 3:19, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.”
Romans 3:20, “Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:21, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.”
Romans 3:22, “Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction.”
Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:24, “Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 3:25, “Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed.”
Romans 3:26, “For the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Corrected translation of Romans 3:21: “But now, independently of seeking to be justified by obedience to the Law, the righteousness originating from God is being manifested at the present time while simultaneously being attested to by the Law and the Prophets.”
Let’s look at Romans 3:21 in detail.
Romans 3:21, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.”
“But” is the “adversative” use of the conjunction de (deV) (deh), which introduces a contrast between attempting to be justified before God by obedience to the Law with attempting to be justified by receiving the imputation of God’s righteousness as a gift of His grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, de introduces the contrast between earning God’s righteousness through one’s own merit with receiving His righteousness through the non-meritorious system of perception, faith.
It contrasts the concepts of legalism and religion with God’s grace and faith and human performance with what God has accomplished through His Son at the Cross.
Theologically, religion is the antithesis to Biblical Christianity in that it is the ignorant, presumptuous, vain and arrogant attempt by man to gain the approbation of God by depending upon a legalistic, meritorious system of human works rather than the impeccable Person and Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Religion is sponsored by Satan and the kingdom of darkness and is his ace trump.
“Now” is the adverb of time nuni (nuniv) (noo-nee), which is employed with the intensive perfect of the verb phaneroo, “has been manifested” to emphasize a present state produced by a past action.
Therefore, the present state refers to the manifestation of the gospel that offers divine righteousness to anyone, whether Jew or Gentile, as a gift of God’s grace through imputation as a result of exercising faith in Jesus Christ as one’s Savior.
The past action that produced the present state of the propagation of the gospel was the voluntary, substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross of the impeccable humanity of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union.
His spiritual death redeemed mankind out of the slave market of sin, reconciled mankind to a holy God, satisfied a holy God’s demands that human sin be judged, destroyed the works of the devil and fulfilled the Law.
Matthew 27:46, “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?’ that is, ‘MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?’”
Our Lord’s substitutionary spiritual death on the cross defeated Satan in the angelic conflict by disproving Satan’s claims that God lacks integrity and does not love His creatures (see Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8).
1 John 3:8b, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”
Our Lord’s spiritual death reconciled both men and angels to God (See Colossians 1:19-20).
Colossians 1:19-22, “For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.”
The Cross of Christ dealt with man's sins, which have all been forgiven and have been “nailed to the cross” (Col. 2:13-14).
Colossians 2:13-14, “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
The Lord’s spiritual death redeemed, or purchased the entire human race out from the slave market of sin in which every human being is born physically alive but spiritually dead as a result of the imputation of Adam’s sin (1 Tim. 2:6; Mark 10:45; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 5:9).
Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”
Our Lord’s spiritual death propitiated or satisfied the righteous demands of a holy God that are sins be judged (Rom. 3:22-26; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10).
1 John 2:2, “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
His spiritual death reconciled the entire human race to God (2 Cor. 5:18-21; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 1:20-22; 1 Pet. 3:18).
Romans 5:10, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
Our Lord’s spiritual death redeemed mankind from the curse of the Law.
Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.’”
The Law brought a curse on mankind since they could not keep it perfectly.
The spiritual death of Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law (see Romans 8:3-4; 10:1-4).
Romans 3:21, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.”
“Apart” is the improper preposition choris (xwriv$) (kho-rece), which is employed with genitive case of the noun nomos, “Law” indicating that the righteousness of God has been manifested “independently of” or “without relation to” or “regard to” observance of the Law.
“The Law” is the noun nomos (novmo$) (nom-os), which does not refer to simply the Mosaic Law, i.e. the Pentateuch but rather the entire Old Testament Scriptures including the Pentateuch.
This was indicated in that in Romans 3:10-18, Paul quotes from “the Writings” and “the Prophets” and not the Mosaic Law or Pentateuch in order to illustrate that both Jew and Gentile are under the power of the old Adamic sin nature.
The noun nomos, “Law” contains a figure of speech called “metonymy” where the Law is put for seeking to be justified by obedience to the Law.
“Righteousness” is the noun dikaiosune (dikaiosuvnh), which refers to the “virtue” and “integrity” of God as manifested by the Person and Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
“Of God” is the genitive masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$), which is a genitive of source indicating that the righteousness referred to in Romans 3:21 “originates” from God and was “not” of human origin.
Romans 3:21, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.”
“Has been manifested” is the verb phaneroo (fanerovw) (fan-er-o-o), which means, “to manifest” and is used of the righteousness of God in the unique theanthropic Person of Jesus Christ being “manifested” through the communication of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In relation to the unbeliever, the gospel is God’s victorious proclamation of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.
The gospel proclaims that His spiritual death on the Cross redeemed mankind out of the slave market of sin, reconciled sinful mankind to a holy God, satisfied the demands of God’s holiness that required that human sin be judged, destroyed the works of the devil and fulfilled perfectly the Law, which mankind had violated and fulfilled the penalty required by the Law for human sin.
The Spirit also manifests the righteousness of God through the communication of the gospel by offering through the communicator Christ’s righteousness as a gift of God’s grace through imputation as a result of exercising faith in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, we can see that the righteousness of God as revealed in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross was manifested during our Lord’s First Advent with His death on the Cross for all mankind and through the communication of the gospel, which centers upon His unique Person, death and resurrection.
God’s righteousness is manifested through the communication of the gospel in the sense that the Holy Spirit convicts the unbeliever that his righteousness does not measure up to Christ’s and He offers Christ’s righteousness as a gift of God’s grace through imputation as a result of exercising faith in Jesus Christ.
When the gospel is being presented, the Holy Spirit, in common grace, convicts the unbeliever concerning the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
“Common grace” is grace that the entire human race receives when God the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel message, which is a spiritual language, understandable to the spiritually dead unbeliever in order that they can make a decision to believe in Christ or reject Him for salvation.
When the unbeliever hears the gospel message of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone, the Holy Spirit convicts them of three things, namely, the sin of not believing in Christ, the righteousness of Christ and the judgment of Satan.
John 16:7, “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
The “Helper” is a reference to God the Holy Spirit according to John 14:26.
John 16:8-11, “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment, concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”
The statement “concerning sin because they do not believe in Me” refers to the rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior.
The statement “concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me” refers to the righteousness of Christ who is the only sinless Person in all of creation that can approach the Father on His own merits.
The statement “concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged” is a reference to the fact that the Christ’s death on the Cross judged Satan.