God’s grace meets us in our sin and need, offering true freedom and acceptance through faith in Jesus, not our own efforts.
Some of us arrived today feeling like life has been a long hallway of closed doors. You knocked on the door of good intentions and it stayed shut. You jiggled the handle of self-improvement and it wouldn’t budge. You leaned your ear to the keyhole of religious busyness and heard only your own breathing. If that’s you, take heart. The God who loves you meets you at the door and places a key in your hand. He doesn’t ask you to pick the lock. He wants you to step into a room called grace.
Have you ever stood in the bathroom mirror and felt the ache of “not enough”? Not good enough, not moral enough, not consistent enough? The heart keeps score, doesn’t it? We tally our temper, our grudges, our secret sins, and we wonder if the scale will ever tip in our favor. Hidden in that ache is a truth we seldom want to admit: we need a word from outside ourselves, a verdict from a higher court, a love that doesn’t flinch. The Bible brings us that word with clarity and kindness. It tells us the truth about our guilt without crushing our hope, and it tells us the truth about God’s grace without shrinking His holiness.
Tim Keller put it this way: “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” —Tim Keller
Today we will sit with two passages that make the heart stand at attention: one takes us into the courtroom of God’s law, and one walks us into the classroom of Jesus’ words. Together they lead us from guilt to grace to glad freedom. We will hear how the law tells the truth about us, how Christ gives us His own righteousness as a gift, and how faith takes Jesus at His word and finds real freedom. Does your soul long for that freedom? Do you crave a clean conscience, a quieted heart, a life no longer managed by fear and performance? Friend, this is your day to listen for the shackles falling.
Let’s read the Scriptures.
Romans 3:19-28 (ESV) 19 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. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 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.
John 8:31-36 (ESV) 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Opening Prayer Father, thank You for speaking truth that our hearts need and grace that our hearts crave. By Your Spirit, quiet the noise within us and make Your word clear. Let the law do its honest work—stop our boasting and awaken our need. Let Your Son be beautiful in our eyes—our righteousness, our redemption, our peace. Plant faith in us that clings to Jesus’ word and walks in freedom. Open our ears, soften our hearts, and steady our steps. Through Christ, amen.
When Paul speaks of the law, he speaks about how it addresses us. It does not flatter. It does not spin. It talks to people who live under it and it brings silence to our lips. It names what we have done and what we have failed to do. It tells the truth straight, and it does this so that every person stands answerable to God.
This is hard on our pride. We are skilled at excuses. We compare ourselves to others. We point to good days and good deeds. The law cuts through that fog. It speaks to “those who are under the law,” which means it comes home to each heart. It closes the door on our bragging and our blame-shifting. It brings us to a stop before God.
Paul says, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Hear the weight of that line. The law is honest, and its honesty hurts. It measures our words. It weighs our loves. It pulls back the cover on motives we like to hide. It shows us sin with clarity. It works like a bright light in a dim room. Things we could ignore in the shadows show up with sharp edges when the light comes on.
This is not the law being cruel. This is the law doing good work. A wound cannot be cleaned if it stays hidden. A stain cannot be washed if we pretend it is not there. The law tells the truth so that we stop pretending. It brings us to the end of self-praise. It takes away our swagger. It makes room for real help.
The law speaks and we grow quiet. “Every mouth may be stopped,” Paul writes, “and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” That line brings everyone into the room. There are no safe corners. There are no VIP passes. The law does not bend for status or story. It gathers the world and sets us before the living God. We stand, and our words fail us.
We need that moment. We need to feel the weight of being known by God. We need to face our record with clear eyes. The law does this. It takes off our masks and sets them aside. It says, Tell the truth now. And then it shows us what truth looks like.
The law is clear about the limits of our effort. “By works of the law no human being will be justified.” That sentence is firm. It closes the path of self-salvation. Try harder cannot mend a broken record. Longer lists cannot erase debt. More rule-keeping cannot wash old guilt. The law brings us to real knowledge, and the first line of that knowledge is this: we cannot clear ourselves.
That kind of clarity is a mercy. It keeps us from chasing ladders that never reach the top. It keeps us from thinking we can buy peace with God. It keeps us from leaning on weak supports. The law refuses to be our ladder. It refuses to be our shelter. It stands as a witness. It points with a steady finger and says, Here is what is right. Here is where you have fallen short.
Paul then tells us that “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it.” The law does not create that righteousness in us. It talks about it. It points beyond us. It tells us what kind of goodness fits in God’s presence. It tells us how far we are from that goodness. It bears witness to a gift we do not have in ourselves.
This witness is not vague. The law and the prophets speak of a Redeemer. They speak of a covering for sin. They speak of a better priest and a better sacrifice. So when Paul says God put forward his Son “as a propitiation by his blood,” he is saying the law’s words were leading to this moment. The law exposes the need. The cross answers the need. The law’s voice prepares our ears to hear grace. Its honesty makes grace believable.
Jesus speaks to the same heart-level need. “If you abide in my word,” he says, “you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Truth and freedom go together in his mouth. Truth is not soft. It is not vague. It names the chain. “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” That sentence is plain. It lands with weight. It says our problem is not a few slips. Our problem is power. Sin works like a master.
When Jesus names slavery to sin, he is doing what the law does. He removes denial. He cuts off the easy outs. His word lays its hand on what rules us. It says, This is why you keep going back. This is why you cannot break free by willpower. This is why fear and shame keep you on a leash. That kind of truth can sting, yet it is the first fresh air our lungs have had in a long time.
The law and the word of Christ stand together here. The law says, You are accountable. Jesus says, You are not free. Both lines remove the mask. Both lines end our boasting. Paul even asks, “Then what becomes of our boasting?” and answers, “It is excluded.” When the mouth is stopped and the chain is named, there is nothing left to brag about. We are needy. We are known. We are not the hero.
And this is where freedom begins to take shape. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Freedom starts with truth. Freedom starts with light. Freedom starts with God’s word telling us what is wrong and who can make it right. The law does not break the chain. It shows the chain. The Son breaks it. The law does not clean the stain. It shows the stain. The Son washes it.
Accountability, knowledge of sin, the end of boasting, the truth about slavery to sin—these are not harsh side notes. They are grace at work at the start. They are God’s way of clearing the noise so we can hear his promise. They are God’s way of bringing us low so that we can be lifted by someone strong.
“Justified by his grace as a gift.” That is Paul’s next line. It makes sense only after the law has done its work. A gift has no home with pride. A gift makes no sense to a person who thinks they have paid for it. The law takes away the illusion of payment. It takes away the story of our own goodness. It takes away the fig leaves. It leaves us with empty hands. And empty hands are ready to receive.
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