“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.”
“But now…” Martin Lloyd-Jones is undoubtedly correct in asserting that there can be no words more wonderful or more glorious in the whole of Scripture than these two words. In saying this, he was no doubt thinking of the stunning contrast between the condition of Christians when they were outside of Christ and the condition now enjoyed because Christ has redeemed His people.
Throughout the apostolic writings, powerful statements are made describing what God has done for us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Consider the testimony of the Apostle Paul concerning the salvation Christ has provided.
“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” [ROMANS 3:20, 21].
“While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit” [ROMANS 7:5, 6].
“The law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” [GALATIANS 3:24, 25].
“Remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” [EPHESIANS 2:11-13].
Each of these passages speaks of what God has done for us in giving us His great salvation. The righteousness of God is revealed independently of the Law. Therefore, we are released from the Law. We are now sons of God, enjoying a divine inheritance, through faith. We have been brought near to the Master. Therefore, we no longer should even imagine that we must maintain a standard that we are incapable of keeping. It is enough that we have been saved through grace.
Other passages are equally forceful in attesting to God’s gracious provision for those who have faith in His Son, as writers of Scripture transition from considering our condition as outsiders to speaking of our situation in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” [ROMANS 6:21, 22].
“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more” [GALATIANS 4:8, 9]?
“At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” [EPHESIANS 5:8].
“At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens’” [HEBREWS 12:26].
“Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” [1 PETER 2:10].
“You were straying like sheep, [but now you have] returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” [1 PETER 2:25].
Now, we are set free from sin. Now, we know God. Now, we are light in the Lord. Now, we have received great and awesome promises. Now, we are God’s people, and we have received mercy. Now, we have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. Our situation is not even to be compared to what it once was.
Our standing before God and our relationship to Him is not dependent upon mere theories of salvation; but rather we are equipped to transfer what we have become to daily existence. This is the Apostle’s intent when he cautions against living as we once did, deliberately choosing instead to live in such a way that we honour our Saviour.
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth” [COLOSSIANS 3:5-8].
The Word of God repeatedly stresses the transition between what we are now and what we once were. Assuredly, we Christians now enjoy the riches of God’s mercy and grace. In order to more fully appreciate all that the Lord has done for us, I invite you to focus on the passage before us—a passage that could well be said to be the centre of the soteriological argument presented by the Apostle in this letter to the Romans.
WHAT WE WERE — It is painful for us who are saved to recall what we once were. It is assuredly unpleasant for outsiders to see themselves as God sees them. Nevertheless, there is little hope of seeking His salvation if we do not know the peril in which we exist. Likewise, for Christians, it is beneficial to recall what a great salvation we have received.
Preceding the text before us, the Apostle has written the following summary of the human condition. Multiplying statements from passages drawn from the Old Covenant, Paul attests, “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.’”
[ROMANS 3:10b-18]
The catena of statements teaches several necessary truths that we would perhaps rather forget. First, Paul teaches the ungodliness of sin. He begins by stating, “None is righteous,” and concludes by asserting, “there is no fear of God before their eyes.” Those who fear God shun sin; whereas those who have no reverence for God plunge recklessly into sin. God, and His glory, is not our supreme concern. Instead, our personal appetites almost always predominate, leading us to assert our own will over the will of God. There is no room for Him in our thoughts, and so we fill our minds with our own wishes. We do not love God with all our powers. Therefore, instead of God being seated on the throne of our life, we have enshrined our own will. And that is the essence of sin.
Additionally, by bringing to bear all these Old Testament verses, Paul is teaching the pervasive nature of sin. Sin affects every aspect of our lives. We cannot consistently serve God as we wish to do—with our mind, our voice, our emotions, our conscience, or our will. We are so focused on having our own way that we often stumble even as we confidently assert that we are serving God.
Indeed, Paul’s review of our condition is dark. Our throats are open graves, full of corruption and contamination. Our tongues practise deceit, instead of being dedicated to the truth. Our mouths are filled with curses and bitterness. Our feet are swift in pursuing violence. Thus, we scatter ruin and misery in our paths, instead of walking in the way of peace. Moreover, our eyes are looking in the wrong direction. We do not reverence God! Our lust prevails over His will.
Man was created to know God and to enjoy Him forever. Our bodies were created so that we could serve God. Instead, we employ our bodies to serve our own interests. Even when we want to serve God, our own desire overwhelms us and gets in the way. This is nothing less than a demonstration of the doctrine of total depravity.
Total depravity does not mean that we are as depraved as we can possibly be. Not all of us are drunkards, or murderers, or thieves. The doctrine of total depravity does not refer to the degree of our fallen nature; rather it speaks of the extent of our condition. We are trapped in a condition that is best described by acknowledging that every aspect of our being is twisted and tainted.
J. I. Packer has succinctly stated of our condition that “no one is as bad as he or she might be.” However, he is also cautious to note, “No action of ours is as good as it should be.”
At last, Paul teaches the universal nature of sin. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks God. There is no one who does good, not even one. Twice the Apostle insists that “all” have gone their own way. And four times, he testifies that “no one” is righteous, twice strengthening the argument by eliminating any possible exception through pointing out that there is “not even one.” To be righteous is to live in conformity to God’s law, and not even the best among us is capable of doing that.
The first statement Paul makes quotes Solomon, the Preacher. Solomon testified, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” [ECCLESIASTES 7:20]. That Solomon would make such an assertion should be no surprise, since in his great prayer at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, he acknowledged, “there is no one who does not sin” [1 KINGS 8:46].
Paul then hastens to quote from the Psalmist, as he will several more times in order to stress the truth demonstrating our condition fallen condition. In particular, he cites the testimony provided in the 14th PSALM, or in the 53rd PSALM. The Psalmist wrote:
“The fool says in his heart,
‘There is no God.’
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
there is none who does good.
“The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
“They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.”
[PSALM 14:1-3]
The first three verses of the 53rd PSALM read substantially the same as the 14th PSALM. Understand that the “fool” does not actually say, “There is no God.” In the Hebrew, the words “there is” do not occur. The “fool” says, “No God!” It is a definite, deliberate rejection of God’s reign over the fool’s life.
Then, the Apostle cites from two further Psalms as he reviews mankind’s speech.
“There is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.”
[PSALM 5:9]
“They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s,
and under their lips is the venom of asps.”
[PSALM 140:3]
The citation provided is akin to that of PSALM 10:7, which is cited in ROMANS 3:14.
“His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.”
In order to find the source for Paul’s statements in verses 15 and 16, I turn to the Proverbs and to the Prophecy of Isaiah. Two texts in particular are cited.
“Their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed blood.”
[PROVERBS 1:16]
“Their feet run to evil,
and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
desolation and destruction are in their highways.
The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths.”
[ISAIAH 59:7, 8]
At last, in what must be the most damning statement brought to bear on the human condition, Paul quotes again from the Psalms.
“There is no fear of God
before his eyes.”
[PSALM 36:1]
Perhaps the hardest message for anyone to deliver in this day is the message that we are sinners. The reason that the message is hard to deliver is that it is hard for people to receive. Outsiders do not want to hear the message because they want to imagine that they will be acceptable to God on their own merits. Saints do not want to receive the message because they want God to recognise their value to His cause.
“Yes,” we say, “I know that I am a sinner. But I’m not as bad as other people.” What we attempt to do is to create our own standard of righteousness; and according to that standard which we have adopted as our own, we are never as bad as another. Tragically, Christians are often guilty of this same approach to our own sinful condition.
Why detail our fallen condition? What is gained through such a dark review? There are some, perhaps even some sharing this service, who are offended by such frank language as the Apostle uses. They have become used to the darkness and they are spiritually somnolent. They have grown complacent in their sinful condition. For such people, speaking of our fallen nature is offensive and they do not wish to be exposed.
Others are perhaps fearful that they may suffer embarrassment before friends or family members because this doctrine is taught. They are extremely sensitive on behalf of those whom they suppose may be hurt through forthright speech such as the Word of God mandates. They take offence for the sake—they suppose—of others, when in fact it is their own disobedience that embarrasses and discomforts them. Such timid individuals seldom speak of the condition of the lost or urge the lost to believe the message of life, choosing instead possibly to drop a few hints here and there, hoping that everything will turn out well despite their disobedience.
There is always the possibility that some may not wish to hear such honest speech because they are indolent and do not wish to have their intellect challenged. Such individuals have grown lethargic in their Christian life and do not wish to be disturbed through being challenged to think or to make their Christian experience practical. They intend to coast through life, never fulfilling the anticipation that comes with salvation.
However, I am persuaded of better things of you. Consequently, I am impelled by my confidence in you, by the love of God in Christ and by the teaching of the Word to inform fully you of these truths. In the first place, by speaking pointedly of our condition outside of Christ, Paul reminds us of the greatness of God’s mercy toward us.
This serves two great ends for us as Christians. First, it glorifies our God through demonstrating an essential defining characteristic. Second, it reminds us that we are responsible to be merciful because we have received such great mercy. Additionally, speaking of God’s great mercy draws the outsider to consider the promise of life in the Son as they hear of His great kindness and the forgiveness of sin.
Again, through exposing our sinful, fallen condition, the Apostle is emphasising the magnitude of God’s grace. We have offended the True and Living God. God is perfectly holy, and sin cannot be permitted into His presence. Therefore, when we demonstrate the grace that has found a way for us to be saved, we exalt and glorify the Lord our God. God is gracious, and His grace cannot be exhausted because of our sin. The vilest sinner can be saved—forgiven of all sin and accepted into the Family of God.
There is yet a third great reason to speak of our condition outside of Christ. That is to warn the sinner of the peril in which they stand. For though we glorify and honour God because of His mercy and grace, we also know that He is holy and righteous. God’s holiness demands that we must see our sinful condition, understanding that our sinfulness required the death of the Son of God because of our condition. There was no other possibility for us to be brought near to God.
WHAT WE ARE — To this point, the message has been admittedly dark, disturbing, and undoubtedly disagreeable to some people. However, the Apostle now turns his focus to what we are in Christ Jesus the Lord. As I said in my introductory remarks, the transitional phrase is “but now.” In other words, Paul now moves away from the condemnation under which we previously laboured, to the righteousness of God that is now conferred upon each one who receives the sacrifice of Christ Jesus the Lord.
Whereas previously we were unrighteous and without any hope of being righteous, now we are righteous. This righteousness is not because of anything we have done, however. The righteousness we have is from God. God Himself has declared us righteous, and His declaration is because of faith in Jesus Christ. This righteousness is the possession of every believer in Jesus Christ as Lord.
Receiving Jesus as Lord is explained to mean that we accept the Cross of Christ and all that He accomplished there. Paul iterates that we were indeed sinners by stating, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” However, knowing that we are sinners, we have now believed that Jesus presented Himself as our sacrifice. Therefore, God justifies us “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” [verse 24]. God put Jesus forward “as a propitiation by His blood to be received by faith…” [verse 25], “so that He might be just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” [verse 26].
There are three key words for understanding our present situation in Christ Jesus. The words are “redemption,” “propitiation,” and “show.” “Redemption” is a commercial term borrowed from transactions conducted in the market each day. Paul uses the word as an analogy. Unfortunately, many people distort this particular analogy by trying to make it say something it was never intended to communicate.
For instance, Paul portrays Christ’s sacrifice as a “ransom”—a price paid to secure the release of captives. Confronted with this imagery, people have naturally asked, “To whom did God pay the ransom?” The answer given by many theologians, especially in the patristic period, was God paid the ransom to Satan. The church fathers argued that because of sin, the devil had the right to keep people in bondage to himself. Human beings sinned, and the devil therefore had control of them. In order to secure their release, God had to pay the devil a ransom, the death of Christ. So popular was this interpretation that some call it the “classic” view of the atonement.
However, the Bible nowhere teaches, nor even intimates, any ransom paid to the devil! The idea of redemption in the New Testament is meant to convey the thought that we are delivered from slavery to sin into the freedom of Christ Jesus. In order to affect this transfer, it was necessary for the Lord Jesus to pay a price for our freedom. However, there was no purchase of our soul from neither Satan, nor even a payment to God. Rather, Christ gave Himself to free us from sin.
The second key word is “propitiation.” To “propitiate” somebody means to placate his or her anger. Some Christians are embarrassed by this word; they believe the need to assuage divine wrath ascribes an unworthy motive to God. However, in this letter, Paul invested considerable time speaking of God’s wrath toward sin. Paul writes, “the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” [ROMANS 1:18]. He also writes, “because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgement will be revealed” [ROMANS 2:5]. The Apostle also warned of God’s wrath in ROMANS 3:5.
So, despite any supposed embarrassment, God’s wrath is real; therefore, that wrath must be averted if we are to enjoy the salvation we so desperately need. We require propitiation precisely because God’s wrath rests upon evil. As John Stott says, “there is nothing unprincipled, unpredictable or uncontrolled about God’s anger; it is aroused by evil alone.”
Moreover, we do not make propitiation—God does! God put forward His Son as a propitiation by His blood. In giving His Son, God revealed His grace. John writes, “God … loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” [1 JOHN 4:10]. The love, the concept, the purpose, the initiative, the action and the gift are all God’s!
There can be no Gospel unless there is such as thing as a righteousness of God available to the ungodly. Likewise, there can be no Gospel unless the integrity of God’s character is maintained. The problem for all religions is how to unite these two disparate concepts. The Christian answer is given by Paul, “Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood.”
C. S. Lewis imaginatively explored the idea of atoning sacrifice in his well-known children’s novel, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Many of us have doubtless read that allegory, or we perhaps watched the movie in recent years. You will recall that in the story, because of his selfishness and greed, Edmund falls into the hands of a wicked witch. Aslan, the God character, cannot rescue him until Edmund acknowledges the “magic”—the law of nature that gave the witch power over him. However, there is a “deeper magic from the dawn of time” that enables one who dies willingly for someone else to take on that person’s punishment and let him or her go free. Therefore, Aslan allows the wicked witch to execute him in order that Edmund may be freed.
I noted that the third important word in our text is the word “show.” The word in the Greek language [endeixis] speaks of public proof of a position. According to Paul, the cross of Christ was proof of God’s justice. Before the Crucifixion, God’s forbearance postponed judgement. God was not unjust because He had previously “passed over” the sin of mankind, but rather in mercy, He waited until all was in readiness. Then, at the cross of Christ, sin was punished. The fact that God overlooked sin for generations was not a demonstration of injustice on His part. No more was it condoning evil. It was always His fixed intention to punish these sins—indeed, to punish all sin—in the fullness of time with the sacrifice of His Son. Therefore, Paul attests that God is “just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
As our conversion recedes further and further into the past, we Christians often have a hard time remembering just how joyous is the “but now” transition I have been talking about. The good news becomes passé, and we gradually lose the sense of wonder and awe we first had when we understood that God had adopted us into His family. Though we might postulate many reasons why this happens, Paul touches on two reasons in these verses—we fail to remember who we are, and we fail to remember who God is.
Who are we? In ourselves, apart from Christ, we are helpless slaves of sin, held captive by a power that we can never overcome. Paul says it well. We “were dead in the trespasses and sins in which [we] once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” At that time, we carried “out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” [EPHESIANS 2:1-3].
Who is God? Among so many other things, God is holy and just. Because He is holy, He cannot tolerate sin. Sin simply cannot exist in His presence. It is foreign to the essence of His being. God can no more exist in an atmosphere of sin than I can exist in a vacuum. Because He is just, He must punish sin. God can do anything, we sometimes think; but he cannot act in a way that violates his own nature; He would “unmake” Himself if He tried. Here, then, is the dilemma God Himself faces. His love reaches out to us, sinful rebels that we are; but His holiness and justice prevent Him from simply sweeping sin under the carpet. It must be punished. This He has done through presenting His Son as a propitiation for our sin. The forgiveness of sin, the offer of life in His Son, the redemption of our soul, is offered freely to each of us who receive Christ the Lord.
The Christian is justified by God because of the sacrifice of Christ the Lord. The Christian is freed from condemnation and made alive in God the Father. This is what we are in Jesus. And this is what you may be, if you will only believe the message of life. There is no boasting in our salvation. God offers life, the forgiveness of sin, salvation from condemnation and into freedom, for all who believe the message of life.
The Word of God declares, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” That word continues by testifying, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [ROMANS 10:9, 10, 13].
And that is our invitation to each one hearing this message. Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. Receive Him as the full and perfect sacrifice offered in your place. Do it now. Be a Christian and receive the life that God offers. Amen.
