While turning to Romans Chapter 3, I’d like to ask you a couple of general questions. Most of us would agree that we are saved by grace. Should we then do good? Of course we should! We should then do good, after we are saved by grace. But let me ask you this: what does doing good do for you? One thing we know is that we receive our full reward at the judgment, and do not loose part of our reward. We have wisdom for living. Don’t things simply go better in our lives when we make decisions that are in line with God’s word? As we do good, we are a witness to the world for Christ. When churches are mobilized to serve their communities and make a difference in the world, the world has to step back and take notice. When individuals act in an upright way as disciples of Christ it is a witness to Him. Doing good is training for holiness, and leads to our sanctification. We also have a clear conscience before God.
I could go on further, and you probably could too. There are many positive reasons for being obedient and doing good. But there is one thing that is not on the list. That is justification, or right standing in the sight of God. We are not acceptable before God on the basis of what we do or don’t do. Keep your place in Romans, but turn to Hebrews 6:1. “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,” (NASB) This is a foundational teaching. This is the heart of the Gospel and the foundation of the Christian faith. If we step away from this foundation we start to step away from the foundation of our Christian faith. The first thing that is said in this foundation is “let us leave dead works”. What he is talking about is a system of justification by what we do or don’t do to get in good in God’s sight. This is one of the first things in the Christian faith that we need to do. There is one way to get in good in God’s sight, and the avenue of that is faith. So as we turn from that system of doing or not doing, we enter into a system of faith. Put negatively, away from a system of works or merit, and positively stated to a system of faith, by which we are acceptable to God.
We are justified by faith today. You see, it wasn’t a one time thing where God said ‘You are OK now because of faith, but now the system is going to change. Now you have to do these certain things to be accepted in my sight.’ But our justification today and on an ongoing basis is through faith in Jesus. Then we are called to live out our lives in the obedience of faith. We live out the new person that God has made us by giving us a new Spirit. We are freed from the curse and given an eternal life through His faithfulness.
Let me tell you this, if it was up to our faithfulness, we wouldn’t make it. All through the Bible man has messed up every Covenant that he’s been involved with. If the covenant relation of salvation was based on our faithfulness it would all be over and we wouldn’t make it. But thank God that our salvation is not based on our faithfulness, but on His faithfulness. Halleluiah!
This is a simple message. I’d like to stop here. We are justified by faith in God and then we do good. But it gets more complicated because, being a foundation, if we get this wrong we are building on a bad foundation. So much rests on and comes from this foundation. Everyone knows how important it is to have a right foundation on a building. If you build on a bad one, you can’t have a good building. Now sometimes we get this truth backwards. We might believe that, now that we are saved, we have to do or don’t do certain things to keep saved. I’m going to try to keep this simple, forgive me if I make this complicated.
Let’s look at the book of Romans. In chapter 1, Paul writes about the sexual immorality of the Gentiles. He gets us all riled up and angry about it. Nobody likes sexual immorality. He gets under our skin with the issue and gets us good and mad about them. He says in Romans chapter 2, ‘By the way, you are in the same boat as they are.’
He pulls a little Nathan and David trick. Remember how Nathan told the story of the wealthy man that stole the lamb from the poor man? He gets David good and mad about the situation and he’s ready to carry out judgment. Then Nathan says ‘By the way, oh King, you are that man.’ Then the king is pierced to the heart, for the Lord is no respecter of persons. He says this not to excuse the gentiles, but to accuse the Jews that they are sinners too.
Then Paul brings it to a crescendo in Chapter 3. “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, ‘THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;’” (Romans 3:9-10). “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; 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 3:19-20)
Does this mean that the Law is bad? No! Paul gets into this later. But for now let me just say that the Law is good and holy. It is to be lifted up and to be respected. This is where it can get a little complicated, though. “Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”
However, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,” (Romans 3:21) Let’s talk about this, “being witnessed by the Prophets”. The Prophets had two messages. The first one was ‘You all are no good. There’s sin in your heart. You need to repent.’ The second message was ‘Have hope! The Messiah is coming!’ To simplify things somewhat, if you boil it all down, these were the messages of the Prophets.
The Law witnessed to Jesus as well. The witness was this: the Law gave instruction on how to life one’s life. It said what one should and shouldn’t do. The Law gave witness to Christ because nobody on earth has been able to live up to it- except for Jesus. Halleluiah! I for one am glad that He did! This is how the Law witnesses to Jesus- nobody but Him has been able to live up to it.
So this is how the Law and the Prophets witness to Jesus. The Prophets because we have sin in our hearts but have hope in the Messiah. The Law because it defines how we should live and testifies that nobody can do it.
Romans 3:22 says “even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;”. God defines righteousness. We like to define it ourselves so we can lower the bar and be righteous in ourselves. But God defines righteousness in Jesus Christ. He lived a totally righteous life. Now this is disturbing news if you understand the Law in that you are unable to be righteous by doing it. But it is good news because we can have the righteousness of Jesus. But there is only one way, and that is through faith, if you believe in Him.
This begs the question, ‘Is Jesus your righteousness?” Because if you are depending on anything else for your righteousness, then Jesus is not your righteousness. If you are trusting in what you do or don’t do, then you are not depending on Him. That would mean that we are our rightousness. Is Jesus just your example of righteousness, or is He your righteousness? Yes, Jesus is our pattern for righteousness and we are to follow His example in how we live our life. But we simply cannot do it to the extent that the Law requires. He is not just our pattern of righteousness, He is our righteousness.
So we follow Him. And what does it do for you? We are sanctified. We grow more and more into His image. We follow His teaching, we are led by the Holy Spirit, we grow in the Word of God, we have support through our church community. But this is different from justification, being justified in God’s sight. 1 Corinthians 1:30 says “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,” Therefore He is our righteousness, in addition to being our example of righteousness. To state it negatively, turn to Romans 10:1-4. “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” And turn to Romans 11:6. See that this is an ongoing state- this is how we continue to be righteous in God’s sight. Grace is not one little initial spasm and then some other economy takes over. We are righteous in God’s sight today because of His grace and the righteousness of Christ. “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” How is it that I’m justified in God’s sight today? In God’s grace, through faith.
Turn back to Romans 3. Remember this is a foundational teaching. If we are off on our foundation, as we build on it we are off farther as we go. See Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”. That is talking about today. We all fall short, present tense, of God’s glory. I have fallen short of God’s glory today. I haven’t perfectly fulfilled the law. Remember that it is not just doing nothing wrong, it is doing everything right. We fall short of God’s glory. But did Jesus ever fall short of God’s glory? He never did, not one second of His life. This is the definition of righteousness.
Romans 3:24 states that we are “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;” Note that the being justified, in the original language is a passive term. In other words, it is not a doing on our part but a state of being. We are being justified by God. Now if we think that we can act totally righteously after we’ve been saved, then we think that we don’t need this any more. If I can act righteously, then why would I need Christ’s perfect righteousness? It’s very tricky. We may think that with his help we can keep righteousness. And it’s true that we have power through the Holy Spirit to overcome habitual sin in our lives. But there remains the taint of sin in our hearts.
When I first heard this message about 10 years ago I was enraged! I thought, “How could God justify sinners?” And then the realization gradually came, “Gee, I’m one of those sinners too.” I was mad! How could God justify those sinners? That night I went home and I couldn’t sleep. But then I saw that it was me that God was justifying. Sometimes we think that it’s easier now that we’re saved, we just have to love our neighbor. Now wait a minute, hold on! Who of us has done that perfectly today? I got up and got myself in very nice clothes. We had a very nice breakfast. I didn’t make sure that my neighbor has nice clothes and a nice breakfast. I took a shower with some nice smelling soap. I didn’t make sure that my neighbor had nice smelling soap. While I was driving down here I saw not one but two guys who walked with a bad limp. I new exactly what was wrong with one of them because of my training as a physical therapist. I didn’t stop to help him and tell him what he needed to do. I’m sure that if that was my leg I’d be doing the right exercises and walking better. I didn’t help him. Now how did you all do this morning? I didn’t do too well. So we see that it has not become easier to obey the law, but that it has been honed to the fine edge of a sword and thrust into our heart, so to say “You cannot do it! There is sin in your heart! You are too selfish!” And when we look at it this way, don’t we need the righteousness of Christ every second of every day? Lord help us!
Look back now to Romans 3:24. We are justified as a gift. Can you imagine God justifying sinners like us as a gift? Wow! Do you see how we build on a right foundation what praise we have to offer God! We haven’t earned it and don’t deserve it, but God justifies me today as a gift! Have I treated my neighbor good enough to deserve that? Remember it’s not something that happens once when we’re saved, it’s an ongoing state. By grace, through faith, as a gift. Thank you Lord!
Look at Romans verse 25-6. “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; 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.” Propitiation- making right, good, and pleasing. It is through His blood that we are pleasing to God. The righteousness of Jesus was displayed publicly through the resurrection. Flip back to Romans 1:4. “Who (Jesus) was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”. If a man dies in his fallen state he is dead and in the grave. This is because he is guilty. When Jesus died he was resurrected with power by the spirit of holiness. Why? Because he was innocent. He was guilty of nothing! He was perfectly righteous, and that’s why he was raised. This was to demonstrate that he was righteous and had no sin.
Look again at verse 26b. “So that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Now God is just. He hates sin, period. Sin deserves death, period. This is always the truth. Because we are saved, God doesn’t wink at sin. Justice must be done. See, when I was mad at ‘all those sinners’, I didn’t get this. I said to myself ‘justice must be done!” But then I realized that I was one of those sinners, too. Remember, it doesn’t get easier. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The price of sin must be paid, and that’s all there is to it. Well, not quite! Because, Jesus is our justifier. He paid the price in full of those sins committed before. The animal sacrifices were a temporary covering. Jesus paid the sins up to His time, and all the sins from His death until He comes again.
He is our justifier. Sometimes we like to think that we are our own justifier. We’d like to think that now that we’re saved, we can behave well enough that we are justified before God because of our actions. How? By keeping the Law that we break every day? No, it is only in Him that we are found justified before God. “Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight”.
It’s called “imputed righteousness”. How can I be righteous? God gives me the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. So in God’s sight, I am as righteous as God Himself! Halleluiah! Because I have faith in His son. And on the issue of right standing before God, when I am on trial at the judgment, Jesus will declare me innocent as God Himself. When I say words like “innocent, guilty, verdict, defendant”, what comes to mind? Some kind of court situation. In the Greek language, “righteous” fits in with all of these words. To be righteous is to be declared innocent. It is a declaration: we are declared righteous. The sentence has been passed. The fine has been paid in full by Christ. How? Through faith.
So this tension comes in to play. There’s still a remnant of sin in us. God gives us a new Spirit, God gives us his Word. But let’s be real- isn’t there still a remnant of sin? Turn to Galatians 2:17-21.
But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
If we can be good on our own then Jesus didn’t need to die. And if I think I’m righteous by my actions, then I’m saying that Jesus didn’t need to die.
When Paul says “If I rebuild what I have once destroyed”, he is talking about the system of the Law. The question he raises is this: what if I find out that, under this system of grace, I find out that there remains in me a remnant of sin? What he says is that we shouldn’t go back to the system of the law, because it will only point out more that we have broken it. “Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight”. (Romans 3:20)
Alright, lets go back to Romans. “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.” You see, if we start to believe that we are justified in God’s sight by doing or not doing certain things, we start to boast. God is not stupid, He knows that if our salvation is up to us that we’ll start to be prideful, that we’ll start to be independent of Him. If it is to be through works, right away we’re going to be prideful. We’ll start to think ‘God won’t justify those sinners, but he’ll justify me.’ Should we do good works? Yes! Should we repent from sin? Yes! Of course! And Jesus is our pattern. But our actions aren’t going to get us anywhere in the right standing of God. This is only through the righteousness of Christ, through faith. He is the definition of righteousness. He is not just our pattern, He is our righteousness. And as we believe in Him, we are given His righteousness as the free gift of God. “So that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26b)
Remember in my last sermon we talked about faith? There are three aspects to faith. The first is understanding what the message or content is. In other words, it answers the question “faith in what?” The second aspect is agreeing to what the content of the message is. In respect to salvation, this is agreeing that Jesus is righteous and He died for sinners. We are not. As sinners we need to repent and to believe on Him as our righteousness. The third aspect of faith is to trust and rely upon what we have accepted as true. Do you trust and rely upon the righteousness of Jesus, or do you trust and rely upon your own actions and nice effort. Am I going to rely on the definition of righteousness, on the righteousness of God himself in Christ? Or will I rely on myself?
I’ve got two rings on my hand today. This one is my wedding ring- 24 karat gold, very pure. The other is one my daughter got out of a gumball machine. It looks kind of gold but it is tin at best. The stone is pretty but I’m sure it’s made of plastic. Now which one of these is going to stand up under the heat? The gold is going to stand. The gold is Jesus Christ- pure, the perfect Lamb of God. He had no sin throughout His life. He is righteous. Now even driving here today I didn’t live up to ‘loving my neighbor’, and isn’t this one of the most basic of commandments, the one we start with? This is my righteousness, this ring made of tin. This one of gold is His righteousness. Now on the day I present my righteousness to God, which one will I present to Him? I’ll present this one, the righteousness of Christ. And how do we get this righteousness of God? It’s through faith by God’s grace.
Jesus is not just our example, He is our righteousness. And we’re given it as a gift of God. Remember the ‘dead works’ of Hebrews 6:1? We’re called to repent from them. This is foundational to the Christian faith. How are we justified in God’s sight? Through a continual grace relationship with God. His life was perfect; ours has not been. By which life do we want to be justified by?
So again, what of the Law? It is good, and holy, and right. The problem is that we cannot live up to it. We do grow and become more Christ like, week by week and month by month. Isn’t that our calling? John says that we purify ourselves out of hope in Him. Paul says that we have the obedience of faith. So don’t hear me saying that those things aren’t important, because they are. But our justification is in Christ alone, by faith. This is our foundation. And if we get that wrong, we’re going to be building on a wrong foundation and go a wrong direction.
Here are a couple of applications to wrap things up. Christ is the stumbling block. The unsaved don’t want to hear that they are sinners. As for the saved, we still don’t want to hear that we are sinners. The truth hurts! Justification, right standing in God’s sight is a declaration of righteousness. We are declared righteous by the grace of God and then called to do good. We are regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and to live according to our new nature. But to get those backwards, and say that we are righteous by are own actions, is to say that Christ died for nothing as we read in Galatians chapter two. Who wants to say that? In respect to faith, we need to understand how we’re justified, accept it, and rely upon Jesus as our righteousness. This is foundational and a basic step as we press on toward maturity in our Christian faith, as we read in Hebrews 6:1. In fact this is the very first foundation stone brought up in Hebrews. If our righteousness is based on ourselves then we are doing dead works. When this message is taken to heart we live in humble dependence on Christ. Where is the room for boasting? There is none, our boast is only in Him. And we follow Him as the pattern for our life. So if your claim to righteousness is in what you do I invite you to drop that claim and to run to Christ, cleave to Him. He is not only our pattern of righteousness but He is our only righteousness before God, through faith. Then do good works out of your righteousness, out of the grace of God, not to re-establish what you’ve been given through His grace, by the precious blood of Jesus. And God who is merciful and faithful to forgive will grant you the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ.
