ROMANS CHAPTER 3 VERSES 26-31 - MESSAGES IN ROMANS – JUSTIFIED THROUGH FAITH BY A RIGHTEOUS GOD AND NOW DECLARED INNOCENT - MESSAGE 13
[1]. PART 1 – JUSTIFIED BY FAITH IN JESUS
{{Romans 3:26 “for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”}}
We have been thinking about the sinfulness of mankind through the fall and that God’s judgement must fall on man’s sin because no sin can ever exist before God unattended. However there are factors at play also such as the love of God, and His mercy, and His forbearance.
In Romans, Paul has brought the whole world in guilty before God and all the inhabitants of the world assemble before a righteous God and have His verdict sounded out against them. There is no escape because every one has sinned and come short of the glory of God. It is a worldwide condemnation. Mankind is/was declared lost.
Left to his own devices and left alone, man has no hope but to be eternally lost under judgement. That is not the way God wants it and this verse helps us understand – {{1Timothy 2:4 “who DESIRES ALL MEN TO BE SAVED and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”}} As human beings are unable to effect their own way of escape from their wickedness, God must intervene and He has. In the last message we were introduced to justification and propitiation.
Today, we take that up again and recall the verse we ended on last time – {{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.”}}
We looked at the sacrifice of Christ that won our salvation, a public sacrifice of the Lamb of God. This verse so clearly anchors itself on FAITH, on FORBEARANCE and PROPITIATION. The Lord God has taken all the steps for mankind’s redemption in His mercy and grace and love. Man has responsibility and he needs to respond by faith for there is no other way to be rescued from the jaws of sin.
Our verse for today, verse 26 derives from verse 25. Because God’s righteousness was demonstrated through Calvary then that places God as being just. God is just because of His righteous character, and because His righteousness was satisfied at Calvary. Because God is just, He is then the righteous Judge and all mankind must be condemned, but God opened up a way through faith for man to be justified.
I think in the modern church God’s righteousness is downgraded by too many. The taint of the world is even passing onto Christians and they don’t value the true measure of righteousness that belongs to God. If I can say it this way, “I think man does not consider God as special.” Sin undermines the truth and is so cunning, distorting our knowledge and perceptions and teachings. We must be very careful we do not fall under its evil ways. We need to honour God and fear God and hold our Creator and Redeemer in awe. Materialism and worldliness have eaten away like maggots. Let us get back to the pure doctrine of the word of God. Be good soldiers focussed on the calling of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us take another look at verse 26 - {{Romans 3:26 “for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just AND THE JUSTIFIER OF THE ONE WHO HAS FAITH IN JESUS.”}}
We know that God is just but that merciful justice and righteousness has now extended out to all those who walk the way of faith to the foot of the cross. In becoming saved through grace, each one is justified because the just God justifies them. Only a just God can do that. No king on this earth can justify anyone. He may pardon according to man’s terms but only God can honestly justify the sinner. That is so wonderful. God is the justifier of the sinner. Praise the Lord for that. How can an unstable man ever justify anyone? Only an immutable God can do that, but it is more than all that, because God is gracious and loving. I don’t want to be justified by a despot or some licentious mind.
How wonderful to walk in this horrible, sinful and depraved world and to know that I am justified with the righteousness of Christ my Saviour, and that heaven is my home, and that the love of God travels with me. It reminds me of a line from a hymn – “Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.”
How much of that did we deserve? Absolutely nothing as has been mentioned earlier in this series. How much is of our doing? Absolutely nothing, for we were weak and broken. There is not one good thing in us, and what has come from God’s own storehouse for our blessing is all belonging to the Lord Himself. Therefore what can we be proud of? In what things can we boast? Let us look at the next verse -
[2]. PART 2 – A LAW OF FAITH EXCLUDES BOASTING
{{Romans 3:27 “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.”}}
Faith does away with every argument and excuse. When I am worthless and so sinful, what is there in me worthy of blessing or reward? Absolutely nothing! (yet again). Every thing I have I owe to the Lord. That being the case, what place does any boasting have?
“Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress; helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.”
A Christian has no right to boast or to elevate himself according to his own abilities. There is no room for pride or self-exaltation. There is no pandering for positive appraisals. It make me sick to see people claiming to be Christians strutting around thinking they are important or deserve praise from fellow Christians. There is nothing you have that does not come from God.
I could never charge for Christian services. It is abhorrent to me. Freely received; freely given. Paul had nothing of this world’s goods and lived in persecution, yet some ministers today think it is their right to live in luxury. What right do they have to claim that? It is a disgrace. God will humble the proud. Pride was the original sin and continues to be a problem among Christians. I have to be very careful myself about judging other Christian messages and Christian messengers. Anything I have, that God uses, is ALL from the hand of God. Where is boasting then? It must be excluded.
When a person works diligently and achieves something, there is a measure in which he can be satisfied with what is achieved; even feel “proud” about that, but the moment anything is attributed to human accomplishment WITHOUT GOD, then it is a matter of boastful pride.
Do I have the ability to speak before people and expound the word of God? Yes, I do. Where has that come from; myself or from God? Fearfully I must say that it is all of God. I am a worthless broken vessel, but in the Master’s hand He can use me for His glory. There is no place for pride; no place for boasting; no place to praise the old, fallen nature.
Returning to verse 27, if a man worked to keep the Law and that resulted in good works, then he might sound his praises for what he accomplished, and straight away, his attitude to the Law becomes a matter of boastful pride. It is this same scenario –
{{Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I get,’ but the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven but was beating his breast saying, ‘GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME, THE SINNER!’ I tell you, this man WENT DOWN TO HIS HOUSE JUSTIFIED rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”}}
There you have the two conditions, one governed by pride in the Law, and the other who realises his true position before God. Which one did God accept? It says the sinner went to his house justified. The Pharisee did not. His justification was in himself; not in God.
What do we need? We need faith. Simple child-like faith in a faithful God is what is necessary to please God and to live according to His desire for us. Constantly search your heart to see what your pride pulse is! God hates the proud but exalts the humble.
This verse 27 mentions two laws. The first of course is the Law of Moses but the second is a law of faith. Why is faith deemed to be a law? A law is an operating principle, not a law that will be demanded. Faith can never be demanded; it must arise from the conviction of the Holy Spirit in one’s heart to bring about salvation.
[3]. PART 3 – JUSTIFICATION IS BY FAITH NOT BY LAW
{{Romans 3:28 “WE MAINTAIN that a man is JUSTIFIED BY FAITH apart from works of the Law.”}}
Paul is getting close to ending this examination and before he finishes, he now closes off the argument with a summing up of all he has been covering in chapters 2 and 3. That summary takes up 4 verses in our bibles. Verse 27 is the stamp that marks down all the relevant argument up to this point. A MAN IS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH. That must be through faith and not through strict adherence to a set of behaviours as it is in the Law. Would that mean the Law was faulty? We will consider that when we do verse 31. From this point onwards Paul enters more and more into faith and shortly in Romans he discusses Abraham.
In the NASB the translation is “We maintain” and in the AV it is “We conclude”. Strong’s gives the meaning for this word – “To reckon, count, charge with; reason, decide, conclude; think, suppose.” It is the obvious conclusion to the argument. Justification with God, to be accepted by His righteousness, can only come about through faith, not a binding to the Law to keep it.
“Apart from works of the Law” means to be separate from those works. In other words, no matter what you do regarding the dictates of the Law, in the end, the only means of justification before God is through faith. There is no other way.
[4]. PART 4 – FAITH JUSTIFIES BOTH JEWS AND GENTILES (NON JEWS)
{{Romans 3:29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
Romans 3:30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised BY FAITH and the uncircumcised THROUGH FAITH is one.”}}
Before the cross Jesus said this – {{John 3:14-15 “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man BE LIFTED UP, that WHOEVER BELIEVES in Him may have eternal life.”}} Later on, so very close to Calvary, this was also said, {{John 12:32 “and I, if I BE LIFTED UP from the earth, will draw ALL MEN to Myself.”}}
Those two verses are quite similar and the important words from them for Romans 3:29-30 are “WHOEVER” and ALL MEN”. This is what the Roman verses are all about. Salvation is available to all, Jew and Gentile, and so that we don’t miss the point, Paul uses a form of parallelism to make the point clear. Both Jew and Gentile are included in God’s acceptance for He is God of the Jew and the Gentile. Neither is inferior. All must come the same way for salvation.
In verse 30 the circumcised are Jews and the uncircumcised are Gentiles. In verse 30, on the surface, it seems Paul is making a distinction. Is there any difference between “by faith” and “through faith”? The first one “by” is actually “out of faith.” It is the operation that proceeds from inside and out into the open. May I suggest the idea might be that the Law is leading to faith and out of it, it will lead to faith much like the Galatians verses we mentioned earlier – {{Galatians 3:23-25 “Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ that we may be justified by faith, BUT NOW THAT FAITH HAS COME, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER A TUTOR.”}} Faith is the tutor that leads men out of the Law into faith. That applies to the Jew. I think that is the use of “by – out of”
For the Gentile, salvation comes through the action of faith, the “through faith” mentioned. There is no other way to be saved, neither is there any other One through whom we must be saved. Justification is being declared innocent in the eyes of God. How we wait with eager expectation to meeting our dear Saviour when He comes for us, which is very soon. Our appropriated righteousness is His righteousness.
[5]. PART 5 – THE LAW IS ESTABLISHED NOT INVALIDATED OR ABOLISHED
{{Romans 3:31 “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.”}}
This is a very important fact in Paul’s argument. If this statement was not present there would be people concluding that Paul was teaching that the Law was bad or was/is not relevant in any way because faith is the correct way. That would be so wrong. We need to look carefully at the argument here.
Paul asks the question about faith nullifying the Law. That word means invalidating or abolishing the Law. So then, is the Law invalidated or abolished or nullified? Before we look further into that, Paul counteracts that wicked argument with the very strong negative again. What he means is this – THE LAW IS NOT ABOLISHED OR NULLIFIED. God has not cast off the Law as a worn out garment.
So where does faith stand? It would be wrong to say that under the Law there was no faith and it was all about strict Law keeping. Look at the faith of the Prophets and Gideon and Joshua and so many others. They operated under the Law.
I think what Paul is inferring is that faith means the New Covenant through grace; salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In that sense the Law is replaced, but not in any way cast off as a wicked thing. God gave the Law as His standard of righteousness so where did the failure lie? The fault was not with the Law but with human beings for no one was able to keep the Law. As we said, if the whole Law was kept yet a person failed in just one matter the whole penalty of the Law was against him.
Why is the Law perfect? It is perfect because it was God’s standard. If kept to perfection, it would have produced perfect righteousness. Right at the end of the verse Paul says “WE ESTABLISH THE LAW.” In one sense he is saying that faith has established the righteousness the Law intended to give. We now have, even Gentiles who never had the Law, righteousness that satisfies God’s demands. Our righteousness is the appropriated righteousness Jesus has given us through faith.
In studying the Romans passage, what Paul teaches in Galatians is very helpful. Let us look at a few passages from there.
1. {{Galatians 2:15-16 “We are Jews by nature, and not sinners from among the Gentiles. Nevertheless, knowing that a man is NOT JUSTIFIED BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law, since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified”}} This excerpt covers the ground we have been looking at. No one could be justified by the Law because no one could keep the Law. Jesus kept the Law and is declared the Righteous One and now can provide us with His own righteousness.
2. {{Galatians 3:10-11 “As many as are of the works of the Law are under A CURSE, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.’ Now, that no one is justified by the Law before God, is evident, for ‘The righteous man shall live by faith.’”}} Here we have it again. The Law curses a man because the Law curses sinners and all fail, who try to keep the Law, so righteousness with God can not come from the Law. BUT one was cursed for us – {{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’”}}
3. {{Galatians 3:21-25 “Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? MAY IT NEVER BE, for if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law, but the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore THE LAW HAS BECOME OUR TUTOR to lead us to Christ THAT WE MAY BE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, but now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”}} We looked at these verses earlier but this is a most important passage. The Law is not contrary to God or His promises but was leading to faith with the promise of a Redeemer. That new change came through Jesus Christ so we now live by faith, not by trying to keep the Law. The Law was the tutor that led to Christ.
Time has gone but I encourage you to look further into Galatians because there are other connection between the Law and faith. God bless you all.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
