Rom 3:21-26
In 1759 William Cowper was 28 years old, he had a total mental breakdown and tried three different ways to commit suicide. He became convinced that he was beyond hope. In December, 1763, he was committed to St. Alban’s Insane Asylum, where the 58-year-old Dr. Nathaniel Cotton tended the patients. By God’s wonderful design, Cotton was also an evangelical believer and lover of God and the gospel.
Cotton loved Cowper and held out hope to him repeatedly in spite of Cowper’s insistence that he was damned and beyond hope. Six months into his stay, Cowper found a Bible lying (not by accident) on a bench in the garden. First he looked at John 11 and saw "so much benevolence, mercy, goodness, and sympathy with miserable men, in our Saviour’s conduct" that he felt a ray of hope. Then he turned to this very passage which became the key turning point in his life. In his diary he wrote:
“Immediately I received the strength to believe it, and the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shone upon me. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement He had made, my pardon sealed in His blood, and all the fullness and completeness of His justification. In a moment I believed, and received the gospel.”
In June, 1765, Cowper left St. Alban’s and lived and ministered 35 more years - not without great battles with depression, but also not without great fruit for the kingdom, witing hymns like, "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood," "O for a Closer Walk with God!" and "The Spirit Breathes upon the Word."
This is one of the most important passages in all Scripture. It is perhaps one of the most theologically intense but at the same time it is also one of the most practical and relevant passages to the Christian life.
The Context
Paul begins Romans by affirming the Gospel of Christ Jesus in his descent from David and resurrection as the Messiah. In chapters 1-3 Paul goes on to denounce Gentile idolatry and immorality and also condemns Jewish hypocrisy and covenant violation. Paul’s point is that God is fully justified in his wrath against mankind. It is then at this dark horizon, upon this blunt condemnation of the evil of humanity that we reach Romans 3:21-26.
1. The Revelation of the Righteousness of God (v.21)
Paul’s first point is the revelation of the Righteousness of God. The first two words of this passage are But now – two of the most splendid words of Scripture according to Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. It means that sin, death, wrath & condemnation are not the end. There is a new factor to be reckoned with. What has brought this transition in affairs is that the Righteousness of God has been made known. Now when we think of righteousness we think mainly of an ethical quality. In the Bible God is often described as righteous. So too are we commonly exhorted to act righteously. However, here the term the ‘righteousness of God’ denotes two key aspects:
One, God’s desire to establish justice through out the earth and thus his VERDICT against sin. Very often in the Old Testament the word ‘righteousness’ occurs in the context of ruling or judging. As it says in Genesis: Will not the judge of all the earth do what is righteous? Because God is the righteous judge of all the earth often Israel would plea for God to enter into contention with their enemies. The hope is for God to manifest his justice against evil by pouring out his wrath on those who oppress Israel. Yet just as the Israelites pleaded with God to contend for them they also pleaded with God not to contend against them. For should God press his claims of justice they would be undone as they are also sinful. As it says in Psalm 142:
O LORD, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.
Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living will be justified before you.
A second aspect implied by God’s righteousness is VINDICATION. It is at this juncture that we see the positive view of God’s righteousness as it is also God’s deliverance of the ungodly from their sins. In Psalm 51 it says:
Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
We find a similar thought in Micah 7
Because I have sinned against him,
I will bear the LORD’s wrath,
until he pleads my case
and establishes my right.
He will bring me out into the light;
I will see his righteousness.
We see that the righteousness of God then consists both of God’s desire to establish his justice throughout the earth and his deliverance of the sinful. It his verdict against sin and his vindication of the ungodly. It holds in balance both God’s wrath to condemn evil and his love to save. We find these two ideas coalesce in various parts of Scripture. The best example is Isaiah 51
My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way
And my arm will bring justice to the nations,
The islands will come to me and wait in hope for my arm
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath
The heavens and the earth will vanish like smoke
The earth will wear out like a garment
Its inhabitants die like flies
But my salvation will last forever
My righteousness will never fail
This understanding of God’s righteousness in this way completely transformed Christian history. In November 1515, Martin Luther, the professor of Sacred Theology at the University of Wittenberg began to expound the Epistle of Romans to his students. He longed to understand Paul’s letter to the Romans but one thing stood in his way, the expression the righteousness of God. Luther wrote:
“I took it to mean that righteousness whereby God is righteous and deals righteously in punishing the wicked . . . Night and day I pondered it until . . . I grasped the truth that the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby, through grace and sheer mercy, he justified us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and where as before “the righteousness of God’ had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gateway to heaven.”
There is, however, a newness to this particular ‘Righteousness of God’ that sets it apart from God’s previous dealings with his people. That is it is apart from the Law and is also testified by the Law and the Prophets. Now if you were Jewish and you heard this your ears would prick up. Here Paul flat out denies the salvific function of the Law: It cannot save, it was never meant to. Whereas Jews may have believed that by being circumcised, keeping the food laws and observing the Sabbath they would be vindicated as the People of God in the age to come. Paul argues that the Law was a temporary administration of grace given to Israel in order to govern their lives and reveal their sin. The purpose of the Law most of all was to point to the coming salvation in Christ. Jesus himself held this view when he says in Matthew 5:17,
Do not think that I have com to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
A similar idea is found in Hebrews 10:
The Law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves.
[Illustration] A friend of mine went to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games and he told me that the road from the Airport to the stadium had coca-cola billboards posted along the whole way, every 500m or so. By the time you got to the stadium there was no doubt who the major sponsor was. In the same way Redemptive-history is filled with billboards Moses, the Law, the sacrificial system, the offices: Prophet, Priests and King – they all proleptically point to the reality of Christ who was to come.
2. The Availability of God’s Righteousness to all on the basis of faith (vv. 22-23)
Paul’s second point is the availability of God’s righteousness to all on the basis of faith. Paul confronts Jewish exclusivism: salvation amounts to being Jewish ‘cause in order to keep the Law you’ve gotta be circumcised etc. which means becoming Jewish. But Paul rejects this approach, since Jew and Gentile have the same problem they all get the same solution. The problem is God’s contention against humanity: sin. That’s what chapters 1-3 is about. The glory of mankind in creation has been lost by his fall into depravity. They exchanged the glory of God for evil. Traded in the Jaguar for a Monaro.
This leads humanity in a state of universal guilt, regardless of race or gender. Now you know how some clothes are called, “One size fits all” well Jesus is the faith and salvation for all. If there is anyone who should be championing multi-culturalism it should be the Church. That’s why in Christ there is neither Bloke nor Sheila; Aussie nor Kiwi; White nor Black; Rugby nor Aussie rules; Employer nor Employee, but all one in Christ Jesus.
3. The Source of God’s Righteousness is the gracious provision of Christ (vv. 24-25a)
Paul’s third point is the source of God’s righteousness is the gracious provision of Christ. Paul uses four very important phrases, we’ll look at them in reverse order. The first phrase is this, Through Faith in his blood. The object of our trust, belief and hope is to be the blood of Christ. This is odd because crucifixion was not particularly a bloody act.
So the emphasis on blood thereby calls attention to its sacrificial significance. In the Old Testament the animal would pay the price for the offerer. As it says in Leviticus 17:11:
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.
This implies substitution, the transfer of sin from the offerer to the animal. We are therefore called to have faith in this sacrificial event, that in the cross, God is dealing with our sins by transferring them to Christ.
[Illustration] During World War II there was a group of Australian prisoners in a Japanese POW camp. One of the prisoners tried to escape in order to find some food. He was caught and sentenced to receive a beating. His physical condition was so terrible that the beating would surely kill him. Knowing this, the Chaplain of the camp offered to take the beating in his place. The Japanese commandant was astounded by this as he had never understood Western Morality and out of amusement he gave permission for the Chaplain to take the flogging. The Chaplain was taken to a tree, tied up and viscously flogged. The prisoner who tried to escape was forced to watch and as he saw the Chaplain’s body being broken and bloodied by the whip, he wrote in his diary, “It was at that moment I finally understood the Bible when it says, ‘He himself bore our sins in his body when he hung upon the tree’.”.
The second major term we find here is Propitiation. Now in order to understand propitiation we need to understand the wrath of God. It is not a childish like tantrum full of hate and unbridled rage, but it is God’s righteous indignation towards moral decadence. It is the response of God’s holiness to evil. It is a wrath which is directed at us no less. And yet the object of God’s wrath, that is us, has been substituted by Christ. On the cross Jesus becomes a cosmic sponge as God unloads upon him of all his wrath against our sins.
[Illustration] I had a profound thought in preparing this sermon. I realized that Jesus is our Womble. Yes, that’s right, our Womble. Some of you might know the Wombles from the British TV show about those very fat lovable furry creatures. Well, did you know that in the UK there is a protest group called the Wombles. What they do is that they go to the major protests completely covering their bodies with pillows. Next they deliberately put themselves between the riot police and other protestors. So when the riot police get violent and try to attack or dispel the rioters these pillow laden Wombles get in the way and absorb the punishment as a buffer. It is a quite effective ploy used by the protest groups. I submit to you that Jesus is our Womble. He puts himself between us and the wrath of God and drains the wrath of God meant for us. He absorbs it with such perfection and such finality that there is none left for us. Now that’s good news! A third term in this sentence concerns the Redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Unfortunately this word redemption is used so much in our culture that it is almost evacuated of its biblical meaning. Redemption isn’t about the football player who makes an error and then redeems himself by scoring a try or touchdown. Redemption is not about earning your salvation as it is in the movie, “The Apostle” with Robert Duvall. In the Old Testament time if a person was sold into slavery or had family land sold into debt it would be the responsibility of the kinsman redeemer to redeem them from debt. Similarly the Exodus was God’s action to redeem his people from slavery in Egypt. Point being, redemption requires an outsider to intervene for we cannot redeem ourselves.
[Illustration]: I had my own experience of redeeming a relative out of prison for not paying some overdue parking fines. No amount of goodness towards the guards would secure his redemption. Nor would cleaning his cell cause his emancipation. It took an outsider to come and redeem him from imprisonment because he himself was powerless to pay the price. In the same way Christ has redeemed us from sin and death paying the price we could not pay. The fourth significant phrase we find is Justified by his grace.
The result of Christ being a sacrifice in our place, of draining the wrath of God against us and redeeming us from sin and death is that we might be declared Justified. This is law court language. We cannot overturn the verdict either by good deeds or good intentions
But to those who trust Christ as God’s provision to deal with sin in his death and resurrection. The verdict is not ‘guilty’ but ‘justified’ – fully righteous.
They are restored to a right relationship with God. Furthermore this pronouncement is futuristic: the verdict of judgement day has been declared in the present.
[Illustration]: Imagine going to court to face trial knowing in advance what the verdict is. Would you fear the trial or the judgement? Of course not, because the verdict has already been declared. The same occurs with Christ. In his death and resurrection the verdict of God on judgement day travels through the corridors of time and is declared to us in the present. And the verdict is not ‘guilty’ but instead ‘righteous’. Righteous on account of Christ!
The Justification of Sinners is Also the Justification of God (vv. 25b-26)
The fourth point of the passage is that the justification of sinners is also the justification of God. At this juncture Paul begins to anticipate possible objections to this equation. Perhaps some are asking, ‘What about all the sins committed before under the old covenant?’ Paul insists that God was not unrighteous by allowing sins to go unpunished for a while, but in the death of Christ they have been dealt with. Christ’s death is both the condemnation of the wicked and justification of the faithful across time. The effect of Christ’s death is prospective (it engulfs the future) and is retrospective (it covers the past as well). All people who were ever saved, were saved by Christ. This means God is not easy on sin, but he is still the God who saves. God is still “the righteous judge of all the earth” and “mighty to save”. Or as Isa 45 says: God is “a righteous God and a Saviour”. Another objection that Paul anticipates is this, ‘How can God call people who aren’t just, justified?’ This is largely what separates Protestants and Catholics. The Reformers coined a Latin phrase simul iustus et peccattor (at the same time both justified and sinners). It is this point which sadly our Catholics friends cannot comprehend. For how can God call a sinner, righteous? It doesn’t add up in their view. You see in Catholic dogmatics ‘justification’ is a process. You are gradually on the way to justification because you are gradually becoming just. Yet justification is not about our moral state, rather, it refers to our legal status before God. Justification is God’s declaration that you are righteous – it pertains to your legal status, not your moral state. Now some object to this and say that this is legal fiction. God pretends you are righteous, he plays make believe, after all God has a very vivid imagination. But it is not so! Because Christ’s death is real and our faith in Christ is real, that means that the relationship is real. Thus God can really regard us a righteous, because we are restored to him in a right relationship.
Application
Now I warned you all that this was a very theologically heavy sermon and I make no apologies for it. It says what it says. But deep as it is, it has some very important application. First, do you believe it? The benefits of the gospel do not accrue automatically, we must all exercise our own faith in Christ. You can meet Jesus as Judge or as Saviour. Unless you personally claim the salvation that Christ offers the divine contention remains fully in force against you. That means hell, eternal separation from God. So if you don’t know Christ as Lord and saviour I plead with you to make him so. As Bill and Ted say, “You can be a king or a street sweeper, but sooner or later you dance with the reaper.”
But for those who have already believed in Christ as saviour this passage commands us to continue the walk of discipleship by GOSPELIZING ourselves. Keep in mind that Paul is writing to Christians who are already saved and already know the gospel in some way. Paul is writing in order to explain the gospel in greater depth and build them up individually and corporately. The reason for this is that Christian discipleship is the process by which we become Gospelized more and more. You see when you ‘tenderise’ a piece of meat the whole meat becomes tender. When you ‘sterilise’ a surgical tool the whole tool becomes sterile. When you ‘magnetise’ metal the whole metal becomes magnetic. So to, to be Gospelized means to have your life empowered by the Gospel. You become more and more what the gospel attempts to create: a new creation in Christ. There are two ways to become Gospelized:
A. To know more and more the depth and power of God’s salvation as revealed in Christ.
[Illustration] Did you know that Charlie Chaplin once entered a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest and came second. Amazing, the judges could not tell the authentic Chaplin from the imposter. But similarly, a lot of Christians don’t know the gospel or cannot recognize it. Some have heard about forgiveness but not repentance. They have heard the call to believe but not the command to obey. They know about heaven but not about cross carrying. You end up with a morally untransformed pseudo-believe. But that door swings both ways. You can also get a person who knows about Law, who knows about obedience and rules, but has never heard of grace, divine mercy or redemption. In this case you end up with a legalist. Now this is crucial. You see, if you preach a gospelette you will only get a Christianette. So we must get the gospel right. If there is one thing you learn tonight I pray it would be this: A deformed spiritual start will not produce a transformed heart. In my experience counselling is often about Gospelizing the unevangelised chambers of our hearts. So how can I avoid that? How can I know the gospel in greater depth? Well let me make a suggestion. First, read the book of Romans – that’s the gospel at theological depth. Here Paul explains the deeper significance of the gospel for the believer and all its necessary implications. How it relates to ethics and living amongst other believers. Next read the Gospel of John – that’s the gospel at spiritual depth. John’s Gospel introduces you more intimately to the person who is the object of the gospel: Jesus Christ, from pre-incarnate to glorified.
The second way you can gospelize yourself is this:
B. Pursue a life in the power of the Gospel
[Illustration] In the 1980’s a major crusade was conducted in several Australian cities. Most Christians who attended the crusades did not invite anyone to come and hear the gospel. In a follow up survey it was asked why the didn’t bring anyone. One person replied, “The gospel was not working in my life, so I felt like I’d be conning someone if I told them the Gospel will transform their lives.” The biggest problem facing new Christians I think is that they do not know how to deal with their own sins. They become obsessed with their failure or simply accept bondage to sin as part of life. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Now the gospel is not a license to sin. But Justification comes from the future and consequently it includes forgiveness for all that we do in between now and glory. Our future sins have already been factored in to the equation of our salvation. So as Romans 8.1 says, There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Learn how to faith your forgiveness. Don’t live life under the fear of condemnation, but under the promise of forgiveness. After all God’s grace is immeasurably bigger than your sin. But at the same time in view of that endeavour to live a life worthy of the gospel. When temptation comes, ask yourself this question: Am I living a life worth dying for?
Conclusion
Charles Spurgeon was once on the way to a preaching engagement which was his grandfather’s Church. He was however late and arrived in the middle of the service and came to find his grandfather expounding the gospel of Christ. The old man on seeing his grandson walk down the aisle said, “I will now handover my grandson Charles Spurgeon and you will never hear a better preacher of the gospel.” To which Spurgeon replied, “Well, you will never find a better gospel.”
It is true. Although we are told to take many things as ‘gospel’ there is only one thing that you should take as gospel, and that is this: The death and resurrection of Jesus for you. And may God’s grace abound upon you in the quest to gospelize yourself.
Michael Bird
Grace Bible Church December 2001
Soli Deo Gloria
Sources:
John Piper, Rom 3:21-26 at www.soundofgrace.com/piper99/5-23-99.
Mark Seifrid, Christ our Righteousness
Douglas Moo, Romans (NICNT)
Lecture by D.A. Carson at the Sydney Presbyterian College in July 2001.
