By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 13-23 of chapter 3.
1.1.1. In that study, Paul continued his lengthy rebuke of sinful mankind
which he began in the last chapter and he continued that description until it
concluded in his stating that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory
of God and thus by the works of the Law that no man shall ever be justified
before God. Then, Paul began to
discuss the salvation that God has provided for us in Christ
1.1.2. What Paul was describing for us in chapter three of Romans concerning
mankind in his sinfulness has been called “the depravity of man.” We discussed what that does and what it does
not mean.
1.1.3. We saw also how that there is no way that we can truly appreciate or
even understand how much the Lord loves us nor how great His grace is until we
have come to understand our true sinful condition before the Lord.
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to look at verses 21 of chapter 3 through verse 3 of chapter 4.
1.2.1. Paul will begin now to build his argument for how that since we as
people are utterly corrupt, depraved, and useless to God based upon our own
righteousness, that our salvation has to be received by us by our faith in Christ
and His work for us on Calvary’s cross.
1.2.2. We will see how that we are “justified as a gift by His grace”
when we believe in Christ and His great substitutionary
sacrifice for us.
1.2.3. We will see how that Christ’s death on
1.2.4. We will see how that it was the case that not only in New Testament
times but also in the Old Testament times also that people were made righteous
before God not based upon the basis of their works but rather upon their faith. Directing himself towards the Jews Paul will
use Abraham the Jewish patriarch as an example of a man’s faith being reckoned
to his as righteousness.
2. VS 3:22-23 - “22 even
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who
believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,” - Paul tells us that through the gospel message
the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus is revealed to all
people
2.1.
Yet again we are directed by Paul to his theme of ‘the
righteousness of God.’ As we have
said before, God is a holy and righteous God, mankind is sinful, and salvation
involves sinful mankind being made righteous enough to be in God’s
presence.
2.2.
Paul tells us that the ‘righteousness of God’
is now imparted to those who receive Jesus Christ by ‘faith.’ Christians are not ‘righteousness’ in
and of themselves, but rather ‘righteousness’ is “imputed” to
them by God. In 1 Corinthians 1:30, Paul
wrote about how that Jesus Christ has become our ‘righteousness,’ “30 But
by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and
righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.”
2.3.
For the Christian, his ‘faith’ is reckoned to
him as righteousness to God. Paul
explains this concept more fully in Rom. 4:5 when he writes, “5 But to the
one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith
is reckoned as righteousness.”
2.4.
I ask the question as to what this type of ‘faith’
mentioned by Paul here consists?
2.4.1. First of
all, the ‘faith’ that is of the saving type, is such by meeting God’s
righteousness, it is not ‘faith in faith itself.”
2.4.2. Secondly,
the ‘faith’ that is of the saving type, is not ‘faith’ or “mental
assent” to the fact that Jesus Christ did or does exist, or that He did the
things that the Bible records Him doing.
This is however one aspect of true ‘saving faith,’ but it is not
the total of it.
2.4.3. Third, the ‘faith’
that is of the saving type is a trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as one’s
personal Savior. It is trust that what
Jesus promised concerning eternal life through Him shall apply to me.
2.4.4. Fourth, the
‘faith’ that is of the saving type is a ‘faith’ in the fact that
Jesus has forgiven one’s sins through His death on the cross as full payment
for our sins.
2.4.5. Fifth, the ‘faith’
that is of the saving type, involves repentance of sin (that which is
displeasing to God, as far as a person is aware of God’s righteousness) and a
commitment to Christ’s lordship in one’s life.
2.5.
To whom is this saving relationship with God which
meets His righteousness available? ‘Anyone
who believes.’ Jew and Gentile alike
are invited to come and partake of salvation through believing in Jesus
Christ. Luke wrote about this truth in
Acts 2:21, “21 ‘And it shall be, that everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.’”
2.6.
Paul writes in verse 23 that ‘there is no
distinction’ in God’s mind between people, for all must come to God by
means of the “way” in which He opened up through the death of His Son on
the cross of Calvary. Since ‘all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God,’ we cannot be saved from God’s
wrath by any works of our own, and therefore if any shall receive salvation, it
shall be through ‘faith’ in Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior.
3. VS 3:24 - “24 being
justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus;” -
Paul tells us here that we are ‘justified as a gift’ through Christ’s
redemption of us
3.1.
Paul writes in this verse about the fact that
salvation through Christ is a gift to man which is simply received by a man
when he trusts in Jesus and the completed work of His upon the cross of
3.2.
The word ‘justified’ means “to be made
righteous.” God looks upon a man or
woman as being ‘righteous’ in His sight when the person simply has “saving
faith” in Christ as Lord and Savior.
As I have mentioned before in this book, to be ‘justified’ before
God means to be made “just as if we had never sinned.” God removes the guilt of sin from men and
women and treats them as sons or daughters in a relationship with Him which is
just as meaningful and complete as it could be if they had never sinned in the
first place.
3.3.
Since this salvation cannot be earned by a man or a
woman, it is therefore ‘a gift’ which can only be received, a gift which
comes from God’s ‘grace, or “undeserved merit” which He bestows
on Christians who have come into relationship with Him by ‘faith’ in His
Son. By definition a gift is something
that cannot be purchased.
3.4.
Paul says that the gift of salvation is ‘through
the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.’
This Greek word translated ‘redemption’ (apolutrosis)
has the following meaning according to Strong’s Greek Dictionary:
1)
a releasing effected by payment of ransom
1a)
redemption, deliverance
1b)
liberation procured by the payment of a ransom
3.5.
When a Christian gives His life to God, he is “ransomed”
from the devil and awaiting wrath of God to be revealed on the day of God’s
judgment. Slaves in Paul’s day could
have their freedom purchased at a certain price, and likewise Christ has
purchased or redeemed us who once were slaves of sin and in bondage to
him. Now we are Christ’s property and
belong to Him and thus our lives are no longer to be lived for ourselves but
for Him who purchased us with His blood.
3.6.
Since God has brought me into a relationship with Him
of justification, which means to be made just as if I never had sinned, then I
must realize that God is not angry at me.
He loves me as a son, and He is completely satisfied by the sacrifice of
His Son for my sins. He loves me like
ever a loving father could love a son or a daughter. I need to just accept His love for me, and
grow in my walk with Him. If today I do
sin and are disobedient, God will not deal with me in His wrath but rather He
will lovingly and sternly discipline me as any loving Father disciplines a
disobedient child.
4. VS 3:25 - “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;” - Paul tells us here that Christ was publicly
displayed by God as a sacrifice and propitiation for our sins through His blood
and faith in Him
4.1.
As I mentioned in my commentary on verse 21 of this
chapter, God ‘diplayed publicly’ before
the world His Son who died upon the cross of
4.2.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary
has the following dictionary entries for defining this Greek word translated
here as ‘propitiation’ (hilasterion) :
1)
relating to an appeasing or expiating, having placating or expiating
force, expiatory; a means of appeasing or expiating, a propitiation
1a)
used of the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies,
which was sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of
atonement (this rite signifying that the life of the people, the loss of which
they had merited by their sins, was offered to God in the blood as the life of
the victim, and that God by this ceremony was appeased and their sins
expiated); hence the lid of expiation, the propitiatory
1b) an expiatory sacrifice
1c) a expiatory victim
4.3.
As the above definition of this word ‘propitiation’
shows, the word is also translated as “mercy seat,” the term for that
which was in the Holy of Holies of the Jewish Temple, and when a person
receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God provides “a covering” for
his sins. However, in the Christian
epoch, and in the writings of the New Testament, the concept goes even
further. Rather than a temporary
covering for sins as was provided through the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies
when the high priest once a year entered and sprinkled blood for the sins of
the nation, Christ has for the Christian provided ‘full payment’ for all
of his sins. This word ‘propitiation’
was a term used in business in Paul’s day and meant “paid in full.”
4.4.
Every sin a person commits has as a result of
producing a debt that is owed to God.
All of the debts owed to God for mankind were paid at once upon the
cross of
4.5.
It was always by blood that sins were forgiven in the
Old Testament, likewise it is through the perfect and righteous blood of Jesus
Christ that men and women can have the ‘propitiation’ for their sins
realized.
4.6.
Paul writes in this verse that the righteousness of
God was demonstrated also ‘because in the forbearance of God He passed over
the sins previously committed.’ When
Adam and Eve sinned, God could have justly destroyed His creation of mankind,
especially since He knew all of the sins that all men would commit. However, He chose instead according to His forordained plan to send His Son to make the full payment
for all of man’s sins. In this way, God
showed ‘forbearance’ to mankind rather than reveal His wrath against us
and destroy us, as we deserved.
5. VS 3:26 - “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.” - Paul states that all of this
was done to demonstrate ‘the righteousness of God’
5.1.
In this verse, Paul reiterates that through the cross
of
5.2.
Likewise, God’s righteousness is demonstrated through God’s
justifying sinners through their simple ‘faith’ in Jesus Christ for
salvation.
6. VS 3:27-28 - “27 Where
then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a
law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from
works of the Law.” - Paul asks the Romans how anyone could ever
boast about their salvation through Christ, for a man is justified before God
by his faith, apart from the works of the Law
6.1.
A person cannot boast in his salvation in Christ since
it was not obtained by his own works of righteousness, but rather only by
receiving God’s gift of salvation through Christ by faith. When a person trusts in Christ’s completed
work on the cross for his righteousness and salvation, then the only boasting
he could rightly do would be to boast in Christ and what Christ has
accomplished.
6.2.
In verse 28, Paul writes that salvation is obtained
when a man or woman is ‘justified’ by God through their ‘faith,’
and this is totally separate from the whole concept of ‘works’ produced
in relation to ‘the Law.’
6.3.
We Christians can sometimes get to thinking that we
have initially come into our relationship with God through the grace of God and
faith in Christ for salvation, however that we will now be saved if our works
are good enough to please God. However,
we must realize that ‘works’ done subsequent to salvation shall never be
the cause of our obtaining salvation. It
is true that “faith produces works,” as James wrote in his epistle,
however these works are never the basis for our salvation. We Christians must continue all the days of
our life to rest only in the completed work of Christ on the cross for our
salvation.
7. VS 3:29-30 - “29 Or is
God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the
uncircumcised through faith is one.” - Paul tells the Romans that it is the same God
that brings a Jew as well as a Gentile to salvation through Christ (therefore
they must all come to Him by the same method)
7.1.
God does not have one plan of salvation for a Jew and
another plan for a Gentile, rather Paul writes in these verses that both Jews
and Gentiles alike may receive salvation through Jesus Christ in the same
identical way, by ‘faith’ in Jesus Christ as one’s Lord and Savior. The Jews were not required to keep the Law in
addition to their faith as part of their salvation, and neither were the
Gentiles.
7.2.
The ‘circumcised’ refers to the Jews, and the ‘uncircumcised’
refers to the Gentiles in verse 30.
8. VS 3:31 - “31 Do we
then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we
establish the Law.” - Paul asks the rhetorical question of whether
salvation by faith in Christ nullifies the Law of Moses, and then he answers
his question with a ‘No!”
8.1.
The Law was not abolished when faith in Christ became
the method of receiving salvation.
Rather, God reveals through the establishing of salvation through faith
in Christ what the purpose of the Law was in reality.
8.2.
The purpose of the Law is revealed through the gospel
message of the cross to be that God gave it in order to show man that he can
not be saved through the observance of the Law.
Since men and women have sinful natures, they cannot keep the
requirements of the Law through their own self-effort. The Law then convicts man of his sinfulness
as well as revealing to man that he cannot be saved through the observance of
that Law. Paul will develop this theme
as we continue through the book of Romans.
8.3.
Since my works will never earn God’s favor, I need to
realize that any attempts to please God based upon works and keeping of His
Laws is futile and based upon ignorance.
If I am attempting to please God by what I do, then I do not even
understand why He gave His Law in the first place. The Law was given to show me that I cannot
please Him by keeping it, and therefore I must seek His mercy and grace for
salvation. My only hope shall be to have
faith in Jesus Christ for my salvation.
8.4.
Actually the keeping of the Law did not bring
salvation during the Old Testament times.
It was faith in God which brought salvation, however that faith had to
produce works, works of righteousness wrought according to God’s Law which He
established and commanded people to obey.
9. VS 4:1-2 - “4:1 What then
shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not
before God.” - Paul uses the great patriarch Abraham from
the Old Testament as an example of one who possessed saving faith by asking if
Abraham was justified before God based upon his works
9.1.
Abraham preceded Moses and the giving of the Law of
Moses. It is believed by theologians that
the things required of men by God prior to the giving of the Law of Moses are
things that shall always be true of a man’s relationship with God, regardless
of the dispensation under which he lives.
Abraham was justified by his faith and thus all God’s people are
justified by their faith.
9.2.
In the last chapter, Paul gave a complete overview of
what Christ accomplished for men upon the cross, and how that men were
justified before God based only upon their faith in Christ. In this chapter, Paul is going to demonstrate
for the sake of the Jews how that the men of Old Testament times were likewise
not justified before God based upon their works, but rather as a result of
their faith. In this chapter Paul picks
Abraham as the one to demonstrate this point.
9.3.
Abraham was looked upon by the Jews of Paul’s day as
being the greatest of the great men of faith, the original patriarch of
9.4.
People of this world, as well as people in the church,
and in the various religions of the world tend to want to place certain people
up on a pedestal as being super saints.
The whole idea that the Roman Catholic Church has upheld in canonization
of Saints has caused people to think that some people are truly righteous in
and of themselves, by their works.
However, this is not the testimony that the Bible brings us of God’s
saints. The Bible is painfully accurate
concerning God’s people in the details of its historical accounts, and we see
that although God used them, all of God’s people were sinful men and women,
just as are we.
9.4.1. It occurred
to me in doing this study that God intended the sins as well as the victories
of the men and women of God to be included in the Bible so that we might
realize that people are not justified by their works, but by God’s mercy and
grace.
9.5.
Paul tells the Jews that if Abraham were hypothetically
to have been justified by his works, then he would have something to boast
about, however this did not occur with Abraham for he was not justified before
God based upon his works.
9.6.
Can you imagine what heaven would be like if men were
justified based upon their works? If
this were the case, in heaven they would be sitting and standing around
boasting and “one upping each other” about what they had done for God
and how righteous they had been.
However, this is not at all what the Bible reveals heaven to be
like. It is the Lamb of God that is
worshipped and glorified in heaven, before whom the 24 elders cast their
crowns. Jesus is the center of all
attention and worship by all creatures.
Men by nature want to boast in their works and what they have done,
however God wants them to behold His Son and worship Him.
9.7.
Paul writes that if Abraham were justified by His
works then He would have reason to boast, however this is not the case so He
says, ‘but not before God.’
Abraham might boast about his works however no one shall ever boast
before God about how righteous his works have been because God knows every one
of our sins that we have committed, all about us.
9.8.
One author has written, the salvation that God has
offered to mankind is not primarily intended so that men might be saved, but
rather it is intended that God might be glorified.
9.9.
The saints of the Old Testament were justified before
God through their faith, not as a result of their works, even those who lived
under the system of the Laws of Moses.
If those saints truly had faith, then they would of course obey God and
live according to the Laws that He gave and commanded mankind to keep. However, works and law-keeping were not
intended to be the means by which people living during those times were to be
justified before God. The men and women
of the Old Testament had their faith also reckoned to them as righteousness,
and this was possible because their faith had the righteousness of Christ
imputed to them in a futuristic fulfillment.
In the New Testament times, people have their faith in Christ reckoned
to them as righteousness, a faith which looks back to what Christ accomplished
on the cross of Calvary in history past.
10.
VS 4:3 - “3
For what does the Scripture say? “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned
to him as righteousness.”” - Paul points
us to the Old Testament scripture concerning Abraham for it states that Abraham
believed God and his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness
10.1. Abraham
serves as a type or illustration of how men come to salvation. Paul uses this incident of Abraham’s original
calling from God to demonstrate how that God calls all men, Jew and Gentile
alike, to place their faith in Him, which He then reckons to them as
righteousness. What is striking about
this to the Jew is the realization that when God called Abraham he was an
idolatrous pagan living in Ur of the Chaldees, and
that God justified him through his faith when he was a pagan living in a pagan
household but was willing to step out and leave his family behind when God
called him to go to a foreign land.
10.2. The author
of the book of Hebrews writes about Abraham’s calling in Heb. 11:8-10, “8 By
faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was
to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land,
dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10
for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and
builder is God.”
10.3. Abram, which
was his original name, left his people at the calling of God and went to a
place that the Lord said he would call him to, and it was at that first step of
faith that Abraham had his faith reckoned to him as righteousness.
10.4. The
righteousness of Christ was imputed to Abraham when he believed God and left
his family and home. His faith had an
object, it was God and His word. Abraham
believed that God was able to perform what He had promised, and in the
obedience of faith he went out.
10.5. After
leaving his home and Abraham had begun his journeying to the place where God
was leading him, in Gen. 15:2-6 God made more promises to him, and Moses
records that Abraham’s faith was reckoned to him as righteousness, “2 And
Abram said, “O Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, since I am childless, and the
heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram
said, “Since Thou hast given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my
heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will
not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be
your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens,
and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So
shall your descendants be.” 6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it
to him as righteousness.”
10.6. Have you
ever heard anyone state that once God was lonely, and this great loneliness caused
Him to desire to have fellowship with someone.
Thus, for this reason God created man.
However, this type of thinking is not theologically accurate. What happened is that God desired to love, He
desired to create man so that He could love him with His agape love. He desired to create man as a “free moral
agent” so that man could choose to love Him in return. He also desired to b e the object of worship
for all creation, which was His due since He alone is God.
10.7. God still
today wants man’s love. However, any
works that we may do today must be motivated by our love for Him. If we are doing things to try to make
ourselves be justified in His sight, then those works are not going to be
accepted by God.
11.
CONCLUSIONS:
11.1. As we consider this study and how to apply it to your life, I would ask
you to consider whether or not you are doing the following:
11.1.1.
Do you recognize that you
cannot and will never ever be able to be accepted by God or saved based upon
your own righteousness?
11.1.2.
Righteousness is reckoned to
a man or woman based upon his/her faith in Christ alone. Are you working or are you trusting in order
to gain God’s favor and love?
11.1.3.
Have you come to the place
of realizing that it is only by faith in Christ that you are accepted by the
Lord and thus because God fully accepts Jesus are you at peace with God through
Jesus Christ?
.