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Romans Lesson 6

RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH
Romans 3:9-31
Key Verse: 3:23-24

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

A Christian businessman who lived in Boston was well known for his stinginess and cruelty. He once told Mark Twain, “You know what? Before I die I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I will climb Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud at the top.” “Really! I have a better idea,” replied Twain. “You could stay in Boston and keep them.” It’s sad that Christians, who are supposed to be the salt and light of the world, are often branded as those who are self-righteous, judgmental, arrogant and hypocritical. This kind of negative view of Christians might not be entirely correct. However, we cannot simply overlook this kind of criticism. The fact is, many of us are self-righteous because we often forget that we were justified only because of God’s grace. Today’s passage declares that we are justified freely through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. It also reminds us we should not think that we are any better than others. Let’s see why.

FIRST, ALL PEOPLE ARE UNDER THE POWER OF SIN (3:9-18)

Look at verse 9. “What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.” In the previous passage, 3:1-8, Paul declared that the Jews had advantage as God’s chosen people because they had been entrusted with the very words of God. (3:1) But their advantage as God’s chosen people didn’t make them better or more obedient than Gentiles. Why not? It’s because, like the Gentiles, they were under the power of sin. Paul is saying that by nature all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, men or women, young or old, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, Christians or Buddhist, Muslim or Hindi, Democratic or Republican, are under the power of sin. What does it mean that we are under the power of sin? It means that we are under the dominion and condemnation of sin. (Ro 6:15-17) By nature, we cannot but sin. We are sinners not because we happen to make a mistake. We sin because we are sinners, horrible sin-machines. Some of us are new parents. We often think that little children are angels. They are cute and naive. So we put some toddlers together, hoping that they would get along like angels. But sooner or later, we discover that they often behave to each other not like little angels but like little monsters.

In verses 10-18, Paul backs up the statement he made in verse 9 by quoting from several Scripture verses. Verses 10-12 are quotations from Psalm 14:1-3, which read, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Have you seen anyone who does not sin at all? In verses 13-18, Paul talks about how we use parts of our body, our mouths, tongues, feet, and eyes, as instruments of unrighteousness. Verses 13-14 are quotations from Psalm 5:9, 140:3 and 10:7. These verses show the horrible sin we can commit with our tongues and mouths. “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” We often talk about domestic violence. But verbal abuse can be even more damaging than physical violence. Our words are powerful. If we use words properly, we can heal others and build them up. But a careless word of condemnation can hurt others, spark like a fire and even ruin their entire life. Indeed, we all make many mistakes. But if we can control our tongues, we are perfect and can also control ourselves in every other way. (James 3:2) Yet, who is able to control his or her tongue perfectly?

Why did God give His laws to the people of Israel in the first place? In Exodus 19:5, the Lord said to Moses concerning the people of Israel, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Usually, people think that God gave them the law to make them holy and righteous by keeping them fully. But that was not a realistic expectation. Didn’t God know that no one is able to keep all the laws, including Moses himself? Yes, he did. Then what was His primary purpose of giving them the law? Read verses 19 and 20. “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” The law was not given to Israel to make them right or better by keeping them all. The primary reason for giving them the law of Moses was to show them how sinful and incorrigible they were, so that they might depend only on God’s mercy and grace. All people on earth are under the power of ins and desperately need God’s mercy.

SECOND, RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH ALONE (21-31)

Look at verse 21. “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.” Here, “righteousness from God” refers to God’s way of brining people into right relationship with Himself. What is God’s way? God’s way is faith, without keeping the requirements of the law. It was a declaration of war against Judaism. However, according Paul, this way of faith is what God had promised through the Old Testament. The Jewish Bible, which we call the Old Testament, is not just a collection of many “do’s” and “don’ts.” It’s rather a story of love between God and fallen humankind, as to how He would restore them from their unrighteousness. Besides the law of God, God’s promises concerning the Messiah is also written in the Old Testament. (Gen 3; Gen 22:18; 2 Sam 7;12,13; Isaiah 53) In fact, the promise of God was given prior to the law of God. Righteousness through faith is not a new idea of Paul. It was what the Scripture declares concerning the way of salvation for all humankind.

Look at verses 22 and 23. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Since we all have sinned, we are in big trouble. But the good news is that no matter what we have done or no matter who we are, we will not be condemned but be made right with God when we put our trust in Jesus. To be made right with God does not mean that we become perfect human beings who will never sin again. It simply means that we are not going to be condemned for our sins. We call it “justification.” There are three levels of God’s salvation for fallen humankind. Justification is the first step of God’s salvation for fallen humankind, followed by sanctification and glorification.

Read verse 24. “And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” The word “justification” is a legal term, used in court, which means “not guilty”, “acquittal” or “clearing from accusation.” We are definitely guilty. But God, who is the Supreme Judge, pronounced “not guilty.” Wait a minute! This is an unjust verdict. How can a terrible criminal get away without being punished? We surely deserve to be punished for the sin we committed. But verse 24 says that we got away from punishment without paying even a penny. Not only so, but we also are called to be God’s beloved children who are eligible for God’s eternal inheritance. God gave us justification as a gift and the basis of this gift is God’s grace (Charis), the pure unrecompensed kindness and favor of God, not anything in the sinner.

Then what did God do for us so that we may be justified freely? What is the foundation of God’s grace of justification? Did God just say to us, “Let’s just forget about your sinful past. I will forget about them all.” No, He paid the price. What price did He pay? The life of His begotten Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. In other words, God crucified Himself through the death of Christ Jesus.

There was a lady whose husband was having an affair. This lady, who was so faithful to her husband felt betrayed and totally devastated by her husband’s infidelity. She was deeply hurt and cried with many tears. Her three children got angry with their unfaithful father and didn’t want to see him at all. After about seven years, the husband’s girl friend was about to die because of kidney failure. The only way she could survive was to have a kidney-transplant. It was very hard to find a kidney that matched her. One day, the betrayed wife volunteered to give her kidney to this lady, her enemy. And her kidney matched. When her children and other family members found out what she did, they all got angry at her, saying that she was crazy. Because of her sacrifice, her enemy could live. Wow! But it was not a real story but the story of a soap opera. However, it’s amazing, isn’t it. What kind of parents sacrifice their child for the sake of others who are totally worthless and corrupt? From a human point of view, God was insane in doing this. It was too much. But that’s what God did. Why did He do this? It’s because of His love for us. For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (Jn 3:16)

Read verses 24 and 25a. “And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” We are justified freely because of the sacrifice God made for us. Here, we should pay attention to two words – “redemption” and “atonement.” The word “redemption” in Greek (apolytrosis) means to pay off, release or ransom. It is a commercial term, used in the slave-market. The word “atonement” in Greek (hilasterion) means “reconciliation” or “restoration” of a friendly relationship.

Look at verses 25b and 26. “He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” The sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross demonstrated God’s love for sinners and God’s justice as well. Through Jesus’ sacrificial death, we are justified. But Paul is saying that the death of Jesus also justified God. Wait a second! For what did God need to be justified? According to verse 25, God needed to be justified because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. What does it mean? It means that the sins of the Old Testament believers, who practiced the ceremonial cleansing through the blood of the animal sacrifice of Judaism, were not finally forgiven unless Jesus died on the cross, shedding his blood.

What advantage did the ceremonial cleansing through the blood of animals in the Old Testament? It’s like using a credit card. We can buy things with our credit cards. We enjoy the benefit of the credit cards. But we feel uncomfortable whenever we receive the bill because we are in debt until the bill is fully paid. And who paid the bill. God through Jesus Christ. Through Jesus’ death, God’s justice was satisfied and we are justified freely as well. Justification is God’s act for sinners based on the complete work of redemption through the sacrifice of atonement on the cross.

Justification by faith alone in Christ Jesus is the heart of the gospel and unique to Christianity. In verses 27-31, Paul defends it again in a question and answer style of dialogue. Look at verses 27-28. “Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” If someone was able to obtain righteousness by his or her human effort, that person can have self-righteous pride. But no one can boast about his or her salvation or even feel superior over others because we are justified freely only by God’s grace. All we can do and need to do is to be joyful and thankful for the gift of God’s salvation. Humility is not much of lowering ourselves but really appreciating what God has done for us by rejoicing in His salvation with great thanksgiving.

Look at verses 29-30. “Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.” Someone may argue that God may have different ways of saving people, one for Jews and the other for Gentiles. Paul does not buy this. There is only one way of salvation for all humankind. This is a very clear and challenging message. Many people ask, “Are Buddhists, Muslims, Hindi and people who believe in different religion and live very decent lives go to hell?” I used to say, “Yes, they go to hell.” But I found that it’s very difficult question to answer, not just because saying this is politically incorrect but because by saying it, I am claiming that I know everything. Do I know everything? Of course not. So I have to say, “I don’t know.” Am I being relativistic? Maybe. But one thing I cannot deny what I know of is the grace of forgiveness of sins in my life. I know I am a horrible sin-machine. But Christ Jesus suffered and died for me and gave me his grace of forgiveness of sins. I know that I was lost, completely lost, but Christ Jesus reached out to me and embraced me with his arms of love. I know that Jesus shed his blood on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, including mine. I know I am forgiven. He knows me and I know him. I know he wants me to reach out to others who still might be in the dark dungeon of condemnation. He wants to set them free as well because He is not only the God of the Jews but also the God of the Gentiles. In fact, He is the God of Christians and the God of all people who are still suffering under the power of sin.

Paul concludes this section by asking one more question in verse 31. “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. Those who are justified freely by the grace of Jesus through their faith are to live by faith continually. In fact, some people think that we don’t need the law of God any longer since we are justified by faith alone in God’s grace. But we should not confuse justification with sanctification. Justification is God’s act, which will not change at all. Sanctification is a process, a life-long process. We are called to live godly lives. In fact, only those who live by faith in Jesus’ grace can truly fulfill the law of God.

What does justification mean to us? First of all, I am not better than anyone. I am just a sinner whose sins are forgiven. That’s all. So I cannot boast or have self-righteous pride in me. I should always be thankful for the grace I receive. I should never forget or neglect the grace of God in Jesus Christ. I am called to live a life of faith continually in the grace of Jesus Christ and share the story of God’s love and grace with others, beginning from the people around me, my family, my children, my neighbors, campus students and anyone who needs the gospel until I can reach to all people on earth. We as believers in God’s grace should not be judgmental or look down on others. We should be more open, compassionate and wiling to listen to others. That is what Jesus did when he was on earth. He heard the cry of a lonely Samaritan woman and an intellectual Nicodemus. He didn’t just talk to them. He talked with them and shared the good news. May the Lord guide us to follow Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our Savior and the Super Model for everything. Let us praise God our Father who gave us the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

 
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