21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
Over the past 10 lessons, for 3 chapters, Paul has expounded on the situation of mankind in respect to the law of God. He has laid out with the precision and logic of a lawyer the fact that all mankind has knowledge of God through general revelation and natural law. We were created in God’s image, and still retain that ability to know something about the one true God through these means. However, because of our sin nature, instead of embracing God, we suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness. We exchange the glory of God for various parts of creation in our worship. We choose to serve created things rather than the Creator because we are more comfortable with them and can control them. When we observe The Holy God, the contrast shows us our sin and our unrighteousness. In our natural sinning state we recoil from that Holiness. Even those that seem to be good and righteous are in dire need of help. Everyone, both Jews and Gentiles alike, will suffer the wrath of God because we have a law from God that is intended to govern us yet we cannot live up to it through our own means. The law demonstrates to us our sin, our missing the mark. Paul says that no one through the law will be justified in God’s sight. No one by living according to all of the requirements of the law will ever be declared righteous by God. If that is the case, then we are in a predicament in which we cannot help ourselves. But all is not lost.
In the next several lessons, beginning with Romans 3:21 – 31, Paul will expound on the gospel and all of its characteristics and benefits. These verses are at once a conclusion to what Paul has been discussing in the previous chapters, and at the same time an introduction to the details he will present beginning in chapter 4. Read the rest of this entry »
