A Study of the Book of Romans

Lesson # 9 

“The Only Way To God!”

Romans 3:21-31 

       We come now to the portion of Romans which is a turning point in the book. It describes a turning point for the possibilities of humanity. It reveals the intervention of God to reach out to lost humanity and provide a way out for us.

       Up to this point in our study of the book of Romans, we have seen how every human being stands condemned before God. The picture has been painted of a humanity that is utterly and totally without any hope. All of us stand before God guilty as charged. And there is absolutely nothing that any of us can do about it.

       But that is not the final word. If it were left at that, we would have no choice but to live in despair, without any hope for deliverance. Thank God that He provides a turning point.

       This turning point is symbolized by the first two words of verse 21 – “But now.”  The contrast is between "then" and "now." It is a great transition. Then we were lost in sin, but now something has changed. 

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, (22) even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, (26) to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (27) Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. (28) Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. (29) Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, (30) since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.  (31) Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”       

God’s Answer to Man’s Problem – Justification.  (v. 21)

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.”

       Man has a very big problem. He is a sinner. We have seen that fact repeated loud and clear in these first three chapters of Romans. These three chapters contain the evidence of man’s complete failure to live up to God’s standard. It any thing is clear it is that it is impossible for man to be right with God if it depends upon his ability to live up to God’s standard.

       His problem is that he is lost and he cannot get to God. We have found that man cannot work his way to God. He cannot be good enough to please God. No matter how good we may get, we will still be missing the mark and falling far short of the glory of God! You can't get to God on your own!

       You cannot buy your way to Heaven. You cannot be good enough to get to Heaven. You cannot work hard enough to get to Heaven. However, you can believe in

Jesus, be saved by grace, be declared righteous by the Heavenly Father and go to Heaven with nothing but faith to show for it!

       I love the way D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones puts it in his classic commentary on Romans, when he says, “When the devil attacks you and suggests to you that you are not a Christian and that you have never been a Christian because of what is still in your heart or because of what you are still doing or because of something you once did – when he comes and thus accuses you, what do you say to him? Do you agree with him? Or do you say to him: ‘ Yes that was true, but now…?’ Do hold up these words against him? Or when, perhaps, you feel condemned as you read the Scripture, as you read the Law in the Old Testament, as you read the Sermon the Mount, and as you feel that you are undone, do you remain laying on the ground in hopelessness, or do you lift up your head and say, ‘But now?’ This is the essence of the Christian position; this is how faith answers the accusations of the Law, the accusations of conscience and everything else that would condemn and depress us. These are indeed very wonderful words, and it is most important that we should lay hold of them and realize their tremendous importance and their real significance.”   

[D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Romans: An Exposition of Chapters 3:20-4:25. p. 27]

This New Standing With God Is Acquired Through Faith (vv. 22-23)

“even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

·        It is acquired through faith (22)

       Yet this faith is more than just a mental acceptance of the existence of God. It is predicated upon a relationship with a living person, ‘through faith in Jesus Christ.” In John 1:12 we are told, “As many as received him to them he gave the power to become the sons of God, even to then that believe on his name.” It is not automatic and universally applied but rather as verse 22 states “upon all those who believe.”       

·        It is provided on the basis of grace (24-26) “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, (26) to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

       In verses twenty-four to twenty-six Paul gives three word pictures of the how this salvation has come about! I want you to underline the word “justified” and “redemption” in verse twenty-four and the word “propitiation” in verse twenty-five.

       First there is the word translated “justified.” This word comes to us from the court rooms of the Greek world. It is a legal term which to “declare one not guilty.” More than that it means to expunge the record; to declare the sinner righteous in the sight of God. God has provided freely what we have failed miserably to obtain ourselves. In John 15:25 the same word translated “freely” in verse 24 is rendered “without a cause.” Basically God offers salvation to those who do not deserve it.

       Secondly there is the word “redemption” this word comes to us from the slave market and means to “buy out of the market place.” The idea is that the slave is purchased and will never have to return to that position again. In Romans 1:18-19 Peter speaks of the great price paid for our salvation, “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

       Third there is the word “propitiation”

In the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint) the word translated here as “propitiation” (hilasterion) is used to indicate the blood sprinkled lid of the Ark of the Covenant known as the Mercy Seat.

Under the Old Testament sacrificial system the High Priest on the day of Atonement entered into the Holy Place and sprinkled blood from a sacrifice on he gold lid of the Ark of the Covenant called the Mercy Seat. The symbolism was very rich to the Hebrew Christians. The Ark of the Covenant contained a copy of the Ten Commandments thus as God looked down upon earth from heaven sees the law of Moses which has been broken by each of us. But he saw the sins of the people through the blood which had been applied to the Mercy Seat. When Jesus became our “propitiation” he became “mercy seated” for us. That is the sacrifice of his blood became the once for all time sacrifice for sin. Hebrews 9:10-11 states “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. (12) Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”

       “The eighteenth century English Poet, William Cowper, had a miserable childhood. Only six years old when his mother died, he was put in a boarding school where he was bullied and beaten mercilessly by the older boys. He tried to study law but was overwhelmed by terror. He felt he was losing his mind. He tried to commit suicide twice, and finally the twenty-five year-old Cowper was committed to an asylum.

       Cowper came under the care of a man named Dr. Cotton. Cotton was a Christian and introduced Cowper to salvation through Jesus Christ. Cowper himself tells of turning to the Bible for comfort. The first verses he saw were Romans 3:24-25. After reading them he said:

       Immediately I received strength to believe, and the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness shone upon me. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement he had made, my pardon in his blood, and the fullness and completeness of his justification. In a moment I believed and received the Gospel.

This was Cowper's turning point. His life was immediately transformed. He had experienced an encounter with God's grace. Because of this he would later write:  

“There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins:
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains. 

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he,
Washed all my sins away. 

E'er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.”

[As quoted by J. David Hoke. “The Turning Point” www.horizonsnet.org/sermons/rom14.html] 

[Charles Swindoll. “Coming to Terms With Sin” Bible Study Guide for Romans 1-5 (Fullerton, Calif: Insight for Living, 1977) p. 40]

The Results of Forgiveness (vv. 27-31)

 “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. (28) Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”            

·        There is no one who can boast. (v. 27)

       Faith eliminates the pride of human effort, because faith is not something we do!

Every religion in the world is either a “do” religion or a “done” religion. The “do” religions are all based on the notion that man must “do” something to please God. The ideas of what you must “do” varies from on religion to another, it may be that one must adhere to a certain set of rules, or pray a certain amount of times daily or join a certain church, do good works, give a certain percentage of your income, make pilgrimages, give to the poor, take communion, etc. In fact every religion in the world except one is a “do” religion. Christianity is a “done” religion! Jesus Christ has already done everything that is necessary to satisfy the just demands of God.

Therefore there is nothing for man to boast about. In Ephesians 2:8   Paul declares, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,(9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  Faith exalts what God has done.

       Faith admits we cannot we can not measure up to God’s standards. Faith is based on a relationship with God not performance.

·        There are none that are excluded (vv.29-31)

“Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, (30) since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

(31) Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”

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