A review of part 1 will help tie this into part 2. Paul explains the failed situations in Romans 3 verses 10-18. Then in verse 19 he explains the futility of trying to live under the law.
19 We want to be clear that whatever the law says, it says to everyone who is under its authority. Its purpose is to muzzle every mouth, to silence idle talk, and to bring the whole world under the standard of God’s justice.
As we’ve discussed many times before in previous teachings on this website, the law will always try to control what it cannot contain. Freedom is threatening to the religious legalist who wants to control the masses with fear management. Those who have received the revelation of the gift of God and the freedom therein are threatening to religion. It simply drives religious people crazy.
20 Therefore, doing what the law prescribes will not make anyone right in the eyes of God—that’s not its purpose—but the law is capable of exposing the true nature of sin.
Paul really says this well. Actually it’s the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul. No wonder it’s so good. Scripture says DOING what the law prescribes will NOT make anyone right in the eyes of God. Besides, that’s not what the purpose for the law was. It was to show you how incapable you are in your efforts to keep the law, so that you would realize you need a Savior.
So here comes another one of those big BUTS in the bible.
21 But now for the good news: God’s restorative justice has entered the world, independent of the law. Both the law and the prophets told us this day would come.
I love this. Paul says “Hang in there. Wait a minute. I’ve got some really good news for you. I know what I’ve said up until this moment has been mostly depressing, but check this out.
22 This redeeming justice comes through the faithfulness of Jesus, the Anointed One, the Liberating King, who makes salvation a reality for all who believe—without the slightest partiality.
It’s the faithfulness of Jesus. It’s not your faithfulness. You can’t do it. It’s Jesus who MAKES salvation a reality for everyone. God did something that works for everyone. The key is they have to believe and receive.
23 You see, all have sinned, and all their futile attempts to reach God in His glory fail.
This is one of the most misquoted and improperly taught verses in the bible. Here it is in the King James version. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”. Look at it carefully. Religious preachers and teachers will burden you by saying “we are all sinners. We all sin and fall short”. That is not what that verse says.
From those false statements comes this religious phrase that they believe sounds so spiritual. “We are all just sinners saved by grace.” I’M NOT!!! The verse says “For all HAVE sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. That’s past tense. So I’m not an old sinner saved by grace. I WAS a sinner saved by grace. Now I’m the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and He has made me holy. Just look at the next verse which confirms this.
24 Yet they are now saved and set right by His free gift of grace through the redemption available only in Jesus the Anointed. 25 When God set Him up to be the sacrifice—the seat of mercy where sins are atoned through faith—His blood became the demonstration of God’s own restorative justice. All of this confirms His faithfulness to the promise, for over the course of human history God patiently held back as He dealt with the sins being committed.
Again we see God Remains Faithful. He held back patiently as He dealt with the sins being committed. How did He deal with them? At Calvary, that’s how. There’s a song that “The Cathedrals” would sing that has a verse in it that goes like this. “Thanks to Calvary, sin don’t live here anymore.” That’s a powerful truth.
26 This expression of God’s restorative justice displays in the present that He is just and righteous and that He makes right those who trust and commit themselves to Jesus.
He makes us right. Verse 20 said it. It stated “doing what the law prescribes will not make anyone right in the eyes of God”. It’s the faithfulness of Jesus and the finished work at the Cross that redeems us, justifies us, sanctifies us and makes us whole. Paul comes to a conclusion after speaking all these verses. Here it is.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Remember the old rule that if you come upon a “Therefore” in the bible, you must find out what it’s there for? Well, Paul says we must conclude. After everything that’s been said, we must come to this conclusion. After all the truth that has been presented, we must come to this conclusion.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: So He’s not just the God of the Jews. We must conclude that He is God to everyone. 30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
How will God justify the circumcision or Jews and the uncircumcision or Gentiles. The same way. Faith. The question is asked after making a statement in Luke 18:8. It says that after the Son of Man returns to the earth, will He find faith.
It’s all about faith, not performance, adherence to rules and laws, or living up to a set of man-made traditional edicts. It’s faith which acts to receive what Jesus has already provided by His obedience even unto death at Calvary.
Now we could go on to Chapter 4, and maybe I’ll do that in another teaching. For now, I believe there’s enough here for you to grasp the truth that God is more interested in your wrong believing than He is your poor behavior. Regardless of how poorly you behave, God Remains Faithful.
Scripture promises that those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It doesn’t add anything to it like going to church every Sunday, praying 3 hours a day, reading your bible through every year, or paying a tithe of 10%. Those are all man-made controlling rules.
God remains faithful to His Word. He watches over His Word to perform it. It’s not your performance, it’s the faithfulness of Jesus. He makes right those who trust and commit themselves to Jesus. He isn’t impressed with those who attempt to make themselves right by committing themselves to the law.
God is gracious, loving, and merciful. As we’ve seen in these scriptures, He is the one true God and He has no favorites. All people are treated the very same. As such, men and women from every corner of the earth are not only declared right, but ultimately are made right as well.
It doesn’t happen as a result of our efforts. It happens through God’s actions in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It was Jesus who was crucified for our misdeeds and raised to restore what has been wrong all along. So the promises of God made long years ago are still yeah and amen. God Remains Faithful to all who hear and receive this great grace. Grace and Peace.
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