God's Righteousness
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Introduction:
Introduction:
When we become born again we desire to live a life of righteousness and holiness. But it is not our righteousness is it? It is God’s righteousness, ours is no good, like filthy rags. This morning we are going to look at the righteousness of God and how it pertains to justification, redemption, and propitiation.
Recap:
Recap:
We are starting to wrap up Paul’s vendetta against sin and wickedness.
He revealed in chapter 1 the sin of the pagan (those who have no regard towards christ).
First half of chapter two he shows how those who thought they were morally superior were actually condemned by their conscience.
Rounding out the second and third chapters, Paul tells the Jew’s they also are condemned before God. God shows no partiality. He will judge the Jew and Gentile with the same measure.
Last week Paul brought up arguments that people would bring up against the gospel that He preached. And he would answer those objections.
The worst argument brought against Paul was, “Let us do evil, that good may come.”
Paul’s gospel and our gospel, deals with the free gift of grace, mercy, and love given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And the it was such a perversion of the gospel that Paul simply states “their condemnation is just.”
Our take away from these chapters needs to be:
We’ve all broken the law and that means we stand condemned. The Law cannot save us.
Even if we were to somehow live a perfect life, this minute forward, we stand guilty of our past disobedience.
Being a good person, a moral person, or a spiritual person will not save you.
V 21) Righteousness Revealed
V 21) Righteousness Revealed
We are now coming to the first diamond of salvation. Paul is going to answer the question: According to the gospel, how can ungodly sinners be justified by a holy God?
“But now” is a transition that we should marvel at. Going from judgement in verse 20 to justification in this verse.
This phrase speaks of the newness of God’s work in Jesus Christ- it really is a New Covenant.
What Paul is saying about the righteousness of God being revealed apart from the law is this. That there has been a plan revealed by which God can righteously save unrighteous men and women. The best part is that this plan doesn’t require the impossible, complete obedience to the law.
What this means for us is that salvation that is offered to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus is not of our own earning or merits. We are saved through Christ alone through faith alone.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
We have to understand that God is holy, He cannot and will never condone sin or overlook it. He is righteous and just for him to punish it, and the punishment for sin is death.
Yet God loves His creation and made a way of escape for mankind. There is a dilemma is there not?
God’s righteousness demands the sinner’s death, but His love desires the sinner’s restoration. (Eternal Happiness)
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
The gospel reveals how God can save sinners without compromising His righteousness.
This incredible plan is witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. In fact it was foretold in the types and shadows of the sacrificial system that required the shedding of blood for atonement.
The Old Testament said this righteousness was coming, it was foretold:
My righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment,
and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;
but my salvation will be forever,
and my righteousness will never be dismayed.
“Listen to me, you who know righteousness,
the people in whose heart is my law;
fear not the reproach of man,
nor be dismayed at their revilings.
For the moth will eat them up like a garment,
and the worm will eat them like wool,
but my righteousness will be forever,
and my salvation to all generations.”
Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my righteousness be revealed.
“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
V 22) Righteousness communicated
V 22) Righteousness communicated
Verse 21 told us how the righteousness does not come. It doesn’t come through the deeds of the law, it is apart from the law.
Now we are going to see how this saving righteousness does come. It is through faith in Jesus Christ.
Faith means: utter reliance on the living Lord Jesus as one’s only Savior from sin and one’s only hope for heaven.
It is all based on the revelation of the Person and work of Christ found in our Bibles. All of the OT points to the coming of the Savior, the gospels of the NT show us how Jesus redeemed us, and the epistles show us how to live in light of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Faith is not a leap in the dark. Faith demands the surest evidence, and finds it in the infallible word of God. It isn’t illogical or unreasonable either.
What is more reasonable than that the creature should trust his Creator?
Faith is not trusting or expecting God to do something, but relying on His testimony concerning the person of Christ as His Son, and the work of Christ on the cross… After the saving faith, the life of trust begin...
That trust is always looking forward to what God will do; but faith sees that what God says has been done, and believes God Word, having the conviction that it is true, and true for ourselves.
Faith is not a merit based work by which man earns or deserves salvation. It is not an attempt to earn salvation, but Faith is the simple acceptance of the salvation which God offers as a free gift.
“For there is no distinction:” Leads us into the next two verses. It is implying that the Gentiles and Jews are now on the same level of need for a savior.
Vv 23-24) Man’s need and God’s offer
Vv 23-24) Man’s need and God’s offer
Paul teaching about salvation is built around three major themes:
Justification: an image from the court of law.
Redemption: an image from the slave market.
Propitiation: an image from the realm of religion, appeasing God through sacrifice.
Justification solves the problem of man’s guilt before a righteous Judge.
Redemption solves the problem of man’s slavery to sin, the world, and the devil.
Propitiation solves the problem of appeasing the just wrath of God.
[23] Everybody sinned in Adam; when he sinned, he acted as the representative for all his descendants. But men are not only sinners by nature; they are sinners by practice too. We all have fallen short of the glory of God.
What is sin? The literal translation of it is, “missing the mark.”
Sin is any thought, word, or deed that falls short of God’s standard of holiness and perfection.
Sin is lawlessness the rebellion of the creature’s will against the will of God.
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
Sin is not only doing what is wrong but the failure to do what one knows to be right.
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Whatever is not of faith is sin.
But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
This means that it is wrong for a man to do anything about which he has a reasonable doubt. If he does not have a clear conscience about it, and yet goes ahead and does it, he is sinning.
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
All wrongdoing or unrighteousness is sin: and the thought of foolishness is sin too.
The devising of folly is sin,
and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.
Sin begins in the mind. When encouraged and entertained, it breaks forth into an act, and the act leads on to death.
At first sin looks so attractive, but hides a hideous truth that will lead to destruction and death.
Paul has shown that all men have sinned and continually come short of God’s glory. Now he foes on to present the remedy.
[24] The only way for us to be freed from our sinful state is through Jesus Christ and the justification that is given to us through Him.
His unmerited favor, given to us without regard to what we deserve.
a popular definition of justification is, “just as if I’d never sinned.” However this does not go far enough. When God justifies the believing sinner, He not only acquits him from guilt but clothes him in His own righteousness and thus makes him absolutely fit for heaven.
“Justification goes beyond acquittal to approval; beyond pardon to promotion.”
The reason God can declare ungodly sinners to be righteous is because Jesus the Messiah has fully paid the debt of our sins by His death and resurrection.
When sinners accept Christ by faith, they are justified.
Paul’s gospel centers squarely around Jesus Christ and if you hear a gospel that focuses on anything other than Jesus run away screaming.
Redemption: has the idea of buying back something, and involves cost. However, God pays the cost and because of that we are justified freely.
for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Vv 25-26) Jesus satisfies the righteous judgement of God
Vv 25-26) Jesus satisfies the righteous judgement of God
[25] Propitiation is one of my favorite theological terms and it sounds awesome to say.
Propitiation is the means by which the justice of God is satisfied, His wrath averted, and mercy can be shown on the basis of the acceptable sacrifice found in Christ
Three time in the NT Christ is spoken of as a propitiation. Here in this verse we learn that those who put their faith in Christ find mercy by virtue of His shed blood.
Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.
Christ is described as the propitiations for our sins,, and for those of the whole world. His work is sufficient for the whole world but is only effective for those who put their trust in Him.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
God’s love was manifested in sending His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
The tax collector prayer was literally, “God be propitious to me, a sinner.” He was asking God to show mercy to him by not requiring him to pay the penalty of his sin.
When we are talking about when Christ made propitiation for our sins, He went much further. He not only covered them but did away with them completely.
Passed over former sins: The sins of those OT saints who trusted in the coming Messiah were passed over, by God, in His forbearance. At the cross, those sins were no longer passed over, they were paid for.
[26] Now the death of Christ declares God’s righteousness. God is just because He has required the full payment for sin. And HE can justify the ungodly without condoning their sin or compromising His own righteousness because a perfect Substitute has died and risen again.
Believer’s Bible Commentary Excursus on Sin
Albert Midlane has stated the truth in poetry:
The perfect righteousness of God
Is witnessed in the Savior’s blood;
’Tis in the cross of Christ we trace
His righteousness, yet wondrous grace.
God could not pass the sinner by,
His sin demands that he must die;
But in the cross of Christ we see
How God can save, yet righteous be.
The sin is on the Savior laid,
’Tis in His blood sin’s debt is paid;
Stern justice can demand no more,
And mercy can dispense her store.
The sinner who believes is free,
Can say, “The Savior died for me”;
Can point to the atoning blood,
And say, “That made my peace with God.”
V 27) No room for self-esteem
V 27) No room for self-esteem
So Paul asks another question, “What becomes of our boasting?”
Where is our boasting in this wonderful plan of salvation? It is excluded, shut out, banned. There is no room for self-congratulation or credit.
By what law? Remember the Jewish mindset was that they were saved because they had the law, and they would boast in that.
There is no room for boasting! This is why the natural man hates being justified freely by grace.
Grace absolutely refuses to recognize our own merits (which are none) and gives no place to our pride whatsoever.
Vv 28-30) Justification for all
Vv 28-30) Justification for all
[28] Justified by faith apart from the works of the law: It isn’t that we are justified by faith plus whatever works of the law we can do. We are justified by faith alone, apart from the works of the law.
This is where we get one of our sola’s. Sola Fide: Faith alone. [5 Solas: Faith, Grace, Scripture, Christ, and to God be the glory.]
The righteousness of God is now offered to both Jew and Gentile. God is the God of all, not just a selected group of people.
Now not only is the righteousness available to both Jews and Gentiles, it is also recieved the same way by both Jew and Gentile.
God justifies both groups: by faith… through faith,
V 31) What to do with the law
V 31) What to do with the law
The question asked is a good one. “if the law doesn’t make us righteous, what good is it?”
Paul states, “By no means!” As the Apostle will demonstrate in Romans 4, The law anticipated the coming of the Gospel of justification by faith, apart from the deeds of the law. Therefore the gospel establishes the law, fulfilling its own predictions.
The law demands perfect obedience. The penalty for breaking the law must be paid. That penalty is DEATH.
If a lawbreaker pays the penalty, he will be lost eternally. The gospel tells how Christ died to pay the penalty of the broken law.
Jesus didn’t ignore the law, He paid the debt in full. Now anyone who has broken the law can avail himself of the fact that Christ paid the penalty on his behalf.
The gospel of salvation by faith upholds the law buy insisting that its utmost demands must be and have been fully met.
[Worship Team]
This is what we are to be remembering when we partake of communion together.
[please come forward and pick up communion (there are two cups)]
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Justification: Jesus not only frees us from guilt and shame, but also imputes His righteousness to us.
Redemption: Jesus has redeemed us from a life in servitude to sin, the world, and the devil.
Propitiation: Jesus satisfied the righteous judgement of God on the cross taking the full weight of His wrath towards sin upon Himself.
Jesus accomplished all of these through His death and resurrection so that we may have a relationship with Him. What is truly amazing as we partake of communion together is the insane reality that Jesus doesn’t do just enough, but goes so much further to give us grace not just mercy.
[Pray over bread]
[Pray over cup]
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.