Romans 3:21-31, “Justified by God Alone.”

Bible Text: Romans 3:21-31 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: Romans

Overview/Review of Romans 1-3:20: There are two groups of Christians being considered here: Jewish Christians, who have tried to follow the Law and Prophets for a very long time, remaining separate from the rest of the world and its practices; Gentile Christians – who don’t know anything about the Law and Prophets, or the traditions of the Jews, but they have believed in Jesus as Lord.
The problem being confronted by Paul, is that the Jewish Christians are demanding that the Gentile Christians conform to Jewish traditions and culture; while at the same time, the Gentile Christians are saying “no way,” because their hearts are right with God without practicing Jewish customs.
To be “good,” is to be declared righteous in the eyes of God, i.e., to be justified by God. You are righteous “if” you have fulfilled all the requirements of God; to not do so is to fall short, remaining unacceptable to God.
Those who fall short receive “God’s Wrath,” and God’s Wrath will come against all unrighteousness, falling upon all who are without a rightness in the eyes of God, who is perfect (1:18-32): false worship, sexual immorality (any sexual relationship outside of that between a husband and a wife), disobeying parents, gossiping, murder, lying, stealing, coveting, false testimony, and many, many more.
Paul has made it very clear (3:10-12) that everyone is a sinner, there is no one who is righteous, no one who does good, not even one; except the One Who came down from the Father’s side in heaven: God’s One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior.
And so, all people, those who practice Judaism (the Jews), and those who do not (the Gentiles, everybody else), are sinners who are deserving of God’s wrath.
No one can fulfill God’s righteous requirements, neither the Commandments given on stone, or those written upon our hearts (Romans 2:11-16) for one would have to be perfect, and only Jesus Christ was perfect, because He was fully God, as well as fully man.
Read Romans 3:21… Notice, God’s righteousness apart from the Law, has been made known [revealed], even so, the Law and the Prophets testify to this revelation of God’s righteousness that is apart from the law [rules of behavior, religious rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, and offerings].
Genesis 49:10 proclaims that “from Judah’ will come one who will rule all the nations; and Deuteronomy 18:18 tells us God “will raise up a prophet” from among the Jews, and God “will put [His own] words in this special messenger, God’s Servant, and He will speak with the full authority of God.
Isaiah 7:14 declares that “the Lord Himself will give a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel,” Micah 5:2 tells us this special child will be born in Bethlehem, in Judea; Zechariah 9:9 says He will
come into Jerusalem as victorious King and Savior, yet “gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
The righteousness of God was manifested in the Person of Jesus Christ, and it is He who, “fulfilled the Law and Prophets.”
Jesus was born to a virgin, as the prophets foretold.
Jesus was the personal presence of God on earth, the Great & Almighty “I AM.” – “I am the bread of life” (John 6:48)
– “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12)
– “I am from above” (John 8:23)
– “I am not of this world” (John 8:23)
– “Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
– “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11, 14)
– “I am the gate/Entry way” (John 10:7, 9)
– “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me will live even
though he dies.” (John 11:25)
– “I am lifted up from the earth” (John 12:32)
– “I am your Teacher and your Lord” (John 13:13) – “I am He” (John 13:19)
– “I am the Truth” (John 14:6)
– “I am the Life” (John 14:6)
– “I am the Way” (John 14:6)
– “I and the Father are one.” (John 14:10)
– “I am in you” (John 14:20)
– “I am the true vine, remain in me” (John 15:1,5) – “I am a king” (John 18:37)
One of Jesus’ primary accomplishments was to “fulfill the Law” and thus fulfill all the demands of his righteous relationship with God.
Matthew 5:17-20, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness (as opposed to the righteousness from God) surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus fulfilled the Law by completing it.
Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you
that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” 27-28, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Read Romans 3:22-24… Righteousness does not come from our good works; it is a gift from God. That is why God says (Matthew 5:20), you will not enter the kingdom of God unless your righteousness surpasses that of the teachers of the Law.
Our self-righteousness is like filthy rags to God. We all have sinned and so, we all fall short, miss the mark.
Isaiah 64:6, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
If we could earn our righteousness, it would not be a gift, it would be a reward. We receive God’s gift by trusting in what Jesus accomplished on the cross, i.e., He alone “fulfills” God’s righteous requirements enabling us to personally come into His presence.
When we genuinely believe in Jesus, His righteousness is fully imputed [placed upon, transferred] to us as a gift, totally removing the penalty for our sin.
In Romans 1:21-32, Paul’s declares how people gave up their knowledge of God in exchange for worshiping false gods; they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and committed other sins, gratifying their sinful desires while approving those who engaged in perverted sin, resulting in the penalty of bringing the wrath of God upon themselves.
Jesus came to take away all our sins, while at the same time granting us His righteousness. He offered the exchange of our sinfulness for His righteousness; He did this by taking our sin upon Himself, therefore incurring the full wrath of God upon Himself on the cross.
Read Romans 3:25… Under the OT system, animals died as a substitute for the sin’s of the offender, i.e., the sinner was forgiven until the next time he/she sinned, after which, another sacrifice had to be made.
Jesus is the Lamb of God, paying everyone’s sin debt so God can show mercy on us by removing all our guilt and sin’s condemnation, permanently. You see, although the Old Testament sacrifices were put to death and offered on the alter, they never suffered the wrath of God.
Placing God’s wrath upon Jesus appeased God’s Righteousness, and as a result, the Lord is able to justify all who trust in His sacrificial death.
Isaiah 53:10-11, “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and
prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand. After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by His knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.”
Read Romans 3:26… At the cross, God demonstrated His Love and Righteousness; He will punish sin and reward reward those whom He has justified.
It has been said, a loving God will not send everyone to hell; and a righteous God will not allow everyone into heaven. God remedies this “contradiction” by offering up Himself to receive the punishment due to us, so that we can enter heaven, the eternal home of the righteous. He is “the One who Justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
The marvelous truth is that everyone who comes to the Savior (repenting of sin and believing in Jesus) will be declared Righteous, having been Justified, fully forgiven, pronounced righteous, in the Courtroom of God.
Think about it, you and I are Justified through Christ – Just-if-ied never sinned, i.e., considered righteous!
Read Romans 3:27-31… No one is justified by keeping the Law; in fact, everyone breaks the law because everyone is a sinner. No one is righteous, and no one can become righteous, not by being good, doing good, or somehow acquiring anything good, we all fail.
God is not just a Loving God, He is a Just and Loving God; therefore, He must punish all unrighteousness. God requires perfection as the standard for those who will enter heaven, and so He demands perfection as the requirement therefore, a penalty must be rendered that is sufficient to punish the wrongdoer equal to their crime.
The penalty for sin (Romans 6:23a) is death, the good news is that Jesus took our punishment on Himself on the cross (Romans 5:8), so that we might receive the gift of God (Romans 6:23b) eternal life through Jesus Christ,
The Law of God condemns all of us as sinners, in desperate need of a Savior; whether Jews, given the Ten Commandments through Moses on Mount Sinai, or Gentiles who have God’s law written upon their hearts (Romans 2:11-16), apart from God’s mercy through Jesus Christ we are all doomed to an eternal hell.
Since Adam and Eve’s disobedience, which brought sin’s curse upon all of us, we have been responsible to do the right thing, to obey God and to honor Him, for God clearly declares that we all, everyone of us, has been given a knowledge of good from evil.
Genesis 3:22, “And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.”
Romans 5:12-13, “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned– for before the law was
given, sin was in the world.” 19-21, “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are all guilty of sin and therefore condemned to the death, if left to our own justification; but in Christ, we are completely and eternally justified, i.e., made righteous, both Jew and Gentile, by God alone; when we believe in and receive God’s Sovereign Gift, forgiveness for sins and eternal life through His One and Only Son.
Romans 10:9-10, 13, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Pastor Mike