In order to get passed on to the next grade in school you have to learn the material and pass the tests. If you want to get good grades, you have to study. To get picked for any sports team you have to practice in order to be good enough. The same goes for being picked for the lead role in a play. And if you want to get that prized promotion at work, you need to do well at your current position. Going through life we see that one has to earn their way to get chosen, one has to be good enough. One cannot make a lot of mistakes. If you do, you will lose out. In our Scripture for today, however, we see that no one is good enough on their own to receive the greatest of all things, that of a place in heaven, eternal life. Try as we might, doing the best that we possibly can, we will fall woefully short. So what can we do? Is there any hope? Let’s take a look at what God says in His Word.
Our Scripture today comes from St. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. He spent the first 2 ½ chapters explaining that before God, everyone stands guilty of sin, of breaking His laws. The Gentiles are guilty, the Jews are guilty, the whole world is guilty. We are all sinners before God, and there is nothing we can do. But as Paul continues in the middle of chapter 3, we see a dramatic shift. We come to a “But now…..” As Paul will explain in our Scripture passage, God has revealed His righteousness in a way that does not depend on our ability to try and do right, to try and impossibly earn our way, to be good enough to earn salvation.
As Paul begins to explain in our Scripture, God’s righteousness is revealed apart from the law (vs. 21). The righteousness of God is the righteous status that God gives to all believers. It is “apart from the law”, meaning that it is not earned, not merited, nor achieved by obeying God’s laws, which is impossible to do on our own. Salvation has always been by grace through faith.
This righteousness comes to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is available to everyone, however it is applied only to those who believe in Him and accept Him as Savior (vs. 22). Salvation is offered to all people universally, but it is applied individually by faith. Faith is the sole instrument of receiving God’s righteousness. This is something that many people take offense at, that God will accept anybody, literally anybody, who comes to faith in Jesus Christ. Think of the most terrible, sinful, and vile person. If that person turned to the Lord Jesus, and genuinely called upon Him for salvation, they would be saved and receive a place in heaven. However, if someone whom the world might think is a “good person”, but they die having never accepted Jesus as their Savior, they will not see heaven. Salvation is given to all who believe.
Paul continues by explaining that there are no “good” people, everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (vs. 23). There is universal guilt, every person without exception continually falls short of God’s perfect standard. To those who accept Jesus, they are freely justified (vs. 24). Justification is a legal declaration by God that the sinner is righteous because Jesus Christ’s righteousness is credited to their account. This is given to believers freely. It is unearned favor purchased by His Blood. To obtain His gift we must accept the truth that we have all sinned before God, which breaks our relationship with Him. This break can be restored when we acknowledge our sin, repent of it, and turn by faith to Jesus, and accept His death on the Cross on our behalf.
Jesus’ death on the Cross satisfied God’s just wrath against the sins we all have committed (vs. 25). God demonstrated His righteousness by punishing sin in Jesus. The Cross is not merely an example of love. It is a substitutionary, wrath-bearing sacrifice. Jesus’ sinless Blood blotted out our sins forever. But for that Blood to be effective in our life, we must accept it by faith.
The Cross allows God to remain just, as He does not overlook sin, but also allows Him to be the Justifier, as He can declare sinners who accept Jesus as righteous (vs. 26). This is the heart of the Gospel - God satisfies His own justice through Jesus Christ so He can save sinners without compromising His holiness.
Justification by faith eliminates all human pride (vs. 27-28). No one can brag that their good works earned them a special spot in heaven. Since salvation is by faith, no one can boast of anything. Otherwise heaven would be filled with people going around saying how good they were, and that my good works were better than yours, and yours were better than the next person, and so on. Paul concludes by saying salvation is by faith alone. No sacraments, rituals, moral efforts, or religious works contribute to it. It is the empty hand receiving Jesus.
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