In this episode, we delve into the richness of Chapter 3, exploring the role and judgment of the law within the grand narrative of faith and salvation. We unpack how the law is designed to reveal the true condition of human nature, leading us to run towards the Savior. Discover the profound insights into Paul’s teachings, which articulate that righteousness comes not from human deeds but through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, the representative of all humanity.
00:00:05 Exploring Chapter 3 and the Role of the Law
00:05:00 Righteousness Through Faith and the Role of Jesus
So we’ve been exploring this wonderful chapter, chapter 3, full of richness and complexity and beautiful simplicity of faith too. And if you want to reassure yourself of salvation and what God has done for you, then I strongly encourage you to review occasionally chapter 3, verses 21 to 31. We’ll do that right now, in fact, because this chapter has spoken about the law, first of all, that the law is there so that the whole world may be guilty before God. And that’s not to make man feel guilty and God as an angry God. It is to reveal the human nature of humanity, the broken nature of humanity after the fall of Adam and Eve, in order for humanity to run to the Savior. Paul says the law, we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight because… The law brings a knowledge of sin, not a knowledge of righteousness. Now, think of that in terms of all the humanitarian performances of human beings, of society, of the way Christians present themselves so very frequently before God as moral people who deserve to be in heaven because of all the good that they have done. All of that is dismissed by the truth that the law brings only a consciousness of sin. Why? Because the law reveals the true condition of human nature. So that’s the judgment of the law, the judgment and reality of what human nature is. But what does God do in response to it? He brings a righteousness that is a harmony with God, a harmony to the law, not by judging mankind and straightening them out and whipping them into shape, but by bringing his own Son into the world. who becomes the representative for the whole human race, and through him, righteousness is brought back to the world. But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, that is, apart from human performance, is revealed, and it’s being witnessed to by the law and the prophets. In other words, the law and the prophets of the Old Testament prophesied the arrival of the Messiah, who would have to die for the sins of the world. not simply a conquering Messiah, but a humble servant Messiah who would be served by the world, according to Daniel chapter 7 and 9, but he would be served by the world after he had served the world, according to Isaiah 53, the servant who died for the sins of the world and upon whom the transgressions of the world fell. So this is the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. That’s verse 22. That faithfulness of Jesus, the representative, the one who subbed for every human being on the planet, the one who stands in for all humanity, the one who represents humanity before the Father like the second Adam of the human race, that is Jesus our Saviour, and faith in him is placed upon us, on all and upon all who believe. You see, this is not a generated human faith, a human-generated faith. It is a faith that is bestowed and placed upon the human race. What a wonderful gift this is. There’s no difference. It has to be placed upon humanity, not attained by humanity, because there’s no difference in humanity. Everybody has sinned, it says, and fallen short of the glory of God. That’s verse 23. And they are continually being declared innocent, justified freely by His grace, How come? How can sinners be declared innocent? Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. In other words, Christ Jesus stands in for you so that as you put faith in him, you know you are counted innocent. Counted innocent. You’re not intrinsically by nature innocent. But you come before him humbly and in repentance and of unbelief, and you say, Father, I accept the righteousness that you have brought to me. Now, how can all this come about? Well, verse 25, through the propitiation. What does propitiation mean? It means to appease God’s wrath or to appease wrath, appease anger, lessen it, diminish it. God’s wrath appeased? How do we do that? We don’t do it. Well, how does it say then that God’s wrath is appeased? Because he does it for himself. Remember that God’s love, God is motive, God, I’m sorry, let’s start again. God is love, 1 John 4, 8. His whole being is love. He loves the creation he made. He loves the beauty and the joy that he has put within humanity, the capacity for beauty and joy. But what has sin done? It has ruined the human race. It has brought us into misery and sorrow and grief and guilt and fear. And this brings wrath to the world. This brings God’s judgment upon humanity. But God doesn’t want to judge humanity to destroy it. He wants to take that judgment upon himself so that humanity can be saved. And so propitiation is God’s act of taking his anger and his wrath against humanity, against the brokenness of humanity, upon himself so that humanity might be free. Propitiation is the greatest truth in the Bible to reveal to us that God is going to redeem the human race. For if he takes the judgment of the human race upon himself, then that is how and why the human race is declared justified, that is, innocent, freely. This propitiation, you see, demonstrates two things. Verse 23, his righteousness, because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, and it also demonstrates at the present time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. God took his own judgment so that the world may know that sin is not passed over lightly as if it were not a serious issue. Sin is deathly. It has ruined the human race and can only destroy it. The human race will be redeemed by Christ’s death and resurrection, not by its just behavior because it doesn’t have any.” And so God needed to demonstrate that to us all. The death of Jesus is not only a statement of salvation, but also a statement of judgment. The death of Jesus is God’s judgment of himself on behalf of the whole of humanity. And the death of Jesus is also the salvation of the whole humanity. By that death. To demonstrate then at the present time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Boy, this is so rich. You could go on and on and on and never exhaust it. So then where is boasting, Paul asks in verse 27. Now why would he ask that? Well, he asks it because if salvation is by faith, then there is nothing to boast about. But that to the modern Christian doesn’t make sense because he thinks that faith comes from willpower, from human beings who have faith in God, in other words, who choose to believe in God. Well, if faith comes from human beings, then there is something to boast about, isn’t there? That is, that we have faith and others don’t, that we are somehow superior or better than they are. No, Paul is making it clear throughout this book of Romans that faith is a gift from God. Look at verse 28. We conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. If it’s apart from the deeds of the law, then faith is not from humanity. It does not flow from human will. If we are justified by faith, then we are justified by God, and we have no room for boasting about that faith. Look, compare verse 28 with verse 24, being justified freely by His grace. Well, wait a minute. We are justified by His grace? Yes, that’s God’s favor towards us. Well, if it says we’re also justified by faith, then faith must be part of God’s grace towards us, mustn’t it? Yes, indeed. So when you are in trouble, when you are in doubt, when you are overwhelmed with sin, when you are in grief and sorrow, Lift up your heart before God and say, Father, I thank you for the gift of believing in you. Do not strain and struggle to believe as if it were coming from you, but lift your heart in thanks to God and say, Thank you, Father, for the gift of faith. I believe in you, and that belief does not come from me. It comes from you, dear Lord. Oh, wow. How beautiful that is. And then verse 29, is God the God of the Jews only? Now, why does Paul follow up with that question? Remember what preceded it. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law, or is he the God of the Jews only? What does that question imply? It implies that faith is not exclusive to a few people. but inclusive of everybody, which is why God says, is God the God of the Jews only? The reason salvation is by faith is that it is going to be given to everybody. That is why Paul says, or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? And who are Gentiles? All, none, Jews. All the nations of the world. Oh boy, this is just too rich to swallow, isn’t it? Since, therefore, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised, that is the Jewish people, the people of the Jewish tradition, by faith, and and the uncircumcised through faith. And then Paul says, do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not. On the contrary, we establish the law. And some people just, oh, that just… They throw in the towel at that point. They thought they were reading all about grace, and then suddenly the law comes back in and says, now we establish the law. It doesn’t mean now we’ve been given strength to keep the law so that we establish it. What it means is that since the law reveals our sin—remember, we go back to 3, verse 20, by the law is the knowledge of sin— then the purpose of the law is to reveal our sin so that we may call upon Jesus for salvation, for his mercy, for his atoning sacrifice on our behalf. So the reason, the way you establish the law is trusting in Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening today, everyone. Colin Cook here. I want you to get used to the sound of a scholarship fund or an education fund, because I have to start thinking of—you remember Mark in Nigeria? Well, you recall that he has a 12- or 13-year-old son. who is going through school, and as he goes through school, there are more and more costs required, incorporated because of school textbooks and various projects that have to be moneyed after. And so I’m asking you if you will help me to help this kid go through school instead of ending up in a dead-end job at the age of 15. Think of it, will you? A scholarship fund. Thank you so much. I’ll talk about it more next time, and I’ll see you next time. Cheerio, and God bless.
