[audio]
Romans 3:21- 31 (previous)
Preached 5/19/2019
INTRODUCTION
All religions lead to God. That is the droning song of this generation. It is an appealing thought. Nobody (well, few people but I guess there are some)… most people hate controversy. And the easiest way to get rid of disagreement is to be magnanimous and to disavow truth and reality as nonexistent. Oh, we OF COURSE believe in, say, basic math and physics. We can be dogmatic about 2+2=4 (though that is falling out of favor with some modern education “experts” even) and the law of gravity. But for some reason God is not that way and can be many things at once – because… why? Well, because we hate to argue. (In actuality I have found that very few people are as dogmatic and argumentative and hostile as the “all religions are true” people.)
Of course if the saying is true, then it creates a lot of problems – if you are actually a lover of truth. Consider:
For some religions “heaven” is progression to godhood and getting your own universe or planet to be the god of. For others it is an endless stream of lives whose prospects are controlled by your actions in a previous life with the ultimate goal of realizing that your problem is that you think that you are somebody and deciding to fading into a state of impersonal existence as part of the pan-everything – sort of annihilation of personality. For others it is getting a personal harem of perpetual virgins and selfishly indulging the flesh forever. Jesus painted a very different picture. Also there is the issue of who goes to heaven. For some religions all people get a reward in heaven and some have punishment. So if all religions are true, there is a problem of an unknown destination. If you don’t know where you are going, what is the point?
There is also the issue of God – which is a rather big issue (if you ask me). That is really the whole point of religion, isn’t it? Well some religions believe that the universe is a god, in a sort of impersonal everything is everything kind of way. This god really has no morality – cruelty is equal to non-cruelty. Some religions merely worship human ancestors – who sort of hang around and cause trouble or help as their whims dictate. Again that gives no sort of overall morality. Some religions believe in superhuman gods that are just like sinful people and whose fights, ambitions and petty squabbles create the problems of humans. Others have a god that just really does not much care about the universe, or perhaps does not love people but may punish people for particularly bad deeds – but only if he is in a bad mood. Again, the God of the bible is completely different – He is personal, loving, just, perfectly holy, and has a specific plan and purpose for humanity. So if all religions are true, there is a problem of an unknowable God.
There is the issue of evil and sin and death. That is a thorny one, and probably the cause of the many different approaches to religion and people try to figure it out on their own. But we find that in various religions, the concept of right and wrong is either completely arbitrary, or considered an illusion, or else a specific rule-book has been written down. But even these rulebooks have glaring contradictions. Of the two most populous western religions, for example, one founder says to behead and defeat your enemies and those who will not submit, and one says to love your enemies and do good to them! Are both true? Another question we might ask – if a cannibal who has been told that killing someone and eats him benefits his village, the people who killed over 3000 innocent people back on 9/11 (supposedly) to serve God, and someone who never hurts a fly but instead forgives his enemies and tirelessly spreads the message of peace with God through faith with gentleness all get a pat on the head from this unknown God and be told “well done, my good and faithful servant” even though their deeds were so different? And if they do, would this be a good God or a horrible devil of a god?
The real question comes up when someone who celebrates the work of Christ (typically at Easter and/or Christmas) and who joyfully sings songs of praise to God for the death and resurrection of Jesus then turns around and says that “all religions lead to God and to heaven”, then I have a question: “WHAT IS THE POINT?” Because if people can also get to heaven by killing their neighbor, or by giving a bunch of money to a church, or by memorizing a text, or by meditating and not eating until they achieve an empty mind and an empty stomach, then what is the point of the death and resurrection of Jesus anyway? If He says that he is going to die for our sins and says “I am the way, the truth, and the life, nobody comes to the Father except through me”, but his death was not needed after all, then Jesus was a bumbling fool. Why die for the salvation of others if they can get to heaven without his help? Why be a Christian at all? Why get all excited at Easter? We would be celebrating one of the saddest failures in all of the history of the universe. Jesus would just be the one that Douglas Adams described as someone who “had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change”.
But as Christians we have a great Savior and a priceless message. The crucifixion of Jesus was not a foul up. And if we do not appreciate it but explain it away – we have lost everything. As Paul says without it we are the most pitiful people of all!
I. The Gospel is about the Atonement
The beautiful legacy we have as Christians is the Gospel – the “good news”. It is our hope. It is our creed. It is our message. It is our joy. It is our reason for existence. To paraphrase a line from a well known movie: “The Gospel surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the church together.” A church without the gospel is not a church. There are so-called churches all around us which are dead shells because they do not preach the gospel. The world and this country are falling apart because these dead churches have not given the precious gospel to the world – usually because they do not know it themselves.
Just yesterday I had a sad example of the world’s ignorance of the gospel and what a church is supposed to be. I was just at the end of a haircut and had mentioned to the woman cutting my hair that I was going to be putting together a sermon to fill in at church the next day. She said “so you are coming up with some jokes and humor to cause the people to be happy?” Is that why we are here? Sorry, I have no jokes ready today – except the “all religions are true” one, I suppose. (But it’s not funny.)
In the end, it all comes down to Jesus – who He is and what He did for us. The four gospels tell us of the life and words of Jesus. He lived about 33 years on this earth, and his public ministry only lasted for the last three years of his life. Yet Matthew, Mark, Luke and John devote 33%, 37%, 25% and 42% of their words, respectively, to the last week of Jesus’ life. His teaching is important, but He came to do a job. He came “to seek and to save” the lost. His death was not a mistake or a miscalculation.
If we really want to study the Gospel, the place to go is Paul’s magnum opus on salvation, the epistle to the Romans. As we surely recall, he started that book with a straightforward statement of why we need the Gospel:
Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”
This is not new with Paul, of course. Jesus, in the conversation with Nicodemus which is at the beginning of John’s gospel, followed the announcement of grace in 3:16 with this warning in verse 18 of that chapter:
John 3:18a “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already…”
But if we have the wrath of God on us, how can we be saved? Back in 2017 I had the opportunity to preach two sermons here and looked at the first three chapters of Romans to look at the answer presented there. We learned that there was a great scandal in heaven about the problem of sin in the world. Because God is the righteous judge and perfectly Holy, he has to punish all sin (or be unjust himself) and cannot fellowship with it without violating his absolute holiness. But even thousands of years after the fall of Adam and Eve, the fallen human race is still alive on earth and not immediately destroyed. We see in scripture that this was a subject in which the angels “longed to look” and which seems to have particularly annoyed Satan, who became “the accuser of the brethren” going to God to point out how much we deserve his judgment. There is a verse in proverbs that gives the problem:
Proverbs 15:15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
God’s “problem” is simple. How can a righteous judge justify the wicked without being wicked himself? The source of the devil’s animosity is clear and can be seen by any parent, especially one with more than one child. If they think that they can catch you in any unfairness or wrong yourself, then they can declare you unfit to judge them. Remember his cries against Job when God puts him forth as the best humanity has to offer.
But the big question that we need to address to really understand the work of Jesus is:
How can God be righteous if He ever lets a sinner go to heaven and escape judgment for sin?
That is (at least partially) why Paul starts his study of the Gospel with the verses right before the “wrath” verse that we quoted previously:
Romans 1:16-17 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."
So how is God’s righteousness revealed in the Gospel? For that we to today’s passage where Paul answers the question:
II The Atonement is God’s Righteous Solution
Romans 3:21-26 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
This is one of the most concentrated bits of Soteriology (doctrine of salvation) in the entire Bible. Paul has built up to this point by demonstrating the need for salvation but up to this point he has not explained the how of salvation. Now he pulls open the hood and lets us look at the answer to the great scandal of heaven. Note that this passage begins and ends with “the righteousness of God”. There is a lot of meaning here, and theologians have spent millennia exploring this, but suffice it to say that there are at least two kinds of righteousness here:
- The righteousness which will be reckoned to the sinner to accomplish his salvation, and
- The absolute righteousness of God which will not be tarnished by saving us. The salvation of the lost is an entirely good and righteous endeavor, and the means by which God will accomplish this is explained in the verses between the bookends of God’s righteousness in verses 21 and 26.
The basis for it all is the atonement accomplished by Jesus Christ. It is the crucial aspect of our eternal salvation and we MUST understand it.
Anyone who has taken a class in how to share the gospel is familiar with Romans 3:23, which is usually the starting point of any standard gospel presentation. The need for salvation is universal. But as we can see in this passage, the solution to our dilemma is also a universal one. Let’s go through this passage point by point. First of all, we see that
God’s Plan is not a secret plan
The first thing Paul writes is that this righteous plan is not hidden. The word manifested, (phaneroō fan-ay-rah-oh) means to reveal something that was hidden and to make it visible or known. When King Agrippa accused Paul of being out of his mind when he explained the gospel, he was able to point out that this had not been done in secret. Jesus told Nicodemus that “the Son of Man [must] be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (Jon 3:14b-15). If anybody who comes to you saying he knows the “secret doctrines” of Jesus – run away. The gospel has never been secret or the domain of a few enlightened mystics. It is designed to be accessible to the average person. It was designed to be “proclaimed from the housetops”. As Paul told the Corinthians: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Secondly, we see
God’s Plan is not based on our keeping his law
This righteousness by which we are saved is not going to be our righteousness – he has just spent three chapters establishing that fact, but he buttons that up with the words “apart from the law”. The summary of the first three chapters is coming up. Next:
God’s Plan is not a new idea
This plan is one that pre-dated creation. God knew before he said “let there be light” exactly what He would do to save mankind and redeem them for himself. He prophesied to Adam and Eve right after the fall about a Savior who would defeat the serpent but who would be bruised himself in the process. All through the Old Testament we see beautiful bits of the puzzle, and in Isaiah 53 we see the substitutionary atonement of Christ laid out in amazing detail, so Paul can say openly that “the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it”. Now Paul gets into the details of this plan God has to save us:
God’s Plan involves faith only
So if our salvation is “apart from works of the law”, what is the operative principle by which we receive the righteousness of God? It is “by faith”. Period. This was one of the rallying cries of the reformation: “Sola fide” – “only faith”. In response, the Roman Catholic Church responded (in the council of Trent) declared people “accursed” for teaching this doctrine. But we must understand that it is not just “believing in something” or “believing strongly” or “believing in your own truth”. Faith must have an object, because:
God’s Plan is about Christ only
This righteousness comes “through faith in Jesus Christ”. This was another one of the creeds of the Reformation: “Solus Christus” – Only Christ. As it says right here in black and white there is no substitute. It doesn’t matter if someone comes to you using the name Jesus. As Paul warned the Corinthians, there are many false Christs and there were false apostles in their midst who were teaching them about “another Jesus”. Our trust must be in Jesus, but the devil loves counterfeits! Also realize that this is not just “believing the facts” but trusting in Jesus for the provision of our salvation. This kind of faith reaches out in a desire for a relationship restored with God. As James warned potentially false “believers”: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!” (James 2:19) Even the devil knows who Jesus is – he has met Him personally after all!
Next we see that
God’s Plan is a promise
The most well-known gospel verse proclaims that “whosoever believeth in Him” will receive eternal life. Paul echoes that loving call here with a promise – this righteousness is available to “all who believe”. John 3:16 says “whoever”, which gives the scope of the offer. But Paul’s wording is slightly different. He says “all”. This is the basis for our assurance – the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God. Think about the assurance and hope that this gives us. As Paul wrote to Titus:
Titus 1:2 [NASB] in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,
If you are ever asked if there is something that God can not do, quote this verse. God’s promises are sure because He does not lie – it is contrary to his very nature. Finally we see that
God’s Plan is Universal
Romans 3:22b-23 22 ... For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
The plan of salvation is for everyone who believes, without distinction, because the need is universal. The same verse that gives us our assurance also cuts off any other idea that mankind might throw up. God has thrown out one life preserver – anyone who rejects it is without any other hope. Since all have sinned, God created a salvation big enough for all. But that also means that all who receive eternal life receive it through have faith in Jesus Christ alone, apart from works of the law. Jesus himself lamented that in the last days people would come before him saying “Lord! Lord!” and citing all the works that they had done for him and he would have to respond “depart from me for I never knew you”. It is to our eternal peril that we try to devise our own plans. The phrase “my way or the highway” might easily have come from Jesus’ warning about the “wide way” that leads to destruction. He warned that few people find what he called “the narrow way”.
III The Atonement Explained
So now that Paul has talked about how to acquire the salvation of our souls, he finally answers the question: “how can a righteous judge do the impossible and justify ungodly sinners?”
Romans 3:24-31 [ESV] 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Right away we see three big theological words that we need to define if we want to understand the truth here: Justification, Redemption, and Propitiation. What do these big words mean?
Justification
Paul says that we are “justified by his grace as a gift”. Since we do not earn it by works of the law but through faith, in the end justification is a free gift. But what does it mean? It is very important that we know. J. I. Packer said that “the doctrine of justification by faith alone is the Atlas that carries the whole of the Christian faith on its shoulders. If justification by faith alone stumbles, the whole Christian faith comes crashing to the ground.” So what is justification?
The word here signifies that God is making a legal declaration that we are righteous. It is the judge declaring a guilty sinner “not guilty”. It is much more than clemency or a pardon (as R.C. Sproul point out). It is not a partial forgiveness, or a piece-by-piece cleansing of our records. It is not “forgiveness of only the major sins”, leaving us with others to deal with ourselves. As Paul will write later in this epistle:
Romans 8:33-34 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
There is no higher judge than God, there is no committee equal with Him, no court of review, no supreme court. If God has declared us justified that means we are now considered completely righteous. We now have access to God. But this justification is a gift. Since we cannot earn it, we cannot lose it. We still haven’t gotten to the explanation of how God did this, but we now understand the scope of his work. We heard in chapter one that the wrath of God was revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man. We he justifies us we are no longer subject to that wrath.
As a side note, understanding the scope of our justification is very important. The Roman Catholic church teaches that most Christians still need some purification from their sins when they die. They will go to hell, but only a temporary hell, called Purgatory, where they will spend an unknown amount of time until they are good enough to go to heaven. The salvation we have through Christ gives us the assurance that God considers us righteous as soon as we are justified and heaven is our new home. Philippians 1:6 assures us that God is the one who will bring our salvation to completion “at the day of Jesus Christ”. Anyone who teaches differently steals the hope we have based on God’s promises. How does justification work?
Redemption
Romans 3:24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Our justification is accomplished through redemption in Christ. The word redemption here is a word meaning “deliverance” or “release”. It is related to the word for “ransom” or “ransom price”, which involves, for instance, the price that must be paid to release a prisoner from prison. While we might be able to pay a debt that we owe to our credit card company, we can NOT pay the ransom for our own souls. Our sin has created a debt that is infinite, because we have sinned against an infinite God who is infinitely holy and infinitely just. We could no more pay our debt to God for our own redemption than a child who has a penny could pay the US National debt. Consider the following verse from the Psalms:
Psalm 49:7-9 7 Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, 8 for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, 9 that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
The price of our redemption was the shed blood of Christ. Paul writes in Ephesians
Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
We get a bit closer to the answer to our question in Peter’s first epistle:
1 Peter 1:18-19 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
So to accomplish our justification, a ransom needed to be paid by someone else who had the resources to pay for our redemption. This would enable God to declare us righteous.
III Conclusion
We have gotten part way through the passage, but our time is just about up. As I said, there is a lot of theology packed into these few verses. We still haven’t gotten to the biggest word of them all in this passage – propitiation. We will have to wait for next week for that one, however, and the conclusion of this passage will require another sermon.
To conclude, I would like to whet your appetites with a little story.
Those who have been at this church for a while will remember that we used to use the “Evangelism Explosion” material here, and the lapel pin worn by Pastor Phil. The EE pin has no words – just two question marks. The question marks represent EE’s two “diagnostic questions” that are used to introduce a discussion of the gospel.
The first question is: “Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in Heaven when you die?”
The second question states: “If you were to die today and stand before God and He were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” what would you say?”
In one of his commentaries, Ligon Duncan tells the story of a campus minister in Mississippi who added a third diagnostic question when working with the young people on campus, because, as he put it “if you’ve been in an evangelical church in Mississippi, chances are you’re going to know the right words to say when those first two questions are asks.”
So his conversations with students went like this:
He would ask the first diagnostic question, and when they dutifully replied “yes” he would ask the second question. Assuming that they gave a correct answer – something like “well, because I trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin”. He then would say this:
“Okay, I’ve got a third question for you. So what? What if God says to you when you say that, ‘So what?’”
He knew that lots of people have learned to mouth the right words to that question but have no idea why that answer is the right answer. Ligon writes in his commentary that this is what he thinks Paul is doing in verses 25 and 26.
Next week we will either finish this passage and talk about Christ’s atonement and propitiation, or if Glen recovers quickly from his surgery in answer to our prayers he will be preaching from Hebrews about…. PROPITIATION.
So either way, we will tackle that big, important concept next week.
Thank you for listening.
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