Romans 3 - Grace Is Not Opposed to Earning But Effort!
God’s Faithfulness
3 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” 5 But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) 6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” 8 Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!
Paul didn't want his fellow Jews to think that He was disparaging the Jewish faith. God knew the Jews would be unfaithful and would break their promises to Him. But God's plan all along was to give us a righteousness that was wholly outside of us. Then, we would have no reason to boast. Because we are all unrighteous, Jews and Gentiles, God is certainly just in punishing us. But some were twisting this to say, if their sin brought God's righteousness, then they should sin all the more. Paul roundly condemns such false thinking.
When we do this today, we call it "cheap grace". When we take advantage of God's grace as an excuse to sin, Paul would be equally sickened. While we can't earn God's approval by doing good works, our good works should flow out of the gratitude we have for God's free gift of salvation. Dallas Willard famously said,
"Grace is opposed to earning not effort!"
No One Is Righteous
9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.”18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Even the Old Testament made it really clear that all of us were sinners. Another way of saying it was that "none of us are righteous, no not even one". Sin is when we miss the mark. It can often be related to our actions. Unrighteousness means doing the wrong things. It can be related to our "inaction". We say in our confession, "I am sinned against you in thought, word, and deed. But what I have done and by what I have left undone."
If the Law (the Law of Moses as summed up by the Ten Commandments) condemned everyone alike, then what is the purpose of the Law. Paul gives us his first use of the Law when he says,
"Through the law we become conscious of our sin."
We call this the "first purpose of the law". The Law convicts of our sin and helps us realize we need a Savior.
Righteousness Through Faith
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
These are some of the most important verses Paul has written. Paul explains there is another kind of righteousness that the Law and the Prophets in the Old Testament had pointed to. This righteousness can't be earned or bought, it is a gift that can only be apprehended by faith. We have all fallen short of God's perfect standard, and yet we have all given the gift that makes us righteous in God's sight.
Importantly, since God is righteous, he couldn't just let sin slide. He needed to account for it. We all owed a debt, we could not pay. Jesus was the only one who didn't a owe this debt to God, because He was sinless. Therefore, only Jesus could die for the sins of the world. Paul calls this the sacrifice of "atonement".
What does the word atonement mean? We often word used in sentences like, "He did this to atone for his sins." When a baseball player makes an error to let in a run, if he hits a homer, we say he atoned for his error. Jesus didn't atone for our sin with a homerun, but by his death on the cross.
One way to understand the word "atonement" is to break the word apart. I.e. AT-ONE-MENT
We become at one with God, as our relationship is CE-MENTED by what God did for us by sending His Son, Jesus, to die for us on the cross. Jesus' blood poured out covered all of our sins. By His stripes we are healed!
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
Paul concludes that we are "justified" or "made right with God" by faith. Faith is "trusting in God's promises". It is complete confidence in believing that God will do what He said He will do. In this case we are trusting what Jesus did for on the cross is what we need to be forgiven of our sins and be reconciled to God! But where does this leave the Law? Does it have any importance?
Rather than disregard the Law because of the new righteousness that comes by faith, Paul says we uphold it. So, we have come full circle. The law pointed out that we were unrighteousness and stood guilty before a holy God. Jesus was the only righteous One who ever lived, so he is the only one who could take on God's wrath on the cross so He might become righteousness for us. And now that we are saved, we obey the law out of gratitude not because we have to, but because we can!
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