Bible Studies
Holy Father, we humble our hearts before you. We want to rightly divide your Word, to understand it, to live it; for your glory and for our good. We pray in Jesus' mighty name! Amen!
I'll always quote from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 edition, unless otherwise noted. I frequently make comments in the middle of quotations using brackets [ ] or [[ ]] to make the brackets more obvious.
Last time we discussed Rom. 1:16, 17 in some detail. Today we'll discuss many key verses from Romans chapter 3. We'll start with verse 9. "What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin." Greeks means Gentiles here. Earlier in this epistle, the apostle Paul has already charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. All mankind, therefore needs to be saved through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul used the second half of Romans chapter 1 to demonstrate that the Gentiles were under sin, and he used chapter 2 and much of chapter 3 to demonstrate that the Jews were also under sin. The Jews had the Mosaic Law, but the Law did not solve the sin problem. The Law did not have the authority or power to dethrone spiritual death and sin, the spiritual death and sin that has reigned over mankind since the fall (see Romans chapter 5, for example).The apostle showed, in fact, that the Law intensified the sin problem (see Romans chapter 7, for example). God always planned to save all believers through the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning death, including the believers from Old Testament days.
"What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin" (Rom. 3:9). Under the guilt of sin and in bondage to sin. Like Paul said in Romans chapter 6, we were slaves of sin before we became born-again Christians. We were in spiritual death and under sin.
Then in Rom. 3:10-18 Paul quoted many verses from the Old Testament to help confirm that all mankind is under sin. (He quoted mostly from the book of Psalms, but also from the book of Isaiah.) Then in verse 19 he said, "Now we know that whatever the Law says ["The Law" here refers to the entire Old Testament, as it does on occasion. As I mentioned, Paul's quotations here came from the books of Psalms and Isaiah.] Now we know that whatever the Laws says, it speaks to those who were under the Law [In other words, it speaks to the people of Israel.] Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who were under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world [all mankind] may become accountable to God [accountable to God because of their sin]."
Verse 20, "because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight [The apostle Paul frequently made the point that nobody could be justified by God by the works of the Law, because man in the flesh (man in spiritual death; man without the indwelling Spirit of life and righteousness) cannot fully keep God's Law. The only way we can be justified in the full sense is through the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning death.] for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." The Law accurately taught about sin, but it didn't have the authority or power to dethrone spiritual death and sin, and to make people righteous with the righteousness of God. As we have discussed, God imputes and imparts His righteousness to Christians through the atoning death of His Son and by giving His Righteous, Holy Spirit to dwell in them. We are saved by grace through faith.
Verse 21, "But now apart from the Law [the Law which could not save us from spiritual death and bondage to sin and make us righteous with the righteousness of God] the righteousness of God has been manifested [[We discussed Rom. 1:17 in the last broadcast. I'll read Rom. 1:17 the way we discussed the verse, "For by it [by the gospel] the righteousness of God is manifested by faith [The righteousness of God is manifested in the hearts and lives of Christians. We must appropriate His righteousness by faith (faith in God the Father; faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; faith in the gospel of new-covenant salvation)] to faith [or "unto faith." That is, the righteousness of God is imputed and imparted to those who have faith]; as it is written, 'But he who is righteous by faith shall live.' " The apostle quoted from Habukkuk 2:4 to confirm the super-important point that the only way we can become righteous (with the very righteousness of God) is "by faith."
One of the primary points that the apostle made in Rom. 1:17 was that the righteousness of God is manifested in the hearts and lives of Christians. And we looked at quite a few passages from the Old Testament where God prophesied that He was going to manifest His righteousness in the hearts and lives of His people. For one thing, He prophesied that He was going to pour out His Spirit and cause His Righteous, Holy Spirit to dwell in His people and make them righteous. As we have discussed, however, we must walk by the Holy Spirit by faith on a continuous basis (which we are called and enabled to do) or the righteousness of God will not be fully manifested. Several prophecies showed that new-covenant salvation would come to pass through the atoning death of the Lamb of God. We briefly discussed Isa. 53:11 in the last broadcast. That verse speaks of our being justified and made righteous through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah chapter 53 is a key passage on His atoning death.
(Now back to Rom. 3:21)]], being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets." The old covenant, even though it was from God and was good, could not dethrone spiritual death and sin and manifest the righteousness of God in the hearts and lives of believers; it was not given for that purpose. But the Old Testament did bear witness to the fact God was going to solve the sin problem and make believers righteous through new-covenant salvation. For one thing, the Old Testament contains a large number of passages that prophesied of that salvation.
Let's go on to Rom. 3:22, 23, "even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe [[Back in Romans 1:17 the apostle spoke of the righteousness of God coming BY FAITH. Here in Rom. 3:22 he spoke of the righteousness of God coming THROUGH FAITH (using a different Greek preposition). There is no substantial difference between the righteousness of God coming by faith or coming through faith. Back in Rom. 1:17 Paul spoke of the righteousness of God coming "to" or "unto" those who have faith. The Greek preposition translated "to" or "unto" in 1:17 is eis; the same Greek preposition is used here in 3:22. I would translate "to [or, unto] all those who believe" here in 3:22, instead of "for all those who believe." So, in Rom. 1:17 Paul spoke of the righteousness of God coming "to [or unto] those who have faith," and here in 3:22 he spoke of the righteousness of God coming "to [or unto] all those who believe."
There is no substantial difference between the righteousness of God coming to (or, unto) those who have faith and its coming to (or, unto) those who believe. The righteousness of God is imputed and imparted to those who submit to the gospel in faith/to those who believe the gospel.]]; for there is no distinction; (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." There is no distinction among people in the sense that all are sinners and all need to be saved through submitting (in faith) to God and His Son and His gospel. God imputes and imparts His righteousness to us and manifests His righteousness in our hearts and lives through new-covenant salvation.
Romans 3:24, "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." Paul emphasized grace here by using the words gift and grace. God's gift is a manifestation of His grace. Paul repeatedly emphasized the point that our salvation comes 100 percent by grace through faith. It is not of works; it is totally unearned. We appropriate and cooperate with God's grace by faith. Faith is not a work; faith receives what God freely gives. Faith is nothing for us to boast about, any more than we can boast in ourselves for taking hold of a life preserver instead of drowning. God paid an infinite price in the Sacrifice of His Son to save us, and God (the triune God) must receive all of the glory for our salvation.
"Being justified as a gift by His grace." The words "being justified" here in 3:24 are being used in the very full sense we have discussed already (when we discussed Rom. 6:7). There is no way we can limit "being justified" here to being forgiven and having a legal declaration of righteousness. Being justified here includes God's overthrowing spiritual death and bondage to sin; His making believers alive (starting with the new birth); and His making believers righteous with His righteousness. His righteousness is imparted to us, and it is manifested in our hearts and lives as we walk by faith and by the Holy Spirit (which we are called and required to do). What the apostle said in Rom. 1:17 and Rom. 3:21, 22 about the righteousness of God being manifested in our hearts and lives is included in what the words "being justified" mean here in verse 24.
The Greek verb translated "justify" (in some form); the Greek noun translated "righteousness
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