Introduction

  • Good morning, and a very warm welcome to Medway Community Church this morning.
  • You will be glad to know that there will be no cricket analogies this morning - no sports metaphors - and definitely no poor puns
    • Beside I don’t think there are any left
    • I asked Stuart to help me, but he would not bale me out 

Deep, deep theology

  • Now if you have been with us in the last couple of months you will know that we are busy going through the book of Romans.
  • And if you will recall back in September Lawrence spoke on Romans Chp 1 vs 16-17, and during the course of his sermon he made a claim or a statement about the verses. One which I repeated the following week.
    • Can you remember what that claim was?
    • Correct, what he said was that these two verses, v16 & 17, unlocked the whole book.
    • They are essentially the theme of the book.
    • V17, in particular, introduces the central idea - this idea that our Justification - our right standing with God - is by Faith.
    • That is the core idea!
    • The rest of the book is dedicated to unpacking and explaining this in great detail.
  • 17 For in the gospel (GOOD NEWS about Jesus) the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
  • And then in v18, Paul promptly jumps straight into the thick of it and begins to deal with man's unrighteousness and how we are deserving of God’s Wrath.
  • The section of scripture from v1:18 → 3:20 is dedicated to understanding our position of peril.
    • Our last six speakers were tasked with dealing with: 
      • God’s Wrath towards us; our guilt; God’s righteous judgement; the guilt of the Jews; God’s Faithfulness; and that none are righteous
      • Why six weeks on this section?
      • 1️⃣ Well we need to acknowledge that we are not dealing with surface issues, we are dealing with deep theology.
      • We need to go beyond a superficial reading of the scripture, and pursue an in-depth understanding.
      • A deep, rich, gospel-centered understanding that then informs every aspect of our lives.
      • A deep understanding that protects us from error.
      • We need to know the what and why.
      • In the book of Hebrews the writer addresses the need for maturity, the need to move from milk to solid food.
      • Hebrews 5:11-14
        • 11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
      • Now although this was meant as a rebuke to the Jewish Christians, this morning I would like us to take this as an encouragement, because as a church our study - is solid food!
        • And I want to encourage you this morning to stay the course.
      • 2️⃣ In order for us to be saved, we need to be saved from something.
      • In order for us to understand the teaching about righteousness, we need to understand our unrighteousness!
      • As a young boy I traveled by train to school everyday, and game we used to play was “tell your mama I saved your life”
        • Someone standing close to the edge of the platform we would pretend to push them in, but save them just in time.
        • Was I saving them for imminent death? No, because they weren’t in danger to start with, I wasn’t really saving them.
          • I was just playing a trick.
      • For us to fully appreciate God’s righteousness, we need to fully understand our unrighteousness.
  • 3:19-20 is a summary of sorts of the section
    • 19 Now we know that whatever the law says (the old testament, the prophets, everything written in the Torah), 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.
      • Nothing you do, including observing the law - or living a good life - will ever make you righteous in God’s sight.
      • The purpose of the law is not to make us righteous - it is to reveal our unrighteousness! To make us aware of our sin!
      • There is no excuse - we are all accountable to God.
  • That brings us to the passage we are dealing with this week, Romans Chapter 3:21-31.

Romans 3:21-31

Righteous before God

  • After all this bad news of our sinfulness and God’s condemnation, Paul provides us with this incredible transition - a turning point in history
    • These might just be the two most important words in the Bible - “BUT NOW”
    • These words reverse everything that has just come before.
    • It is a transition from judgement → justification
    • From condemnation → freedom
    • They are words of hope
    • There is a path to the righteousness of God which does not depend on us keeping God's law.
  • There is a way to be declared not guilty - BUT it isn’t by following the law.
    • The purpose of the law was NOT to provide a path to righteousness but to make us aware of your sin.
    • The only way for us to be declared righteous is for there to be a way separate from the law.
    • BUT it isn’t that the righteousness of God is revealed apart from the Old Testament - rather the law & the prophets play a critical role in standing witness and testifying to this revelation.
      • What Paul is saying here is that this new thing has not been unexpected - it is not a surprise. 
      • The Law and the Prophets have been pointing to God's righteousness all along.
      • In fact, it was always God's plan to arrive at this "but now" as a way for us to be saved.
      • It was His plan from before the world was formed.
    • However, this ‘new way’ is revealed apart from the principal of the law
      • It is apart from the legal relationship to God
      • It is separate from the idea of earning or merit based righteousness
      • It is a way that does not rely on our best efforts or good works.
    • God’s righteousness is not offered to us as something to pick up the slack between our efforts to keep the law and God’s perfect standard.
      • It is not given to supplement our own righteousness;
      • Rather, it is given completely apart from our own attempts at righteousness
  • OKAY, so if righteousness does not come from the deeds of the law - where does it come from?
  • In v22, Paul tells us that our righteousness comes ‘through faith in Jesus Christ’
    • It comes from trusting Jesus to take away our sins
    • Now Paul chooses his words very carefully here - in these verses, and others, he uses the terms BY faith and THROUGH faith interchangeably - but in this instance, rather than using the term BY FAITH - he chooses to use the words THROUGH FAITH.
    • In other words this righteousness isn’t BECAUSE of our faith!
    • You see if our salvation was based on our faith - then what we are saying is that it is our faith has earned us our salvation
    • Paul points out that this ‘new way’ to our salvation is not merit based.
    • And so we cannot be saved BY our faith, but rather that it is THROUGH Faith in Jesus that the gift is given.
    • A little later in v27-28 repeats the idea by asking a series of questions… this time using the term BY faith, but separates it from the works of the law.
      • 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.
    • This is the defining difference between Christianity and the other world’s religions!
    • This is the difference between truth and falsehood
    • This is what makes the Bible true
    • You see all the other religions are based on this simple observation…
      • You can earning your way into heaven - you can earn your way into God’s good graces by the things that you do
      • Our salvation in Christ stands in direct opposition to merit
      • That means you cannot say ‘well let me clean up my act and then I will give my life to Jesus’
      • Nor can you say that this doesn’t apply to you!
      • BECAUSE v22 “there is no difference, … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
      • This is a universal statement - is applicable to all mankind - past present and future - to both Jew and Gentile
      • But, thank you Lord, it is immediately answered by the universal offer of grace
        • “And all are justified freely by his grace”
  • You see folks - God’s solution is available to all of us regardless of your background or past behaviour

3 Truths

  • Now after having made this statement Paul begins to develop the teaching about salvation - in a couple of sentences he introduces three incredible truths about our salvation:
    • 1️⃣ Justified - which gives us an image of a court room
      • As sinners we stand guilty before a Holy and Righteous God - our sin is a violation of His perfect nature and it must be dealt with
      • We fall short of His Glory in many, many ways.
        • We suppress the truth
        • We fail to give Him the Glory that is due His name
        • We go our own way and reject Him
      • As a man stands before a Just Judge - So we stand before a Just God - and we are guilty on all charges
      • JUSTIFICATION deals with the problem of our guilty verdict
      • When we freely accept His gift - we are declared not guilty
      • All charges are removed from our account
      • From a legal perspective - it is as if we had never been charged
      • Our record is wiped clean
      • Now when we talk about FREE - we are not saying that it is cheap or discounted - like a good Black Friday sale
        • Rather because of His unmerited favour, we have been justified  - we do not get the punishment we deserve
      • The only way to be justified is to be justified freely - we cannot purchase it by our good works
      • You see - If it isn’t free - we cannot have it at all
    • 2️⃣ The second truth that Paul introduces is that of Redemption - which is the image of a slave market
      • Originally it was used to describe the payment and release of prisoners of war - a ransom
      • Quickly it was extended to cover the freeing of slaves
      • In the OT if an Israelite became too poor he had to sell himself into a type of slavery to another Israelite where he was able to work off his debt.
        • Their next of kin was allowed to redeem them by buying their freedom - the price? paying what was owed on their behalf
        • The picture that Paul is painting for us here - is that We have fallen short of God’s Glory and in so doing we are slaves to sin - slaves to the world - slaves to our own base desires - and slaves to Satan himself.
        • But Christ bought our freedom - he bought us with his life - His life for ours - we belong to him
        • 1 Corinthians 6:20 “for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
        • What I want you to note here is that we are justified - freely by his Grace (his unmerited favour) - through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.
        • In other words, our sins are wiped clean because the price has been paid
        • God is just! He doesn’t just wave a wand and magically take away all our sins
          • To do so would go against his nature
          • Our sins have to be dealt with
          • Without Redemption there is no Justification
        • So why is that so important? Aren’t we just getting carried away here? Let's move on!
          • NO, this is the meat, the solid food. This is how we refute error. We need to understand this.
          • Are you familiar with the concept of Karma?
            • It is from Hinduism, Buddhism
            • What you do in this life affects what happens to you both in this life and the next
            • What you sow is what you will reap - There are consequences to your actions
            • On the surface this sounds like a sound principal, and on the surface it is
            • You do good things and good things will happen to you
            • You do bad things and these will be visited back on you
            • In other words - when you die one day - you will get what you deserve!
            • There is no mercy, there is no justification, there is no redemption - There is only Justice and punishment
          • What about Islam
            • Well if you live a good life and follow the teachings of the prophet - you may be granted access to heaven
            • And there all your sins will be forgiven
            • But what about the penalty for your sins? There isn’t - it is magically taken away
            • There is no redemption - the punishment for your sin is never addressed
            • Allah may be merciful but he is not Just nor Righteous
        • It is only in the gospel
          • It is only in Jesus that we have forgiveness for our sins
          • He took our punishment upon his shoulders and paid the price we deserve
          • Why? So that we might be right with God
    • 3️⃣ The third truth that Paul reveals about our salvation is that God presented Christ as a Sacrifice of atonement - here he refers the appeasing of God through sacrifice
      • The Ark of the Covenant, that God instructed Moses to build, was a representation of God's presence among the Israelites and His covenant relationship with them
        • Inside the Ark was the evidence of man’s great sin:
          • the ten commandments
          • the manna received ungratefully
          • The budded rod of Aaron, showing man’s rejection of God’s leadership
        • Up over the Ark were the Golden Cherubim - symbols of God’s Holy presence
        • In between the two was the mercy seat - the lid covering the Ark
          • On the Day of Atonement the blood of the sacrificial lamb was sprinkled on the Mercy seat
          • And in so doing God’s wrath was averted because a substitute had been slain on the Israelites behalf
        • Jesus is our Mercy seat!
        • By His death - and by His blood - He was the perfect substitute sacrifice for us. 
          • He was judged in our place, so that the Father could demonstrate His righteousness in judgement against sin, while sparing those who deserved the judgement.
          • V26 “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.”
        • God declares Christ’s death to be an appropriate sacrifice for our sin - both past - present - and future - His wrath completely satisfied
      • It is easy to see how someone could be only just - simply sending every guilty sinner to hell, as a just judge would do
      • It’s easy to see how someone could only be the justifier - simply telling every guilty sinner that they are not guilty - with the wave of an autopen
      • Only God could find a way to be both just and the justifier
      • Only God could provide a way where both Justice and Mercy meet

Relevance of the law?

  • You may then ask, what then of the law? Is it of any use to us today?
    • I mean if the law does not make us righteous, what good is it?
    • Paul anticipates this exact question and In the very last verse of our passage, verse 31, he asks, "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."
      • Our relationship to the law has been completely transformed.
        • The law is no longer our Judge, screaming our condemnation.
        • The law is no longer a ladder upon which we must climb to try and reach God.
        • The law is now a guide, showing us how to walk in the new life Christ has purchased for us.
        • We don't obey the law to become righteous.
          • But we do, however, seek to obey God because we have been made righteous in Him. 
          • We are no longer slaves to sin, but children of God.

Conclusion

  • My question and the challenge this morning is this: Are you still trying to earn what God has given you freely?
  • You may be sitting here this morning and you have never received Christ as your saviour
    • You've been listening to this, and maybe you've been thinking, "I need to clean up my act first. I need to get my life in order, and then I'll come to God."
      • You are trying to earn your salvation.
    • The message of Romans is clear: you cannot.
    • The challenge for you today is to stop trying and start trusting.
    • Stop doing and start receiving.
    • Receive the free gift of Justification.
    • Accept the Redemption that Christ has paid for.
    • Trust in His Atonement as the only sacrifice that can make you right with God.
  • To the believer - who accepted this free gift years ago. We know that we are justified by faith. But if we're honest, we still live like we're trying to earn it.
    • We are driven by a fear that we'll disappoint God - as if our small failures could undo His perfect sacrifice.
    • We are boasting (maybe only in your heart) about how we're "good Christians," comparing ourselves to others.
    • Our challenge is to rest. 
      • Rest - Rest in your justification.
      • Rest in the fact that you are already declared "not guilty."
      • Your good works are not payment; they are praise.
      • Your obedience to his will in our lives is not duty; it is delight.