By: Curtis Baker
So far in our study of Romans, Paul has made two important points. First, the gospel is the revelation of God’s righteous purpose for creation (Rom 1:16-17). That gospel proclamation is intended both for the people of Israel, as well as to the other nations of the world, often referred to in the Bible as “the Gentiles.” “The gospel” simply means “good news”, and indeed when we discover what God is up to in the world, we find that it truly is good news. But before we are able to see that in all its glory, Paul has also made a second point. There is something that stands in the way of God’s righteous purposes for his creation–human sin. If God’s intention was to create a good world, and then to make it an even better world by governing it through human begins made in his own image, the fact that those human beings have rebelled has put his righteous purposes in deep peril.
So this is where we are as we pick up our study again in Romans 3:21. We understand that God was up to something magnificent, but we also understand all that has been fouled up. So the question that hangs out there is, “Has all now been lost? Has God’s purposes, both for us and for his creation been damaged beyond repair?” Thankfully the answer to that is a resounding “NO!” Great damage has been done; but all is not lost.
As Paul continues to unveil the righteous purposes of God here in Romans, we find out that God is so infinite in his flexibility, that he is not undone by human rebellion. Indeed, he has factored in a way to deal with human sin. It is not a pretty solution…nor is it without great cost. But the great news that makes the Biblical messages truly “good news” is that God has devised a plan to pay that cost himself. In his bountiful generosity, God has found a way to make us right, even though we are deeply wrong. That way is called “justification” (Rom 3:24), and Paul is very careful to tell us that it is a gift that is neither deserved, nor can be earned.
The term “justification” is legal terminology. It is the kind of verdict that one might receive in a civil case when a charge has been brought against them. To be justified literally means for a judge to declare you “in the right.” In the eyes of the law, it doesn’t matter whether you are actually right, what matters is the verdict that the judge gives. Once that verdict is handed down, the law recognizes that verdict as the legal status of the person. Either they are “guilty,” or they are “justified.”
What Paul teaches here in this beautiful section of Romans is that God has taken upon himself the responsibility of “justifying” those who, in reality, are actually guilty. How can he do that? This is a very important question, with an equally important answer. Paul says it this way: God, in his faithfulness, has delivered his righteous plan through his Son Jesus Christ to all who are willing to accept it (Rom 3:22). He did this by offering up Jesus as a sacrifice on our behalf, thus paving a path for him to be able to justify those who believe. There is no bias in this decision; he has not offered it to one group of people while denying it to others. No, just as all have sinned and fallen short of God’s intended purposes, so also now is the offer of justification given to all (Rom 3:23-24). God has done the hard work in the deal by making this path available; all we have to do is take God’s word that he has done so, and then base our lives on our trust in what he has accomplished in Jesus Christ. As we will find out in the coming weeks, that trust has to do with understanding where God is taking all of this and wanting to be a part of it. But for now, Paul simply lays the emphasis on our responding in faith to God’s faithfulness towards us.
Have you thought much about this? Have you contemplated all that God has done for you?
(Don’t forget to join me for A Message From the Heart radio program Sunday evening at 8:00pm on KJAK 92.7FM, or streaming live at www.kjak.com)
(curtisbaker@hotmail.com)
Write to: P.O. Box 157, Slaton, TX 79364
