The Righteousness of God: The Meat of the Gospel
The Righteousness of God: The Meat of the Gospel
Romans 3:21-26
I love a good soup–sausage tortellini, vegetable beef, white chicken chili. Everyone has a favorite soup, and when you have a favorite, you don’t want your favorite to change. You want it the way you want it. A few years ago, Ellen made one of my favorite soups, sausage tortellini, a recipe she received from our renowned Children’s Director, Jennie Shellenberger. It is a great soup! But this time, Ellen chose to change the soup by forgetting one key ingredient: the sausage. So, naturally, upon getting my bowl, I asked, “Where is the meat?” Leaving out the meat drastically changed the soup; “sausage tortellini” became merely “tortellini”. Removing one key ingredient changed everything. “Where is the meat?”
I am grateful for Acts 10 in which the Lord gave the Apostle Peter a vision of all sorts of animals on a great sheet that fell from heaven and said, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” It is a glorious passage for a simple “Meat and Potatoes Midwesterner” like myself. Acts 10 gives us the freedom to eat sausage tortellini and bacon. It is a great chapter of Scripture, one of the greatest chapters of Scripture in the whole Bible. Acts 10 is not only great because it allows us to eat meat, but it unites Jew and Gentile as one people of God, for, “What God has made clean, do not call unclean.” God has allowed Gentiles to become His children, to be adopted as sons through the blood of the Lord Jesus in the same way as the Jews. Of course, Acts 10 is not actually about “meat” but rather about the “meat” of the Gospel. It is about justification by faith.
If Acts 10 uses meat to illustrate that salvation is for all, then Romans 3:21-26 is the most clear paragraph in all the Bible that provides the meat of the gospel. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the greatest preachers of the last century, said this paragraph is the greatest paragraph in the entire Bible on the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notable New Testament scholar, Leon Morris, said of Romans 3:21-26, that it is, “possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.” Martin Luther wrote that this paragraph is, “the chief point, and the very central place of the Epistle, and of the whole Bible.” It provides the meat of the Gospel. Paul declared in Romans 1,
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.” Romans 1:16-17
Then he spends two chapters convincing his readers that both Jews and Gentiles are both righteous and under the wrath of God. He shows the Gentiles, who have exchanged the glory of immortal God for a lie and worshiped and served the created things over the Creator, and the Jews, who had the law but did not follow it from the heart, that both are guilty before God because He shows no partiality. The Gospel is the power of God for all who believe for the righteousness of God has been made known to the world.
Romans 3:21-26 gives the meat of the Gospel. If you take away this meat, you change the soup. We don’t want to change the Gospel; we want to savor every bite. The text has four movements that we will unpack together. It may be a complex paragraph, but it is one worthy of study.
The Righteousness of God manifested for all (Romans 3:21)
After Paul has sufficiently made his argument that no human being will be justified by the works of the law, he gives two amazing words, “But now.” Hear it in context so you can feel more of its power,,
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— (emphasis added) Romans 3:19–21
Lloyd-Jones would say, “there are no more wonderful words in the whole of Scripture than just these two words ‘But now.’” This is because those two words are not just a mere transition to a new topic, but a transition from the old era dominated by the law and sin to the new era of grace and salvation. Those who belong to the old era are under condemnation, powerless to overcome their sin, awaiting God’s perfect justice and His eternal wrath. BUT NOW God has made manifest salvation through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ offered to all by faith, which is applied not only today but retroactively to all the Old Testaments saints who longed for the salvation of the Messiah.
The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, for remember, by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight. The righteousness of God comes from outside the law; indeed it comes from outside of this world. It is an alien righteousness that has come down from God and was promised beforehand in the Law and the Prophets. The ‘But Now,” makes a transition from the old era to the new, but it is not out of the blue. It has been promised and testified to throughout the Old Testament. Remember how Paul began his letter, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son.”
Beloved, Paul is about to answer the most important question in the world, “How can sinful man be made right with God?” “How can sinners be justified before a holy God?” The righteousness of God is not from the law but apart from it. This means that you and I cannot achieve salvation by works. We cannot be legalists. Our good works cannot get us to God; even our good works can never erase our bad ones. We need righteousness apart from the law.
The Righteousness of God offered for all (Romans 3:22-23)
The righteousness of God is offered and needed by all. It comes from God to all who believe.
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:22–23
The righteousness of God is offered through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. The key component of righteousness for the believer is faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is not through anything but faith in Jesus Christ. It’s not in Jesus Christ and church membership. It’s not in Jesus Christ and your giving. It’s not in Jesus Christ and your personal devotions. It’s not in Jesus Christ and anything else. Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Christianity is different from any other religion because the emphasis of salvation is not on what we do but what God has done. Paul tells us why Christianity is correct, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Every single person, Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, old and young, have missed the mark. Everyone has sinned. Everyone has missed the glory of God. Everyone lacks the glory of God because they have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature over the Creator.
Adam and Eve, our human forerunners, were made in perfection. They walked with God and experienced His glory. They were made in the image of God and were able to stand before His glory as ones who reflected His glory. But when they sinned, their image was marred, their perfection was lost, they no longer reflected the glory of God. They lost the glory. They fell short. Friends, we have all sinned, just like Adam and Eve, and fallen short of the glory of God. This means we all have a glory problem. We have all exchanged the glory of God for lesser things. We all lack His glory and, therefore, we can’t stand before His glory. We need His glory, and that is exactly what God provides for us in Christ Jesus.
The Righteousness of God provided for all (Romans 3:24)
Paul now provides the meat of the gospel. He shows how sinners can have the righteousness of God.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Romans 3:23–24
This is the first time in Romans that the word “ justified” is used, and Paul uses it here in a very specific way. He does not mean to make righteous in an ethical sense or to be treated as righteous even though one is not righteous; instead he means to declare righteous. It is a legal term. It is a declaration of innocence. To be justified is to be declared “not guilty” in God’s eternal courtroom. Notice that it is a passive verb, meaning someone else has declared us not guilty. We cannot do that ourselves. God alone justifies and declares that we are not guilty. How does this happen? It happens by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
First, it is by His grace as a gift. We can do nothing to earn it. Grace, by definition, is not earned but given. Grace is not a wage that we receive because of our labor. Grace is unmerited favor. It is so hard for us to fully understand grace. Even though we can intellectually understand it, it still doesn’t make sense. Even this Christmas season, as we receive gifts from others, a part of us feels like we deserve those gifts. We believe we deserve those gifts because Santa is checking his list. He’s even checking it twice to see who was naughty or nice! Many of us feel entitled to gifts because we believe we were good this past year. Deep down, we know we deserve nothing, but something in our hearts wants to grab on to what we deserve.
Friends, we are justified by His grace as a gift. We did nothing to earn it and we contribute nothing to it. I rarely cook. Ellen has always been the one in our family to provide our meals. Sometimes, I walk into the kitchen when the cooking is nearly done, add one shake of salt to the pot, and say to the kids, “Mom and I cooked dinner for you.” I feel like we want to do that with our salvation. God does everything. He bought the ingredients, He made the meal, but we want to take some credit for it. Friends, it is by grace. We can’t even add one shake of salt to it. It is already fully complete. It is by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
“Redemption” is an Old Testament word that refers to how God rescued His people from Egypt.
“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (emphasis added) Deuteronomy 7:6–8
“Redemption” means liberation through payment of a price. In the first century, it would have referred to a payment in the slave market. A ransom had to be paid in order to liberate a slave or prisoner of war. Paul reminds the Romans how God redeemed His people from Egypt through the blood of the passover lamb in order to show that He now offers redemption through the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus Christ was provided as payment in order to redeem, or purchase, His people from slavery.
This is why the cross is central to the Christian faith. Jesus purchased our freedom through His blood. We were bought with a price. Jesus said this was His purpose,
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45
Paul also says very succinctly in I Timothy 2,
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5–6
Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross. He gave up himself as a payment for everyone who would repent of their sins and trust in Him. We know God accepted His payment because after Jesus was dead and buried, God raised Him from the dead. The ransom was paid to God, and God accepted the payment and released those who were in slavery. We are now free in Christ and free from the fear of death, and if we share a death like His, we will certainly share in a resurrection like His.
We die to our sin, deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him. This is the meat of the gospel. The life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus came from heaven to redeem us. He came to exchange His life for ours. As we think of the Incarnation this season, remember the purpose of that Incarnation. We must never merely stop with His birth; we must always understand His birth in relation to His mission. RG Lee helps us here,
Christ who in eternity rested motherless upon the Father’s bosom and in time rested fatherless upon a woman’s bosom, clasping the Ancient of Days who had become the Infant of Days. What deep descent: from the heights of glory to the depths of shame; from the wonders of Heaven to the wickedness of earth; from exaltation to humiliation; from the throne to the tree; from dignity to debasement; from worship to wrath; from the halls of Heaven to the nails of earth; from the coronation to the curse; from the glory place to the gory place! In Bethlehem, humility and glory in their extremes were joined. Born in a stable! Cradled in a cattle trough! Wrapped in swaddling clothes of poverty! No room for Him who made all rooms! No place for Him who made and knows all places! Oh, deep humiliation of the Creator—born of the creature, woman! But in His descent was the dawn of mercy. Because we cannot ascend to Him, He descends to us. – R.G. Lee
This is the meat of the gospel. We could not get to God, so He came to get us to bring us to God. He came not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for all who would trust in Him. What mercy! What grace!
Friend, if you are a non-Christian, know redemption has been provided for you today. All have sinned and all can be saved through Jesus Christ. If you repent of your sins today, in God’s grand courtroom, you will be declared not guilty for your sins and acquitted on all charges through the redemption that is provided in Jesus Christ. Redemption is provided, but you must believe. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. Friend, do not stay shackled to your sin. Do not hold onto false hope. Be free from your sin by turning to Christ. Trust in His payment on your behalf.
Beloved, let us never get over the redemption we have in Christ. When we had no hope, God saved us. He offered Himself to us. Bryan Chappell tells this story that happened in his hometown:
Two brothers were playing on the sandbanks by the river. One ran after another up a large mound of sand. Unfortunately, the mound was not solid, and their weight caused them to sink in quickly. When the boys did not return home for dinner, the family and neighbors organized a search. They found the younger brother unconscious, with his head and shoulders sticking out above the sand. When they cleared the sand to his waist, he awakened. The searchers asked, "Where is your brother?" The child replied, "I’m standing on his shoulders."
One is saved. One dies. Friend, the only way we can experience salvation is if we stand on our elder brothers, the Lord Jesus, shoulders. Hebrews 2 says that Jesus is not ashamed to call us ‘brothers”. He took on flesh and blood so that he—through His death—might destroy the one who has the power of death—that is the devil—and deliver all those who were subject to lifelong slavery. Jesus is our elder brother, who died to deliver us from slavery to sin and death. He is our ransom. We stand forever on His shoulders.
The Righteousness of God justified for all (Romans 3:25-26)
Salvation always comes through judgment. Salvation is not possible unless someone pays the penalty. James Denney writes,
There can be no gospel unless there is such a thing as a righteousness of God for the ungodly. But just as little can there be any gospel unless the integrity of God’s character be maintained. The problem of the sinful world, the problem of all religion, the problem of God in dealing with a sinful race, is how to unite these two things. The Christian answer to the problem is given by Paul in the words: “Jesus Christ, whom God set forth a propitiation (or, in propitiatory power) in his blood.”
By this point, “The Righteousness of God justified for all,” I mean two distinct things. First, God is the one who justifies sinners through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Second, God justifies Himself by showing He does not overlook sin. He vindicates His righteousness by dealing with sin by sending forth His Son.
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. 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. Romans 3:25-26
We have to believe. We have to have faith in the propitiation of Jesus Christ. Propitiation is not a commonly used word today. It means an appeasement by sacrifice. The word is likely taken from the Greek use, as seen in the Septugiant of the Hebrew word for mercy seat. In Exodus 25:22, God is giving instructions on the Tabernacles and details a key piece of furniture.
There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
God meets with His people at the mercy seat. The center of the Torah is Leviticus 16 and the Day of Atonement.
And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. Leviticus 16:14–16a
The mercy seat was where God met with His people to deal with their sins. Paul draws on this idea and says Jesus is our mercy seat. He is our atoning sacrifice who has taken the wrath of God. God is angry at His people for their sins so there needs to be an atoning sacrifice. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice who absorbs the wrath of God. Again, we know God has accepted His sacrifice for us because of His resurrection from the dead. In John 20, Mary Magdalene looked into the tomb
And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. John 20:12
In Exodus 25, when the mercy seat is first introduced, we see two carved angels at each end of the mercy seat, at the head and feet. It is clear that Christ is our mercy seat. God meets us at the mercy seat; He meets us in Christ.
Paul is showing that Jesus has done at least two things in His sacrificial death: He died to pay for our sins and he died to vindicate God’s righteousness.
This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. Romans 3:25
God cannot be righteous if He overlooks sins. Remember, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator. God has to care about His glory. He cannot merely overlook sin; He must pay for it. Jesus showed the righteousness of God because He took God’s wrath on the cross, and because He took God’s wrath, God was able to justify us and declare us “not guilty”.
Steve Larson gives a helpful analogy that may help crystalize this idea for us. He writes of the triangle of salvation,
I want you to think of a triangle. At the top is God the Father, at the lower left corner is God the Son, and in the lower right corner is all who will believe in Him. The death of Christ is in the middle of the triangle. On the left line connecting God the Father and God the Son, that is the propitiation in the blood of Jesus. In His death, God the Son propitiated the wrath of God the Father. Propitiation had nothing to do with us. It had everything to do with satisfying the righteous anger of God the Father. On the bottom line of the triangle, connecting God the Son and believers, is the truth of redemption. This truth is between Jesus and those who trust Him. Jesus Christ has redeemed us out of the slave market of sin. On the right line connecting God the Father with believers is the doctrine of justification. By this truth, God the Father declares believers to be the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. Understand this simple triangle, and you will understand the three theological words that are found in this passage – propitiation, redemption, and reconciliation.
To summarize, justification (verse 24) occurs between God the Father and the sinner. Propitiation (verse 25) occurs between God the Father and God the Son. And redemption (verse 24) occurs between God the Son and the sinner. In the very middle of this triangle of salvation is the death of Jesus Christ that He accomplished on the cross. Each of these three theological words reveal the multidimensional value of the death of Jesus Christ on our behalf. We need more than merely justification. We need more than only propitiation. We need more than simply redemption. We need all three of these realities.
This is how God shows His righteousness at the present time, for He is the just, the one who rightly punishes sin, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
This paragraph is the answer to the righteousness of God. How can God be righteous and forgive sins? How can a sinful man obtain the righteousness of God? The answer is in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As the great hymn of the faith so beautifully declares,
Here is love, vast as the ocean,
lovingkindness as the flood:
when the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
throughout heav'n's eternal days.
On the mount of crucifixion
fountains opened deep and wide;
through the floodgates of God's mercy
flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
poured incessant from above,
and heav'n's peace and perfect justice
kissed a guilty world in love
In the cross, we see the righteousness of God manifested apart from the law. God is just to punish sin, and God is merciful to forgive sin. Christ takes wrath for us. We take redemption from Him. The exchange is not fair, but it is glorious.
Is your heart stirred when you hear this Gospel? There is not a lot of direct application in this paragraph. There is not much for us to do, but oh, beloved, there is much for us to worship. As a friend texted me this week on this verse,
Is there anyone like Him? He is the law, he fulfilled the law, and he paid the debt of all who would find it impossible to keep it for a day. How could we refuse his offer? And even more so, how could we refuse Him? Who, man or god, has ever shown so much initiative in their pursuit of us? Who else has given themselves up so completely for us? For me? For some reason, which I cannot understand, I am (we are) worth it to Him. Praise Him!
Friend, Jesus says you and I are worth it for Him. He took God’s wrath for us. He gave us Himself so He could give us to God and free us from slavery. He was ransomed so we could live. God is the just and justifier of all who have faith in Jesus. This is the meat of the Gospel. Let us taste and see that the Lord is good.