faith – Simply True

How God can call us righteous (Romans 3:21-31)

In this overview of Paul’s letter to the Romans, we return to what has become the motive for all that Paul does. God is revealing his gift of righteousness[i].

But here, he says it has been revealed. It’s not a human idea—an ideology. It’s been accomplished by God, through Christ, and all this before it is announced to us. God has sent Jesus to change how things stand between him and us.

As we’ve noticed, the human race is in trouble. God’s wrath is already working out in our history. Or, it is being stored up because our good deeds are a cover rather than an expression of who we are. But Paul is eager to tell us about God’s salvation—salvation from his wrath. He’s eager to see us reconciled to God.

Paul uses three words, well known in his world, to describe what God accomplishes for us through Jesus—particularly through his death and resurrection. And with each word, we are taken a little deeper into what has happened.

First, we are ‘justified by God’s grace as a gift’.

To be justified, in the way Paul uses this word, is to hear a judge declare in court that we are righteous. No charge remains against us.

On judgement day at the end of history, everyone will have to answer to their Maker[ii]. But here, that final judgement is being announced in advance. The Judge of all the earth says we are righteous!

Paul calls this God’s righteousness because that’s where it comes from. But it’s an announcement about us. He’s giving a status of righteous to us who trust his Son[iii]. And it’s a kindness being shown to us, not what we deserve.

All of this is being given to us because of our Lord Jesus. He is the one who does everything he is asked to do. He is the one who knows we need a saviour. God looks at his Son and all that he does for us, and is satisfied. He loves his Son for doing all that he has asked[iv].

But God also looks at us who are trusting his Son and are looking to him for our righteousness—and he finds nothing in us to condemn. In God’s presence, we are righteous.

Only an authoritative judgement like this can persuade us to give up our hollow boasting about our goodness. But there is more. This announcement is more than words.

Paul’s second word is redemption.

This is what would happen in a slave market. If someone pays for a slave and sets him free, he is said to be redeemed. It’s also what happens when Moses leads Israel out of slavery in Egypt and into freedom in their own land.

Paul says we have redemption that comes to us in Christ Jesus.

You may recall Jesus saying that he had come to offer himself as a ransom for many[v]. A ransom is the price paid to buy and release a slave. If we are to be set free, it must happen because of what happens to Jesus first. He buys our redemption with his blood[vi].

Everyone who sins is a slave. It’s easy to see that we can become slaves to bad habits. But there’s more to our slavery than that. We carry our failures with us—as guilt. And our accuser has evidence that we belong to him—and he reminds us of it. We lose our nerve[vii].

The world then seems a more attractive home for us than the Father we’ve offended. And, all the while, God’s judgement, and death, loom over us. We are far from free. And then, we get so accustomed to suppressing all this that we don’t really see what redemption is until God shows it to us.

Are we living freely, graciously and boldly? Or are we imagining our freedom and timidly serving ourselves? My eager prayer is that all of us will see the graciousness of God in giving us his Son for this purpose. And that we will receive his redemption as a gift!

The third word Paul uses is propitiation or sacrifice of atonement. This is what happens when a Jewish priest offers up a sacrificial lamb or other animal as a sin offering.

The order prescribed for Israel’s sin offerings is very helpful. The worshipper places their hands on an animal’s head and confesses their sins. They then kill the animal and offer it to God on an altar. The imagery could not be clearer. The one who bears the sin is the one who should die. But here, God says, your sins are transferred to the animal, and it dies in your place.

But now, God presents Jesus to the whole world as a propitiation[viii]. Until this point, God has effectively been passing over sins—awaiting, of course, this coming of his Son.

In our case, Jesus is our sacrificial Lamb[ix]. He diverts God’s wrath from us by bearing it himself.

Only this can explain the awful death Jesus dies. In the same way that God gives godless people up to the consequences of their sins[x], he gives up his Son to the sins of the whole world, and to the wrath that rightly falls on such evil[xi].

God does not fix us up by sweeping our godlessness under his carpet—like a worrisome remnant of dirt. Rather, he shows us what he means by righteousness, not by ignoring our hostility to him, but by exposing its vileness and providing an atoning sacrifice.

Here is the love that has been shown to us. Our sins are lifted from us, and the shame of them, and the penalty they deserve. And when Jesus has borne them, and the Father receives his offering, there is no sin or shame or penalty remaining towards ourselves[xii].

So, to sum up, being justified is not just God making out we’re lovable when we are not. Redemption is not just God setting us free because he’s strong enough to do so. There’s a price to pay. And propitiation is not just cleaning us up so there’s nothing objectionable in us anymore. It’s Jesus bearing our sins in his body, bearing God’s curse on that sin.

When Jesus is about to die, he asks for some water, and then says, ‘It is finished!’[xiii] This may be the loud cry that Mark reports[xiv]. Jesus wants us to know that we have been accounted for, that we are free to live truly, and that we are called righteous by God.

Notice that in these eleven verses we are looking at, Paul talks about faith or believing nine times. He doesn’t just want to tell us about Jesus. He wants us to trust him.

If we want God’s righteousness, we’ll need to trust in him and rely on the redemption Christ has accomplished. We need this to be clear because we defend our own righteousness with everything we’ve got—vainly, of course, because we have to go on doing it.

But Paul has shown how comprehensive and final this God-righteousness is. But he’s got one more bubble to burst. He still has some Jewish readers who boast in God and the law. They need to learn from Abraham how to live by what God promises rather than what they can perform.

[i] Rom. 1:17

[ii] Rom. 2:5

[iii] ‘Justify’ is the verbal form of ‘righteousness’—dikaio and dikaiosune.

[iv] John 10:17

[v] Matt. 20:28

[vi] Rom. 5:9

[vii] Prov. 28:1

[viii] 1 John 2:2

[ix] John 1:29

[x] Rom. 1:24, 26, 28

[xi] Rom. 4:25; 8:32

[xii] Heb. 9:14, 26; 10:5-14, 22

[xiii] John 19:30

[xiv] Mark 15:36-37

Righteous—only by faith (Romans 4)

We’ve been following Paul’s explanation of the gospel in his letter to the Romans. He loves the gospel and knows that it’s powerful to save everyone who believes.

But he also knows the things that get added to it and prevent it from being what it is. In his day, he is speaking to Jews who can’t see that Jesus has fulfilled their Old Testament. If they hang onto this, they will miss the liberation Jesus has come to bring.

But it’s vital to know we are justified by faith. Nothing else can make us right with God, so, it’s important to know what can compromise it.

Paul has already told us that Jews have turned their privileges into something they can use for their own glory. Jews have become proud of their law, and their God[i].

And they’ve actually had to change what the Old Testament teaches to make it more palatable to the desire to get some credit for living well. Some of their literature teaches that Abraham was justified by his good behaviour[ii].

This is not just an ancient problem. A picture Bible book we read to our children when they were young, introduced the story of Abraham by saying, ‘Abraham was a good man, so God blessed him.’ That’s a heresy! He started life as an idolator.[iii] God blessed him because he believed God’s promise.

We all need to ask if we are watering down God’s good news. We know that we must come to him humbly—trusting his Son. But we’d also like God to acknowledge our righteousness. We’re not really sure about it being a gift.

So, Paul takes the Jews back to the story of Abraham and asks, ‘What grounds does Abraham have for boasting?’[iv] He’s helping us all because we all share in this desire for self-glory.

In fact, the story of Abraham shows that he has been an ungodly man. His works have not been pleasing to God. He has been like David whose lawless deeds are forgiven and his sins covered, whose sins the Lord will not count[v].

Abraham shows the way for us all. He is father of everyone who believes that God gives generously to undeserving people[vi].

Paul picks out two important markers of being a Jew—circumcision, and having the law of God. These were gifts of God—through Abraham, and then through Moses. But Israel has focused on these things as something they can do. They want to be the reason for receiving God’s favour.

But that can’t happen—not before God. Rather, God comes to Abraham. He promises him a blessing, a new land and a new future—reaching out to all his family and to the whole world[vii]. All this happens before he’s circumcised and before the law is given.

Abraham believes God. And God says, ‘I reckon you to be righteous[viii].’

That’s where our life begins too. The God of glory reveals himself to us in the face of Christ[ix]. He promises to give us eternal life. We believe in him. We don’t offer him our past or promise him our future. We see we are helpless and know this is our one chance to be right with God. And God passes his judgement on us—‘You are righteous.’

The Jewish rite of circumcision, in Abraham’s history, has no part in this blessing. It’s a sign, given later, pointing back to the day when God called him righteous, and forwards to the call to live by God’s word. But a sign doesn’t do anything but point. Without the reality it’s nothing.

But now, Israel is wanting to make much of circumcision. It’s something they can see. It’s something they can codify and control. It can be a social marker of those who are accepted and those who are not. And Paul says, ‘That’s not right’.

In our case, baptism is the sign that God gives to each Christian believer.

Our baptism is God saying, ‘You belong to me. All that my Son has achieved is yours. And I want you to live by my word.’

But us sinners have a way of forgetting the reality of unseen things. We’d rather focus on things we can see and control. We forget the joy of being forgiven, and of hearing God call us righteous. We begin again to think and act as though we must deserve what we get from God.

And then, instead of being grateful for God’s sign of baptism, we presume on it. It’s something we’ve done. We’ve arrived. And instead of our behaviour being grateful faith, seeking to be like Jesus, it’s a work of our own ego[x]. We’re looking for applause. Or we want to be proud of ourselves.

And then, just as God gave Israel his law, he has written his law on our hearts. This happens when we know we are forgiven[xi].

But what if we begin to notice how much better our life is as a Christian? What if we compare ourselves with others whose lives are falling apart?

Can we hear Paul speaking to us across the centuries? He wants his fellow Jews to understand the riches of Christ. And us Christians too. He wants us to live as humble recipients of mercy.

God has given life to us who were dead[xii]. He gives righteousness, peace and joy to people who have nothing to offer[xiii]. Nothing at all.

Because Abraham starts, and continues, to believe what God promises to him, and because he gives glory to God and doesn’t take it for himself, he grows strong in faith. He begins by believing that God justifies sinners, and he finishes the same way[xiv].

Walking by faith like this is like walking on a narrow mountain track. Our nature suggests that we wander sideways—to think about gaining favour for ourselves. But a step sideways can lead to a large fall.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is nothing less than the love of God encountering our abysmal failure. And when God justifies or vindicates Jesus[xv] by raising him from the dead, he also justifies us who are trusting in him. All that the Father gives to Jesus, Jesus now shares with us. This is the way we began our Christian life. Let’s grow strong in this faith—to the very end.

[i] Rom. 2:17, 23

[ii] You can look up the pre-Christian Jewish books 1 Maccabees 2:52 or Sirach 44:19-21 at https://biblia.com/bible/nrsv/1-maccabees/2/51-52 and https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/44 .

[iii] Josh. 24:2

[iv] Rom. 4:4

[v] Rom. 4:5, 7

[vi] Rom. 4:11-12

[vii] Gen. 12:1-3

[viii] Gen. 12:1-3; 15:6

[ix] 2 Cor. 4:6

[x] Gal. 3:1-3

[xi] Jer. 31:31-34

[xii] Rom. 4:17

[xiii] Rom. 14:17

[xiv] Rom. 4:5, 22

[xv] 1 Tim. 3:16

[i] Rom. 2:17, 23

[ii] You can look up the pre-Christian Jewish books 1 Maccabees 2:52 or Sirach 44:19-21 at https://biblia.com/bible/nrsv/1-maccabees/2/51-52 and https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/44 .

[iii] Rom. 4:4

[iv] Rom. 4:5, 7

[v] Rom. 4:11-12

[vi] Gen. 12:1-3

[vii] Gen. 12:1-3; 15:6

[viii] 2 Cor. 4:6

[ix] Gal. 3:1-3

[x] Jer. 31:31-34

[xi] Rom. 4:17

[xii] Rom. 14:17

[xiii] Rom. 4:5, 22

[xiv] 1 Tim. 3:16

Christians—not better, but better off (Romans 5:1-11)

No-one should doubt that righteousness is a major concern for everyone. In simple terms, we all want to be right. A child is indignant if its idea of right is crossed. Old men and women want to be sure their legacy is rightly recorded. From cradle to grave, righteousness is high on our agenda.

But here, in Romans, God is saying to us, ‘You can only be right by trusting in me—in my Son’. All our protests that we are right are husks flying in the wind. We are subject to God’s judgement. And Paul is bringing this to light so we have opportunity to get things truly right. Or rather, for God to get things truly right.

Paul describes two things in this chapter. First, the astonishing benefits that are given to believers in Christ (vv. 1-11). Second, the astonishing Christ who creates these benefits (vv. 12-21). We’ll just look at the first of these at the moment.

So, what are the benefits that come to us because we are justified by faith?

First, we don’t have to fight the idea of there being a God we must answer to[i]. We don’t have to spend our life avoiding God. Rather, we know him and are at peace with him.

Behind all the crises we have in this life there hangs the nagging thought that we don’t deserve anything better. We’re always uneasy. But then, knowing we are justified changes everything. He’s not counting our sins against us. He’s deciding how to bless us. We are at peace with God because he’s at peace with us.

This doesn’t mean we always feel peaceful. There’s lots of circumstances and thoughts that can make us uneasy. But we are starting from having a secure place in the Father’s affections.

Second, we have constant access to God’s grace.

Every day, we are needing forgiveness, direction, strength and courage. And we can find that the Lord is gracious—every day. He’s not calculating or tardy. So, it’s a relief and a pleasure to come to him. Jesus is our way of access to all that the Father is eager to provide.

Third, we exult, or have joy, or boast because of the promise that we will share God’s glory. We have seen God’s glory in Christ and what he has done. But now, we are told that we will share in being like him—glorious,[ii] and participate in the glory of the new heavens and earth.

This word translated ‘rejoice’ has recurred four times already in this letter, and been translated as ‘boasting’. Without Christ, our exulting has been false—because it’s all been based on us. But now, it’s based on Christ and looking forward to the world God is making. So, our exulting is real. Our hubris is replaced with humility.

Fourth, this confidence is so substantial, that our troubles take on a different character. Without justification, we had been seeing them as threats to our ego. Now, they help us learn patience.

If we’re honest, we know that impatience exposes our selfishness. Now, we’ve got a chance to change—to develop some character[iii].

We’re learning to hope in what God has promised—to actually live by faith. This is what Paul raised when he first started talking about justification[iv]. We begin with faith, and this faith must grow to encompass the widening circles of our life.

Fifth, none of this fails! While life, and other people, and the devil suggest we give up, God’s love—poured into our hears by the Holy Spirit—keeps us looking to the peace we have, and our access to grace, and to Jesus himself. We’re really exulting! And it’s all flowing from the fact that we are loved by God.

Let’s dwell on this love—as Paul now does.

Why does God love us? It’s got nothing to do with our nature or performance. In fact, we’ve been weak—unable to get up and be who God called us to be. We’ve been ungodly—thinking about ourselves instead of him. We’ve been sinners—missing what God expects of us all the time. We’ve actually been God’s enemies. And all this time, he’s been loving us!

If we don’t understand this, we haven’t been hearing what Paul is saying. God is good—to people who are not! He’s giving us everything we need. We now have a life filled with his Spirit—with his loving.

So, move over! Let it happen! Keep yourselves in the love of God![v]

Perhaps we can imagine being present when Jesus is nailed to his cross. We hear him say, ‘Father forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.’ Here is love—overflowing! And the gospel Paul preaches in this letter shows that what Jesus said then is now being said to us.

The death of Jesus, and his resurrection, have secured our justification. We’re all set up to rejoice, not just in our experience of salvation, but in God himself.

As Paul will say later, God’s reign is all about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit[vi]. This is not natural. It’s not explainable. It’s from God who loves us. It springs up within us. It’s real and it’s eternal. And, as we must now see, it’s all because of one man. And it’s for everybody. His grace, his giving and his obedience dwarf anything else that’s ever happened.

[i] This may well be the major reason why people refuse to believe in God.

[ii] This will arise later in chapter 8, verses 23-25; also 1 Cor. 15:59

[iii] In a similar way, James tells us to let patience have its full effect—James 1:4

[iv] Rom. 1:17

[v] Jude 21

[vi] Rom. 14;17.

[i] This may well be the major reason why people refuse to believe in God.

[ii] This will arise later in chapter 8, verses 23-25; also 1 Cor. 15:59

[iii] In a similar way, James tells us to let patience have its full effect—James 1:4

[iv] Rom. 1:17

[v] Jude 21

[vi] Rom. 14:17

Why Jesus Christ?

God starts making promises after we become sinners. He gives us an opportunity to start trusting him again—to discover that he is worthy of our love. So, it’s not surprising that every promise he makes (in the Old Testament) is based on what Jesus will do, or (in the New Testament), has done among us.

The Bible has many promises that God will be with us or help us (Psalm 37 and 91:14-16 are some well-known examples). We may be comforted by them. But then, if we imagine that these promises will be fulfilled because we are nice people or because we feel good when we read them, we are deceived. We need what Christ does to receive what is promised.

Jesus says ‘Yes’ on our behalf to everything God promises (2 Corinthians 1:20). We are slow to believe and reticent to trust. Not Jesus! He wants God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

For example, he has power to lay his life down and take it up again because his Father has commanded it—or we could say, promised it (John 10:18). That’s amazing certainty to have in a world that’s full of danger.

It’s Christ’s ‘Yes!’ that enables us to say ‘Amen!’ We learn from him that God means what he says, wants do us good and can bring about what he has promised.

Notice how confident Paul is when he says this. Because God’s promises are being fulfilled in Christ, he can be definite in making promises to other people. The reliability we need to make a good future comes from what Christ does.

This is why, when Jesus is born, that there is so much joy (Luke 2:8-14). A promise made to King David—that he would have a great Son—has come. All the things God will do to save our broken world and damaged lives are now going to happen (Luke 1:67-79).

What God promises David is central to all the promises God makes. A descendant of his will reign forever (2 Samuel 7:12-19).

Finally, someone will come who can deal with this world, and with us—given our capacity for deceit and distrust. He will be greater than David—his ‘lord’ in fact (Psalm 110:1; Matthew 22:44-46). He will sit beside God until all opposition is overcome.

He will be a priest as well as a king. That’s because we need more than a leader to solve problems. We need someone to bring us to God.

As Israel’s history becomes worse and worse, God’s promises about his King get better and better. This son will be God’s Son. And the idea that any power could frustrate his purpose is laughable (Psalm 2).

Later generations are told that he will be called ‘Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6). Through him, the whole earth will be given peace, and will know God (Isaiah 11:1-9).

When Jesus comes, promises made about David’s Son are quoted to show that he is the one promised. Everyone needs to decide if Jesus is this Christ or Messiah—like Peter (Matthew 16:15-16), or Jewish leaders (Matthew 26:63-64) or the people at Pentecost.

This is what Peter talks about after Jesus ascends and sends his Holy Spirit. God’s people have killed their anointed Leader and King. But God has raised him up. They need his forgiveness—urgently (Acts 2:36-38).

This is why it’s so important to hear God’s promises brought to us in Jesus’ name. He’s taken account of our preference to trust ourselves, our ungratefulness and resentment. And, he comes to us, raised from the dead, with the offer of new life.

This promise is not only being made to Peter’s audience. It’s being made to us—as many as God calls (Acts 2:39; Romans 15:8). Our sins too can be forgiven. We too can be reconciled to the God we have offended. And we can hear all the promises Christ came to fulfil and be persuaded that God really means to do us good.

We can read Psalm 37:4: ‘Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart’. We can hear the same thing from Jesus: ‘If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you’ (John 15:7).

Preaching about Jesus as God’s promised Saviour starts with forgiveness through Christ’s death, and with the renewal of hope through his resurrection (Acts 13:23, 32, 38; 26:6). By raising Jesus from the dead, the promise made to us is not, ‘You will die’, but ‘You will live!’

Our life is now full of hope. We can be what we really are because of ‘the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus’ (2 Timothy 1:1). Instead of being subject to the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15), we are liberated by the expectation of life and resurrection.

No wonder the promises of God needs this coming King. No-one can guarantee anything unless they are in charge. And here, Jesus has taken charge of everything—our self-sufficiency and troubles and fears on the one hand, but also, all the wonderful purpose of God for us on the other. He has led us into the meekness of trusting in him.

This changes our expectations, our habits, our relationships, our conversations—everything!

Obey Christ, and know you belong to him

There’s nothing more important than to know that we belong to Christ. While we can trust ourselves, that’s what we tend to do. While we can trust—or demand—that governments keep us ‘safe’, that’s what we tend to do.

But in the real world—the one God makes and rules, we need an Advocate. And we need to know that we know him.

John tells us how. We keep his commandments (2:3-6), particularly the command to love one another.

God never thinks obedience to him is hard (Deuteronomy 30:11-14). And Christ says it is easy to learn from and to follow him (Matthew 11:28-30). It’s not an accomplishment. It’s the way to live.

Here’s how it works.

Loving one another is what we learn to do when we first become Christians. Jesus teaches this and says it’s the way we relate to him and to the Father (John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10).

These verses are amazing. We already know of the Father’s love for us as sinners, but now Jesus is telling us about the love he and his Father will have for us when we love him. It’s the certainty of this love relationship that we need if we are going to walk securely.

This command is new—or fresh. It’s not just something to remember and do. Christ is alive, shining on us, bringing us to life. As we enjoy him and love one another, the hateful darkness of sin and hate is being pushed back. His command is always coming to us, and being effective!

All of this is happening because Jesus reveals God’s love to us. This love is powerful, and costly. So, we love him! We like what he says. And we respond to his love by doing what he asks.

All this has a profound effect on us. Christ may have seemed distant, but now he is near. Christ’s loving is real. And so is ours! We are living in the same way Jesus did—loving our neighbour.

John’s doesn’t say we are doing this perfectly but that God’s love has done its work in us. After what we’ve been told about confessing our sin, John would hardly be telling us we’re already perfect! But our loving is real!

When we love like this, we’re in the light and don’t fall over hidden obstacles. Hatred, or self-interest, blinds us to what is happening around us, and in us. It leads to confusion. But love—coming from Christ and being passed on by us—helps us to see clearly.

On the other hand, if we pretend to know Christ and don’t like what he says, we’re not being real. We’re believing a lie, and we’re living it as well. Falsehood has invaded our inner life. How we need this love of Christ—in us! The world becomes confused by trying to make its own truth and its own love. But through obedience to Christ, we find certainty, purpose and hope. And all this, not because we are perfect. It works because the true light is shining, changing us, and because it reaches out to our broken world.