A Reminder of God's Grace

Every day is filled with bad news and good news. Every book, every story, every plot includes both good news and bad news. This is also true of every book of the Bible. Think about Genesis: the goodness and beauty of creation, then the bad news of the fall. In Exodus, God’s people are delivered from slavery in Egypt (great!) but then wander in the wilderness for 40 years (not great). And so on.

So it is with many chapters in the Bible. One short chapter can contain good and bad news. Like Romans 3. Paul, the writer of Romans, pulls no punches when he gives us the bad news first. And it’s brutal. This is the part of the chapter we’d rather skip over. Notice all the uses of “no one” and “no” – meaning these descriptions apply to all humanity and no one is exempt.

• We are all under sin (because we’re all human beings and no one is born sinless).

• No one is righteous, not even one (verse 10 plainly states not one human being other than Jesus is or has been sinless).

• No one seeks God but rather we turn away from Him.

• No one does good but rather our mouths deceive and curse others, our hearts are bitter, our feet rush to commit sin.

• No one fears God (not in awe of Him, worshiping Him as He deserves, or obeying Him as we should) but rather we live to please ourselves.

  
  

Paul goes on to give three more absolute statements in verses 19-20:

1. “every mouth may be silenced” –  I cannot defend myself.

2. “the whole world is accountable before God” – Everyone is guilty and will answer to God our Creator.

3. “No one will be declared righteous by the works of the law” – No one can earn his or her own acquittal.

We will not be justified by the works of the law – obeying the Old Testament law, following man-made rules, practicing traditions, observing sacraments, you name it. Put them all together and even then our efforts are insufficient to remove the guilt of our sin. In and of ourselves, we are hopeless and helpless. That is all very bad news.

Paul Tripp says, “Romans 3:20 is one of the most humbling passages in the Bible. It crushes human pride. It makes it impossible for us to continue to caress the delusion that we can perform our way into a relationship with God. It lets us know that our best track record of obedience falls woefully short of God’s holy requirement.”

So how can we go from being wrong to right? From guilty to forgiven? From sinners to righteous?

Verse 21 begins with the conjunction “but,” indicating a change is coming, a contrast, a shift. That was the bad news BUT here’s the good news. We are all sinful and guilty BUT we can be righteous and forgiven. We are all alike under sun BUT we can be under grace!

Once again, Paul wants to make his points abundantly clear so he says essentially the same thing over and over in different ways in verses 21-30:

• Righteousness, the very righteousness of the holy God Himself, comes through faith in Jesus.

• That righteousness is given to anyone who believes.

• We are justified (declared innocent of all sin) freely by His grace.

• Redemption (payment of our sin debt, release from guilt) comes by Christ Jesus.

• Atonement (covering of our sin, making peace with a holy God) comes through faith in Christ’s blood.

• We are justified (declared innocent) through faith in Jesus.

  
  

How do we solve the sin problem that plagues all of humanity? Through faith, through faith, have faith, of faith, by faith, by faith, through that same faith, by this faith. “Faith” over and over again. Faith alone. In Christ. In His blood. By His grace.

This faith is beyond simple agreement or acknowledgement of “Yes, I believe Jesus died on the cross.” (Even “the demons believe and tremble” according to James 2:19). Rather saving faith is placing our trust in His death on the cross for our justification, not trusting in our own goodness (it is tainted by sin), efforts (they fall short), or obedience (it is imperfect and inconsistent).

“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 gift is offered to you.  It is the BEST GIFT you could ever receive – forgiveness, peace with God, hope for this life and the one to come. This gift is received by faith and faith alone.

Photo by Diette Henderson/Unsplash

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through FAITH—and this is not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

 “The wages of sin is death but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) That’s bad news and good news in just one short verse. The best good news. The best gift. Sins forgiven. Guilt removed. Righteousness granted. Eternal life secured. Heaven promised. Peace, hope, joy, grace, and glory. Hallelujah!