Romans 3:21-26
21 “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the law and the Prophets, 22 but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
For three chapters Paul has given us the harsh reality of our condemnation under the law. But now comes the Good News: Apart from the law a new way to gain righteousness is revealed. This way has nothing to do with performance or works but has everything to do with the person and finished work of Jesus Christ without any involvement from the law. We often find Christians trying to mix law and Gospel. But Paul has just spent several chapters explaining the point of the law it has nothing to do with the Christian life. law and grace cannot mix. Only grace can save people from the condemnation of the law, and only grace can breathe eternal life into the dead hearts of God’s creation (Romans 6:23). We can try and add religious works to the Gospel such as baptism or communion, but Paul is clear: Salvation is apart from law and is founded solely on Jesus Christ finished work.
Paul calls Christ’s finished work the “propitiation.” Propitiation simply means that God is satisfied with what Christ has accomplished. God displayed this propitiation publicly as if to announce it to the entire world. This allowed all people to see the moment when God took away all sin, including those sins that were simply covered in the Old Testament.
“Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. 31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Far from it! On the contrary, we establish the law.”
Because salvation is founded entirely on Christ’s work, there is no room for boasting in our faith. We aren’t saved according to the size of our faith. We are saved by the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. Jesus said that faith as small as a mustard seed was enough faith to do extraordinary things (Matthew 17:20). We don’t need much faith to be saved only enough to trust in Christ. So, while some Christians are obsessed with the size of their faith, God is obsessed about the object: His Son. When we agree with God about His Son and join in His obsession, we establish the law because we agree with God about our need for a Savior, highlighted by the law, and reach out to our Savior so that He can give us His righteousness.
