Introduction
Reiterate importance of chapters 1-8.
This is the most extensive explanation of the "good news" in the whole
New Testament. We are going to look at the beginning of the "good news"
today, but we begin with Paul's summary of the "bad news."
Read
3:9. This is Paul's summary of 1:18-2:29. It's not just the "bad" people
who are under God's judgment; it's also the "good" people. I may be
deep inside a mine and you may be on the top of a mountain--but we are both millions
of miles away from the nearest star. In the same way, I may have committed many
more sins than you have--but we both fall far short of God's standard of moral
perfection. And we both therefore deserve God's condemnation.
After quoting
several Old Testament passages that make the same point (3:10-18) and making a
comment on the purpose of God's Law (3:19,20) which we'll look at later, Paul
finally breaks into the first part of God's "good news" in 3:21-26.
Leon Morris, a New Testament scholar says this is "possibly the most important
single paragraph ever written."1
Every verse, and every phrase in every verse, is packed with theological content.
Let's read the whole thing first, and then I'll try to explain it to you as clearly
as I can.
What is justification?
The key word in this
good news is "justify." "Justification" is the key concept
of this whole paragraph, so we must start by getting a clear understanding of
what it means--and what it does not mean.
Dikaiow is
a legal term, borrowed from the courtroom. It is the legally binding verdict of
the judge, and it is the opposite of condemnation--acquittal.
So justification
is not synonymous with forgiveness; it is more than forgiveness. "Forgiveness"
is to be let off from the punishment you deserve. "Justification" is
to be declared in right standing with God, fully satisfying his righteous demands.
To be justified is to have God accept me "just-as-if-I'd" never sinned.
Suppose
you were charged with sexual harassment at work and brought to trial. The judge's
verdict is acquittal. If you were at work the next day, and someone said "I'd
heard they dropped charges," you'd bristle! "No, I was acquitted!"
Only in our case, God acquits us even though we are guilty!
Justification
is not doled out piecemeal over a period of time through priests and ritual-observance
(ROMAN CATHOLICISM). It is not subject to recall so that you have to get it over
and over again (RADICAL ARMINIAN CHURCHES). It is something God bestows directly
on you once-for-all as a permanent, package deal. This is why so many passages
speak of justification in the past tense (see Rom. 5:1) and as something
complete and permanent (see Rom. 8:1). Just as you may not be tried for the
same crime again after being acquitted, God's justification means you will never
be tried or condemned by him again for your sins--past, present, and future.
In
this paragraph, Paul tells us three things about God's justification we all need
to know: how it is offered, how it is accomplished, and how it is received.
Offered
by God's grace alone
First, justification is offered by God's grace
alone (" . . . justified as a gift by his grace . . . ").
This has to do with why God justifies us. The reason has nothing to do with God's
justice, because we've already seen that we can expect only condemnation from
it. Justification is not a wage that God owes us--the only wage he owes
us is death (Rom. 6:23); it is a gift that he offers freely. Justification
is not reward that we deserve; it is charity for the undeserving.
This
is tough to swallow for people like us, who have been raised on self-esteem and
entitlement, but it's great news once you understand it. This means (for one thing)
that justification is not based in any way on your moral improvement. Your moral
life may well improve after being justified (later chapters explain why), but
this is always a result of being justified--never a condition for
getting or staying justified. The moment we let this slip back in at all, God's
justice demands perfect righteousness from us.
Provided by Christ's death
alone
Second, justification is provided by Christ's death alone.
This has to do with how God justifies us in a way that is consistent with his
own character. Since we are sinful, how can God declare us righteous without violating
his own righteousness and justice? A righteous and just God must punish sin with
death--so how can justification be anything other than a miscarriage of justice?
The answer is that justification is free to us, but it cost God a terrible price--the
death of his righteous Son. The clearest expression of this is 2 Cor. 5:21
(read). In this passage, Paul uses two images that communicated this idea to his
audience.
God justifies us "through the redemption which
is in Christ Jesus." "Redemption" (apolutrwsis) means "deliverance
by payment of ransom." It was one of the most popular terms in the ancient
world, because it spelled freedom for slaves. If you were a slave, you had a price
on your head. There was no "Emancipation Proclamation"--no legal decree
that made you a free citizen. The only way you could be emancipated was for someone
to pay your purchase price and then choose to relate to you as a free person.
In very rare cases, slaves could save enough money by "moonlighting"
to pay their own redemption price. But usually they were dependent on the hope
of a loving benefactor who would buy them and then set them free.
This
is a picture of what Jesus did for us. We are slaves to sin, hopelessly indebted
to God because of our sins, owing the penalty of death, and unable to buy our
way out. But Christ came to voluntarily pay the price of our sins by dying in
our place. He made it clear that this was the purpose of his coming (read Mark 10:45).
And his last cry from the cross announced that he had accomplished this (tetlestai
may be translated "paid in full").
Christ's death
was "a propitiation in his blood" (NASB) or "a sacrifice of atonement"
(NIV). This word (hilastayrios) referred to the world of the temple, both
Jewish and pagan. To "propitiate" means to appease the wrath of the
deity through a sacrifice. It's not politically correct or therapeutically proper
to talk about the wrath of God. This is viewed as primitive and dysfunctional.
But the God of the Bible is justly at enmity with us because of our sin and rebellion.
And his wrath can be turned away from us, not by our vows to do better or self-inflicted
punishment or money to buy him off, but only through the death of the Sacrifice
that he provides.
This is exactly how Jesus viewed his death.
This is "the cup" that he feared to drink (Matt. 26:39)--an Old
Testament symbol for the wrath of a holy God against sin (Isa. 51:17,20;
Jer. 49:12). This is (in part) why Jesus cried out "My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?" He who had lived a perfect life and always experienced
perfect fellowship with the Father was now identified with our sins, separated
from his Father, and experiencing his infinite wrath. Because he was fully human,
his sacrifice could represent us. Because he was fully God, his sacrifice could
fully appease God's wrath.
Now we can understand
3:25b,26. How could God pass over the sins that people committed earlier without
judging them? For the same reason he can pass over our sins today and declare
us righteous--because he punished his Son Jesus for them on the cross. This is
how God can be both "just and the justifier." Therefore, the cross is
the ultimate revelation of God's justice and his love. It reveals that sin is
so offensive to God that it cost him the death of his Son to pay for it. But it
also reveals that God loves us so much that he would come in the Person of his
Son to take his judgment in our place.
Received by our faith alone
So
justification is offered by grace alone, and accomplished by Christ alone. We
come now to the third key issue: How do we receive justification? Is it something
that God applies to all of us irrespective of our choice (UNIVERSALISM), or is
there a condition we must meet? Paul couldn't be clearer on this crucial issue.
Read 3:22,25,26,28,30. Justification is received by our faith alone.
Faith
has no power in itself; what matters is the power of its object. It is simply
holding up empty hands to receive the gift that God offers through Christ. It
is personally agreeing with God that you could never pay the debt you owe him,
and then humbly asking Christ to pay your debt for you. It is personally agreeing
that you could appease God's wrath only by your own death, and then humbly trusting
Christ's death to appease God's wrath for you.
This is why we say that Christianity
involves conversion. There is a point of time in your life, before which you are
separated from God and under his judgment. And there is a point of time in your
life, after which you are reconciled to God and secure in his acceptance. The
point of time that separates these two states is your decision to trust Christ
and receive his gift of justification. Have you made this decision? If you've
never consciously trusted in Christ's death on the cross to provide you with the
gift of God's acceptance, why not do so now? You can do this in the quiet of your
heart, because it is a transaction between you and God.
Test
your understanding of justification.
One way to test your comprehension
and response to the good news is by seeing how you respond to the three questions
Paul raises in 3:27-31.
"Where then is boasting?"
Paul is referring to pride in your good or religious works, as though they deserve
God's acceptance. The gospel excludes all such boasting, because it tells us that
God accepts us not because of what we do for him, but because of what Christ has
done for us.
How do you respond to this statement: "My
best works will not qualify me for God's acceptance." There will be many,
many different kinds of people in heaven--but there will be no one saying, "God
and I did a good job." Everyone there will be in awe over how merciful God
was in spite of our sinfulness--and those who have justifying faith recognize
this now. If this offends you, you still don't understand (or haven't received)
the gospel. Justifying faith cancels out all such boasting and replaces it with
humble gratitude.
"Is God the God of the Jews only? Or
is he not the God of the Gentiles also?" Paul is pressing his Jewish audience
on God's willingness to accept "bad" people just as much as "good"
people. He will justify both groups in exactly the same way (3:30).
How
do you respond to this statement: "God invites the worst sinners to share
heaven with me." How do you feel about the possibility of sharing heaven
with someone like Jeffrey Dahmer? He evidently turned to Christ before he was
killed in prison. If so, he will be there with you. If that offends you, doesn't
that mean you think you're more deserving of heaven than he is? And if you think
that, you don't understand how far short you fall and how much you need God's
grace.
"Do we then nullify the Law through faith?"
Paul is verbalizing his opponents' objection that grace removes all reason for
God to give us the Ten Commandments.
How do you respond to
this statement: "God never gave the Law for us to keep." This is Paul's
answer in 3:19,20 (read). God never gave the Law to be a LADDER by which we climb
to him and earn his acceptance. God gave us the Law to be an X-RAY to expose the
extent of our sin and guilt, so we would see our need for his grace. If you are
bothered by this statement, doesn't this mean you still think you can keep the
Law well enough to earn God's acceptance?
NEXT:
Justification in the Old Testament
Footnotes