Romans 3:21-31
Verse 21: Paul spent the past 20 verses of chapter 3 discussing the sinfulness and nature of mankind. Now he is going to discuss how we can get out of a life of sin and live a righteous life through Christ. Paul is now letting us know that our righteousness does not come from ourselves or the things that we do. The righteousness that we get comes through faith in Christ. What Paul means when he says that the law and the prophets bear witness to the righteousness that was manifested outside of the law is that the OT prophets did prophesy about Christ and His coming and the salvation that He would bring.
Verse 22: Here Paul is letting us know that salvation only comes from Christ. And we get this by trusting and having complete faith in Christ and who He says He is. Paul also leads up the next verse with “there is no distinction,” what he means is that we are all equal and that whatever claim he is about to make in v.23 is true and everyone is dealing with the issue at hand.
Verse 23: Major verse! This is one of the verses that most everyone uses when presenting the Gospel. The issue at hand that I had previously mentioned is that we are all dealing with sin. It is evident in all of our lives and we battle it every day. However, until one becomes a believer they never truly battle with sin. They simply submit to it because the Holy Spirit does not dwell in them to tell them not to. Paul tells us straight up that we have sinned and no longer meet God’s standard of holiness anymore because we are no longer holy. No one can stake a claim to this righteousness based on his/her own obedience, for all people have sinned and fall short of what God demands.
Verse 24: in v.23 Paul tells us the bad news, but here in v.24 he brings out the good news which is that we are justified when we have faith in Christ and what He did on the cross. God loves everyone. And He wants to be in communion with everyone because our God is a very relational God. We were able to see that through the way Christ did His ministry here on earth. And so, that is why God has given mankind grace though Christ so that our relationship with God may be restored to the way it was before the fall. Redemption refers to Christ setting sinners free from slavery to sin. In OT times, a person’s debts could result in his being sold as a slave. The next of kin could redeem him, buy his freedom. Christ purchased our freedom and the cost was His life.
Verse 25: when Jesus died He died for ALL sins, past, present and future. So Paul lets it be known here that even though those that died before Christ could still be saved and have their sins forgiven as long as they had trusted in the prophecy of Christ’s coming. Jesus’ blood was a “propitiation” or satisfaction to God’s wrath, meaning that when Jesus died, God’s wrath was made satisfied because the price of the sin of everybody has been paid for by one Man who never sinned.
Verse 26: God is righteous, always has been and always will be. Paul repeats it in this verse because it is a very important concept to grasp. In the cross of Christ, God has showed Himself to be just but also the justifier and the Savior of all those that put their trust in Jesus. This is the heart of Christianity… for at the cross God’s justice & love meet. God did this so that it may be proven that He is the one in control and He is the only one worthy of being a judge over the sin of people.
Verses 27-28: here is where Paul is beginning to discuss how good works will not get anyone into Heaven. Only faith and trust in Christ will be the key to getting through the gates. That is why Paul says here that all boasting in oneself is excluded because man has not done anything to save himself. It is all Christ and if there is any boasting it should be done in Him.
Verses 29-30: Here Paul answers the question about who is God for. God is for everyone. Even those that are not Jews, He still, always has and always will love. Christ died for anyone no matter what heritage or background a person came from, He died for each and every one of us. This is also an important concept to grasp because many people do not think that a holy God would be able to love them past all of their sin and mistakes. But the truth is that God does love them and wants to be in an intimate relationship with them. However, this relationship with God can only be established through faith in Christ, NOT by works!
Verse 31: Paul ends chapter 3 by letting us know that even though we are free from the law thanks to Christ, we still must abide by it because it will bring glory to God. Also by maintaining and following the law, it will prevent chaos from breaking out in society. Paul covers this topic more in depth later on in the book of Romans.
No comments:
Post a Comment