This morning, we are continuing our series on Romans titled Paul’s Magnum Opus. And in this series, we will be going verse by verse through what is arguably Paul’s greatest work, and that is saying something considering Paul wrote over a third of the New Testament.
And last week, we saw how Paul explained that God’s righteousness was now manifested and made clear … and by righteousness, we mean how God could make us righteous again while acting completely within His character and who He is.
Through Jesus, a just God can justify the ungodly … the righteous can spare His wrath against the unrighteous … and He can do it all while maintaining His character and righteousness. And Paul summarized this reality in verses 23-25, and they are the key to the gospel in my opinion.
So that is why I said last week that verses 23-25 (and really through 26) are some of the most important in the entire Bible. These verses should be memorized, plastered everywhere we can, and remembered constantly.
That is how important and critical they are. It can be argued that they are the heart of Scripture … summarizing the entire biblical story and the result of Christ’s death and resurrection in just a few words. We would do well to remember these important words.
But I believe that simply remembering these words isn’t enough. And as I say that, you may think, “Well, make up your mind, Bo! You told me to know and memorize these verses … that they could be the heart of the entire Bible. But now you’re saying that isn’t enough. So what is it?!”
And I stand by what I said about these verses. They should be in our hearts and minds all the time. But here is what I mean when I said that remembering them isn’t enough. Just being able to regurgitate words doesn’t mean anything if you don’t understand what they mean and what you are actually saying.
So that is what I mean. These words are so important and critical that we should all know them … be able to spit them out whenever. Really have them in our hearts. But again, if they are just words, they are pointless and powerless.
You have to understand what Paul is saying with these words if you are going to understand how incredible they really are. And this isn’t just John 3:16. There are some words that many, if not most of us, may not be familiar with.
So with that in mind, in the next few weeks, I will be taking time to really break down Paul’s words here and what they mean. Again, if we don’t understand them, then we are missing out on how incredibly powerful they are. And that will not happen while I am pastor here. So this week, I want to really look at one word, and it is an oh so important word … justified (verse 24).
This whole section is about our justification, but do we even understand what that means? Do you get what Paul is talking about when he talks about us being justified?
I am sure many of us do, but I want to make sure we all at least have a basic knowledge of this important theological term and idea. Some people even say Romans can be boiled down to the idea of justification by faith, so if we don’t understand justification, we are not in a great place.
So let me remind you of the verses we will be covering and what Paul said:
Romans 3:23–25 (ESV) 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. …
Starting in verse 23, Paul lays out the issue that we all have as humans … we are sinners. Because of that sin that is in all of our lives … that now is an exception to … we fall short of God’s glory.
And we have talked about this previously … so I won’t get into it too much here … but we fail to give God the glory He deserves and is due … and we fall short of God’s perfect will, way, standards, and expectations.
If we could somehow keep God’s law perfectly (and glorify Him as we should), we could be righteous by keeping the law. The problem is that we can’t. There is no way that any human can keep God’s law … live up to His standards and expectations or give Him His rightful glory. It is impossible.
And we saw how Paul addressed the concern regarding why God bothered to even give us the law if we could never keep it or measure up … if we would always miss the mark. Paul explained in verses 19-20 that through the law came the knowledge of sin.
Whether we had the law or not, we are already sinners. We are already separated from God and under His wrath. So God gives the law so that we can understand this terrible position that we are already in.
We are absolutely hopeless and accountable to God. The law makes it clear … we are unrighteous before a righteous God. And the law shows us how just and right God is in handing out His wrath and judgment.
So Paul can say confidently in verse 20 that no human being will be justified in God’s sight … made right with Him … through the works of the law.
Instead, after establishing that we are all sinners and in this terrible position and unable to remedy it ourselves through keeping the law, in verse 24, Paul explains that we as humans are justified in another way … different than the law. We are justified by God’s grace.
And this is so amazing, but again, before I go any further, do you really understand what Paul means here when he says that we are justified by the gift of God’s grace? Because it is absolutely mindblowing, but do you understand it to be blown away by it?
So simply put, justification means the be declared righteous before God. So to be justified is to be declared to be right and in right, true relationship with God again.
And as I said before, many of you probably understand justification or at least have heard of it … I have mentioned it many times before. But again, I do want to drill down on this a bit, especially what I mean when I say declared righteous.
Many times, we phrase what happens as a result of justification in different ways. I know I have said “made righteous” before as an easy way to think about what is happening when we talk about justification. But what Paul is communicating here is for a person to be declared righteous, and while that may not seem like much of a difference, it is very important.
Think back to the imagery I have been using … that I believe Paul has been laying out … the imagery of a courtroom. That we are in this cosmic, eternal courtroom as the defendant. The plaintiff can be thought of as the law.
As I mentioned previously in a sermon and summarized briefly in this one, through the law comes the knowledge of sin. In other words … and Paul will go on to expound on this later … but the law was given so that we could understand our sin problem. Sin came before the law, so the law is not what causes sin. Instead, God’s law shows the standards, demands, and will and way of God.
So the law gives us knowledge of our sin and sin problem. That is why I say that we can consider it the plaintiff … the one who is bringing the case against us. It makes it clear before God … who is the eternal judge of all things … that we are guilty of not measuring up to it.
It makes it abundantly clear to everyone … including us, that we have fallen short and missed the mark when it comes that what God demands of His creation and the glory we should be giving Him and reflecting.
And the case against us is so strong that we cannot even mount a defense. We are defenseless, helpless, and without any recourse except to accept God’s right judgment against us … to face God’s wrath. Case closed for all of us. Verse 23 … we all fall short.
But building off that imagery, Paul makes the incredible statement we see in verse 24. What Paul says isn’t that we are now punished as a result of falling short. No … quite the opposite!!
Paul says we are justified, despite falling short … despite having absolutely no defense or case we can make as to why we shouldn’t face God’s wrath and judgment that we absolutely deserve … as made clear by the law … instead of guilty we receive an innocent verdict.
So going back … still keeping the imagery of the courtroom scene … we are the helpless defendant with nothing to say or do but face the wrath of God because the law has made it absolutely clear that we have fallen short … but Paul says that instead of wrath, God’s judgment on us is to declare us righteous … right with Him.
And this is why the declaration part is so important. What is happening isn’t that we are simply told we are righteous or that God just considers us righteous and back in right relationship with Him. No! It is more than that. This declaration is a legal reality that is handed down by God as judge of everything and eternity.
Now, that may seem confusing. So to help you understand this, what I am talking about there, think about an adoption. With an adoption, there is a child who is not a part of a family. Sure, he or she may live with that family or be considered a part of that family, but in the eyes of the law, that child is not a part of that family
He or she is estranged or separated from the family. And there is nothing that child can do to be a part of that family on their own. You can’t just make yourself part of the family legally. That isn’t how it works. That is just the reality that they aren’t no matter how much they want to be.
But what happens? Eventually, the family and the kid and all their friends and loved ones gather in a courthouse and go before a judge. And the judge makes a legal declaration regarding that child … he or she is now a part of that family.
You see, in one instant, they were separated. But in another, the relationship between that child and family is completely different. Their separation is gone, and regardless of how things were before, everything has changed in an instant with the declaration of that judge … what they could never make happen on their own is now changed because of that declaration.
And in a very real way, this is what Paul is saying happens to us. And to be honest, I teared up a bit when I was writing this because it is just so beautiful and overwhelming. So I don’t want to move too quickly past that. I want to make sure you understand the gravity and unbelievableness of what Paul is explaining.
Again, put yourself in that courtroom. You are at the stand … standing there … head down … because there is nothing to see. The case against you is absolutely clear and obvious. You can’t do it … you can’t measure up as you should. Maybe you’ve tried, but you’ve fallen short can’t uphold God’s will and way … you aren’t glorifying God in your life and reflecting Him.
The truth is, we are a rebellious people. Even though we owe everything to God … our very existence … we still pridefully want to do things our way and be our own gods.
And even if we wanted to glorify and follow God, the bad news is that we can’t. We are sinners. Who we are in our very essence is against God and His will and way, so that is why there isn’t a single person who measures up … not one. And the law has made that absolutely clear. There is no other case to be made. It is clear as day and obvious to anyone who would be watching.
So you stand there before the judge of all things … a God who is perfectly righteous … who we owe everything and yet we have gone against Him and rebelled time and time again, and there is nothing we can say or do except to just wait for the verdict.
And there is no mystery behind what it will be … this would be the easiest case of all time … the verdict will absolutely guilty and deserving of His wrath. That is the only outcome that even remotely makes sense … God rightfully declares us guilty and then we face His just wrath.
But in a complete reversal of things, what God declares is not what is expected at all. His verdict isn’t one of guilt but innocence. So to keep the courtroom imagery going, with God’s declaration that we are innocent instead of guilty, we are instantly acquitted of all wrongdoing.
That means that all our sins and how we have continued to miss the mark … fall short … and constantly rebel against the God of the universe are gone. All the times we didn’t give God the glory He deserved and instead lived for ourselves instead of God’s glory have been removed.
Again, the case against us was ironclad, obvious, and there was no other outcome that could come from it, but God’s declaration has ended it. As a matter of fact … hear me … the case against us was so strong and complete because of our sin that there is no other charge that could ever be brought against us when we face God in the final judgment.
Do you understand that? Everything was clear and on the table. Everything you have done and will do … it is brought against you. But you are declared innocent and right instead of guilty. So if that is the case, then what else could be ever brought against us? The answer is nothing! There is nothing else to condemn us before God for all of eternity!!
So like that child whose life and reality are in an instant changed by a judge’s declaration, so our life and reality are likewise changed. God has declared us righteous like He is. So in an instant, we go from sinners who are rightfully going to face God’s wrath to being declared righteous and in right relationship with God instead of the separation and hopelessness that we faced before.
Again, God declares the guilty as innocent … the unjust as just … and the unrighteous (which Paul has made clear we all are) as righteous for all eternity because if God doesn’t condemn us, then what possibly could? And that is justification.
Whew! Man, it is hard to not be overwhelmed when you understand this. It was hard to see the screen when I typed this. And though the final judgment is when this will fully happen, we obtain this reality right now.
If you are a Christian, you have been justified … declared righteous by the judge of all reality … God. There is no more guilt. You are now innocent. The law made it clear who we were … unrighteous sinners who deserved to face God’s judgment and wrath … but God has instead declared us righteous.
Our lives and realities are completely different now. No longer are we estranged from God, but now there is no separation between us and Him … and it will be fully removed when we meet Him. Right now we have right relationship with God that will last us for all of eternity.
And just like the kid from the adoption example, we are adopted into God’s family. And all of this is possible and comes from this cornerstone theological principle and critical thing called justification.
And Paul drives it all home in verse 24 by highlighting that it is all a gift. We didn’t earn it or deserve it and it certainly isn’t owed to us. We are guilty. So guilty there isn’t a single word we could say in our defense.
But God gives us grace and declares us righteous. We could never be justified by law or anything we could ever do, so all seemed lost. But then God gives us grace … completely free and unmerited and undeserved grace … by declaring us righteous. And at that moment, everything changes. Again, this is justification and how we are ultimately made right with God.
It is put beautifully this way in Titus:
Titus 3:4–7 ESV
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
I mean, how can we grasp this even just a little bit and just not be moved and overwhelmed by God and His loving grace for us? And it is all a gift. We were facing a sure outcome, and God graciously declares something different.
And as a result … everything changes. We are never the same. Our lives and realities are forever different because of this. And we are forever innocent instead of guilty … our sins past, present, and future are taken care of. God’s judgment is final, and it is that we are righteous.
So again, I hope we all have either been reminded or filled in on this unbelievable and unimaginable aspect of our Christianity.
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