While this lesson is about Salvation it deals with the Law. Many don’t know that ignorance of any state or federal law does not excuse anyone from the penalty if a person breaks one of these laws. If that situation leads to a trial it could be that a jury will not convict. Of course, to go to trial is a cost most don’t want to incur. So, it is best to know as many laws as we can.
This situation is almost identical to the situation involved in God’s Law. In the state anterior to law, man is not supposed to know what is sinful and what is not. Conscience, gradually developed, comes in to give him some insight into the distinction, but the full knowledge of right and wrong, in all its details, is reserved for the introduction of positive law (10 Commandments). Law has, however, only this enlightening faculty; it holds the mirror up to guilt, but it cannot remove it. Jesus becomes our “jury” and all He wants to know is do we believe, trust, and give Him your life’s commitment. There is no law involved- just Jesus’ promise of eternal life and God’s mercy and forgives us, any it all happens due to the Holy Spirit.
Read Romans 3:20-22
By the deeds of the law – By works; or by such deeds as the Law requires. The word “Law” has, in the Scriptures, a great variety of significations. Its strict and proper meaning are a rule of conduct prescribed by superior authority. The course of reasoning in this chapters shows the sense in which the apostle uses it here. He intends evidently to apply it to those rules or laws by which the Jews and Gentiles pretended to frame their lives; and to affirm that people could be justified by no conformity to those laws. He had shown Romans 1 that “the pagan, the entire Gentile world,” had violated the laws of nature; the rules of virtue made known to them by reason, tradition, and conscience. He had shown the same Romans 2-3 in respect to the Jews. They had equally failed in rendering obedience to their Law. In both these cases the reference was, not to “ceremonial” or ritual laws, but to the moral law; whether that law was made known by reason or by revelation. The apostle had not been discussing the question whether they had yielded obedience to their ceremonial law, but whether they had been found holy, that is, whether they had obeyed the moral law. The conclusion was, that in all this they had failed, and that therefore they could not be justified by that Law That the apostle did not intend to speak of external works only is apparent; for he all along charges them with a lack of conformity of the heart no less than with a lack of conformity of the life;.; see Romans 1:26, Romans 1:29-31; Romans 2:28-29 The conclusion is therefore a general one, that by no law, made known either by reason, conscience, tradition, or revelation, could man be justified; that there was no form of obedience which could be rendered, that would justify people in the sight of a holy God..
But now. In these latter days. The Apostle conceives of the history of the world as divided into periods; the period of the Gospel succeeds that of the Law, and to it the Apostle and his readers belong. (Comp. for this conception of the gospel, as manifested at a particular epoch of time, Romans 16:25-26; Acts 17:30; Galatians 3:23; Galatians 3:25; Galatians 4:3-4; Ephesians 1:10; Ephesians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:21; Colossians 1:26; 1Timothy 2:6; 2Timothy 1:10; Hebrews 1:1; 1Peter 1:20.)
The righteousness of God. Rather, a righteousness of God—i.e., “bestowed by God,” “wrought out by Him,” as in Romans 1:17. The reference is again, here as there, to the root-conception of righteousness as at once the great object and condition of the Messianic kingdom.
Without the law. With complete independence of any law, though borne witness to by the Law of Moses. The new system is one into which the idea of law does not enter.
Is manifested. Has been and continues to be manifested. The initial moment is that of the appearance of Christ upon earth. The scheme which then began is still evolving itself.
Being witnessed. The Apostle does not lose sight of the preparatory function of the older dispensation, and of its radical affinity to the new. (Comp. Romans 1:2; Romans 16:26; Luke 18:31; Luke 24:27; Luke 24:44; Luke 24:46; John 5:39; John 5:46; Acts 2:25; Acts 2:31; Acts 3:22; Acts 3:24; Acts 17:2-3; Acts 26:22-23; 1Peter 1:10-11.)
(21-22) Such was the condition of the world up to the coming of Christ. But now, in contrast with the previous state of things, a new system has appeared upon the scene. In this system law is entirely put on one side, though the system itself was anticipated in and is attested by those very writings in which the Law was embodied. Law is now superseded, the great end of the Law, the introduction of righteousness, being accomplished in another way, viz., through faith in Christ, by which a state of righteousness is superinduced upon all believers.
A further definition of the nature of the righteousness so given to the Christian by God; it is a righteousness that has its root in faith, and is coextensive with faith, being present in every believer. By faith of Jesus Christ i.e., by faith which has Christ for its object, “faith in Christ.” “Faith” in St. Paul’s writings implies an intense attachment and devotion. It has an intellectual basis, necessarily involving a belief in the existence, and in certain attributes, of the Person for whom it is entertained; but it is moral in its operation, a recasting of the whole emotional nature in accordance with this belief, together with a consequent change in character and practice. From this, it my belief that an intense attachment and devotion is the only faith we should have and for it to be in everything we do. (This what I am able to do more of due to my health situation).
Read Romans 3:23-26
All have sinned and come short. Strictly, all sinned; the Apostle looking back upon an act done in past time under the old legal dispensation, without immediate reference to the present: he then goes on to say that the result of that act (as distinct from the act itself) continues on into the present. The result is that mankind, in a body, as he now sees them, and before they come within the range of the new Christian system, fall short of, miss, or fail to obtain, the glory of God.
Glory of God. What is this glory? Probably not here, as in Romans 8:18; Romans 8:21, the glory which will be inaugurated for the saints at the Parusià, or Second Coming of the Messiah—for that is something future—but, rather, something which is capable of being conferred in the present, the glory which comes from the favor and approval of God
Paul’s view of the purpose of the law.
He has been quoting a mosaic of
Old Testament passages from the Psalms and Isaiah. He regards these as part of
‘the law,’ which term, therefore, in his view, here includes the whole previous
revelation, considered as making known God’s will as to man’s conduct. Every
word of God, whether promise, or doctrine, or specific command, has in it some
element bearing on conduct. God reveals nothing only in order that we may know,
but all that, knowing, we may do and be what is pleasing in His sight. All His
words are law.
But Paul sets forth another view
of its purpose here; namely, to drive home to men’s consciences the conviction
of sin. That is not the only purpose, for God reveals duty primarily in order
that men may do it, and His law is meant to be obeyed. But, failing obedience,
this second purpose comes into action, and His law is a swift witness against
sin. The more clearly we know our duty, the more poignant will be our
consciousness of failure. The light which shines to show the path of right,
shines to show our deviations from it. And that conviction of sin, which it was
the very purpose of all the previous Revelation to produce, is a merciful gift;
for, as the Apostle implies, it is the prerequisite to the faith which saves. As
a matter of fact, there was a far profounder and more inward conviction of sin
among the Jews than in any heathen nation. Contrast the wailings of many a
psalm with the tone in Greek or Roman literature. No doubt there is a law
written on men’s hearts which evokes a lower measure of the same consciousness
of sin. There are prayers among the Assyrian and Babylonian tablets which might
almost stand beside the Fifty-first Psalm; but, on the whole, the deep sense of
sin was the product of the revealed law. The best use of our consciousness of
what we ought to be, is when it rouses conscience to feel the discordance with
it of what we are, and so drives us to Christ. Law, whether in the Old
Testament, or as written in our hearts by their very make, is the slave whose
task is to bring us to Christ, who will give us power to keep God’s
commandments.
Another purpose of the law is
stated in Romans 3:21,
as being to bear witness, in conjunction with the prophets, to a future more
perfect revelation of God’s righteousness. Much of the law was symbolic and
prophetic. The ideal it set forth could not always remain unfulfilled. The
whole attitude of that system was one of forward-looking expectancy. There is
much danger lest, in modern investigations as to the authorship, date, and
genesis of the Old Testament revelation, its central characteristic should be
lost sight of; namely, its pointing onwards to a more perfect revelation which
should supersede it.
Being justified (v.24). We should more naturally say, “but now are justified.” The construction in the Greek is peculiar and may be accounted for in one of two ways. Either the phrase “being justified” may be taken as corresponding to “all them that believe” in Romans 3:22, the change of case being an irregularity suggested by the form of the sentence immediately preceding; or the construction may be considered to be regular, and the participle “being justified” would then be dependent upon the last finite verb: “they come short of the glory of God, and in that very state of destitution are justified.” Freely.—Gratuitously, without exertion or merit on their part. (Comp. Matthew 10:8; Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:17.) By his grace. By His own grace. The means by which justification is wrought out is the death and atonement of Christ; its ulterior cause is the grace of God, or free readmission into His favor, which He accords to man.
In verses 25-26. the death of Christ had a twofold object or final cause: (1) was to be, like the sacrifices of the old covenant, an offering propitiatory to God, and actualize in the believer through faith. (2) It was to demonstrate the righteousness of God by showing that sin would entail punishment, though it might not be punished in the person of the sinner. The apparent absence of any adequate retribution for the sins of past ages made it necessary that by one conspicuous instance it should be shown that this was in no sense due to an ignoring of the true nature of sin. The retributive justice of God was all the time unimpaired. The death of Christ served for its vindication, at the same time that a way to escape from its consequences was opened out through the justification of the believer.
Precisely in what sense the punishment of our sins fell upon Christ, and in what sense the justice of God was vindicated by its so falling, is another point which we are not able to determine. Nothing, we may be sure, can be involved which is in ultimate conflict with morality. At the same time, we see that under the ordinary government of God, the innocent suffered for the guilty, and there may be some sort of transference of this analogy into the transcendental sphere. Both the natural and the supernatural government of God are schemes “imperfectly comprehended.” In any case, Christ was innocent, and Christ suffered. On any theory there is a connection between His death and human sin. What connection is a question to which, perhaps, only a partial answer can be given.
(25) Hath set forth. Rather, set forth, publicly exhibited, in the single act of the death upon the cross. (26) To declare. The second object of the death of Christ was to remove the misconceptions that might be caused by the apparent condoning of sins committed in times anterior to the Christian revelation. A special word is used to indicate that these sins were not wiped away and dismissed altogether, but rather “passed over” or “overlooked.” This was due to the forbearance of God, who, as it were, suspended the execution of His vengeance. Now the Apostle shows by the death of Christ that justice that had apparently slept was vindicated.
Thus, God appeared in a double character, at once as just or righteous Himself, and as producing a state of righteousness in the believer. Under the Old Testament God had been revealed as just; but the justice or righteousness of God was not met by any corresponding righteousness on the part of man, and therefore could only issue in condemnation. Under the New Testament the justice of God remained the same, but it was met by a corresponding state of righteousness in the believer a righteousness, however, not inherent, but superinduced by God Himself
through the process of justification by faith. In this way the great Messianic condition of righteousness was fulfilled.
Where is boasting then? Where is there ground or occasion of boasting or pride? Since all have sinned, and since all have failed of being able to justify themselves by obeying the Law, and since all are alike dependent on the mere mercy of God in Christ, all ground of boasting is of course taken away. This refers particularly to the Jews, who were much addicted to boasting of their special privileges; See Romans 3:1, By what law? The word “law “here is used in the sense of “arrangement, rule, or economy.” By what arrangement, or by the operation of what rule, is boasting excluded? “(Stuart).” See Galatians 3:21; Acts 21:20.
Of works. The Law which commands works, and on which the Jews relied. If this were complied with, and they were thereby justified, they would have had ground of self-confidence, or boasting, as being justified by their own merits. But a plan which led to this, which ended in boasting, and self-satisfaction, and pride, could not be true. Nay – No. The law of faith. The rule, or arrangement which proclaims that we have no merit; that we are lost sinners; and that we are to be justified only by faith.
(v.28) There is a remarkable division of some of the best authorities in this verse between “therefore” and “for.” The weight of authority seems somewhat in favor of “for,” which also makes the best sense. That boasting is excluded is much rather the consequence than the cause of the principle that man is justified by faith. This principle the Apostle regards as sufficiently proved by his previous argument. We conclude. This conveys too much the idea of an inference; the statement is rather made in the form of an assertion, “we consider,” or “we hold.” “For we hold that a man (any human being—whether Jew or Greek) is justified by faith, independently of any works prescribed by law.” It is the unavoidable tendency of dependence upon our own works, less or more, for acceptance with God, to beget a spirit of “boasting.” But that God should encourage such a spirit in sinners, by any procedure of His, is incredible. This therefore stamps falsehood upon every form of “justification by works,” whereas the doctrine that our faith receives a righteousness that makes the sinner just, manifestly and entirely excludes “boasting”; and this is the best evidence of its truth. This and no other way of salvation is adapted alike to Jew and Gentile. That a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
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