Spoken at SGBC

2-4-98

Romans #16

3:21-22

A Righteousness From God

(Romans 3:9-22 NASB) What then? Are we better than they? (Are Jew's better than the Gentiles?) Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; {10} as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; {11} THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; {12} ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." {13} "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS"; {14} "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; {15} "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, {16} DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, {17} AND THE PATH OF PEACE HAVE THEY NOT KNOWN." {18} "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES." {19} Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; {20} because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. {21} But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, {22} even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; . ."

By these words Paul effectively convicts mankind of sin in the first degree. Sin which renders us accountable to God. All who remain unsaved till death shall perish after being judged and sentenced by the Lord Jesus Christ. (2:12-16)

The picture Paul has painted is not a pretty one, but is accurate. Men are sinners and they cannot make themselves right with God. Yet many protest saying, "I have done good things all my life surely God will be pleased to save me." Paul shuts the mouth of such persons with the words of verses ten and twelve. "There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who does good there is not even one.!"

To one who believes he will be saved because of his superior intelligence and spiritual understanding Paul says in verse eleven. "There is none who understands." No one who is born only once can understand spiritual truths. The facts are set before us in First Corinthians two fourteen. "But a natural man, (a person who has only experienced a natural human birth), does not accept the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised." Which is to say until a man is born again and has the Holy Spirit living in him he does not have the ability to understand spiritual things, not even the Gospel message. This is why Paul says, "There is none who understands."

To the millions who teach and believe that salvation rests in an act of the will or the making of a decision Paul speaks the words or Romans three eleven. " There is none who seeks for God." He comments further on this in chapter nine and verse sixteen where he says, "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." There is none who seek for God.

Paul's burden in the first eighty one verses of Romans has been to prove man's guilt as well as his inability to absolve himself of that guilt. Our brother has accomplished his mission. There is no room left for argument. He has successfully shut the mouths of all men.

The wise man or woman will hang this portrait of fallen humanity on his wall and declare to everyone "That is me!" When one can do this with sincerity he is in a position to appreciate the grace and mercy of God. From this vantage point it will be easy for you to give all glory to God when, in mercy, He grants you salvation through faith in Christ. You will then have no qualms about declaring to all the world, "Salvation is of the Lord," (Jonah 2:9). The essence of the teaching thus far in Romans is found in verses nineteen and twenty.

(Romans 3:19-20 NASB) "Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, (Everyone who once boasted of their own goodness as a basis for salvation becomes silent when they understand that by the Law God demands perfection.) and all the world may become accountable to God; {20} because BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW NO FLESH WILL BE JUSTIFIED IN HIS SIGHT; FOR THROUGH THE LAW COMES THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN."

Paul has argued against a, "keep the law salvation," and he has done so successfully. He has shown that no man has ever been or ever shall be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments. The law was not given to save. It was given to prove to that we do not have the righteousness required for salvation. The law slaps us in the face with our unrighteousness and magnifies. The law was meant to condemn us. It was meant to shut our mouths. It was given to make us understand the hopelessness of our condition. It was never meant to save. Paul makes these things very clear. When understood the words of Paul will cause men to ask, "How then can I be saved?" If not by ancestry, law keeping, ceremony or religion what hope is there?

Beginning with the words, "But now," in verse twenty one the foreboding clouds of guilt, sin and judgment begin to part. The glorious light of God's grace comes shining through. The message Paul now begins to share is called the Gospel, the good news.

(Romans 3:21-22 NASB) "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, (revealed, made known) being witnessed (or spoken of before hand) by the Law and the Prophets, {22} even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;"

Here our brother begins to describe a salvation that has nothing to do with rules and regulations. He speaks of a salvation that is entirely outside of us based on the righteousness of God revealed to mankind in the person and work of Jesus Christ the Lord. This is very important. For this righteousness is just what man is lacking. What man could not provide for himself God has freely given. What could never come by human effort comes to believing sinners by grace.

Why, in verse twenty-one, is this righteousness called, "the righteousness of God?" It is because God is the source and center of all righteousness. From Him flows a fountain of righteousness. The "righteousness of God" is a phrase which speaks of God's holiness and perfection. That God is righteous means that in Him there is no deviation from the ways of truth or justice. All God's actions and judgments are right and good. In Him there is no darkness at all. Just as men are bound to their sin from birth so God is bound to His righteous nature and can do no sin. That's what it means when we speak of the righteousness of God. He is perfectly Holy!

There are three statements basic to our faith that have to do with the righteousness of God. First, God is righteous. Second, because He is righteous God demands righteousness from man. Third, God provides righteousness for those He saves. When these three statements are understood the Gospel is understood. Modify any one of them and you've entered the world of heresy. Fact is, all the world's heresies are such because they deny or modify one or all of these three basic truths.

Let me try to illustrate the critical nature of these three statements. Those who believe that, in the judgment, God's love will replace His righteousness have denied the first of these three essiential statements. For if God overlooks even one sin He is not righteous and is not the God of the bible. God will and must hold all violators of His law accountable for their sin. He must do so for He is righteous. (Exodus 34:7 NASB) " . . . He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished . . . ." God cannot overlook sin for He is a righteous God.

Those who believe that God will let men off the hook because they have been pretty good, compared to others, deny the second of the three points. God demands righteousness from man. God does not and cannot grade on a curve. He demands perfection of everyone He accepts as sons. Consider the words of Galatians 3:10 NASB. "For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM." If a person does not keep ALL the law from the cradle to the grave he is cursed or guilty of sin. The soul that sins it must die for God is righteous and cannot have anything to do with sin. Now hear James 2:10 NASB. "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all." A perfectly righteous God demands perfect righteousness from men. He will accept nothing less.

Then there are those who believe that God and man cooperate together to accomplish man's salvation. God makes His contribution, man makes his and salvation is the result. Such thinking presumes some goodness and ability in man as well as a desire to go to God. Those who teach such things deny what bible says about man's condition. They deny what Paul has said in Romans three. Man does not understand truth. There is no goodness of any kind in man. He does not seek for God. In other words if man is saved God must go to him with the complete package. God must provide the righteousness He demands of the sinner. Salvation is all of grace, it is entirely of the Lord. God provides righteousness for those He saves. (Romans 9:16 NASB) "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy."

God is righteous. God demands righteousness of all men. God provides righteousness to those He saves.

The righteousness spoken of in verse twenty-one is said to have been "manifested." Some translations use the words "made evident," others use,"revealed. These are all good translations of the Greek text. It's interesting to consider the words that would be used to translate the Greek in Latin. One word means "hand," the other means "strike." In other words, to manifest or to reveal something is to slap you in the face with it. God, in Christ, has revealed the righteousness on which salvation depends. He has revealed this righteousness to all men in a sense since the work of Jesus was carried on before the eyes of men. He reveals it to His elect in a personal soul saving way. He slaps them in the face with the fact that man's salvation depends on the righteousness of God imputed to him through faith in Jesus. This is the same righteousness spoken of by the Law and the Prophets in the Old Testament.

Let's listen to the prophet Isaiah.

(Isaiah 53 NASB) Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? (Who has God slapped in the face with this truth?) {2} For He (Jesus) grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. {3} He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. {4} Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. {5} But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, (This is the wrath of God that we should have borne for sin.) And by His scourging (By Christ's suffering for us.) we are healed. (of sin and guilt) {6} All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; (Our situation was hopeless, we had all sinned against the Holy God.) But the LORD (The very God we had offended.) has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. (Jesus) {7} He was oppressed and He was afflicted, (In our place.) Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. {8} By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, FOR THE TRANSGRESSION OF MY PEOPLE TO WHOM THE STROKE WAS DUE? {9} His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. (There was no unrighteousness in Christ for which He should be punished. The sin He died for was our sin, not His.) {10} But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, (That is, those for whom He died will be saved.) He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. (The good pleasure of God is that all the elect be saved and none lost. See John 6.) {11} As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge THE RIGHTEOUS ONE, My Servant, WILL JUSTIFY THE MANY, AS HE WILL BEAR THEIR INIQUITIES. {12} Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors." We are the transgressors that the Righteous One died to redeem and did redeem.

Here, brothers and sisters, is a picture of God saving men from eternal damnation. Notice the contributions man makes to his own salvation. The contributions we make are griefs, sorrows, transgressions, iniquities, straying away, guilt, and sin. This is all man has to offer. So, if men are saved by what they have to offer God they will never be saved, not one of them.

Now lets see what contributions God makes to the salvation of man. God, in Christ, became man that He might die for our sins. He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows. He endured the wrath of God that was due us. He was pierced through for transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. He was scourged in our stead. All our sin fell upon Him. He was the pure, spotless, Righteous Lamb, the only sacrifice acceptable to God. Jesus was the Righteous One, the servant of God who justified many by taking their place under the wrath filled hand of God. We contributed sin and guilt. Jesus gives His perfect righteousness to God with our name on it. It is by His that we are saved. It is not of him who wills or runs but of God who shows mercy in giving us the righteousness of His dear Son.

Paul, speaking of the Jews said this in Romans 10:1-4 NASB. "Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. {2} For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. {3} For not knowing about GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, and seeking to establish their own, (righteousness) they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. {4} For Christ is the end of the law for RIGHTEOUSNESS TO EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES." On the human side it may be said that men are not saved because they will not subject themselves to the "Righteousness of God." Instead they continue to hope in the works of their hands. They continue to hope that the righteous God will not demand righteousness from them. But He does demand righteousness from all men even though they cannot give it. The good news is that God give what He demands. He PROVIDES perfect righteousness to all who will have it. Jesus is the righteousness that God requires and He communicates that righteousness to everyone who believes. Look with me to a wonderful passage in the book of Isaiah.

(Isaiah 61:10 NASB) "I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." When one rests his hope for salvation in the Son of God He wraps that person in the very righteousness that God demands for salvation. To God be all the glory! Look with me at 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 NASB.

"But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, (Men do not, will not, and cannot save themselves or help God save them. By His doing you are in Christ Jesus.) who became to us wisdom from God, and RIGHTEOUSNESS and sanctification, and redemption, {31} that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."

The Gospel is repeated once more in our final text. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 NASB. "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (Every unbeliever is separate from Him because of unrighteousness. How can the unrighteous meet the demands of a righteous God? You can't, but Christ can and will for all who trust Him. For God . . {21} . . made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, (in our place) that we (believers) might BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM."

This is the best news in the universe. Sinners like myself can be made right with God by trusting in the righteousness of another. It is a most amazing thing indeed. When an unrighteous sinner puts his trust for salvation in Christ, the very righteousness that God demands is given to him and he is accepted by God as a son or daughter. That is the Gospel according to Jesus. I pray that God will slap you in the face with this wonderful truth so that you will run to Christ and be saved.