Romans Chapter 3

In Romans chapters 1-3 Paul is pointing his finger at all mankind and announcing that when judged according to truth there better be a way for God to consider us righteous, apart from our own merit, performance or production; because none of us consistently or continually measure up to the perfect standard of a perfectly righteous God.  Therefore, all of us are worthy of the wrath of God. We can thank God that He has provided a way to fix what was broken and Paul is going to explain that remedy in a doctrine called JUSTIFICATION. So Paul is preparing the soil (our minds) before he begins to pour the foundation of justification. He shows us the need of JUSTIFICATION before he teaches us the mechanics of JUSTIFICATION. This justification would be by grace alone through faith alone in the accomplishment of the cross work of Christ alone where our sins are concerned. That is what we needed and God has fully provided for our greatest need. Man has offered up to God many self defense pleas down through the years as to why they are not worthy of God’s wrath:

1. Ignorance of Gentiles even though they had a God-given conscience. (Rom. 1: 18-19))

2. Relative righteousness (comparing ourselves with our neighbor).  (Rom. 2:1-2) God does not grade on the curve. Man’s dilemma is that God grades on His perfect righteousness and we fail to measure up.

3. Natural righteousness of Jews. (Because they were related to Abraham they thought they had a right standing with God; also they thought that righteousness was according to law keeping---ritual and religion will not do; circumcision had to be inward and outward). Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: (Rom. 9:6)

What constituted a “true Jew” or “believing Israel”? To be “of Israel” there was only one requirement---physical circumcision that connected you with the Covenant of God (Gen. 17:5-13). If a Gentile converted to Judaism, he had to be circumcised. This made a Gentile “of Israel”.

God placed all of them who were “of Israel” under the Law Contract called the Law of Moses. So how many in Israel were able to perfectly keep the Law? None! (Rom. 3:20) Since none were able to keep it, no one could be considered “True Israel”. Therefore, what was a Jew to do to be considered a true Jew during the dispensation of Law when one was not able to perfectly obey the Law? In many of the Jew’s minds they thought that they were fulfilling iall the law (Pharisees). Therefore the only Jews that God recognized as True Israel were those who performed according the Law and rituals of Moses and they had to recognize their failure under the Law Covenant and they had to confess that failure to God. In this sense, God used the Law as a “schoolmaster” to teach Israel something---they were not able to keep ALL OF THE LAW ALL OF THE TIME.. Daniel gives us a clear example of this CONFESSION GOD REQUIRED. (Dan. 9:5-6 Notice that Daniel doesn’t name individual sins he had committed as we are told to do today to keep in fellowship with God. He is confessing the larger idea that God desired---religion would never be enough to give Israel a righteous standing before God. Daniel was “of Israel” and therefore he acknowledged that “we” corporately have sinned. Israel was under “true religion”. In fact Judaism is the only authorized religion ever acceptable to God. Paul was brought up in this religion (Acts 26:1-5) but he counted it but dung when it came to a righteous standing before God. Rule keeping can not gain one a righteous standing before God. Gal. 2:16…Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of (not In Jesus Christ) Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Phil. 3:8-9…Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, [9] And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:  Nobody’s righteousness (earthly goodness) will be good enough at the great White Throne Judgment to save them. Paul simply states that he does not want to be found standing in his own righteousness. The lost will be judged out of the books by comparing “their own righteousness” with the "perfect righteousness" required by God. Just as religion did not save the Jew in and of itself; religion can not save the Jew or Gentile today. RELIGION IS AN EQUALLY INADEQUATE SELF DEFENSE PLEA FOR JEW AND GENTILE. Even though we are not under law today but under grace we must take the message of reconciliation to the world. Why? Because of the message of ALIENATION that Paul announced throughout the Roman Empire! We are all guilty before God and worthy of His wrath. Justification is God’s way of declaring a man righteous; nothing else will do.

These verses are revealing the extreme self defense pleas of the Jews. Now put yourself in Israel’s place of Paul’s day and understand that Paul strips away everything they were trusting in with regard to God. Paul expects them to respond with twisted logic or bad reasoning so he answers them by asking four questions: 

Vs. 1-2…What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? [2] Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.  They (Jews) want Paul to say that there is no advantage. But he doesn’t do that. He says being a Jew has an important advantage---The “oracles of God” means God’s utterance or words. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. [38] This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:  (Acts 7:37-38) The law of Moses was an “oracle of God”. Also, in Hebrews 5:12…For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat… and Heb. 6:1… Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God… The doctrine of Christ is the first oracles of God. The thrust of all Old Testament Scripture is that God would one day be with man here on earth. That is why Jesus was named Emmanuel---God with us. Therefore, Israel’s response to Paul’s teaching on man’s wrath worthiness before God is to conclude that there must be no plan in God’s mind for them if indeed they, as a Nation, were indeed wrath worthy. They concluded that the name Jew and the Law meant nothing if they were worthy of God’s wrath. If what Paul is saying is true, then God’s plan for Israel did mean much at all. They blamed God because He obviously didn’t plan on keeping His word in the first place for the nation of Israel if they are wrath worthy. They reasoned that none of the Law keeping and special favor God bestowed upon them helped them. The question behind the question in a Jew’s mind was, “how could we be advantaged as a Jew and at the same time be wrath worthy?” They could not see that Paul was trying to explain the difference between a Jew and a “true Jew”. This distinction went totally over their heads. The mindset of the Jews was, “How could Jews be “wrath worthy” and at the same time advantaged by God with a plan for a coming King and a coming Kingdom?”  Israel concluded that there must not be a plan of God for them at all IF they were worthy of the wrath of God. They thought that their wrath worthiness would destroy God’s special plan for the Nation altogether. Do you see their twisted logic? Paul responds to the Jews question, “What advantage is there then by being a Jew?” by telling them that Jewish wrath worthiness was not the fault of God or His faulty plan. It was THEIR FAILURE of faith (unbelief) that was the problem; however, their failure would not destroy God’s plan from ultimately coming to pass. 

God had advantaged Israel by speaking to them His plan for them but they missed it. The Church the Body of Christ has done the same thing. Don’t blame the “Plan” or the “Planner” if you misunderstand the plan.

Vs. 3…For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?  They are asking “wouldn’t the Jewish unbelief render God powerless?” Wouldn’t Jewish unbelief render God’s plan powerless. God’s faithfulness to carry out His plan with Israel would mess up God’s purposes. Paul answers that that will never happen…vs. 4… God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.  Man’s unbelief will never nullify the promises of God because of man’s sin. Paul is quoting David in Psa. 51:4 where God promised him a future in Israel and even sin could not undo God’s plan. The oracles of God cannot be nullified by the sin of man.

Vs. 5…But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? If we are unbelieving Jews and it does not alter the righteousness of God then let’s just mess up continually because our unrighteousness actually makes God look good. That, my friend is perverted logic! Israel’s badness makes God look better; so let’s eat drink and be merry! Paul says, God forbid. He hated to even verbalize that twisted reasoning (I speak as a man). According to the Jews stupid thinking, God looks better everyday when we look around the world at man’s badness. Paul responds by asking if that thinking were true---then how could God judge the world (Gentiles)…vs. 6…God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?  The Gentiles were making God the best He could look because of their rank unbelief. If God could not judge Israel because they make Him look good, how then could He judge the Gentiles. Paul is turning their twist thinking on them.

Vs. 7…For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? This is a variation of the third question just asked and answered by Paul: If my unfaithfulness makes God’s faithfulness look even better, how could God call me a sinner and judge me since I am doing a pretty good thing? I am making God’s faithfulness look so great. Take away my unrighteousness and you take away some of God’s glory---Paul mocks them. Vs. 8 shows the attitude of unbelief among Jews by saying look at all the good that came from Paul’s life when he was teaching to do evil because good is going to come by God anyway.

Since our deeds do not determine our destiny, to preach grace is not to sanction sin, but to settle one’s trust in our Saviour. Preaching true grace teaches  the believer what Christ has done about the sins of the world and our new standing in Jesus Christ of being perfectly righteous.

To avoid the preaching of grace because of the fear it may lead a person to conclude they have a license to sin is to presume that the preaching of Law will restrain sin. Paul said that the Law was meant to teach Israel just how sinful they were and their desperate need of a Saviour. To teach Law in this dispensation of Grace is to defame the Gospel of Christ. It is so important that Paul says in II Cor. 4:3…you are lost if “our gospel” is hid from you.

Vs. 9… What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;  In context, the Holy Spirit through Paul is saying that even though the nation of Israel had enjoyed a privileged position with God in the past, a new dispensation was being ushered in (Grace) which temporarily set aside Israel’s favored nation status with God. Both Jews and Gentiles must understand that they need to be justified or righteousified in order to have a right standing with God. This supernatural act is a free gift of God offered to whosoever will that is willing to take God at His Word by believing what Christ did for us concerning our sins when He died on the Cross. We are all wrath worthy; however the Gentiles reasoned that they didn’t have enough knowledge to be sent to hell. The Greeks said they were too educated to go to hell. The Jews said they were too special to God to be sent to hell. Paul is announcing that none of these defense pleas will convince the Judge to change His mind---He has offered the only legitimate remedy for man’s dilemma as a free gift. As the new dispensation of grace begins, God is announcing that He will accept the merit of no person as a contributing factor in his salvation.

Vs. 10-12… “there is none that seeketh after God”…A lost man or woman says many times that they were seeking after God and finally found Him. Paul said there is none that seeketh after God. So what is it that the lost man or woman is seeking after when they say they were seeking after God? It is relief from their own painful lifestyles often times; for others it is victory over addictive habits; while others are seeking to become a better person. Each one of those desires is rooted in self. When Adam sinned in the Garden, he didn’t go seeking God, He hid from God. Lost men and women must be confronted with the Gospel of Christ, the ministry of reconciliation and the revelation of the ministry. God wants to use grace believers to seek the lost. And by the way, merely telling the lost the message of the Gospel (I Cor. 15:1-4) without telling them the meaning of the message (II Cor. 5:17-21) only makes the so-called convert a Christian in name only. Verses 21-28 will explain this more thoroughly.

“there is none that doeth good, no, not one”…What do we mean when we say “he or she is such a good person?" We mean that they are good according to human standards. But when held up to God’s righteousness, there is none good. Some are good at times and others are good some of the time. But, none of us are good through and through and all of the time.

Vs. 13-14…“Their throat is an open sepulcher”…The Holy Spirit through Paul is going to give unregenerate man a physical exam and He starts by inspecting the mouth (just like a medical doctor will do). A sepulcher is a grave where a dead person is rotting. According to John 11 Lazarus was in the grave and “he stinketh”. God is not telling us that we all have bad breath. We stink in terms of divine righteousness.

“with their tongues they have used deceit”…People as a whole are smooth talkers. People speak nice to your face but poison you behind your back. They lace their poison with perfume.

“ the poison of asps is under their lip”…People mix poison with their words so as to paralyze or contaminate the recipient of our words.

“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”…Wishing harm on another or wishing ill will. Bringing others under the condemnation of ill will due the bitterness in our heart.

Vs. 15-18…“Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways”…Every where that man goes you can see the results of him having been there. The footprints of men are the footprints of sinners. You can easily see the destruction and misery sinners bring to the world.

“And the way of peace have they not known”…War all around the world gives evidence that sin precludes. Sin renders lasting peace impossible.

“There is no fear of God before their eyes”…Here is why we are in the condition we are in. Satan wants man to humanize God. God is our best friend in the sky. Mankind does not have a proper alarm about the judgment of God---both the lost and the saved. According to I Cor. 3:15 even the saved will “suffer loss” if they fail to take the Bema Seat Judgment seriously. Paul expresses this to the Thessalonians… Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; (I Thess. 1:3) Both saved and lost people are self centered and forget the fear of God from time to time.

Vs. 19… Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Here is God’s final verdict about all mankind---all are guilty and in need of Justification.

Vs. 20… Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight… The measure of God’s perfect justice is perfect performance. In the eyes of a perfect God, no flesh shall be justified by his efforts or performance. The law tells man what his problem is but we can’t remedy the problem with the law. The answer must come from a justification totally apart from man’s efforts or who we are or what we do or promise to do or commit to never so again. We need a Justifier who justifies the UNGODLY by faith (Rom. 4:5… But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.)

“for by the law is the knowledge of sin”… The law was never given as a standard by which man could live his life or achieve righteousness before God. It was given to be a mirror so that those placed under that law might gain a better glimpse of himself. It was given so mankind could get a perfectly clear picture of just how sinful we really are. We need to see ourselves properly apart from saving faith in the work of Christ on the Cross.

In the following verses the Holy Sprit through Paul is going to give the world of lost sinners an explanation of what justification is; why is it necessary; and how is it accomplished. In Romans 1:17 Paul lets us know that God has the ability to justify or righteousify a person who is unrighteous. It is the Gospel of Christ that has that power. It is the good news contained in the Gospel of Christ that allows us to understand how it is that God can justify a person who is unrighteous, while at the same time having His justice remain in tact. Inside the Gospel message is a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of any man no matter how perfect it appears. The righteousness in the Gospel is given to a person who believes something. It is a matter of “faith to faith”. We will discuss this doctrine in detail.

These verses explain the mechanics of how God “righteousifies” a sinner. There are three components: the grace component, the blood component, and the faith component.

1. Grace component: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets”…Prior to God giving the law to Israel, God made it very clear to man His response to the unrighteousness of man---a world wide flood; changing languages of the people; sending fire and brimstone on Sodom, etc. God gave Israel the law and He continued to visibly evidence His wrath against unrighteousness. (Lev. 26: 27-30; Amos 7:14-17). Clearly the law and the prophets witnessed God’s attitude toward sin. The first two words of vs. 21 are big---BUT NOW. God has a new way of dealing with the sins of man---II Cor. 5:18-20. He is not bringing special judgments on the world of sinners for their sins today, He put them on Christ and He is not imputing them to the sons of men. God does not teach us by arranging special judgments in our lives in this dispensation. He teaches us through His Word, rightly divided (II Tim. 2:15). God most certainly has used special judgments in prior dispensations but He is not doing that today. People like to get up in church and testify that God has been teaching them through a particular trial or testing and fellow Christians say “Amen, praise the Lord”. This is contrary to what the Apostle of the Gentiles taught us. When he wrote to the assemblies in the various cities throughout the Roman Empire he would always begin by greeting them with the phrase---"grace and peace to you from God the Father". This is the dispensation of Grace; therefore that is what we are learning as we “study to show ourselves approved of God”. We are to be learning the doctrines of grace from the Word rightly divided---not the tests and trials of life. The Holy Spirit through Paul tells us how to think about the "temptations" of life in I Cor. 10:13… There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. There is no special circumstance or testing that God is putting us through. We live in a sin cursed world and the problems we experience are “common to man”. Grace will “establish us” to bear these things. God does not give us special problems to teach us lessons, God wrote a Book to teach us lessons. We are not living in a dispensation where God pours out His judgments to prove a point. We are living in a “present evil world” (Gal. 1:4). Therefore, these "common temptations" are not "signposts" from God to train believers; they are the unavoidable results of living in a sin-cursed world… And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. (II Thess. 3:5) Please do not think that I am saying we can not learn something spiritually useful through difficult circumstances---we can! I am saying that arranging circumstances is not His preferred method of instruction in this dispensation of grace.

Now what “righteousness of God” is Paul talking about? Paul is telling us that there is a righteousness of God that is being brought to light for the very first time. It has nothing to do with “rule keeping” or any system of law keeping that man can devise that will satisfy God’s righteous demands. Apart from what Christ did for us at Calvary, we have got a huge problem. What God does for us when we are saved is “join us to Christ for our rightness before God”… For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Col. 3:3). Hear me carefully now---what Christ did for us at Calvary does make us measure up to God’s rightness. You have to be “righteousified” and that comes by grace, through the blood of Christ, through Christ’s faithfulness. Your faith in these three things makes you saved. What is the so-called church’s model of obeying the Great Commission? Win them; Wet them, Work them and Whip them. Rom. 4:5 tells us that our right standing before God is based on faith. “His faith” refers back to the man who is “working not”. Working to maintain a standard while tying that standard (in your mind) to the acquisition of or maintenance of your right standing before God is an exercise in futility. Works are excluded from the kind of divine righteousness Paul is talking about here.  

2. Faith component: “Even the righteousness of God” Back in eternity past, the Godhead devised a plan by which God could give wrath worthy sinners a free gift by decreeing them righteous based on the merit of ANOTHER. God called this “gift decree”---justification. Justification is something God does for us; not something we do for God. So how can God justify a sinner? The next phrase is crucial in understanding the process...

“which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe”… The basis or foundation upon which mankind’s salvation rests is based squarely on the “faith of Jesus Christ”. What is this “faith of Jesus Christ”? The plan was for Jesus to take on a human body and submit Himself to death by shedding His blood and enduring shameful treatment on a Cross. He would be buried and raised from the dead, all in obedience to the will of Father God. The accomplishment of the sinless life of Christ and His substitutionary death on the Cross is referred to as the “faith of Jesus Christ”. Therefore Father God can justify an unrighteous man and remain perfectly just based on the faith of Christ in carrying out the Godhead’s plan. That is what Rom. 3:22 is telling us. It is what Christ accomplished for us that we could not accomplish for ourselves. This phrase is referred to in other places as well--- “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Rom. 1:17) The righteousness of God is revealed from faith (Christ’s work in our behalf that was fully satisfying to the Father) to faith (our belief of the truth of the Gospel of Christ; our taking God at His Word when it comes to what He has done with our sins). In order to be justified/saved one must put his/her faith in the faith (the work belonging to Christ) of Christ. Get the direction of the Gospel right ---it is His faith to our faith; not the reverse. He did does all the saving, we do all the being saved. If we can connect a sinner’s faith with Christ’s faith, salvation is the result every time. However, if we reverse the order and focus on what a sinner must do to be saved/justified/righteousified (repent of all their sins, ask Jesus into their heart, give their life to Jesus) you have made the sinner his own Saviour. Or to put it another way, you have made salvation a reward. Salvation is a free gift. That is why we are warned in II Cor. 4:3 that if Paul’s gospel---the gospel of Christ--- be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.  

Justification is the act of God literally bringing the sinner in a union with Christ...For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (Eph. 5:30). We are not righteous in and of ourselves. However when God joins us to Christ, we could then be called righteous. When a poor woman marries a wealthy man she becomes rich. Why? Because she has been joined to him and now shares in what is his. This is what God does for the lost sinner… Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Eph. 1:3-4). Apart from union with Christ, no man could be sufficiently righteous to obtain God’s approval.

“unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference”… The righteousness of God is available to all (total provision) and applied to all (specific application) THAT BELIEVE. In order to be justified, you must believe something. Believe what? The faith of Christ---the work He accomplished on our behalf. This is why it is so imperative that we understand justification. Not only can we be assured of salvation but we can clearly tell others how they might be righteousified.

“for there is no difference:  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”…Even though there have been different dispensations with a difference in the instructions and the people in each dispensation, one thing is not different---all have come short of the rightness God requires.

Paul proclaims to a lost world of wrath worthy sinners that it is not something that you must do in order to escape God’s wrath; it is something God has done and will do in order for a wrath worthy sinner to be declared righteousness. This Good News is introduced by two little words in Rom. 3:21---BUT NOW! Justification is a gift decree of perfect righteousness given as a free gift of God. God does not use our conduct or our commitment as the basis by which to declare righteous a believing sinner. He justifies us freely by His Grace (Rom. 3:24). We are no better at keeping our Promises than we are correcting our sinful Practices. This is all in stark contrast to Satan’s “ministers of righteousness” filling the pulpits of our so-called “churches” around the world---repent of all your sins, give your life to Jesus, ask Jesus into your heart, make Jesus your Lord and Saviour, etc.

So justification involves grace and faith as discussed above. A good way to think of grace and faith as it relates to justification is this:

• The message is Paul’s gospel---I Cor. 15:1-4 & II Cor. 5:17-21.
• The means is Christ’s faith---His perfect life and obedient death.
• The manner is our faith---taking God at His word regarding the sin resolving work of Christ on the Cross in our behalf.

3. Blood component: “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (vs. 25) The blood that Christ shed at Calvary provides two major things: One of them is discussed in verse 25…it procured salvation for sinners in time past. The Holy Spirit through Paul is not talking about my past sins or your past sins in this verse. He is not talking about sins being forgiven up to the point that we become Christians and then everything after that has to be dealt with by confessing and forsaking. That is almost a universal teaching in the so-called church today. Paul is referring to sins committed by those in time past---those who were under the law in time past. Ephesians 2:11-13 clearly explains this… Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; [12] That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: [13] But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. In time past God made a distinction between people. There was a racial difference established by God (uncircumcision and circumcision). And we learn from the passage that there was a religious difference in time past---God put up a “middle wall of partition” (Eph. 2:14). Israel had a way to God but the Gentiles had been given over to a reprobate mind. Israel had been given a sacrificial system as a way to deal with their sins. God even gave Israel a sacrifice for “sins of ignorance” (Lev. 4 & 5). The Gentiles had no such system during time past. Please remember that even Gentiles could become “Jewish” (Jewish speaks of your religion not your nationality) (Exod.12:48 & Esther 8:17). This is important because in the book of Romans the Holy Spirit through Paul is announcing what He had done in the past with sins under law was different from what He was now going to be doing with sins under grace. For instance, in Exodus 34:7 God says He will forgive sins, but He will by no means clear the guilty. In time past there was an issue of sins not being totally cleared out of the way; not being taken completely off of the table of God’s justice. In time past, those who had faith in God’s word to them under law, were not being held against them; they were forgiven; their sins had been remitted through that sacrificial program. However, those sins were not completely cleared out of the way. We can think of it this way: the sinner was forgiven, but his sin was still a matter of record in the mind of God. That is what the word “forbearance” in Rom. 3:25 is all about. It means that God gave Israel an “extension of time” for the payment of a debt. If Israel would practice the sacrificial system of shedding an animal’s blood they would get an extension of time till Christ fully dealt with sin at the Cross. If you can’t pay your income taxes on time, the IRS will allow you to file an extension. The debt still remains; an extension does not satisfy the debt. So it is with time past. Jesus settled the sin debt in full when He drank of "The Cup" of man’s sin debt at the Cross. God exercised "forbearance" with the nation of Israel through His program of atonement. No one knew that until the Holy Spirit revealed it through Paul. That changed everything.

The “revelation of the mystery” is the grace truth that God has totally forgiven the sins of believing Jews who lived under the REMISSION PROGRAM OR FORBEARANCE PROGRAM IN TIME PAST. However, because the nation of Israel rejected their King and remained largely a nation of unbelievers, the REMISSION PROGRAM continued even after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as evidenced by the preaching of Peter on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38) and confirmed in Acts 3:19 where Israel was told that at the Second Coming of Jesus to Israel the remission program would give way to total forgiveness. IN ADDITION, THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY REVEALED THAT GOD, THROUGH THE WORK OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS, IS NOT IMPUTING THE SINS OF THE WORLD TO THEM (II Cor. 5:18-21). The issue between God and man would no longer be THE SINS THAT CHRIST PAID FOR AT CALVARY BUT WHAT WOULD MAN DO WITH THE GOOD NEWS CONCERNING THE ONE THAT HAS ALREADY PAID THE WORLD’S SIN DEBT. This is what JUSTIFICATION is all about. MAN’S GREAT NEED IS NOT TO HAVE HIS SINS FORGIVEN; CHRIST HAS ALREADY TAKEN CARE OF THAT. MAN’S GREAT NEED IS TO BE JUSTIFIED/RIGHEOUSIFIED IN THE EYES OF GOD. Do you know what you must believe in order to be on the receiving end of God’s gift declaration of righteousness? That is what justification is all about. The believing Jews and Gentiles of Time Past had no idea that the work of Christ on the Cross would result in the full payment of their sin debt. They were all about a coming King and a Kingdom. This is why in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John you find Jesus and His disciples preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom---repent and be water baptized. Sins had not fully been put away at that time. Paul is the first to announce such a grace doctrine. Paul never preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. He and the Twelve Disciples did preach the Gospel of God (Jesus is Messiah of Israel, King of the Universe and Judge of the dead and living) which was a truth for BOTH PROGRAMS (Israel and the church, the body of Christ). This is the truth that Israel “stumbled” at (Rom. 9:32 & 11:11). Paul would go on to learn and reveal the Gospel of Christ: that includes the meaning of the work of Christ in our behalf and the benefits it provides for all those who will take God at His word. The Gospel of God was not "new news" because it was discussed in the Old Testament. The Gospel of Christ was "new news" because it was the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery (Rom. 16:25). Here is what the Jewish believers knew before the Cross---Matthew 4:23… And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. It is clear what He was teaching prior to the Cross---the Gospel of the Kingdom. I think it is interesting that attached with that good news of the Kingdom is always the ability to heal the sick. Why? Because in the Kingdom no one will have to say, “I don’t feel good today”. What is the first thing we say to people as a greeting? Not what is your name; where do you live; or better yet---Are you JUSTIFIED? It is…How are you doing?

John 20:9 tells us… For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. So the statement coming from pulpits today that Old Testament saints looked forward to the Cross and New Testament saints look back to the Cross is totally erroneous. Jesus’ closest Disciples did not believe in His death and resurrection.

Paul never taught the Gospel of the Kingdom because that program had run out of time. According to Daniel’s prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (Daniel 9:24-27) the Kingdom would be postponed. Jesus announced a change in Matthew 16:21-23; He was transitioning from the Gospel of the Kingdom to the Gospel of God. Peter rebuked Him for talking about the Cross work He was about to accomplish. That led Jesus to reply to Peter in those kind, loving words no self respecting Christian would ever utter… "get thee behind me Satan”. We are told why Jesus gave Peter such a bold rebuke; it is the same problem “Christians” and “God’s Preachers” repeat today…“thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”   

Now what was the new truth Jesus revealed to His Disciples after His Resurrection? (Luke 24:25-26 & 44-47) He goes right back to the issue of FORGIVENESS OF SINS. Jesus helped them understand this truth. This was truth directed at Israel… He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (Isa. 53:8) Jesus is explaining to His Disciples that His shed blood on the Cross has now provided a fully satisfying payment for the sins of the nation of Israel--- but they must confess it and receive it. His blood had provided the basis for the New Covenant He could now offer them. Therefore, Peter announced to the nation on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:38… Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Why were they to be water baptized? As an outward testimony of an inward change and then they could join the church? NO!!! As the first step of obedience to Jesus Christ as a new Christian? No! As a picture of what has happened to you when you "got saved"? No! That is what our "preachers" and "religious leaders" tell us. Peter told the nation of Israel they were to be water baptized for the sending away of their sins and they would receive the Holy Spirit, who would usher in the provisions of the New Covenant…Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: [32] Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: [33] But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. [34] And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. However, Israel’s leadership refused to make the required confession… But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.  (Luke 7:30) Israel could have had their sins put away forever and the time of forbearance would end. They did not and it did not… Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19) Paul tells us the same thing in Rom. 11:26-27… And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: [27] For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 

Vs. 26…“To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus”…This is the heart of the “revelation of the mystery”. The new truth that the Holy Spirit through Paul revealed to the world was how God could be “just” while declaring guilty sinners perfectly righteous. Paul’s first sermon was. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: [39] And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39) In the Time Past it was hard for anyone to see how God could declare someone righteous because of an animal blood sacrifice.

The problem in all dispensations is that men try to justify themselves (Luke 10:29; 16:15).

If you fail to rightly divide the word of truth, you could very likely become “reformed” or Calvinistic in your beliefs. You can be convinced that Christ’s death was a “Limited Atonement”. Here is one example: God never told anyone about the revelation of the mystery or the Gospel of Christ until he revealed it to Paul. If you read what Jesus said in Matt. 20:28; Matt. 26:28 you will believe that Jesus died for “many”. If you read what Jesus revealed to Paul in I Tim. 2:6-7; I Tim. 4:10 you will believe that Jesus died for “all”. The Calvinist resolves this dilemma by defining “all” as “all the elect”. We are forbidden by the Holy Spirit to add the words "the elect" based on I John 2:2...And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

 So, what if we feel better when we confess our sins to God? Does God mind if we pray prayers of confession? Yes!!! It is an insult to Him and what the Lord Jesus did for you at Calvary. Faith is simply taking God at His word. When we live by the law of confessing and forsaking, we are not believing what God has said about our sin.

Vs. 30…“Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.”   Why is it “by” for the circumcision and “through” for the uncircumcision? Everyone knows there is a difference, but what exactly is it? A good question to ask yourself is---Is “faith alone” a Present Time truth or All Time truth? The correct answer to this question will resolve the contradiction that we see over and over in the Bible. Otherwise, we will just have to ignore these contradictory verses or try to resolve them with complicated explanations or Greek words.

In Romans chapters 1-5 the Holy Spirit through Paul is explaining how sin, judgment, justification, righteousness, law, grace, and faith apply to a world of lost sinners in time past and during the current dispensation. Now unless we remember that God has called us to “study like a workman” these words are too confusing and not worth the time it takes to get it straight in our mind. Believe me, it is much easier to just go to church, drop a tithe in the offering plate, say “amen” when someone is baptized, and participate in some “ministry” of the church. I choose to take the workman route.

One factor which makes the understanding of God’s Word so confusing is the multiple meanings of the same word in the Bible and in life. We prefer to make each word mean the same thing rather than do the hard work of studying. The word “justification” is a good example. Criminally speaking, we talk about “justifiable homicide”. It has nothing to do with our relationship with God. In Romans 1-5 there are several kinds of justification discussed---the most important of which is “justification unto eternal life” (Rom. 5:18; 3:20). There is also a “justification by works as a friend of God” regarding Israel’s program. This is the one that has caused untold chaos for the “church the body of Christ”.

There is also a justification at the judgment seat of Christ where you as a believer will be seen as either right or wrong as it relates to the way you lived your life on earth after salvation (I Cor. 3). This judgment is not to determine if you have eternal life; it will determine your inheritance in eternity. 

The context will always determine the definition of the word being used. The Jews, belonging to the covenant race, were to be justified by (out of) faith. Faith should be the natural outcome of their favored relationship to God, but the "far off" Gentiles must come through (by way of) faith; both justified by "one God" upon believing. While the Jews were justified "out of' faith”, it is also evident that they were justified “by way of works”. The Gentiles were justified directly "by way of' faith” WITHOUT THE WORKS COMPONENT GIVEN TO ISRAEL… “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (James 2:17)

Paul is going to explain in Rom. 4:1-3 the model for justification before God through the life of Abraham. Abraham lived before the law and the covenant of circumcision. This established the “all time truth” that God justifies by grace through faith alone---without the works of the law. Paul then discusses the “present time truth” of justification by works “in the sight of men” in operation during the life of David. Compare this with the “mystery truth” of …“ Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight”  (Romans 3:20) The law program was added to Israel as a schoolmaster to teach them certain things---they could not keep all the law; they needed to make a confession; they needed to receive divine righteousness. 

Justification in all dispensations required FAITH. However, not all dispensations have required works. Now why would God add the requirement of some religious works prior to Christ’s work on the Cross? Well, is it not possible that men should be taught that “work” was necessary; man’s work would not suffice for righteousness; and Abraham’s seed (Jesus) would provide the work necessary to satisfy God’s just demands? For the circumcision, justification was by faith---taking God at His word about the covenant promised kingdom and the associated required works of the law. By faith in the revealed truth of God concerning His Covenants with Israel, their (Israel’s) faith was made perfect: “Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?”  (James 2:22) “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”  (James 2:24) This same little “riddle” is expressed in Mark 16: 15-16… And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. [16] He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. The order in which you do things is important. If you don’t believe (faith) the “gospel” (of the Kingdom) it doesn’t matter if you are baptized or not; you will be damned!  Therefore, baptism will not save you in and of itself. However, if a man “believed the gospel” it was required for him to be baptized as a expression that he had made his confession about his righteousness coming from God as a gift.

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. (Gal. 3:23)

The law was an integral part of God’s prophetic purpose with Israel (Rom 3:1-2). The law required obedience. However, the circumcision was truly justified by faith in that when they sinned (come short of what God had required) FAITH would offer a required sacrifice through the covenant. This “work” according to the law program was necessary until Jesus would come and do THE WORK that provided for the sins of all people of all dispensations.

In Time Past the uncircumcision had been rejected by God and declared “reprobates” (Rom. 1: 28). They were strangers of the covenants (Eph 2:10). The only recourse a Gentile had was to convert to Judaism---bless the nation of Israel; embrace the God of Israel; become a proselyte to Judaism. (Gen. 12:1-3)

So, if the “by faith” and “through faith” are two distinct programs of justification, why does Romans 5:1 say… “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”?  Paul has just finished writing that God is the God of the Jews and Gentiles. Abraham was a Gentile when God justified him and imputed righteousness to him. Therefore Gentiles (uncircumcision) had been extended justification in two ways---by faith (if they submitted to the law program) and through faith (if they trusted the Gospel of Christ) (Rom. 4:16)

 

SUMMARY

The law, which was the knowledge of sin, taught Israel that they needed to take God at His word (FAITH) (Rom 3:19-20). The Holy Spirit through Paul announced that the “present time program with Israel of works/law” was returning to the “all time program of grace alone through faith alone WITHOUT THE DEEDS/WORKS OF THE LAW”…“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets” (Romans 3:22)

In the dispensation of Grace, justification comes through faith in Christ’s finished work alone. No more works are needed; no covenant has been added; justification is offered today through faith without works just as it was in the days of Abraham.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Vs. 31…“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid”… The “through faith” program does not prove that the law is bad; the law shows us we are bad. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; (I Tim. 1:8) The Law was given to the Jew not to justify him in the sight of God, but to prove him just as guilty as the reprobate Gentiles (Rom. 3:19).

“we establish the law”…The Church, the body of Christ (grace dispensationalists) should be able to explain the role and purpose of “the law” being added to the nation of Israel. By doing so we “establish” the law. Perhaps this is why the Holy Spirit through Paul lists “without understanding” right in there with a host of grievous sins of humanity… And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; [29] Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, [30] Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, [31] Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: [32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.  (Rom. 1:28-32)