Romans 3

Read Romans 3

Verses chosen for meditation: Romans 3: 9 - 11, 18 - 20, 22 - 31 ESV:

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,10 as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

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, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 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. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do 

we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Reflect

In what sense are Jews and Gentiles - or, should we say, the ‘religious’ and ‘unreligious’ people the same?

In verses 10 - 18 (not shown above), what are some of sin's effects on us?

How do verses 18 - 20 sum up Paul's argument for the chapter from the beginning?

How do we get the righteousness from God? Why do we need it?

How does believing the gospel help us to be humble, honest and healthy (emotionally that is, free from anxiety and fear)?

Relate

The doctrine on righteousness is dealt with squarely by Paul in this chapter of Romans. 

Mankind has always wanted to be right. Right is perfect. Right means privilege and power. Right is an exclusive class by itself.

It's no wonder that the Jews were condescending in their approach towards the Gentiles. They had the rights. They were the more righteous by far. Therefore, they had to be right. Otherwise, where is the advantage?

But there's no one righteous, neither Jews nor Gentiles. No one is blameless with respect to both God and men. We are all equals when it comes to unrighteousness. We face the same condemnation if not for Christ's redeeming sacrifice on the Cross, which becomes our righteousness.

Our minds, our motives, our wills, our tongues, our relationships, our attitudes, they are all not right no matter how righteous we think we are. They are admittedly sin's effects.

As such, everyone is accountable. The law applies to everyone, those who seek to keep it as much as those who don't. No one really has any defence to make. The law is not given so that we can declare ourselves righteous but that we can be aware of our sinfulness. The law is, therefore, not a checklist we keep, rather a benchmark we fail. The right response to the law then is to realise that we're in desperate need of redemption. Whoever we are, we have no defence or offer to make before God - we face condemnation.

The good news is that we're able to receive right standing with God by faith, not by our own efforts nor by works, but solely by faith in Christ. Faith is our way of receiving, not earning our righteousness, faith in the redemptive work of Christ on the Cross. For all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Jesus was a sacrifice presented by God himself, not man - it was God's plan to use Jesus as the ultimate atonement for the restoration of relationships between him and sinners. His was the only sacrifice that would befit the purpose as he was without sin.

So, the Cross where the perfect sacrifice was consummated demonstrates God's justice - that he punishes sin. At the same time, it also shows that he justifies sinners by punishing the 'sacrifice' in their stead. By this, both his wrath and love are fully demonstrated and satisfied at the Cross.

We almost always look at advantage as a main deciding factor in our choices. If there's no advantage, why then bother? If there's an advantage, capitalise on it at all costs. But the Cross is where a disadvantage actually turned to be an advantage, and where the advantage is not capitalised on, but shared and freely given away.

The other merit of the gospel, for those who believe in the complete work of the Cross, is that it keeps us humble since we know that the sum total of our best efforts and achievements would still leave us sinful, requiring judgement, if not for the Cross.

And what’s more, fully understanding what Christ has done for us on the Cross makes us honest about ourselves - our sinfulness - so that others can be pointed to the Cross.

In addition, believing in the truth of the gospel frees us from anxiety since we now have the full assurance that God is for us. Therefore, we can safely place our worst fears in his hands, knowing that if he justified us while we were still a sinner, more so, he will be for us now as his child.

Finally, we do not need to fear judgement anymore since we have Christ's righteousness as our own. That should motivate us to do good in true gratitude and appreciation of what Christ has done for us on the Cross.

Rest

Lord, you are our righteousness. We have no rights of our own, but you gave yours to us. You made us right by God's holy standard with your precious blood. How can we ever thank you enough? How can we point others to you? How can we trust you now, more than ever, since your righteous blood runs through our veins? 

Naville Chia