Romans 3:21-28
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Introduction:
When I ask you, what reason would God have to let you in to heaven, what do you think of?
Works? Church Attendance? Christian Family? Baptism?
Everyone who will be in heaven will have one reason and one reason only that they are there: because they received the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Whether you were to ask someone like Paul or Billy Graham or someone saved just at the last moment of their life, they will have nothing to boast in but in the work Jesus Christ did to save them.
That salvation is only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ is the theme of this sermon.
Text: Romans 3:21-28
Theme: Salvation is by grace through faith.
Verses 21-23
For the majority of the first three chapters of Romans, Paul explained why everyone needs to believe the Gospel and place their faith in Jesus, and it is because, without distinction, everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Some people’s sinning is conspicuous. He talks about those sorts of people in the first chapter of Romans. Having rejected God completely, they engage in all kinds of behaviors contrary to God’s law. They fashion false gods for themselves, made in the likeness of man and beasts. They call good evil and evil good.
Romans 1:29-32 list all kinds of sins that people engage in. It says: “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”
Some people’s sinning is less conspicuous, but that doesn’t mean they are without sin.
Some people imagine that by judging other people that they themselves will escape judgment. Paul said of them: “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.”
Whether an individual is engaged in all manner of sin, or whether an individual sits around pointing fingers at others, at the end of the day their record is not perfect. They fall short of the glory of God.
Even the most religious and faithful and righteous of people of the day needed the Gospel. Even those people who had the Mosaic Law, who tried real hard to follow it, who thought of it as a beautiful thing, they fell short too. Paul said:
*Read Romans 2:17-24*
The conclusion of the matter is found in Romans 3:9-12
SLIDE 1
*Read Romans 3:9-12*
Many people of that day and still today, thought wrongly that the righteousness of God was granted through obedience to the Law of Moses. They thought that, if they did a good enough job of obeying the law, then God would declare them righteous and grant to them eternal life. It is still today a very common thought that salvation is something that can be earned through good works.
Some today think that salvation is gained through a particular kind of denomination: like you need to be a Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon to be saved. Some believe that if you live a good enough life and your good deeds outweigh the bad, then you will be saved: that’s common in Islam.
Some believe that there are multiple paths to salvation, depending upon if you do enough to please the particular god that you serve: that would be Hinduism.
SLIDE 2
But Paul says that the righteousness of God comes apart from the law. In fact, it must come apart from the law because of verse 23: all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If salvation were something that you got through obeying God, then we would all be doomed, because there is no one in this room or on this planet who has lived up to God’s call for perfection.
You may not have murdered anyone or committed a bank robbery, but that does not mean you are not a lawbreaker. God’s law is summed up with the golden rule and the second like it: you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your might. And you must love your neighbor as yourself.
If we are honest with ourselves and with God, we must all admit that we have failed to live up to that standard of perfection. Have you always loved God with all of your being? No, I’m sure you have not. Have you without failing loved all the people in your life as yourself? No, I’m sure you have not.
But here now in the verses today is where we find the good news. There is hope. There is righteousness that is available to us. And it comes apart from the law, the law which we are not able to perfectly obey.
The righteousness of God comes to all who believe and place their faith in Jesus Christ.
SLIDE 3
Link: It is explained for us in the next few verses.
Verses 24-26
When a person places their faith in Jesus Christ, they are justified by God as a free, gracious gift. A gracious gift is something that is neither purchased nor earned. It is a gift given based upon the good will and love of the giver. Well, actually, gifts are earned and purchased – they are earned and purchased by the giver, not the receiver.
SLIDE 4
Redemption is a word that we aren’t used to hearing these days, so let me explain that one.
Redemption is when a ransom is paid. The word was used to mean buying back prisoners of war, paying the price to have a slave freed, or paying the price to free a condemned criminal. When the Bible talks about the fact that Jesus redeemed us, it either is talking about how He freed us from slavery to sin by His blood. Or it is talking about He paid the penalty for our sins so that we don’t have to face condemnation.
SLIDE 5
We were slaves to sin. We were condemned criminals awaiting an eternal jail.
But Jesus shed His blood for our sins on the cross. He paid the penalty for our crimes so that we don’t have to live in a place of eternal torment. And He broke the power of sin by uniting us with Him in His death and resurrection, so that we don’t have to live in slavery to sin anymore. He paid for it all. He redeemed us.
SLIDE 6
So actually, salvation isn’t free after all – Somebody had to pay for it. Salvation is a free gift to us because Jesus paid for it. Jesus paid the cost of our redemption by His shed blood and death. And now the gift purchased by Jesus is offered to all purely by the grace of God. We just have to place our faith in Jesus to receive that gift.
Verse 25 – Jesus Christ was put forward on our behalf as a propitiation by his blood. That word is even less known than redemption; it is not common at all today. It wasn’t a very common term back then either, as it had a special meaning and application. Basically, it referred to when the high priest put blood upon the top of the Ark of the Covenant on the Day of Atonement. The top of the Ark of the Covenant was called the Mercy Seat. And the high priest would, once a year, put blood on the Mercy Seat in order to appease God’s anger for the sins of the nation so that God would have mercy on Israel.
The propitiation was that blood sacrifice that caused God to have mercy on the people.
So what it means when it says that Jesus is our propitiation is that Jesus’ shed blood causes God to forgive our sins and have mercy on us. SLIDE 7
But this forgiveness of sins and mercy can only be received by faith. God isn’t merciful to us based on any work we do. He doesn’t forgive us based on any work we do.
God is merciful towards us and forgives us because of Jesus’s shed blood on our behalf. And only when we receive that mercy and forgiveness through faith in Jesus.
That God’s mercy and forgiveness is based on Jesus’ shed blood allows God to be both merciful and righteous at the same time.
Often, mercy and righteousness are at odds. If a criminal commits a crime and suffers no consequences or punishment for it, does that sound righteous to you? It sounds merciful, but it doesn’t sound righteous. But God has made sure that the sin has been paid for, so He is still righteous. And God does not give us the punishment that we deserve, so He is merciful too.
This was how God chose to solve that problem of the satisfaction of justice and the giving of salvation. Just think about it: is it justice for a person who has lied, cheated, stolen, hated, fought, possibly even murdered or any number of sins. Is it justice for that person to get to enjoy eternal life in a land of eternal bliss and never pay a penalty for sins?
None of us in here want to be punished for the sinful things we have done, but if we are honest with ourselves, it doesn’t sound like justice for eternal life to be given to sinful people.
And yet, God is merciful and loving. He wants to forgive people like you and me, to have mercy upon people like you and me. He wants us to be in heaven with Him for eternity. So how can God be just, and righteous, and merciful, and loving at the same time?
The solution was that God the Father put forward His own Son as our redemption and as our propitiation. Justice and righteousness came at the cross so that mercy and forgiveness can come to you and me by faith. Your crimes were paid for. Your salvation was purchased. Justice was served. And now by faith we can receive mercy and grace. SLIDE 8
Therefore, verse 26 says, God is both just and also the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Verses 27-28
So what does this all mean then? It means that none of us have anything to brag about.
And why is that? It is because God is the just judge. Everyone has sinned and sin must be punished. The sentence upon the criminals must be served. And God did see to it that justice was served when Jesus died upon the cross. Jesus shed His blood for our sins. He redeemed us – He paid the due for our sins. He freed us from slavery to sin. And Jesus became our propitiation. He turned away God’s wrath and enabled God to have mercy and forgiveness towards us.
Furthermore, God is the justifier. We have not earned our salvation and never could earn our salvation. Jesus earned it for us. And God is the one who declared us just.
Here is what God has contributed to our salvation – He is the one who paid the debt. He was the one that declared it paid. He was the one who declared us righteous. He is the one who gave us eternal life. He is the one who planned it. He is the one who did all the good works to make it happen. He is the one who made heaven. He is the one who determines who goes in and who doesn’t.
In short, everything about our salvation, from start to finish, all of it, was accomplished by God.
The only thing that you and I contributed to the situation was our sin. We got ourselves into the mess and He got us out of the mess. SLIDE 9 & 10
And so that means that we have no cause to boast. We can’t brag about anything. No one can say “I saved myself.” No one can say “I was good enough.” No one can say “I earned God’s favor.” Or “I set myself free from sin.” Or “I paid my own debt.” Or “I perfectly obeyed the law of Moses.” Or “I went to church a lot.” Or anything.
And the reason is because salvation does not come by any law of works. There is no work at all that a person can do to be saved. A person is saved only by faith in the Gospel.
Even if, even if you were somehow able to never ever sin and so merit entry into heaven, which isn’t possible by the way because Adam’s sin is imputed to us, but that’s another sermon. But even if in theory you could earn your salvation: there is still a problem for you if you are trying to earn your way to heaven. And that problem is that someone else already beat you to it. Jesus already did the work of redemption. He already paid for your crimes to set you free. Jesus already did the work of propitiation. He shed His blood to turn away God’s wrath and find mercy and forgiveness.
The gift of grace now sits in God’s hands, and the only way that gift is coming to you is through faith in the Gospel. Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life, no man comes to the father but by me.” Jesus said “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” Paul said “I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe.”
SLIDE 11
And here is another problem. God has commanded us, command us to obey the Gospel. Not placing your faith in Jesus for salvation is an act of disobedience to God. So again, even if you somehow managed to be perfect, if you do not obey God’s command to repent and believe the Gospel, at the end of the day, you have still fallen short.
So here is the review and the conclusion of the matter:
So here is the reality of the situation if you are here today and have not placed your faith in Christ. Whether you have sinned a little or you have sinned a lot, you have fallen short of the glory of God.
That means that you have a debt that needs to be paid. It means you’ve committed crimes that need to be punished.
But I have good news for you. I have the Gospel for you. God has arranged everything needed for your salvation. God sent His Son Jesus to earth. Jesus lived a perfectly obedient life. He loved God His Father with all His heart, and with all His soul, and with all His mind, and with all His strength. And He loved His neighbor as Himself. He did this always. He never sinned even once.
Jesus loved both His father so much and loved mankind so much that He willingly died for you and for me on a cross. He suffered an agonizing death and suffered the wrath of God so that you and I would not have to. He shed His blood for us. And by becoming the perfect sacrifice, He became our redemption and our propitiation.
Just before Jesus died on the cross, He declared “It is finished.” And indeed it is. Jesus accomplished everything needed for our salvation. And we can believe that is true because Jesus proved it by His victory over death.
Jesus proved that He had earned God’s unreserved approval and that He was victorious by resurrecting from the grave three days later. And if that wasn’t enough to show God’s satisfaction with His Son, Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days later. Because of that, we can know that Jesus is indeed the Savior of the World.
And so now, all that needs to happen is for the gracious gift of salvation to be received by you through faith. The promise of God is that He will save you if you trust in Jesus. And it’s not trusting in Jesus plus your works, or trusting in Jesus plus your church attendance, or trusting in Jesus plus your baptism. God has done it all, there is nothing else you can trust in or boast about.
For you to be saved, your faith must be in Him. And if you do that, God promises that you will be saved.
SLIDE 12
Invitation