Romans 3:21-26
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Today I hope to move more into the ‘solution’ presented here to our sinful state. Many of us have heard the verse ‘for all have sinned’ – this is true and without question. In fact, I covered much on that topic back in Romans 1 – if you want some more context, please go back and read my post Sin is Sin.
So where are we now? We are Justified freely by his Grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ! Great you say. What on earth does that all mean! (wait till tomorrow when we do propitiation and more…). As many of you know, the dictionary is a wonderful reference tool, and whenever something is not crystal clear I will use it. So, just to make sure we understand, I hit dictionary.com to see what justified means.
Specifically in relation to ‘theology’ (the study of God), it defines justified as ‘to declare innocent or guiltless; absolve; acquit.’
So – we have been declared innocent and guiltless of our sin! And not only that, but it has been done freely. Yes, Free. Totally free. No cost, no catch, no anything – if you want to be free of your sin, you can be. It’s that simple!
So how did that happen? Through his Grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. This means – God’s grace was enough that he chose to allow us to be freed through the work that Jesus did for us all on the Cross. This is the foundation, the core, the central doctrine if you like, of Christianity. This is the reason we are all here – that we were once in our sins (for all have sinned), but we are now justified freely through His Grace.
What an amazing concept! Freely! No matter what we have done, we can be free of that, without punishment. Let me ask you this – do you think that maybe we should be thankful, and that such an act deserves a response on our part?
Lord God, teach us to understand your Grace. Thank you for the work that you did for us – because you loved us. Move in us a response, teach us how to respond to such an amazing act, that is truly beyond our comprehension. Continue to remind us of your grace, a grace that not just loved, but took the ultimate action in response to that love. In Jesus Name. Amen
Being Justified Freely – Romans 3:21-26 (part 2)