Read Romans 3:21-31
Those of you who have been following our series on Romans, Be Transformed, will know that we are seeking to understand what it is that we are to be transformed by and what we are to avoid being conformed to (Romans 12). We have spent most of our time this far on the things that we need to avoid being conformed to; whereas, today we will turn to the basic truth that has the power to transform our lives completely.
Many a theologian and commentator on scripture has said that Romans 3:21-31 is the very heart of the gospel. Some have gone so far as to say that this is the most important chapter in the entire Bible. The key, if you will, that unlocks all the meaning of all scripture. Having worked to describe the downfall of all people and the reason that the wrath of God is warranted, Paul turns to the good news for the first time in this letter.
“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe;”
Paul is picking back up the other theme laid out in parallel to the wrath of God being revealed, namely, that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel (Romans 1:17) and this righteousness is the very power of God for salvation. He makes it more explicit. The righteousness has been revealed apart from the law though the proof of it can be found in the law itself and in the prophets. Paul means to say that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very thing to which both the Law and Prophets point toward. Paul has come to understand that all the revelation that God has provided for the Jew makes sense only when viewed through the Christ event.
“for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:23)
Many people know this verse; and many people assume that the sins involved are the “Big 10” found in the law. While those are certainly a part of the problem of sin, there is much more to our sinful nature. Our fallen-shortness includes those famous “thou shalt nots” but is more inclusive. Our pettiness, our selfishness, our gossiping, and peevishness are also included. Our idolatries, manifold as they are, also keep us short of the glory of God. Still there is more, because the wrath of God is not coming for those things alone, but also because of our ingratitude.
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks…” (Rom 1:21)
When my kids were younger, I would sometimes say to them “dogs gotta bark, fish gotta swim, and birds gotta fly. You need to figure out what you gotta do.” It was shorthand for do the stuff that needs to be done and learn how to be a person. When asked about it more specifically, I would tell them that everything that has been created has a purpose and a thing that marks them as different from the other things. People also have an attribute and a purpose that goes beyond what we do for a living. All of creation gives glory to God by being true to their creation and their purpose.
People are unique amongst animals because we are moral creatures with real options. We do not operate on instinct alone. As such we are able to acknowledge God as creator and render true thanks and praise.
Spoiler alert: We don’t.
No seriously, besides all the other ways in which we sin, we fail to be thankful for all the blessings that God provides for us. As Jesus himself said, the Father makes the rain to fall on the wicked and the good. The dependability of sunshine and rain, harvest time, the wonders of childbirth and parenting, the companionship of pets, the love of kith and kin, even the simple fact that there is a morning and a night every day are reason enough to praise God. Most of time we are so caught up in ourselves that we miss the chance. I live in Texas and people here complain about the heat in the Summer but beg for it in the winter. We complain that there is no rain and then grumble when the rain comes in buckets. I suspect that people are this way everywhere. Never thought of those things as elements of sinfulness, have you? Honestly, neither had I until I started studying and praying through Romans. None of us should be surprised; after all, for our fallen-shortness runs deep:
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23)
We have been living into this fallen-shortness since the beginning according to Genesis. Have you ever read through Genesis beyond the creation story and the flood? The story of Abraham’s family begins with chapter 12 and the whole rest of Genesis could be subtitled: As the World Turns! For those of you reading this post from a foreign country, As the World Turns was the title of a long running soap-opera on American television. To this problem of rampant sinfulness, Paul says that God has revealed His solution in Jesus Christ.
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (Rom 3:21-24)
This is the gospel in a nutshell, the very gospel that Paul said he was not ashamed of because it was the very power of salvation for the Jew and the Greek. This is the good news of our God. We have been given a free and wondrous gift, a justification and redemption through Christ Jesus that is available simply because God is gracious. Let’s take a moment to break down those two terms for the fuller picture that Paul is illustrating.
Justification means that we were guilty (all have sinned) but we have been pardoned. Consider for a moment in English we say that someone can justify their actions. The notion being that when sufficient reason is given, we can understand and approve of a decision a person makes even if it caused us harm. For example, a “justified” killing might be one in which a person was defending their child from a predator. In Paul’s day, both in the Old Testament usage and especially in the context of the Roman Empire, the word had a forensic overtone, forensic meaning that it was the language of the law courts. Justification meant being decreed not guilty regardless of the truth of what you did.
Many years ago, OJ Simpson was found not guilty by a court of law for a double homicide. Most of the world was convinced that he had in fact murdered the two people in question. Point of fact a civil trial later held him liable for damages caused by the deaths. This civil trial judgment had no bearing on his freedom because the trial court had declared him not guilty. Not declared him innocent mind you, but not guilty. This was his status before the magistrate. No matter what anyone else thought, no matter whether or not he had committed murder, he had the status of a free man. This is the exact thing that Paul is saying is true for all of us because of Christ. Thoroughly guilty (all have sinned) and ongoingly guilty through our fallen-shortness nature we are in fact justified(!) declared to be free from the guilt of sin before an Almighty God through what Christ has done. For those who thought OJ was a murderer, the verdict not guilty was a scandal. Welcome to the scandal of you! God, the Almighty, Just Judge of all has declared your status to be not guilty. You are in fact righteous (in right standing) before God when you believe in Jesus Christ. It was a scandalous idea then, and it is equally scandalous now.
Redemption is a different thing altogether. For years when I taught young people about redemption, I used the example of redeeming a used-up glass bottle for five cents (ten in Michigan) or how a coupon is redeemed for something that you purchase for all or part of the total cost. After working through that concept, I would tie the concept to Christ’s blood being the means of redemption. His blood pays a price that you owe. I am not going to now say that this isn’t true. I am going to say I had a very narrow idea of what redemption meant.
In the Old Testament, redemption is used to describe deliverance from the bondage in Egypt, from the captivity in Babylon, from evil, and the ultimate setting to right of the world for the people of God in the eschatological future. In short redemption meant freedom from current enemies and the ultimate total freedom that is promised when God brings in the new creation at the end of time. Truth be told, in my coupon illustrations, I had short-shifted the meaning of the word making it synonymous with justification when in fact Paul was declaring two very different very grand accomplishments of God through Jesus Christ.
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (Rom 3:21-24)
What Paul is saying is that because of Jesus Christ, those who are sinners can be granted the status of innocent before God, not only this but that they are also set free from the bondage of the great enemies of sin and death. Many first century Jews believed that at the end of time there would be a general resurrection of all, some to eternal life and some to final judgment. You can see this in Martha’s response to Jesus (John 11) that she knows her brother will rise on the last day. This general resurrection is also mentioned in Daniel. Paul believed that the resurrection of Jesus was proof that this event would happen. God had brought the not yet of the future resurrection into the now of the first century and demonstrated the faithfulness of God to his eternal promises. When you read Romans the passage carefully you can see that the last phrase (being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus) is explaining what Paul means in the first clause (here and in Romans 1:17) that the righteousness of God (his unending, eternal faithfulness, has been manifested in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Our translations start a new verse in Romans 3:25, but the opening of that verse is actually the completion of the sentence begun in the passage above and when you put them together Paul explains how the justification of the sinner is accomplished in Christ dying on the cross. Together it reads this way:
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith.
That word propitiation is crucial. Propitiation is the word that the Greek translators of the Old Testament used predominantly to translate a particular Hebrew word kapporet. The word literally means lid, derived from the root word “to cover” or “to make atonement” and is used to describe the lid over the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat. The mercy seat was where the presence of God was present in the tabernacle and later in the first Temple until the Babylonian exile. The mercy seat was where the High Priest would (once a year on the Day of Atonement) sprinkle the blood of an unblemished lamb to take away the sins of Israel. The lamb’s death and blood were symbolic of the payment of death that the people of Israel were due because of their sins. That action occurred in private as the High Priest was the only one allowed to enter the Holy of Holies and stand in the presence of God as the representative of the people.
“But now”, Paul writes, God has acted in full view of everyone by lifting Christ up on a cross where his blood is the final sacrifice for the sins of the entire world (as John the Baptist prophesied when he called Jesus the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world) and Christ himself is now the very mercy seat. The High Priest having completed the action would declare the people righteous before God. In Christ, through faith, anyone can now be declared righteous before God. A new, permanent status of not guilty (justified) is available to all.
When you put all of this together you can understand the gospel as Paul understood the gospel. The final judgment of God, expected on the last day, has been rendered now in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And all who have faith in Jesus, and what he accomplished, have access right now to a judgment of not guilty and eternal life. The future is now, in other words, for all who believe.
As I write this the Christian world is preparing to celebrate Easter 2026. This passage in Romans is what Good Friday and Easter are all about. Christ Jesus has done the one thing that we all need, paid the wages of sin (death) through his blood, and his resurrection is proof that God vindicated him; and will vindicate all of us who cling to the promise of the faith of, in, and through Jesus. Because of Christ’s shed blood we can be declared righteous right now by God. Because of his resurrection we can live in a certain hope of our own resurrection to eternal life in the last day.
This is the most glorious truth ever; a truth that proves what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. A truth that enables us to be acceptable to God, a truth that when believed is our act of spiritual service of worship (Romans 12). A truth that is transformative.
He is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Hallelujah! Amen.
The Hypocritical Christian 