“THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD MANIFESTED”

(His Gracious Gift to Us in Jesus)

Romans 3:21–26
Key Verses: 3:24–25a, “...and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

Have you ever thought you were just not good enough? Maybe your coach or teacher told you that, or a neighbor, a friend, or even your parents. We all try to prove ourselves and shake off such dark thoughts. What if life were a constant merry-go-round of performance, failure, and more effort? How long could anyone continue on like that? The answer to this exhausting cycle is not effort, but a divine declaration. Paul said the gospel is “the righteousness of God revealed” (1:16–17a). Now he says this “righteousness of God” has been “manifested” (3:21a). This “righteousness of God” is repeated in this passage four times (21,22,25,26). It means God “justifies” us (24,26). This is the core of the gospel: the righteous God justifies unrighteous people, all those not good enough. And it happens because of what one person, Jesus, did (22,24,25a). Paul needed multiple terms to help us capture the magnitude of this divine declaration: he calls it “his grace,” “a gift,” “redemption,” and “propitiation by his blood.” How has God’s righteousness been “manifested” to put an end to our exhausting cycle of performance? What does this “justification,” this “gift of grace” truly mean to each of us? And why is this so important? May God speak to us through his word.

Part 1: The Righteousness of God Manifested (21–22)

Paul has just spent two and a half chapters proving that the law can’t save us; it only shows how desperately we need saving. He’s been methodically tearing down that “false reality” of self-righteousness and performance we all live under. The cycle is broken, every attempt to measure up has failed, and every mouth is stopped. But just when the whole world stands condemned, Paul announces the true reality. Let’s read verse 21.

Here the opening words “But now…” stand out. These two words are so brief and quiet yet they signal a seismic shift. All of history was nothing but the degeneration of humanity and a futile struggle to prove something. It was like a delusion, a living nightmare, and there was no way out. Paul says, “But now.” Something happened to completely turn things around. What was it? It was God’s Son coming into the world (1:3a). It was his death, and especially his resurrection (1:4), that brought about a new reality for this sin-sick world.

Because of this new reality, Paul now contrasts his opening statement, "For the wrath of God is being revealed…" (1:18a), with a new declaration: "the righteousness of God has been manifested…" (3:21). He's been describing how the world is breaking apart, but now he announces God's solution. And with this phrase “has been manifested,” Paul is using an intriguing, complex verbal form that means three powerful things for us: It was God’s action, not ours (passive voice). It is finished forever, completed in the past with results continuing to the present (perfect tense). And it is a guaranteed certainty, a statement of fact we can absolutely rely on (indicative mood). By saying that God’s righteousness “has been manifested,” Paul points us to the single event that changes history. And by contrasting God’s wrath with his righteousness, he’s saying something essential about God. God doesn’t vacillate between wrath and righteousness; both are essential to his character. In his righteousness, God has great love for all the beautiful creatures he’s made, including all humans. Yet in his perfect holiness, God has wrath and fury against our sin (2:8). But now, with what Jesus has done for us, God hasn’t just flipped off the switch on his wrath; he’s resolved it.

Paul goes on to say this righteousness is manifested “apart from the law” (21b), meaning it’s never achieved through our attempts to obey it. Paul adds, “...although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it.” With the phrase “apart from the law,” Paul is not tossing out the Old Testament. He wrote the same thing at the very beginning of Romans: “...the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures” (1:1b–2). The whole Bible points to this righteousness of God being manifested. How is this so?

Let’s read verse 22a. “...the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe…” This is Paul’s thesis statement. According to all God’s promises and prophecies throughout the Old Testament, when the fullness of time had come (Gal. 4:4a), God sent forth his Son Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, to manifest his righteousness toward us. Look carefully at this thesis again: “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” Paul is now taking us from the high theological ground of God’s character and bringing it straight down to earth: how does this impact our relationship to God? The word “righteousness” here is not just a theological term; it literally means to have a right relationship with God. When we reject God we are under his wrath. All that we try to do to build up our own righteousness is futile. But now, whoever we are, we can be right with God, we can receive the very righteousness of God, if we believe in Jesus. God is not looking for other things; he’s only looking to see if we have genuine faith in Jesus. Faith in Jesus is the great leveler. How so?

Part 2: Sin’s Problem; Grace’s Gift (22b–24a)

Let’s read verses 22b–24a. “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift…” All have sinned, Jew and Gentile. No one measures up to the glory of God. Paul defines this sin as not just breaking a rule, but as our fundamental failure to reflect God’s splendor and majesty––our failure to glorify him. We cannot fix this deep, essential problem with our own ideas, sincerity, or effort. But for all who believe in Jesus, no matter who we are or what we’ve done, good or bad, Paul says we “are justified by his grace as a gift…”

The statement is profound. We don’t justify ourselves; God justifies us. Literally in Greek it means God “righteous-es” us. When we put our faith in Christ, God clothes us with Christ’s righteousness. How can he do that? It’s not something we could ever earn or deserve. Paul says it’s “by his grace as a gift.” Grace is God’s unmerited favor––it’s his “incongruous grace.” It’s God’s gift of infinite worth, given to the people who deserve it the least. In our sin we were so ungrateful, self-righteous, and frankly, ugly. But God gifts us his most beautiful, most costly grace in Jesus “anyway.”^{^[1]} His gift shatters our attempts to earn, deserve, or justify ourselves. His gift breaks down our need to measure up or prove something. His gift removes any claim we may have to honor or merit. His gift frees us from transactional thinking. His gift changes our self-centered instinct to look down on others and focus only on our own needs. His gift turns our hearts outward in genuine, wholehearted gratitude to God, and in total reliance on Jesus alone. And we could never pay for this gift; God does. How did he do that?

Part 3: Jesus: the Source of Redemption and Propitiation (24b–25a)

Let’s read verse 24b. “...through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” “Redemption” means to pay a ransom to secure freedom. It was a term used in the slave market. In fact, we all were enslaved to sin, locked in a bondage––whether acting out on sinful desires or just suppressing them––that nothing could break. But God paid for our freedom in Christ Jesus. How so?

Let’s read verse 25a. “...who God put forward as a propitiation by his blood…” This may be the hardest part to understand. But Paul is simply describing Jesus’ death on the cross. And in this sense, the word “manifested” means something that’s been publicly displayed. God put Jesus forward on the cross, for all the world to see and consider, to be “a propitiation by his blood.” “Propitiation” means to turn away wrath. It was like when God delivered the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. He sent the angel of death to strike down all the firstborn of Egypt, both of the Egyptians and the Israelites. But anyone who listened to God’s instructions through Moses and put the blood of a lamb on the doorframe of their house would have the angel of death “pass over” them. The blood of that lamb would turn God’s wrath away from them.

The Greek word for “propitiation” was also used to describe the “mercy seat,” the gold lid on the Ark of the Covenant in the holy of holies, where God’s presence was. Because sinful people were in danger of God’s wrath, once a year, the high priest entered this sacred place with the blood of sacrificed animals and sprinkled it on the mercy seat. This blood was a life given as a payment for sins. When God saw the blood on the mercy seat, it provided a covering for their sins, satisfied the requirement of his justice, and turned away his wrath, allowing him to remain among them without killing them. Paul is saying that Jesus’ death has manifested God’s righteousness and once and for all fulfilled this ancient ritual. Hebrews 9:12 says, “...he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

The phrase “a propitiation by his blood” describes the cross of Jesus. But Paul is not saying it only might make us feel better after feeling so guilty about our sins. He’s showing us a legal fact about us, which has been declared by the righteous God. Through the holy blood of Jesus his Son, God justifies us. He wipes our record clean. It’s how God sees us. It’s a new reality for us. But how can God, the perfectly just Judge, declare guilty people like us legally innocent without destroying his own justice?

Part 4: The Paradox Resolved: God the Just Justifier (25b–26)

Let’s read verses 25b–26. Here Paul explains what God has done in history. Before Christ came, God held back the full, immediate punishment sinful people deserve. It was not weakness; it was his godly way of suffering to bear with us, and ultimately, to save us. Yet it made it look as though God were indifferent to sin, or that his justice was somehow compromised.

But when God sent his Son to the cross to be punished in our places, it clearly proved that God takes sin with ultimate seriousness. God had been deferring punishment until the cross. Through the cross of Jesus, the penalty of all the sins of human beings has been paid fully, and God’s character as the Just Judge remains fully intact. Because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, God is now free to grant a righteous status to “the one who has faith in Jesus” without diminishing his holiness in the least. If God were only just, we’d be condemned. If God were only a justifier of sinners without the cross, he’d be unrighteous. But through the cross of Jesus, God is true to his just character while also being true to his mercy. The cross is where God reconciled his holiness and his love by his justice, because he paid the price to redeem us by offering his one and only Son.

Paul uses some form of the word “faith” four times in this passage (22,24,26). Sin is our universal problem. The grace of Jesus is God’s universal solution. And faith is the universally acceptable response to him. It brings us back to the key verse of the letter: “For in [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (1:17). Faith in Jesus is not just a one–and–done thing that happens at the start of Christian life. It’s a way of life that continues throughout our lives. So, when we fail at work, or snap at a family member, or feel the pressure to earn back God’s approval, we exercise faith in Jesus and what he’s done for us. We rest in the fact that he shed his blood to already pay for our failure today. Through faith in him, our righteous standing with God remains secure. This security in Christ enables us to keep serving God and doing the work he calls us to do. We’re freed from working for acceptance and empowered to work from acceptance. It’s not something epic we need to do, or some intense emotion we need to have, it’s just a simple fact we need to believe: Jesus shed his blood to make me good enough, to make me right with God. We cling to Jesus, his blood and righteousness, every day, and depend only on him.

Today we learned the core of the gospel: the righteous God justifies unrighteous people who believe in Jesus. May God help us rest completely in the gift of grace Jesus has secured for us through his finished work on the cross, so that we may be truly free to serve God.

See the poem written by Kent Keith in 1968 as a 19-year old sophomore at Harvard, The Paradoxical Commandments, in a booklet for student leaders titled The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council (and his later books Anyway [2002], Jesus Did It Anyway [2006], and Do It Anyway [2008]). Mother Theresa kept a copy of this poem on the wall of her children's home in Calcutta, which popularized it globally. Dr. Kent went on to become a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University, leader of the servant leadership movement, President of Pacific Rim Christian University, Director of Planning and Economic Development for the State of Hawaii, a Sunday school teacher and lay preacher, and an accomplished singer, musician, and writer. ↑

(Romans Series-9) Righteousness Manifested Apart From The Law

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