Transcript
Romans chapter 3 verses 27 to 31. Paul says, Where therefore is the boasting? It was excluded. Through what law? The law of works? No, but through a law of faith. (verse 28) We conclude therefore that a man is to be justified out of faith without the works of law. (verse 29) Or is He the God of Jews only? And not also of the Gentiles? Yes, also of the Gentiles. (verse 30) Since indeed it is the one God who will justify circumcision out of faith, and uncircumcision through faith. (verse 31) Therefore do we make Law of no effect through faith? May it not happen! But we establish the Law.
The book of Romans is written to the Roman way of thinking and they think according to the justice system. We are reading something like a court brief that a lawyer would present to the court. And in the book of Romans we are studying all the doctrines of the Christian faith. The first doctrine that we are just now finishing is the doctrine of condemnation. Not really something that is supposed to make you very happy, but Paul goes to lengths to convince us through God’s eyes and God’s word how He sees us as sinners.
In chapter 1 Paul presented to us the Gentiles. The Gentiles are going to be judged without the law, but through the manifestation of God’s glory through creation.
Chapter 2 he talked to the Jew, to the Hebrew, and said, “You who are judging the Gentiles and their corrupt lifestyles, you also will be judged equally.” Verse 9 says that all are under sin, both Jew and Gentile alike. So the Jew says, “Then what is the advantage of being Jewish? I have been born a Jew. I have been circumcised. And we have been given the oracles or the words of God. Is there some kind of privilege there?” The privilege they have is responsibility but it does not save them. Jew and Gentile alike must be saved in the same way.
So in chapter 3 he winds things up, in verses 10 through 12 of chapter 3, by describing the fourteen characteristics of the human being in their natural spiritual condition without Christ. That is every one of us.
First, our character, verses 10 to 12.
(1) There is none righteous no not one.
(2) Verse 11, There is nobody that understands.
(3) There is no one who is seeking God out. So you know if you have a desire for the things of the Lord it comes from Him, because me in my natural sinful condition I do not seek Him out.
(4) Verse 12, number four, All have turned away.
(5) Fifthly, Together they became useless. Not in the human sense but spiritually to God. When we go our own way and reject Him and do not walk in His way, we are useless for the intention in which God created us for.
(6) Sixthly, There is no one doing goodness not as many as one.
Then our conversation – four things.
(7) Their throat is an open tomb.
(8) Secondly, With their tongues they deceive.
(9) And thirdly, The poison of asps (which is the Egyptian cobra) is under their lips.
(10) Fourthly, Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness?
The third area, conduct.
(11) First of all, Their feet are swift to shed blood.
(12) Secondly, Destruction and misery are in their ways.
(13) Thirdly, And they did not know a way of peace.
(14) And fourthly, There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Fourteen characteristics covering three areas character, conversation, and conduct, as Paul lays out the characteristics of the sinner.
Verses 19 and 20, the Purpose for the Law. For we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to the ones who are in the law, in order that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world might become under the judgment to God. In other words, if you read from Romans chapter 1 verse 18 all the way through to chapter 3 verse 18 the evidence that is presented to bring about conviction from God is to bring us to a point where our mouths are stopped and we all stand before God guilty. Mouths are stopped because there is no defense. Guilty. Because out of the works of the law all flesh will not be justified before Him, for through law is the full knowledge of sin. That is what the law is for. The keeping of the law is not to produce salvation, but rather to bring conviction of sin.
Verse 21, that we took last week, the provision of God. Notice at verse 21, But now, there is a change in theme. We are switching from the Doctrine of Condemnation to the Doctrine of Justification. This is the good news. We have studied the bad news for quite a few weeks. But now what God has provided for us, seven things:
(1) Righteousness,
(2) that it is through faith.
(3) Verse 22, thirdly, We are justified. And it is the same word as righteousness except in the judicial system it means to be lined up correctly with the law. We are justified.
(4) Fourthly, It is free. Freely in the Greek means a gift. It is a gift to us. Do not have to pay for it. No charge.
(5) Fifthly, It is based on God’s grace.
(6) Sixthly, He gives us redemption. Which means not only did He purchase us but He paid our debt. And that is what the word redemption means, not only to purchase the slave out of the marketplace but also to pay for all of his debt, damage that he has accumulated over the years.
(7) Seventhly, God has provided a propitiation, which means satisfaction. That which satisfies Him and His requirements.
So that the conclusion in verse 26, For the showing (or display) of His righteousness in this present time is so that he would be just (or righteous), and that He would be justifying (or the One who justifies) the one out of the faith of Jesus. There is our phrase again. I left the literal translation in again to show you that every time Paul talked about what God has given us and the basis for which He has given to us is it is based on the faith of Jesus, not the faith of man.
So in verse 27 he covers three areas with three questions. Where therefore is the boasting? He is mainly speaking to the Hebrew or to the Jew but to everyone. Where is the boasting? So he is addressing the pride, religious pride. If God has provided all of these things for us: righteousness, faith, justification. It is free. It is based on His grace towards us. He has provided redemption for us. He has provided a propitiation for our sins. What do we have to boast about? Nothing.
That is why it is important that we understand in verse 19 that God has presented all of this by way of evidence for conviction so that every mouth will be stopped and we will stand before Him guilty because we cannot say anything. I stand before Him guilty. He has made my salvation impossible for me. So that is when it then tells me, oh and by the way all the seven things that you needed for your salvation God has provided to His satisfaction and meets the requirements and the fulfillment of the requirements of the law.
So the first question is, Where is the boasting? Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth and he said, “Why do you boast?” He was talking about those who were boasting over the gifts of the Spirit. Why do you boast as though you did not receive it? Whatever you have you have received, you did not earn it, and you did not come up with it. It is a gift from God. So why do you boast? These are boastings in God. He says, Where therefore is the boasting? It was excluded. Shut out. Through what law? The law of works? No, but through a Law of faith. Faith now is presented to us as being a law. It is a spiritual law.
Human beings live by faith. James talked about that in James chapter 2. You can have a faith that does not save you. We all live by faith every day. We believe most of what we read in the newspaper, most of what we listen to over the news. We believe we are going to get to wherever we are going to go in the morning. We do not think about not making it. So there is a human faith. But there is also a spiritual faith, which you and I do not have.
And let me reiterate to you again, I think it is the biggest problem within the body of Christ today, is distinguishing between human faith and spiritual faith. Meaning that I have to produce the faith.
Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 tells us that Jesus is the author and finisher of faith.
Galatians chapter 5 verse 22 tells us that faith is a fruit of the Spirit. It is produced by God spirit.
I Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9 says that God’s Spirit gives faith to individuals.
We saw last week in our studying the book of Acts chapter 14 verse 27, after they heard about salvation and the Holy Spirit saving the Gentiles their conclusion was that God has opened up a door of faith for the Gentiles. God has to open the door. God’s faith has to draw them.
Remember what that word faith means in Greek, (pistis), it means persuasion. It is a word used in the Bible to describe the activity of God’s Spirit. If we get ministered to, it is because God’s Spirit is persuading us. He is ministering to us. When God’s Spirit ministers through us to others God’s Spirit is persuading them about the truth of Christ. So (pistis) is a word that is used to describe the presence and the activity of God Spirit in a person’s life.
And in the body of Christ today we have put it all on people. “You have to produce the faith. God cannot work in your life until you produce the faith.” I do not have any. There is a law of faith that is the faith of Christ. Remember as we studied, as Peter went through some of the cities on the missionary journey, his missionary journey, that he saw a crippled man and he saw that he was given the faith to be healed. That is interesting. He says, “Get up. God has given you the faith to be healed.” He got up. But it is an interesting observation that he saw that the man had the faith to be healed.
So what law do we go by? The law of faith. Which is the opposite of the law of works.
Verse 28 in concluding, We conclude therefore a man to be justified out of faith without works of Law. The word without means separated. Not without in the sense of accompaniment but without in the sense of separation. They do not mix. Faith and the works of the law do not mix.
Question number 2. Or is He the God of Jews only? Is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, also of the Gentiles. First we addressed pride. Now he is addressing prejudice. It is prejudicial for the Hebrew or Jewish person to say, “He is our God but He is not your God,” and that is the idea they held. Even to this day an Orthodox Hebrew Jewish person will tell you that He is their God. And you can participate with them as they worship their God, but He is not your God. No, “He is the God of the Jews and the Gentiles,” Paul says.
Since indeed it is the one God who will justify the circumcision out of faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. Circumcision would be the Jews. And notice how it reads literally, circumcision from out of faith as a source. It is worded differently for each group. Out of faith as a source means not out of law as a source. The only source that a Hebrew or Jewish person can be saved is from out of faith. And the uncircumcision, that would be the Gentile, is through faith. It is just the opposite. It is not through law but through faith. The Gentile does not have to keep the law to be saved. And the Jew cannot be saved from out of the law. There is only one God, He is the God of all people.
In that promise in Genesis chapter 12 verse 3, God made the promise to Abraham that through him all the tribes of the earth would be blessed. This was before there was any Jews or Hebrews. In fact, Abraham himself was a Gentile at the time when God gave him the promise. There were no Jews.
Thirdly, the third question verse 31, the presumption is eliminated. We have had the pride, and the prejudice eliminated. The presumption, Therefore do we make law of no effect through faith? May it not happen! But we establish the law. Remember what he said in verse 20. That through the law, or by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Next week in our study in Galatians chapter 3 in the first hour, we will see that he says, The law was our schoolmaster to lead us into prison, until what? Faith should come. Very interesting concept that I think we miss in our general reading of the Scriptures. He did not say, “When Christ comes,” it says, when faith comes, because that is who Christ is. But that after faith has come you are no longer under the law. So the law does serve a purpose. Remember the law is God’s standard of holiness. James in James chapter 2 verse 10 tells us that if you break one law you have broken them all. Because you have not broken a commandment, you have violated the One who gave the commandment. You have violated God and His holiness, not His rules. And once you have broken God’s law there needs to be a payment for that sin.
But you see, once I realize that Christ came to suffer the punishment and pay the penalty for that sin and that through Jesus Christ I am drawn to Him by the Father and through Him I am saved, all my sins forgiven. Even against Michael forty-five years ago. You might have been discouraged about that right? Old buddy Bill is saved, that means all the rotten things he did to me he is forgiven for. How do you reconcile that?
But you see, the law comes and then the law of faith comes. And the law drives us to Christ. But once we come to Christ we are not under the law. This is for both Jew and Gentile. A Hebrew and Jewish person must be saved the same way as a Gentile. There is no difference except for their own frame of mind as to how they understand the things of God. Just because they are God’s chosen people and have been entrusted with the word of God does not mean that they have eternal life. They can no more gain eternal life by keeping the law then we can, because it is impossible to keep the law. And God never planned for eternal life to come out of the keeping of the law. Only to present a reminder and a standard of holiness to us so that God would get the message across. Look how far you have fallen short of the glory of God. So what now? God goes to great lengths to prove to me that I am a sinner.
As I said the first hour God pursues us during our entire life even after we are saved trying to convince us that sin still influences our life. That receiving Christ is not crossing the finish line, it is the starting line. The same Jesus that saved me is the same Jesus that is drawing my attention to Him to live by faith. His faith. The persuasion of His Spirit drawing me to Himself. And it is a life time process. We struggle against it and that just goes to show you we are sinners. We struggle against God and His Spirit. But we can thank Him that even in the midst of the struggle He stays with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He knows the struggle we go through and He will see us through it, all the way to the end.
Now are ready for Romans chapter 4 as we study from Abraham and the life of David. How even in God’s word, the Tanak, the Old Testament, that God worked on the basis of justifying by faith. It is not anything new, it is just misunderstood.
Let’s close with prayer.
