{"id":22920,"date":"2022-09-01T22:00:23","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T05:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/romans-3_9-20-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-08-09T21:11:28","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T04:11:28","slug":"romans-3_21-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/romans-3_21-31\/","title":{"rendered":"You Are Righteous Because of Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Romans 3:21-31 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Romans 3:21-31.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Romans 3:21-24 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 21-24:\u00a0 In the Bible, to be \u201crighteous\u201d means to be blameless, acceptable and worthy in God\u2019s eyes to be in His presence because we are holy like He is.\u00a0\u00a0In Romans 3:9-20 Paul explained that we could never be righteous by trying to obey God\u2019s laws.\u00a0 That\u2019s because no matter how hard we try, we will never meet God\u2019s perfect standard.\u00a0 Because of our sin, we are separated from God\u2019s holy presence.\u00a0 As\u00a0Romans\u00a03:23 says, \u201call have sinned and fall short of the glory of God\u201d.<\/p>\n

But in verses 21-24 Paul emphasizes this most important point of the Gospel: that\u00a0when we could not earn righteousness on our own, God made righteousness available to us another way \u2013 through faith in Jesus Christ<\/strong>.\u00a0 God sacrificed His perfectly righteous and blameless Son Jesus Christ as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. When we believe in faith that Jesus Christ died for our sins, God takes away our sins and gives us Jesus\u2019 righteousness.\u00a0 To use the language of Romans, we are \u201cjustified\u201d (v24) \u2013 that is, declared righteous in God\u2019s sight \u2013 \u201cby his grace\u201d, that is by God\u2019s undeserved kindness, expressed through the \u201credemption\u201d (that is, the buying back) that came by Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In other words, when we had sold out to sin and were destined to be apart from God eternally, God in His grace bought us back \u2013 redeemed us \u2013 and declared us righteous through Jesus Christ\u2019s sacrifice on the cross.<\/p>\n

In verse 21, Paul reminds us that God making righteousness available to us by grace through faith in Christ is not some new concept, but is something that the law of Moses and the prophets of the Old Testament had been testifying about and pointing to for centuries.\u00a0 Still it is good\u00a0news<\/em>\u00a0for us because only through Jesus\u2019 more recent death and resurrection was this righteousness by faith made possible.\u00a0\u00a0Receive the gift of God’s righteousness by faith.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s the most important decision you could ever make.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Romans 3:25-26 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished–
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 25-26:\u00a0 Notice the number of times the words \u201cjust\u201d and \u201cjustice\u201d appear in these verses.\u00a0 The cross is not just a sign of God\u2019s mercy but also a sign of God\u2019s justice, because at the cross God doled out the punishment that was due for all the sins that had ever been committed.\u00a0 Having mercy on us, God placed that punishment on His Son Jesus instead of on us who deserved it.\u00a0\u00a0The cross where Jesus died is the intersection where God\u2019s justice and God\u2019s mercy meet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Romans 3:27-28 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 27-28:\u00a0 Since we are justified (i.e. declared righteous) not because of our ability to observe God\u2019s law but because of our faith in God\u2019s grace,\u00a0there is no place for boasting about our own goodness anymore, because it was not our own goodness that saved us<\/strong>.\u00a0 Rather, it is through Christ\u2019s death on the cross that God declared us righteous and welcomed us into a relationship with Him.<\/p>\n

Romans 3:29-30 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 29-30:\u00a0 So whether we are Jewish (\u201ccircumcised\u201d) or Gentile (\u201cuncircumcised\u201d), we are all justified the same way: by faith.\u00a0 God\u2019s grace is the great equalizer.\u00a0 It means that no matter what our background, we are all in the same boat: we are all sinners who need God\u2019s grace and who are saved by the same Saviour, Jesus.<\/p>\n

Romans 3:31 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 31:\u00a0 Does the idea that we can be righteous by faith nullify (i.e. make useless) God\u2019s law in the Old Testament?\u00a0 No, says Paul.\u00a0 Rather, Paul says, \u201cwe uphold the law\u201d when we preach that righteousness comes by faith in Christ.\u00a0 How so?\u00a0 Here are a couple ways that we uphold the law when we preach that righteousness comes by faith in Christ.<\/p>\n

First, by confessing that we cannot fulfill the requirements of the law perfectly on our own, it shows how perfect God\u2019s law is.\u00a0 So the idea of righteousness by faith doesn\u2019t take away from the greatness of God\u2019s law, but reinforces it.<\/p>\n

Second, Paul says that the law of Moses ultimately points us to a righteousness by faith (v21).\u00a0 For God\u2019s purpose in giving us His laws in the first place was to lead us to the conviction that we are sinners who need a Saviour and to the hope that one day God would provide that Saviour.\u00a0 As Paul would say, \u201cthrough the law we become conscious of sin.\u201d (Romans 3:20)<\/p>\n

Father, thank You that You have made available to us a righteousness that we can never earn, but one that comes by undeserved grace, through faith in Jesus.\u00a0 Thank You that by making righteousness available this way, You made it possible for the maximum number of people to be saved without compromising Your own justice and holiness.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Romans 3:21-31.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Romans 3:21-24 (NIV)
\n21\u00a0\u00a0But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
\n22\u00a0\u00a0This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
\n23\u00a0\u00a0for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
\n24\u00a0\u00a0and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 21-24:\u00a0 In the Bible, to be \u201crighteous\u201d means to be blameless, acceptable and worthy in God\u2019s eyes to be in His presence because we are holy like He is.\u00a0\u00a0In Romans 3:9-20 Paul explained that we could never be righteous by trying to obey God\u2019s laws.\u00a0 That\u2019s because no matter how hard we try, we will never meet God\u2019s perfect standard.\u00a0 Because of our sin, we are separated from God\u2019s holy presence.\u00a0 As\u00a0Romans\u00a03:23 says, \u201call have sinned and fall short of the glory of God\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22922,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22920"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22923,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22920\/revisions\/22923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}