#78. Romans 3:21 – No Greater Relief (Justification Series, Part I)

Part III: Our Justification, Confirmed

Yet now, a righteousness of God is manifest (being attested by the law and the prophets), yet a righteousness of God through Jesus Christ’s faith, for all, and on all who are believing…

“One Man came here to justify, One Man to overthrow… In the name of love. What more, in the name of love?” – Bono

Welcome, one and all, to the greatest relief.

After 64 verses concerning the travesty of human history, at long last we may look upon the grand evangel Paul has built toward. Paul has, in building to this message, first set forth a presentation of God’s indignation against unrighteousness. Since God is just (Rom. 1:17,) it must only be right for Him to remain frustrated with unrighteousness (this is clear to us, especially, having spent our lives under unjust authorities made by men.) Since God is just (1:17,) He must do something about this anger – either act upon it, or resolve it in a righteous manner.

The former was logically argued – to act upon His indignation, God must judge the unjust. This involves measuring every human action. He must stand against sin, and to serve the penalty to all who engage in it. This is the only fair assessment of unrighteousness, secluded (3:5-8.)

Mankind, in contrast, has taken an adverse stance to righteousness. We prefer unrighteousness – anything to remain ignorant to the news to follow. Worse still, the race – especially the most powerful men among us – provoke this righteous God with unrighteous conduct.

What, then? We have surveyed all the evidence, to the best of our ability. God’s argument is unimpeachable; His charges stand. The righteous verdict is in. By works of law, no flesh at all shall be justified in His sight (3:20.) With the verdict pronounced, the sentence must then drop. Sure enough, we are:

Not Guilty

Whuzzat? Come again?

Not Guilty

Surely, my ears deceive me? We surveyed all the evidence, did we not?

Yes

Including Exhibits B and C?

Of Course

So… after all that… we’re…?

Not Guilty

Inconceivable! We heard it ourselves! “Not one is just!” How can we possibly be considered not guilty?

Exhibit J

Oh, yes! Exhibit J! That’s…

Greek to me. I don’t understand. What is “Exhibit J?”

Hold on a moment – the prosecution is asking for a sidebar.

No, I can’t quite hear what they’re saying… it’s hard to make out.

…Ah! Yes, finding our bearings… okay. It appears that new evidence has been brought to light?

Well, goodness, I’ll take anything at this point. What do I have to do? Thirty push-ups a day? Make my bed every morning and every night? Fast every Tuesday and Thursday? Make prayer rectangles instead of prayer circles?

Such is the question of the one who has been brought face to face with the conduct of mankind. Our concern is most pressing. Notably, God has taken aim at sin. Mankind is simply in the line of fire. In order for the person – not the sin, mind you, but the individual – to be saved, God’s indignation must be fully abated. In this, Romans 1:18-3:20 must be resolved by this “new evidence,” which the defense has called “the evangel.” In this evangel, God will satisfy His just conscience by saving us without compromising His condemnation of sin.

New Evidence

Out of the entirety of the human literary canon, pitifully few have commented upon the great news of our justification as is composed by Paul in Romans 3:21-4:25. When expositors… exposit upon the passage, we find no grand enlightenment or admiration, but a confusing word salad that the theologians must continually toss to maintain the illusion of coherence. These incorporate many other passages in scripture to detract or pull these verses down, so that they do not read as they appear. They are limited by prior revelation, to Israel’s blessings and prerogatives.

As mentioned previously, we have a secret on this blog: we take words as they are. We do not re-fashion them, but identify their elements and word use in order to reach basic conclusions about the sentence. Hitherto our method has served us well; we have dispelled the rumor that Paul quoted from the Old Testament to point out his evangel in the past, and we have found more nuanced and careful brick-laying in Paul’s arguments. We have found that Paul is extraordinarily precise in his use of words, and when we do not take words above their meaning, the intention with which they are written falls cleanly into our lap.

Why should we change our tune, with such profound results? Let us apply the same method here. Not once has Paul made his evangel dependent upon others – especially not Israel. When speaking of Paul, Peter notes that he found Paul’s message hard to apprehend (2 Pet. 3:15-16.) If these were the same message, Peter should have heard Paul loud and clear! More broadly, Paul has established a premise on which his evangel must be shared – that, in exact contrast to religious piety, relieves the individual of any particular action or burden. The point of the premise was to show that we are unable to achieve righteousness – not to prepare us to achieve it in soiled flesh.

In taking these passages word by word, we will consume something far healthier than a word salad; we will transcend a temporary food, in which we hunger again, and instead consume words of life, in which we may rest and gain true peace toward God and all He has done. Through this evangel, we will become acquainted with the El Who Suffices, the One, Father.

This all begins with two little words.

Yet Now

The words “yet now” have changed the lives of all who have grasped their import. This small, seemingly insignificant phrase appears very few times in the scriptures. Save for twice in Hebrews, the phrase is used exclusively by Paul. It specially appears seven times in Romans.

Its first use sets the tone for its appearances in the letter. Each time it appears, there is a strong contrast between something old and something new. We will meditate on this tonal shift, and how it thematically develops Romans, in its every occurrence.

The evangel of God is a continual wellspring of new evidence for the student of the word. In the so-called Old Testament, the “new” was a pipe dream, long-sought but hardly fathomed. In the depths of his despair, the Ecclesiastes writer wrote, “There is nothing new under the sun” (1:9.) Yet we contend that the Ecclesiastes writer could not have foreseen Paul’s new message. This message is still so unknown that it is fresh and new to all who hear it! This message is indeed the “new” under the sun, that Old Testament poetry longed for.

The Message

Let us now read, in the apostle’s own summary, what the well message concerning His Son is. Though all of the information in Romans is vital for the believer to realize His standing with God, and become acquainted with Him, a later passage, 1 Cor. 15:3-4, fully summarizes the first eight chapters of Romans under three separate parts–

1.    Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures (cf. Rom. 3:21-4:25)

2.    And was entombed (cf. Rom. 6:1-7)

3.    Christ was roused the third day, according to the scriptures (cf. Rom. 8:1-30)

These three points will be heavily scrutinized over the course of Romans. You will come to find, this statement, plainly summarizing the pillars of Paul’s faith, is full of dense particulars and nuance. To believe all of these points – their literal occurrence (died, entombed, roused,) the One (Christ,) and what this demonstration stands for (for our sins) – is to be a believer in Paul’s evangel.

This is, indeed, startling new evidence. The Ecclesiastes writer would have found this accomplishment unfathomable, since it is indeed the only new act since creation concluded.

Do not be startled by the new. There is no need to feel confused, or startled by Paul’s approach. Since Paul has already shown us that there is no conceivable course of action we could take to save ourselves from our pitiful condition, we are left desolate. It is God Who must act; the burden of life, the burden of action, the burden of change, the burden of growth, the burden of love… these all now rest on His shoulders. It is His duty to stand on His business, and show a little of that righteousness He speaks so much about. We certainly know unrighteousness, yes? So we should have no trouble appreciating its opposite.

Alas, you and I well know that the Christian religion is rife with conflicting and contradictory ideas, doctrinal arguments spanning nearly 2,000 years, rippling through every language, with hardly a uniform dialect to appreciate collectively.

Most look at this conflict and say, “There is no solution to be gathered from this mess.” Yet, for all our confusion and misunderstanding, there is still one truth. It has not deviated, over these past 2,000 years. It remains true, regardless of our perception, our limitations, or even our superfluity. This truth is. And it is God’s right to share it with whom He wills. The Truth begins with Him, and, as I said in the introduction to this study, if we are so discordant in our words and ideas, then perhaps what we teach differs from that which the scriptures proclaim to be true.

This study, then, will not only study the Greek words, their definitions, inflections, and progression, as a means of understanding what is being said, literally, in Romans 3:21-26. We will then use what we learn in this passage as a means of re-evaluating some of the most popular creeds and dogmas in Christendom. These will include:

-       The Trinity

-       Free Will

-       Eternal Torment

-       Immortality of the soul

-       Limited Atonement                   

The question, of course, is whether or not these beliefs hold any merit in light of Paul’s message. Are they as “important” or “integral” to salvation as various Christian sects pose them to be? Are they even necessary to believe? Are they even true? These are extremely pertinent questions, and, given Paul’s setup, now, in Romans 3:21-8:30, is the perfect time for Paul to share, in full detail, whether or not these doctrines matter, or are the gateway to belief in any way.

But before we get to all of this, let us just appreciate Paul’s message. There is not one whit of it dependent upon you or me. It is all God, using His Son. The message itself, regardless of the cries, limitations, contradictions, or obfuscations of any Christian theologian, is simple. Paul’s message began with a realization of human action: it is null. It solves nothing, and thus could never be the premise for “something” if “something” is ever to come about. Hence God must be the true beginning of Paul’s message, as he gives in this continual pattern. It is, in the words of The Jackson 5, “As simple as A B C.” What the evangel says about God (A) relates to what it says about Christ (B,) so that the problem which inhibits human action is resolved (C.) More directly, the righteousness of God (A) is shown through Christ’s faith (B) for all who have been impacted by sin (C.)

This is why we will spend so much time in verse 21. If we do not grasp “A,” then we will not appreciate “B” or “C.”  Let it be clear that the valid message does not begin with man’s work, man’s effort, even man’s belief, but that of the righteousness of God, made manifest in this evangel.

The Beginning

It is challenged: why am I quoting from 1 Corinthians 15 to share the evangel to you? If Romans claims to share the evangel of God, why share something from a different letter to convey Paul’s message?

The answer is that 1 Corinthians summarizes what Romans unfolds. The summary in 1 Corinthians 15 is the shorthand version of Romans 3:21-8:30. Most scholars quote from it because, in the prior verse, Paul calls it the “evangel which I [Paul] accepted.” The crucifixion perfectly summarizes the evangel and its qualities. Paul does not need to relate the crucifixion itself at the beginning of Romans, as he writes under the pretense that his audience knows that Christ died, was entombed, and was roused (Rom. 1:7-8.)

Therefore, Paul does not immediately need to stress the literal events, but particularly stress the “for our sins” aspect of the evangel – clarifying, fundamentally, what these literal events mean. He presents the theme (righteousness) and its authority (God’s power into salvation.) He presents its necessity (sin.) And only then can Paul convey the function of the evangel.

The object of the believer’s belief is the evangel. The three components of the evangel, and their distinct qualifications (for our sins, and according to the scriptures) cannot be dismissed by the believer without harming the premise of their faith. It should be readily agreed upon by all in Christ that one must realize their justification, for it is the mark of one who has been imparted a measure of Christ’s faith (3:22, cf. 12:3,) and thus understands how Christ died “for our  sins.”

I understand that this claim faces much backlash, yet I persist that our justification is an indispensable characteristic of our place as believers in Christ, and if we do not know this, then there is not yet evidence that one is a believer. This is the doctrine placed at Romans’ doorjamb for a reason; to ignore it is not only to depreciate the message, but to maintain that its effects have not yet been manifested in you, specifically.

(Note, as an aside, that this does not mean the evangel will never win you over, since it is God’s ability to save us through it, and He can change one’s heart and mind at any time, of His own volition.)

Paul tells us explicitly that in the evangel, God’s righteousness is being revealed, out of faith for faith (Rom. 1:17.) He even brings in a quote from Habakkuk to drive this point home! We can only appreciate the revelation of God’s righteousness in the evangel with an impartation of Christ’s faith. One can only be said to display a measure of Christ’s faith by their recognition of the manifestation of God’s righteousness in His sacrifice. While Paul summarizes “for our sins” in 1 Cor. 15, this is expounded upon as justification by Paul.

These are facts which should bring us to ineffable joy, not despondency. Most seem to hate acknowledging God’s boundaries, as if He should lower His standards so your average Uncle Joe or Aunt Nicky, who “may not believe in justification but sure are sincere about God,” can be included in the believer’s salvation. Yet God does not work through sincerity, but belief in what is directly written.

Let us not bemoan these facts, then, but rejoice in God’s fondness for those He has called, and for establishing a clear dividing line. Righteousness and unrighteousness do not mix, and God does not save without intent for one to realize and become knowledgeable concerning Him (cf. Rom. 5:1-5, 8:1-32, 1 Tim. 2:4.) The entire point is that it is not about our works, but about His choice to save. He tells us how He imprints this upon others for us, and it is by imparting a revelation of their justification to them. Besides; if God did not respect Himself, then how could we ever hope to attain such a respect for Him and His words?

We have arrived at the purpose of Part III of this study. We wish to gain an understanding of the justification of the individual, through Christ’s death for our sakes. We wish to learn how Christ’s death impacts us, and our standing with a righteous God. We will, in effect, begin to answer the seminal question of this study: who is this God? What is He like? And what does He want?

The “yet now” of 3:21 advances the reader to this new evidence. No longer are we meant to meditate upon the law and our sin. We are instead meant to look forward, apart from law, that is, past our recognition of sin, and contrastively meditate upon the righteousness of God, manifest through Jesus Christ’s faith. God had been shown to have a just anger, and has proven the need to justly judge all. But He has not yet proven His righteousness in faithfulness (3:3-5.) How can He make promises to some and not others if all are clearly unrighteous? If humanity fails, how can He fulfill the righteous promises?

The solution is demonstrated in Paul’s evangel, where the crucifixion of Christ and its impact upon the sinner (all mankind) is revealed. This is the yet now of the universe – the grand hinge on which mankind is introduced to its destiny.

- GerudoKing