#84. Romans 3:21 – The Righteousness Attested, Part 2 (Justification Series, Part VII)

Part III: Our Justification, Confirmed

The Prophets

If considering examples from the law is time consuming, it should be no surprise that “The Prophets” portion of scripture – which takes up almost every prophetic writing, as well as the epics “Joshua,” “Judges,” “1 and 2 Samuel,” and “1 and 2 Kings” – would take a lifetime. It would be far easier to finish up our study of Paul’s letters, and simply studying through these passages as they appear, considering any foreshadowing of Paul’s letters.

Therefore, let us not scrutinize every single passage we can get our hands on quite yet. I’ll point out a small handful of passages from Isaiah, a couple from Jeremiah. We will scrutinize all of the Old Testament, God willing, on this blog at a later date.

Observe Is. 11:4, attesting to Christ, the Image of Yahweh–

He will judge the poor with righteousness And arbitrate for the humble of the land with equity; He will smite the earth with the club of His mouth, And with the spirit of His lips shall He put the wicked to death.

We may consider this in hand with both of our Jeremiah passages, 11:20 and 12:1–

Now, O Yahweh of hosts, righteous Judge, Tester of the innermost being and the heart, Let me see Your vengeance upon them, For to You have I confided my cause…

You are righteous, O Yahweh, when I contend with You; Nevertheless I shall speak of judgments with You. For what reason does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all those who are treacherous with treachery at ease?

In each of these passages, there is yet another relation between God’s judgment and His justness. This, indeed, aligns with our consideration of “just judgment” back in Rom. 2:5. It is readily understood by any that a righteous one must take issue with unrighteousness, and respond to the various faults of the unjust. It is usually these passages which are pointed toward, to treat “righteous” and “judging” as interchangeable terms. Yet we already know that His justness is not limited to judgment, but transcends the mere correction of what is wrong.

Let’s put a pin in the ‘judgment,’ then; we’ll return to it in a bit.

One of the most stirring examples of this is found in Isaiah 45:6-8, and 21-25. In both of these passages, Yahweh is attesting to Cyrus, the then-king of Persia, as to his just qualities. For any who do not know, the Persians attained to one of the oldest religions: Zoroastrianism. This belief proposed that there was one god, Ahura Mazda, an all-good supreme creator, and another, Angra Mainyu, the all-destructive god of chaos and evil, hellbent on corrupting all that Ahura Mazda would do.

Ironically, this is the same philosophy as the Christian religion. They, too, do not believe in one god, but one good god, “the Lord,” maker of good, and one bad god, “Satan,” maker of evil. Christianity’s pagan beliefs place them in the same category as the unbelieving Persians, and far from the ideal examples of faith found in the text.

Case in point? Neither Cyrus nor the Christians can acknowledge the following two passages honestly, and must change or limit the terms in order to maintain their two-god thesis:

That they may know, From the rising of the sun and from the west, That there is no one apart from Me; I am Yahweh, and there is no other. Former of light and Creator of darkness, Maker of good and Creator of evil, I, Yahweh, make all these things. Drip down from above, heavens, And let the skies distil righteousness; Let the earth open up, Let salvation bud, And let righteousness sprout together with it; I, Yahweh, I create it.

Tell and come close; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from aforetime, Has told it hitherto? Was it not I, Yahweh? And there is no other Elohim apart from Me; A righteous El and a Saviour, there is none except Me. Turn toward Me and be saved, all the limits of the earth, For I am El, and there is no other. By Myself have I sworn; From My mouth has gone forth righteousness, A word, and it shall not turn back; For to Me shall bow every knee, And every tongue shall swear fealty. Only in Yahweh one will say to Me are righteousness and strength. Unto Him shall each one come, And all who were heated against Him shall be ashamed. In Yahweh shall they be found righteous, And shall all the seed of Israel boast.

The passages above are beautiful, for various reasons. Firstly, they re-affirm what Paul already argued in Rom. 1:28-31, that God is the One ensuring the unjust actions of man do occur. God is not rivaled by some other deity of equal opportunity and authority to foil the plans of the first deity from without. God alone ensures that both light and darkness, both peace and evil, occur. This dispels the rumors of the Persians and the Christians, though neither party will be able to realize their fault until the Day of Judgment.

Secondly, we see again that correlation between salvation and righteousness. We see these words addressed to Cyrus, but written for Israel’s learning. The salvation of the Persian nation is touched upon, so much so that they will indeed bow every knee, and every tongue shall swear fealty to Him. Moreover, Israel will be able to boast in this, due to their allotment to be placed at the head of every nation, and bless all other nations through him (Gen. 12:1-3) – all at the hand of the true Just One.

All of this, most of all, is spoken in faith. Israel and Persia are being saved because of this just One’s faithful persistence to His own words. Thus everyone will bow their knee and swear their fealty – not because they were faithful, but because God is faithful (Rom. 3:3.)

Again and again, we see these correlations in Isaiah, and throughout much of the Old Testament (it’s almost as if there’s a pattern, here!) Check out another, in Is. 46:13–

Hearken to Me, sturdy of heart, who are far from righteousness: I bring near My righteousness; It shall not be far off, And My salvation, it shall not delay; And I will bestow salvation in Zion, for Israel, My beauty.

Here again the same two features of God’s righteousness are attested: He must deal with sin, and He must save those He has lost. He recognizes those in Israel who are far from righteousness – yet He hearkens to them, as opposed to those already near. The context in the above passage, of course, refers to faithful Israel, and thus falls far short of the grand demonstration given by Paul in Romans 3. The testimony here does not tell us how God will accomplish these goals. He does not explain how He deals with sin, or how He saves those He has lost.

This necessitates the question: on what basis are we to recognize the truth of these words?

The answer is found in the evangel of Paul, concerning Christ. All of these points in Isaiah are great testimonies, but they cannot be carried out so long as sin and death dominate the scene. It is only through the manifestation of Christ on the cross that these testimonies become a feasible option according to God.

This, indeed, is why judgment is not being given some priority as “proof” of God’s righteousness, but its effect. Judgment itself does not right sin’s wrongs. Neither does judgment force sin’s abdication. Judgment does not even require that a lesson be learned! All judgment does is take account, and penalize that which is wrong. It weighs action, and pays; nothing more. The conversation considers Who is doing the judging: a just Judge! How do we know that this is a just Judge? Certainly, the answer cannot be “judgment,” for this is circular! The answer is through faith in His corrective and excessively good goals, established through the faith of Jesus Christ.

As Paul said at the beginning of this letter, in the evangel of God’s power for salvation, God’s righteousness is being revealed. This is not said to be the evangel of God’s judgment, but the message of salvation. Indeed, the Old Testament readers were able to apprehend some veiled figure of God’s righteousness, but this is through God’s salvific operations. Pharoah’s unrighteousness commends God’s righteousness (Rom. 3:5!) And the demonstration itself is shown to be the just God saving His people by delivering them from the hands of their oppressors! One who is unjust can attest to the righteousness of God on this basis. How, you ask? It is our unrighteousness which, as we have been showing, amplifies our need for salvation!

What Moses said, also, should be repeated for our learning (Deut. 32:4.) Even by molding us into unrighteous vessels, God is just, for His goal in molding us this way is for our welfare. Pharoah, our example, faced the indignation of God. This is certainly not the end of God’s operation with him. He, too, will be presented at the great white throne judgment, so that Pharoah has faced the prospects of Romans 1 and 2. All that will remain is Romans 3 – God’s indignation and judgments are vindicated on the premise of a just salvation of the sinner, who by necessity must be a sinner to be saved, for His glory.

And again, nowhere is this operation (that of God blinding and hardening hearts so that they can experience and be delivered from evil,) better related to His righteousness than Jesus Christ’s death for sinners. It is because of Jesus’ death that God can soon say, “My people, Egypt” (Is. 19:25.) His contrivances are what enables His salvific work, and apart from it, He could not have given His Son at all.

Yet now, God has manifested His righteousness through Jesus Christ’s faith. We are no longer bound by limited illustrations. We can see, in full force, how God follows through on His promises: through faith, He brings life from death. Christ’s death was not punitive on anyone but sin itself. Christ became the Sin Offering for our sakes (2 Cor. 5:21,) becoming obedient to the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8.) He holds an undeniable accountability for all creation, and must do more than judge. He must restore, and reconcile, neither of which can be accomplished without each respective salvation discussed in the Bible.

Yet His first salvation is here. It is now; it is with you. Those figures in the Old Testament related to nations, sure, and faithful Israelites individually for their promised blessings. But God has much more in store for believers in Paul’s message. This individual basis surpasses the physical “restoration” or “born again” ideals spoken of in the circumcision message, but proceeds into making you into a completely new person, spotless, holy and flawless, with a spirit joined to life, and righteousness, without obliging your flesh to do what it could never. We, indeed, get to discover creation made new, and all the blessings that come with this – first of all, gaining a proper understanding of His righteousness, and becoming acquainted in most intimate fashion with the Lord of the universe.

- GerudoKing