"But now…!" Romans 3:21-26

Our first reading is from Romans chapter 3 and we'll start in the 21st verse.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 3 starting in the 21st verse.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.

The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

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 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Then what becomes of our boasting?

It is excluded.

By what kind of law?

By a law of works?

No, but by the law of faith.

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Or is God the God of Jews only?

Is he not the God of Gentiles also?

Yes, of Gentiles also.

Since God is one, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith?

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?

By no means.

On the contrary, we uphold the law.

So in my opinion, one of Tom Hanks' best movies, and if you disagree with me, I'll be at the back waiting.

It sounded like I was going to get in a fight.

That's not the case at all.

I'd argue.

Maybe a verbal fight.

But I think it's the road to perdition.

I love this movie.

Early 2000s movie.

It takes place during Prohibition, Illinois.

It's also, I think it's Paul Newman's last movie he does before he dies.

So it's Prohibition, Illinois.

And it follows Tom Hanks, who seeks revenge on his boss's son.

His boss, who is like a father to him.

Because his boss's son killed his wife and his young son.

Tried to kill the whole family.

But Tom Hanks and his older son live.

Anyways, the boss, again, played by Paul Newman.

He tries to avert the wrath of Tom Hanks, his character Sullivan.

But it can't be appeased.

There's nothing he can do.

The crimes of Newman's son must be paid for.

And it must be paid for in blood.

Definitely not a movie to watch with kids.

But it's really, it's a great movie.

Anyways, justice must be accomplished.

Mercy is not an option.

There's something in this for us to consider.

For often, justice and mercy, they are elusive in this life.

And they're elusive for a number of reasons.

But a couple are actually quite obvious if you think about it.

Justice and mercy are elusive for us because we are both inconsistent and often hypocritical.

When we are wronged, we want justice.

And we will have justice.

And we will have it now.

But when we have wronged others, we deserve mercy.

Give us mercy.

We deserve it.

And we find ourselves neither enjoying justice or mercy because we are inconsistent people.

We are hypocritical people.

And we often have neither.

So it's an interesting question to think through.

Can mercy and justice be enjoyed?

Is this even possible?

Are they not exclusive to one another?

What do we make sense of it all?

Our text this morning will help us to answer this question.

In our text, it is so theologically dense and so important to the entire argument of Paul in Romans.

In fact, it could be argued that this is the key text in all of the book.

And if Romans is, in many ways, the greatest articulation of the gospel that we have in the Bible.

I don't want to say it's the best book in the Bible.

Because I want to say the Bible is a whole, even though it's comprised of other books.

But if we want to say it's the finest, most robust articulation of the gospel.

Then what we have this morning is a very, very, very important text to consider.

And a text that's going to help us to understand justice and mercy.

We're going to look at the text.

And this is how I've broken it down.

The text, again, we could spend weeks in it.

We're going to spend one.

And it's going to, we're going to look at three things.

We're going to look at one glorious declaration that it makes.

We're going to look at two essential truths in this text.

And finally, three comforting words.

And actually, I mean, I'll touch a bit on verses 27 to 31.

But we'll spend the majority of our time in verses 21 to 26.

So again, one glorious declaration.

Two very essential truths.

And three very comforting words as we consider the nature of the gospel in light of justice and mercy.

Let's get into it.

Point one.

One glorious declaration.

So it's, I was away last week.

I'll just say this.

I was away last week.

I had the privilege of being at a young adult's retreat.

And, you know, whatever you guys read about, whatever I read about in the media about, I guess it's Generation Z or Zed.

And, you know, these kids were inspiring.

Truly, the faith that these 18 to 25-year-olds had.

It was really something.

Did they stay up until 4 in the morning?

Yes, they did.

Did I go to bed at 1130?

Yes, I did.

So there was some things that made me kind of scratch my head.

But overall, incredible.

The faith and the love that these guys had.

Not just for the Lord, but for one another.

It really was something to behold.

That's nothing to do with the text.

Only to say that I was in here last week.

So it was two weeks since we've been in Romans.

So a bit of a reminder.

Two weeks ago, we wrapped up this pretty significant section that the Apostle Paul was arguing about why we fall short of the righteousness of God.

And why there is no moral or religious leg that we can stand on.

So back in chapter 1, verse 17, 16 and 17, the Apostle Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel.

It's the power of God unto salvation.

Verse 17, it says that in the gospel, the righteousness of God has been revealed or manifested.

And then from chapter 1, 18 to 3, chapter 3, verse 20, he shows us how we can't even hold a candle to God's righteousness.

That we are in a very, very sad state.

And not just one segment of the population, but all.

He talks about the religious, the irreligious.

He talks about the completely immoral and the morally upright.

He talks about Jews.

He talks about Greeks.

The idea is we could extend it to every person that's ever lived, regardless of where they are from.

Everybody falls short.

And I would say that he makes a compelling case.

The verdict is in.

We are cooked.

We are eternally cooked.

The human race has no hope.

Except that the argument doesn't end in chapter 3, verse 20.

Because chapter 3, verse 21 says this and everything changes with these two words.

Verse 21, but now.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.

Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it.

The apostle says, but now.

God has done something.

And he returns to chapter 1, verse 17, where he says the righteousness of God has been revealed.

He is saying, listen, that righteousness of God, he returns to it.

It is coming and breaking in.

You aren't cooked anymore.

Okay?

You are not damned.

You are not hopeless people.

After feeling the heaviness of sin and the hopelessness of our own situation in life,

Paul says that God has revealed himself.

He has revealed his righteousness.

And it is in his son, Jesus.

And it has happened.

It's not something he's talking about.

It's not something where he's saying, I'm promising to do it one day, somehow, at some place.

He's saying, now.

It's come.

Now.

This righteousness, it is from heaven.

It is from God.

And therefore, it means that it is foreign to us.

It is foreign to us.

It is also foreign to the law.

In that, we cannot keep the law.

The law was not designed in such a way that if we keep it, that we would get this righteousness from God.

This is a righteousness that emanates from God himself.

Paul, he'll talk about that.

That does not negate the law.

In fact, this is not some new revelation.

The law, the prophets, the writings, the entirety of the Old Testament Bible.

It points to what Jesus did on the cross.

It points that to this anointed one, this Messiah who would come and to die,

even though he was perfect for the sins of the world.

Everything points to Jesus.

So this righteousness was revealed through this moment in history, this historical death and resurrection of the Messiah,

the anointed one, Christ Jesus, the Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings.

And I am no Greek scholar, okay?

So, but I read commentaries of people that are.

And what's interesting here is that the Greek grammar that the Apostle Paul uses,

it is in a perfect tense, which is to say that when Paul is referring to this revelation,

in chapter 3, verse 21, that God's righteousness was revealed,

it means that it was fully and perfectly revealed at a very specific time, at a very specific place.

And it's referring to the actual crucifixion of Jesus,

his literal death, his literal burial,

and then three days later, when a body should be decomposing,

he literally rises from the grave.

That's why for centuries, millennia, we have rightly marked time with Anno Domini,

in the year of our Lord.

All of history revolves around the birth and life and death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

Why do we do this?

Because in the redemption of Christ, the hopelessness

that Paul so perfectly articulates in chapter 1, 18 to 3, 20,

has been completely undone.

Human beings are no longer hopeless.

All of time revolves around what happened

in, at Golgotha,

some 2,000 plus years ago.

But there's something even more to it, okay?

Because, again, not a Greek scholar,

but if we consider the grammar that Paul uses back in chapter 1, verse 17,

again, right, he is,

this isn't the first time he's talking about the righteousness of God being revealed.

He says it back in chapter 1, 17,

and the grammar there

lends itself to this idea that

it's an ongoing revelation of what God is revealing,

his righteousness being revealed,

which is to say,

every time that the gospel is proclaimed,

right now,

the righteousness of God is being revealed.

It is being proclaimed.

Whenever we gather in Christ's name,

reminded of the gospel,

whenever we hear the words of Scripture proclaimed,

where God is lifted high and his Son is glorified,

whenever we partake at the Lord's table,

whenever we confess our sins

and look to Christ for forgiveness

and hear those sweet words of absolution and comfort,

whenever we read those words of institution where Jesus said,

on the night that he was betrayed,

he took bread,

he broke it,

he gave you thanks,

same way he took the cup and he gave you thanks,

whenever we are proclaiming the gospel,

the righteousness of God is being revealed.

So it is to say that it happened in a specific time

and in a specific place,

but that this revelation of God's righteousness,

right,

that erases our hopelessness,

it pours into every single minute

of every single second of every single day,

wherever Christ's name is lifted high

and his gospel is proclaimed.

It's this very dynamic reality we live in

of the righteousness of God being revealed.

So when we go back to verse 21 and Paul,

again, remember,

he has laid out such an airtight,

compelling case

that we are hopeless people,

right?

He gets to verse 21 and he says,

but now the righteousness of God

is being revealed.

It has been revealed

in Christ's death and resurrection.

It is continuing to be revealed

in every time that his name

and his gospel is proclaimed.

And all of a sudden,

we are reminded that we are not hopeless people,

but we are people with purpose.

We are people that have an eternal place

waiting for us.

And that's why I think

it is a very glorious declaration.

God has revealed

his righteous character

and plan of salvation

to us unrighteous people.

And what is that plan of salvation?

That God does not merely

reveal his righteousness,

but that he will also impart

that righteousness.

So that this foreign righteousness

that is something

that we could never attain

on our own,

but we desperately need,

it is for us

and that we can take it

by faith.

So thinking through this,

we need to consider

the next point,

these two essential truths.

I'll be looking at verses 22 to 23.

So we've had one glorious declaration

and now we have two essential truths

connected to it.

The first is that

this righteousness is for us

when we accept it by faith.

Let's look at this first truth

and we'll spend

just a bit of time

in verse 22.

And verse 22 says this,

the righteousness of God

through faith in Jesus Christ

for all who believe.

This foreign righteousness

that is imparted to us

is only ours

if we receive it

by faith.

So a very important,

crucial follow-up question

is

what is faith?

What is

meant by

the Apostle Paul

when he says

it is for all

who believe?

What is the nature of faith?

What happens

importantly

when we

have these feelings of faith

and then we find

that these feelings of faith

begin to wane?

Is

this righteousness

given to us

only

when we

are feeling

kind of

vibrant

in our Christian walk?

I often think

of

how my faith

has waned

and

considering

is

God's salvation

contingent

upon my

faith?

I think of it

as like a

carnival game

or a fair game

when you have

this little

water pistol

that you have

to shoot

in a tiny

dollar-sized hole

to move

like a

fake horse

down

whatever

the

fake little

I don't know

what it is

okay

it's a carnival game

I know you guys

might have seen it

I don't know

the name of the

carnival game

but this idea

that okay

all of a sudden

if our

water stream

runs out

or if we

miss the mark

or somehow

we just give up

is that it for us?

is salvation over?

what is the

nature of

faith?

I think it's

important for us

to consider

that

what matters

when it comes

to faith

isn't the

amount of

faith that we

have

we all know

people that

have unbelievable

faith

that it

seems like

all hell

rages against

them

and yet

they have

this

resolve

that they're

going to

trust in

the Lord

and then

we have

other people

in our

lives

maybe

ourselves

at times

where

it's

like I

stub my

toe

literally

metaphorically

and that's

it

I'm kind

of done

right

I can't

believe

anymore

it's like

the straw

that broke

the camel's

back

and we

have

minuscule

faith

I think

that's not

the way

that the

Bible

wants to

commend us

to think

about faith

but instead

to think

about the

object that

our faith

is in

classic

example

the person

who

is deathly

afraid of

flying

deathly

afraid of

flying

they get

in the

plane

and maybe

their faith

and the

integrity

of the

hull

or

the

sobriety

and focus

and skill

of the

pilot

it's

like this

okay

they're

constantly

thinking

this

five hour

flight

to the

west coast

they're

thinking

what if

there is

the

tiniest

of cracks

in the

hull

what if

I don't

know

maybe

the

pilot

had a

couple

to

drink

beforehand

they're

just

constantly

in

doubt

mode

well

whether

or not

they

believe

in

the

integrity

of the

plane

the

skill

of the

pilot

matters

in a

sense

matters

not

what matters

is the

object

that they

have got

into

this plane

and that

this plane

is going to

take them

from point A

to point B

now compare

that then

to the

person

who is

delusional

who has

an incredible

amount

of

faith

that

you know

they can

fly

and they're

going to

put it

to the

test

they have

on their

kind of

fake wings

and they

leap from

a four story

building

doesn't matter

their faith

the degree

of faith

that they

have

they're so

convinced

that they

have solved

the problem

of human

flight

it doesn't

matter

the object

of their

faith

is waning

it's

nothing

they fall

they die

or they get

horribly hurt

the object

of our

faith

is the

thing

that

matters

the

object

of the

faith

is

the

thing

that

matters

because

the

reality

is

that

whether

you are

feeling

this

warmth

towards

the

Lord

now

that

by

God's

grace

you have

faith

in him

that he

will get

you

through

any

issue

eventually

it

will

wane

your

faith

will

get

shaky

you will

see

something

you will

experience

something

you will

get

tired

your

faith

will

hold

on

by

the

slightest

of

threads

but

even

still

if

your

faith

is

in

Christ

if

it's

in

the

right

object

then

you

can

trust

that

although

you

don't

understand

how

it

will

work

that

Christ

will

hold

you

fast

so

what

about

doubt

because

James

James 1 · chapter mention

chapter

1

talks

about

how

the

doubting

person

this

is a

very

terrible

thing

doubt

is

something

that

is

wrong

and

actually

contrary

to

the

Christian

life

and

I

won't

go

into

it

in

depth

only

to

say

that

the

doubt

that

James

talks

about

is a

functionally

dead

faith

a

faith

that

claims

that

all

that

claims

all

of

Christianity

without

any

of

Christ

who

goes

through

the

motions

of

what

it

is

to

be

a

Christian

but

really

truly

does

not

have

a

faith

that

is

indicative

of

the

work

of

the

Holy

Spirit

in

somebody's

heart

no

what

we have

here

when

our

faith

wanes

and yet

it's

still in

Christ

it's

like

that

father

who

comes

to

Jesus

who

asks

him

to

heal

his

son

and

Jesus

he

says

to

him

listen

you

have

to

have

faith

and

the

guy

says

I

believe

help

my

unbelief

that's

the

faith

that

is

waning

that

it

is

this

big

that

is

the

size

of

a

mustard

seed

but

it's

in

the

right

thing

it's

in

the

right

object

it's

in

the

right

person

friends

faith

cannot

be

a

feeling

now

it

at

times

will

feel

as

though

we

have

faith

but

it

can't

be

predominantly

a

feeling

because

we

can

be

so

easily

swayed

and

then

whether

we

keep

faith

or

not

becomes

the

functional

barometer

of our

salvation

but

is

that

not

another

form

of

self

righteousness

that

then

our

salvation

rises

and falls

on how

we

feel

on how

we

judge

the

faith

that

we

have

John

Stott

has been

very

helpful

to me

he was

an

Anglican

minister

in

England

he

passed

away

in

the

2010s

but

he

says

this

of

faith

he

says

faith

is

the

eye

that

looks

to

him

the

hand

that

receives

his

free

gift

the

mouth

that

drinks

the

living

water

which

is

to

say

that

faith

merely

receives

it

merely

receives

I can't

do

anything

on my

own

in

fact

I

can't

even

receive

!

very

well

I

believe

but

God

help

my

unbelief

this

is

true

faith

this

is

the

faith

of

scripture

true

faith

can only

receive

righteousness

it

can't

manufacture

it

and

it

can't

manufacture

it

because

of

the

second

essential

truth

the

second

essential

truth

is

this

is

that

the

righteousness

that God

gives

it's

a gift

of

grace

and

it's

far

greater

this

gift

and

it

far

surpasses

the

unrighteousness

of the

entire

human

race

and

everybody

here

today

read

with me

the

second

part

of

verse

22

and

then

all

of

verse

23

so

22

the

second

half

of it

and

then

verse

23

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

through

the

redemption

that

is

in

Christ

Jesus

for

there

is

no

distinction

all

have

sinned

and

fallen

short

of

the

glory

of

God

how

do

we

fall

short

of

the

glory

of

God

now

the

apostle

Paul

has

made

that

clear

in

verses

again

chapter

1

verse

18

to

320

but

I

think

it's

very

important

that

we

consider

what

it

says

here

in

our

section

of

scripture

how

do

we

fall

short

of

the

glory

of

God

two

massive

ways

one

following

from

the

other

the

first

is

we

fall

short

of

the

glory

of

God

in

our

being

of

who

we

are

the

fancy

pants

word

would

be

we

fall

short

of

the

glory

of

God

in

our

ontology

on

how

we

are

our

being

fall

short

of

the

glory

of

God

in

that

we

were

made

to

reflect

his

image

we

were

made

in

his

image

to

reflect

his

image

but

in

a

way

that

is

free

of

all

sin

and

blemish

but

this

is

no

longer

the

case

you

see

!

Genesis

3

Man

Original

Sin

it

looms

large

over

the

entirety

of

Romans

and

especially

in

the

section

that

we

read

in

the

previous

past

weeks

how

could

we

properly

reflect

the

almighty

most

perfect

God

who

is

the

author

of

all

things

good

true

and

beautiful

if

we

ourselves

are

compromised

with

sin

we

fall

short

of

reflecting

the

glory

of

God

because

we

fall

short

of

as

perfect

standard

it's

as

if

we

were

a

clean

and

streak

free

mirror

that

was

designed

and made

to perfectly

reflect

the glory

of God

and

very

quickly

a bunch

of

fingerprint

smudges

were all

over this

mirror

maybe

the mirror

was smeared

with streaks

of mud

or maybe

it became

chipped

and cracked

all over

you see

the mirror

is still

a mirror

but it

has lost

its

integrity

it has

been

compromised

and this

leads to

the second

way we

fall short

of the

glory

of God

it's

not

just

in

our

being

but

because

we

are

compromised

in

our

being

that

means

our

purpose

of

which

is

to

glorify

God

that

is

compromised

as

well

so we

no longer

seek to

bring

God

glory

because

we

instead

bring

ourselves

glory

our

purpose

has

shifted

it is

not about

God

and lifting

up his

name

it is

about

Daniel

and lifting

up his

name

it's about

platforming

ourselves

if we're

to continue

the mirror

metaphor

a mirror

should not

necessarily

be a focal

point

as if

it were

an art

piece

and I

know

some

mirrors

are

beautiful

and they

work

as good

art

pieces

the

metaphor

isn't

perfect

but

predominantly

a mirror

what is

it supposed

to do

to reflect

the object

facing

it

however

if the

mirror

becomes

itself

the focal

point

then the

mirror

ceases

to have

the purpose

of a

mirror

the purpose

of the

mirror

is compromised

you see

the great

tragedy

is that

we have

redefined

what glory

is

we've

redefined

what it

means to

be human

in that

we were

designed

to be

image bearers

and to

bring glory

to God

and we

forget

who God

is

and instead

we

no longer

see what

God has

declared as

being the

high point

of what

is righteous

and good

true and

beautiful

glorious

which is

himself

instead

we see

the standard

as

you

and you

and you

and what we

do is we

compare ourselves

to other

people

okay

I make

enough money

and therefore

I am

satisfied

because I

make more

than the

average person

in my

position in

my neighborhood

or

I am

satisfied

with the

life I

live

in terms

of my

morality

because I'm

not a

train wreck

like her

or like

them

again

with a

mirror

metaphor

our mirror

is less

smudged

it's only

chipped in

the corner

there's no

mud on it

maybe there's

a bit of

dust

okay

we can

clean that

up

but

overall

relatively

speaking

my life

is

pretty

clear

pretty

clean

pretty

okay

pretty

intact

but the

point is

how

how

much

better

your

life

is

in

comparison

to

others

it's

actually

how

does

your

life

reflect

in

comparison

with

the

perfect

holy

and

glorious

righteous

God

that's

what the

scriptures

are really

talking

about

there

was a

bishop

in the

19th

century

his name

was

Bishop

Wool

he was

the

bishop

of

Durham

and this

is what

he said

about

this

text

he says

quote

the harlot

the liar

the murderer

are

short

of

God's

glory

but so

are you

perhaps

they stand

at the

bottom

of a

mine

and you

on the

crest

of an

alp

but you

are as

little

able to

touch

the stars

as they

he's a

brilliant

brilliant

articulation

of the

difference

between

us

and

God

in terms

of

righteousness

so if

we are

constantly

falling

short

of our

purpose

because

of our

very

being

being

compromised

then how

are we

to be

sure that

the very

righteousness

of God

that is

given for

us

is

truly

going to

last

that it

won't

be

compromised

and this

will lead

to our

third and

final point

the three

comforting

words

of

verses

24

and

26

read

with

me

verses

24

and

26

we'll

actually

back up

into

verse

22

for

there is

no

distinction

for

all

have

sinned

and

fallen

short

of

the

glory

of

God

verse

24

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

if

this

was to

show

his

righteousness

at the

present

time

so that

he

might

be

just

and

the

justifier

of

the

one

who

has

faith

in

Jesus

I'll

pause

really

quickly

and

just

to

say

there's

a

lot

happening

there

I was

talking

to

somebody

this

week

and

a

very

committed

Christian

that

said

this

is

a

word

salad

and

it's

hard

to

disagree

there's

a lot

going

on

there

and

it might

be

an

issue

of

translation

but

what

we're

going

to

do

to

try

to

make

sense

of

it

is

to

look

at

these

what

I

call