Meow

Meow
March 1, 2012 4:30 AM -0600
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Outline
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The purpose of grace is to fill in the gap so we can be holy. But why is that so important, so necessary for our lives? Dig in to why grace is such a big deal.
Thesis: Grace is essential because we cannot attain on our own the level of righteousness required to satisfy God’s righteousness.
Objective: Challenge believers to recognize that grace is essential, and there is only and exactly one way to receive it: faith in the death and resurrection - and all their implications - of Jesus Christ.
  1. Intro
    1. What is grace?
      1. Justice
        1. Getting what we deserve.
        2. If we were to get justice, we would be immediately and eternally punished for every sin.
        3. Represented in the law.
      2. Mercy
        1. Not getting what we deserve.
        2. If we were to get mercy, we wouldn’t be punished, exactly, but we would probably live in an eternal purgatory.
        3. Represented in the cross.
      3. Grace
        1. Getting what we don’t deserve.
        2. With grace, we are not only forgiven but actually promoted to sons of God, co-heirs with Christ, princes in the Kingdom of heaven.
        3. Represented in the empty tomb.
      4. Ephesians 2:8-9: “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast.”
    2. Grace is what we want.
    3. Ultimately, grace is what we need.
    4. But what is grace? Why is it so important? How does it work? How do we get it? What must we do with it?
    5. Last week, we took a look at “What is grace?” by exploring it’s purposes. We found...
      1. We’re a holy people, set apart for sinlessness and the service of God, to be His treasure.
      2. God has chosen us (i.e., we’re not holy because of anything we say or do but solely because He loves us and is faithful to do as He promised so long ago).
      3. We must respond to grace (i.e., we need to know/experience God as the God that He really is; trust that He’s faithful, believing that He will do what He says He will; and love/obey God as holy.)
    6. But there’s a problem with us loving/obeying God as holy: try as we might, we just can’t measure up.
    7. Romans 3:21-26
      1. But now, apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been revealed —attested by the Law and the Prophets —that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the •redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a •propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.
  2. We can’t attain righteousness (21-23).
    1. No law can generate righteousness (“But now, apart from the law;” “attested by the Law and the Prophets” (21); The Mosaic and rabbinical law was the best chance anyone had of knowing and doing the will of God. That is, of being righteous. But Paul just spent chapter two and the majority of chapter three explaining why the Gentile lawlessness and Jewish law were insufficient).
      1. Rom 2:14-16: “So, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, instinctively do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts will either accuse or excuse them on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.” I.e., even Gentiles have an inkling of right and wrong, and when they stand before judgment, their consciences will convict them of the things they did that they hid because they knew they were wrong.
      2. Rom 3:20: “For no one will be justified in [God’s] sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin” - note, not salvation from sin - “comes through the law.” I.e., the Jews who know the law are only condemned by it.
    2. We have sinned (“For all have sinned” (23); The word rendered “sinned” here is the same used in Rom 5:12, where all humanity is associated with Adam’s sin. Paul is talking about our sin nature, that natural bent toward sin that we’re all born with.).
      1. “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
    3. We fall short (“For all... fall short of the glory of God” (23); The verb here is in the present tense, implying ongoing, continuous action. I.e., nothing we can say, think, or do will ever attain to God’s glory. We simply can’t do it. So I need grace. You need grace. Every person we encounter on the street desperately needs grace!).
  3. Grace is essential to our righteousness (24-25).
    1. We are justified freely by grace (“They are justified freely by His grace” (24); “Justified” is a legal term meaning declared innocent. According to Reflecting God Study Bible, it carries two sides: NEGATIVE: we are declared not guilty of our sin.  POSITIVE: we are declared righteous and accepted as such. I.e., Grace makes it possible for God to look at us and see us as innocent despite our sinful nature, incidental sin, and ongoing inadequacy. And He offers it totally free because there is no way we could earn it for ourselves!).
    2. We are redeemed by grace (“by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (24);  “Redemption” is a commercial term used in slave trade. Fitting, since the Bible calls us slaves to sin. Essentially, it was when a person’s freedom was purchased. I.e., our freedom from slavery to sin was purchased so we don’t have to be subject to it anymore.).
    3. We have propitiation (“God presented [Jesus] as a propitiation” (HCSB); “God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement” (NIV); The Greek word here is hilasterion. It comes from the priestly sector and means, literally, “an expiatory.” : Essentially, this is something or someone who becomes a substitution to take the punishment for sin. Paul was saying that Jesus stepped in and took the punishment that was due us so that God’s righteous wrath of God could - and would - be satisfied. “Without this appeasement (‘propitiation’) all people are justly destined for eternal punishment” (Reflecting God Study Bible).).
    4. There is only one way to get grace (“God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe” (22); “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (23); “a propitiation through faith in His blood” (25); The same word rendered “propitiation” (HCSB) or “sacrifice of atonement” (NIV) was used in the LXX to refer to the “mercy seat” or atonement cover which was the top of the ark of the covenant, situated between the seraphs. The image recalled the very specific place - as well as the associated very specific actions - which were integral to the Jewish Day of Atonement. If things were not done exactly right, the nation’s sins would not be atoned. Similarly, there is exactly and only one way to secure grace for ourselves: life-driving faith in the death (and subsequent resurrection) of Jesus Christ.).
  4. Grace is essential to God’s righteousness (26).
    1. God’s righteousness is specifically affirmed 5 times in these 6 verses!
      1. “God’s righteousness has been revealed” (21)
      2. “God’s righteousness through faith” (22)
      3. “God presented [Jesus]... to demonstrate His righteousness” (25)
      4. “God presented [Jesus]... to demonstrate His righteousness” (26)
      5. “so that He would be righteous” (26)
    2. Our lack of righteousness is explicitly affirmed 3 times (and alluded to a few other times!) in these 6 verses!
      1. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (23)
      2. “They” - that is, people - “are justified” (note the passive voice there) (24)
      3. “so [God] would declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus” (26)
    3. Grace demonstrates righteousness (“God presented [Jesus] to demonstrate His righteousness;” God demonstrates His own righteousness through the sinless life, sacrificial death, and redeeming resurrection of Jesus which were all done to provide salvation for us from our own sin. This is essential because, throughout history, He has seemed to tolerate sin. So Jesus shows that sin is in no way acceptable, condoned, or even tolerated by God.).
    4. Grace satisfies righteousness (“so that He would be righteous;” God’s supreme righteousness demands justice for our sin. The grace supplied through Jesus is the only way that happens. QUOTE: “The demands of the broken law were satisfied. Sin was paid for, not condoned.” (Wuest Word Studies in the Greek NT)).
    5. Grace declares righteousness (“so that He would... declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus;” The Greek word rendered “[one who would] declare righteous” (HCSB); “the justifier” (ESV); “the one who justifies” (NIV, NIV1984) is dikaiounta, a participle meaning one who “render[s] (i.e., show or regard as) just or innocent.” The significance of this statement is two-fold. First, God is the one who declares us justified/righteous. (Just like He declared us holy in Deut 7 and we “put on the new self” in Eph 4:22-24.) And second, God is the one who renders us righteous for real. (Just like He spoke all things into being in Genesis 1, He wants to help to make us truly righteous, through and through!). I.e., the importance of grace isn’t just God excusing us from the consequence of sin. It’s Him rescuing us from sin itself!)
  5. Conclusion
    1. Generally, two ways we in the church stray from grace.
      1. We don’t think we’re good enough for it.
      2. We assume we are good enough for it.
      3. ILLUSTRATION: The difference between dogs and cats
        1. Man pets dog. Dog wags his tail and thinks, “He must be a god.”
        2. Man pets cat. Cat closes his eyes and thinks, “I must be a god.”
    2. We can’t attain righteousness on our own.
    3. We need grace.
    4. Jesus is the only way to receive grace.
    5. And He offers grace freely to everyone.
    6. Do you need grace today?
Ryrie
  • (20) “The function of the law, Paul says, is to give knowledge of or about sin, not to save from sin.”
  • (21) “Used in various ways in the Bible, righteousness refers (1) to God’s character (John 17:25), (2) to the gift that is given to everyone who receives Christ (here and 5:17), and (3) to standards of right living (6:18; 2 Tim 2:22).”
  • (21) “The OT witnessed to God’s righteousness in places like Gen 15:6; Ps 7:8-13; Isa 53:11.”
  • (21) “This verse links justification to God’s righteous servant, Jesus.”
  • (23) Literally rendered, “all have sinned” is “all sinned, the same verb and form as in 5:12, which associates the entire human race with Adam’s sin.”
  • (23) “come short is in the present tense, indicating continuing action.”
  • (23) “Sin is defined in 1 John 3:4 as lawlessness and here as lack of conformity to the glory of God. These are complementary ideas, since the law of God is an expression of His character.”
  • (24) “To justify was a legal term meaning to secure a favorable verdict, to acquit, to vindicate, to declare righteous (Deut 25:1).”
  • (24) “freely” describes this grace “as a free gift, ‘without [any] reason’ to be found in us (same word is in John 15:25).”
  • (24) grace = “unmerited favor. It is an act of God (8:33), who takes the initiative and provides the means through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The sinner who believes in Christ receives God’s gift of righteousness (5:17), which then enables God to pronounce him righteous.”
  • (24) redemption -> note on Eph 1:7
  • (25) “propitiation... may mean the ‘place of propitiation’; i.e., the Mercy Seat (as in Heb 9:5).”
  • (25) “Christ is pictured as the Mercy Seat where God’s holy demands were satisfied.”
  • (25) “Faith in the blood (death) of Christ redeems us, places us in Christ, gives us the gift of righteousness (5:17), thus enabling God to truthfully declare us righteou, because we are in Him.”
  • (25) “The death of Christ also paid fully for sins committed before He died.”
  • (26) “Because of the death of Christ, God can remain just when declaring righteous the one who believes in Jesus and who is thus forgiven of his sins and made righteous in Christ (2 Cor 5:21).”

Reflecting God
  • (3:21-5:21) “Having shown that all (both Gentiles and Jews) are unrighteous, Paul now shows that God has provided a righteousness for mankind.”
  • (21) “There are two possible meanings [for the phrase ‘but now’]: (1) temporal - all of time is divided into two periods, and in the ‘now’ period the righteousness from God has been made known; (2) logical - the contrast is between the righteousness gained by observing the law (which is impossible, v 20) and the righteousness provided by God.”
  • (22-23) “A parenthetical thought: ‘All who believe’ (v 22) are ‘justified freely’ (v 24), not ‘all have sinned’ (v 23) are ‘justified freely’ (vv 23-24).”
  • (22) “Salvation is available to everyone who has faith.”
  • (23) “glory of God” = “What God intended man to be. The glory that man had beore the fall the believer will again have through Christ.”
  • (24) “Paul uses [‘justified’] 22 times, mostly in 2:13-5:1; Gal 2-3. It is translated ‘justify’ in all cases except two (2:13; 3:20, where it is translated ‘declared righteous’).”
  • (24) “The term [justified] describes what happens when someone believes in Christ as his Savior: from the negative viewpoint, God declares the person to be not guilty; from the positive viewpoint, he both declares him to be righteous and accepts him as righteous. Paul emphasizes two points in this regard: 1. No one lives a perfectly good, holy, righteous life. On the contrary, ‘there is no one righteous’ (v 10), and ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (v 23). 2. But even though all are sinners and not sons, God will declare everyone who puts his trust in Jesus not guilty but righteous.”
  • (24) “This gracious declaration [of justification] is valid because Christ died to pay the penalty for our sin and lived a life of perfect righteousness that can in turn be granted to us. This is the central theme of Romans and is stated in the theme verse, 1:17.”
  • (24) “Christ’s righteousness (his obedience to God’s law and his sacrificial death) will be credited to believers as their own. Paul uses the word ‘credited’ (and related forms) ten times in ch 4 alone.”
  • (24) “The central thought in justification is that, although man clearly and totally deserves to be eclared guilty (vv 9-19), because of his trust in Christ God declares him righteous and accepts him as righteous. This is stated in several ways here : (1) ‘freely’ (as a git, for nothing), (2) ‘by his grace,’ (3) ‘through the redemption that came byChrist Jesus’ and (4) ‘through faith’ (v 25).”
  • (24) redemption is “a word taken from the slave market - the basic idea is that of obtaining release by payment of a ransom. Paul uses this word to reer to release from guilt, with its liability for judgment and to deliverance from slavery to sin, because Christ in his death paid the ransom for us.”
  • (25) “The Greek for [‘sacrifice of atonement’ (NIV) or ‘propitiation’ (HCSB, et al)] speaks of a sacrifice that satisfies the righteous wrath of God. Without this appeasement (‘propitiation’) all people are justly destined for eternal punishment.”
  • (25b-26) “The sins of God’s people, punished symbolically in the animal sacrifices of the OT period, would be totally punished in the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross.”

Archaeological
  • (21) “The Law and the Prophets” refers to the entire OT Scirptures.
  • (22-25) “‘Justification’ is the language of the courtroom - what a judge does when he declares a defendant not guilty.”
  • (22-25) “‘Redemption’ comes from the world of commerce and slavery - one could redeem slaves by purchasing their freedom.”
  • (22-25) “‘sacrifice of atonement’ obviously is the language of religion - the giving of an offering to take the place of the guilty.”

ESV Study Bible
  • (20) “Works of the law is understood by some to refer only to the ceremonial law, i.e., those laws that separate Jews from Gentiles (such as circumcision, food laws, and Sabbath). But the context gives no indication of such a restriction, and therefore the phrase should be taken to refer to all the works or deeds required by the law.”
  • (20) “The law required perfect obedience to God’s will. All people sin and fall short of this standard, therefore no one is justified by the law.”
  • (20) “Justified is a legal term and indicates that no one will be declared to be righteous by God, who is the divine judge by virtue of his own goodness, since all violate and none fulfill God’s requirements.”
  • (3:21-4:25) “Since no one can be righteous before God by keeping the law, Paul now explains that right standing with God comes through faith in the atoning work of Jesus on the cross.”
  • (21-26) “God’s saving righteousness has been manifested now in the death of Jesus Christ, so that God’s justice and love are reconciled in the cross.”
  • (21) “The righteousness of God has been manifested now, i.e., in the period of salvation history inaugurated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
  • (21) “Here in ch. 3 [‘righteousness of God’] refers to the morally right character of God that is clearly shown in his saving action by which human beings may stand in the right before God as the divine judge. This righteousness has been revealed apart from the law, which means that it is not based on human obedience to the works of the law. Paul may also intend to say it is not based on the Sinai covenant. Even though God’s saving righteousness is apart from the law, the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it. In other words, the OT Scriptures prophesied this very way of salvation (see 1:2).”
  • (22) “This right standing with God is available to all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile.”
  • (23) “No one can stake a claim to this righteousness based on his or her own obedience, for all people have sinned and fall short of what God demands (see 1:21).”
  • (24) “Therefore, all are justified (declared not guilty but righteous by the divine Judge) only by God’s grace (unmerited favor).”
  • (24) “The word redemption reaches back to the OT exodus and the blood of the Passover lamb (see Exodus 12–15), by which the Lord liberated Israel from Egypt; the exodus likewise points forward to the greater redemption Jesus won for his people through his blood by forgiving them their sins through his death on the cross (cf. Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14).”
  • (25) “Jesus’ blood “propitiated” or satisfied God’s wrath (1:18), so that his holiness was not compromised in forgiving sinners.”
  • (25) “Some scholars have argued that the word propitiation should be translated expiation (the wiping away of sin), but the word cannot be restricted to the wiping away of sins as it also refers to the satisfaction or appeasement of God’s wrath, turning it to favor (cf. note on John 18:11). God’s righteous anger needed to be appeased before sin could be forgiven, and God in his love sent his Son (who offered himself willingly) to satisfy God’s holy anger against sin. In this way God demonstrated his righteousness, which here refers particularly to his holiness and justice.”
  • (25) “God’s justice was called into question because in his patience he had overlooked former sins. In other words, how could God as the utterly Holy One tolerate human sin without inflicting full punishment on human beings immediately? Paul’s answer is that God looked forward to the cross of Christ where the full payment for the guilt of sin would be made, where Christ would die in the place of sinners.”
  • (25) “In the OT, propitiation (or the complete satisfaction of the wrath of God) is symbolically foreshadowed in several incidents: e.g., Ex. 32:11–14; Num. 25:8, 11; Josh. 7:25–26.”
  • (26) “Paul repeats again, because of its supreme importance, that God has demonstrated his righteousness, i.e., his holiness and justice, at the present time in salvation history.”
  • (26) “In the cross of Christ, God has shown himself to be just (utterly holy, so that the penalty demanded by the law is not removed but paid for by Christ) but also the justifier (the one who provides the means of justification and who declares people to be in right standing with himself) and the Savior of all those who trust in Jesus.”
  • (26) “Here is the heart of the Christian faith, for at the cross God’s justice and love meet.”

HCSB Study Bible
  • (20) “No one can earn justification by obedience to the law's requirements. The law was never intended to be a means of salvation. A primary purpose of the law was to reveal sin in its full scope, thus pointing to man's need for the gift of righteousness.”
  • (21-26) “The phrase but now marks a decisive shift in Paul's argument.”
  • (21-26) “According to one interpreter, verses 21-26 are the "centre and heart of the whole of Romans 1.16b-15:13" (Cranfield, Romans, I:199).”
  • (21-26) “This paragraph (one long sentence in the Greek original) is a wonderful compression of theology. It contains three ways of describing Jesus' work on the cross and the benefits that come from the gospel: justification, redemption, and propitiation. Each term pictures the gospel by appealing to a different realm of ancient life. “
  • (21-26) “"Justification" is a term from the courts. Sinners stand condemned in God's court, and yet He freely declares "not guilty" anyone who places his faith in Christ.”
  • (21-26) “"Redemption" is a term borrowed from the slave market. All people are slaves to sin by their fallen nature, but Christians are purchased by God and freed to new life in Christ.”
  • (21-26) “"Propitiation" is a term borrowed from temple rites, where the sacrificial animal figuratively comes under God's wrath as it is killed. Jesus received God's wrath on the cross. By our faith in Christ, God's wrath is counted satisfied and we are no longer under wrath.”
  • (21-26) “God's righteousness was thus manifested and given in the event of the cross.”
  • (21-26) “Sinners gain pardon not through their adherence to the law, but through faith in the One who fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf.”
  • (21-26) “The Law and the Prophets refers to the OT, and the entire OT is correctly understood as a witness to Jesus and His work.”
  • (22) “ Jesus is the object of faith and the means of obtaining the gift of God's righteousness. The gift is for both Jews and Gentiles who believe.”
  • (23) “All have missed the mark that God intended for the human race and have lost the glory of the original creation (Ps 8:5). Believing the good news starts the process of the restoration of glory (Rm 8:30; 2Co 3:18).”
  • (24) “Justified means that Christians are declared to be righteous (5:1,9; 8:30; 1Co 1:30; 6:11). The Judge deems believers innocent because of Jesus' work on the cross.”
  • (24) “Freely means that God grants justification not due to any merit in Christians but solely by His grace, the undeserved love and mercy of God.”
  • (24) “Redemption is a commercial term that refers to purchasing freedom for slaves. The purchase price for our freedom was the blood of Christ Jesus (see Mk 10:45; 1Pe 1:18-19).”
  • (25) “Propitiation is a term borrowed from the sacrificial system and the temple.”
  • (25) “The Greek word hilasterion was used for the cover of the ark of the covenant. Luther translated it as the "mercy seat" (Heb 9:5).”
  • (25) “On the Day of Atonement, the high priest would sprinkle blood over the ark to atone for the nation. By this rite sins were deemed expiated; people became reconciled to God and God's wrath was averted. But human sins could not literally be atoned for by the death of animals. "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Heb 10:4). Thus Jesus came to accomplish what no priest slaying an animal could ever hope to accomplish: full satisfaction of God's requirements for atonement. “
  • (25) “God the Father "made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2Co 5:21). This involves a double imputation. Our sin was imputed to Jesus on the cross, and His righteousness was imputed to us. Justification is not a legal fiction; Christians are made righteous by the imputation of God's own righteousness in His Son.”
  • (25) “The Greek noun hilasterion in Rm 3:25 is rich with theological meaning. The only other place this term occurs in the NT is Heb 9:5, which says that the cherubim above the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place were "overshadowing the mercy seat." In the OT, the word is used for the lid of the ark of the covenant (traditionally called "the mercy seat"; see Ex 25:17-22; Lv 16:2,13-15).”
  • (25) “Another related word, hilasmos, occurs twice in the NT (1Jn 2:2; 4:10). This word family refers to the turning away of God's wrath against sin by means of a sacrifice. The main ideas of this word group are mercy and satisfactory sacrifice for sin.”
  • (25) “The innermost part of the tabernacle was the place where mercy was found, but only through the proper sacrifice. Similarly, Jesus' death is the only place one can find mercy. God's wrath against sin was turned away by Christ's sacrificial death.”
  • (26) “The present time of the cross and preaching of the good news vindicated God, showing that He is just and Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
  • (26) “It has become fashionable to translate pisteos Iesou in verses 22,26 as "Jesus' faithfulness" instead of "faith in Jesus." While the Greek permits this translation, it seems to diminish somewhat Paul's emphasis on faith in Jesus' work on the cross. The HCSB's rendering is to be preferred.”
  • Ryrie, Charles C. Ryrie Study Bible Expanded Edition. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.
  • The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.
  • The HCSB Study Bible. http://www.mystudybible.com
  • Barker, Kenneth, ed. Reflecting God Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000.
  • Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: The Zondervan Corporation, 2005.
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4025 Lower Beaver Rd
Des Moines, IA
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