MPC 21st May 2006.May 21 - Romans 3:21-26 - "Being in the Right"
Garnet Swann MPC 21st May 2006.
If you're a teacher, if you're a parent of young kids, if you've ever been a kid… you'd know that phrase, It's not fair. Kids have that innate sense of unfairness - ever ready to speak that three word protest. Put out some pieces of cake and it looks like one child gets more than the other - It's not fair. Say 'time's up' for playing on the computer, and they don't think they've had enough time - It's not fair. They've worked hard on a school project but another kid gets a prize and that kid spent hardly any time on it at all - It's not fair. It's not fair has to be up there along with are we there yet?
But this sense of unfairness isn't just a kid thing. We all feel it, don't we? Maybe we're just a bit more polite about it. And I reckon we all sometimes have that sense of unfairness with God. Some terrible health problem comes upon us or on one of our family - and we wonder - It's not fair. Life hasn't ended up as easy as we'd hoped, financial wise - It's not fair. I think we all have those moments when we protest to God. We have this sense of unfairness, and we wonder why didn't God do the right thing, the fair thing.
Well, can I say this morning - as we come to have a look at our next part of Romans, we need to understand that all of what we've seen so far in this letter could cause protests against the unfairness of God. Not protesting about God's unfairness in bringing about bad things - I think that's more of our modern problem. But the protest could be - (and we need to be very clear about this if we're going to understand Romans) - the protest could be - God's not keeping his promises to Israel. In fact the protest could be - God's in danger of being inconsistent with his own character.
Now we need work hard to understand why this protest would come - And what I want to do is recap things we've seen in Romans but also draw on material from the OT. So let's do a bit of a recap…
Nearly right from the very start, humanity found itself in trouble with God. People thought they could do without God and live their own way and do as they like. That's really the issue of Romans chapter 1 - humanity exchanged the truth of God for lie. They worshiped created things rather than the creator. Their hearts were turned to evil and all sorts of depravity.
And as you read on in the bible - God works to bring a solution to humanity's rebellion. He selects Abraham - the great grandfather of all of Israel and he says - through his descendents I will bring blessing to the world. There's rebellion, there's a problem, but Israel, Abraham's descendents will be part of God's solution. In fact God gives them the law which shows what right living looks like. And so that they can be the light to the evil nations around.
Now that our recap. And this is all fine - it all feeds into the thinking of the Jewish people - that they have a unique place with God. They are the source of salvation. Because they have God's law they have the inside track with God. It all looks fine. But then in Romans, Paul says something - which from all sorts of angles, could bring out the protest to God - It's not fair.
And what he says is in Romans 3 - "What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews [even with their law] and Gentiles [who don't have the law] alike are all under sin."
See, the protest could come - It's not fair - because it seems God's forgotten his promise to have a special place for Israel.
The protest could come - It's not fair - because God said he would bring blessing to the world, but not only are the Gentiles the problem, so are the Jews who were supposed to be part of the solution.
If God ignores Israel's sin - and just got on with making Israel the centre of his plans for salvation - the protest would come - It's not fair - because that would be just blind favoritism. Israel deserves punishment as well.
It seems as if - how can God do what is right? How can God do what is fair? How can God be consistent with his character which is about being faithful to all his promises?
Well, it seems God's in this unfixable dilemma - whichever way he goes - he'll be unfair. But then we see it - 3:21, "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested."
Other translations might have 'righteousness from God' - It's a better translation to have 'righteousness of God' as we have there in the passage. It's also what we saw there in 1:17. In the gospel of Jesus - God's rightness, God's faithfulness - is revealed. Far from all of the promises to the Jewish nation falling over, far from God being inconsistent with his character - it's precisely in the gospel that God's righteousness revealed.
Well, how is it that this righteousness, this faithfulness, this consistency within God is revealed in the gospel of Jesus? And now we get to the 4 numbered points in your outline and we'll move through them quickly.
Firstly God's righteousness is revealed in the gospel - because the gospel is not a new invention - it's always been God's plan. We see it there in vs. 21 - it's been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the Prophets bear witness to it.
See, this is saying - though relationship with God is found through faith in Jesus - apart from law keeping, the law has always pointed to it. This will be what chapter 4 is about which we'll look at next week - the Old Testament is about the gospel.
But for now, let's just understand that with the gospel of Jesus and the need to have faith - it's not as if - all this sin of Gentile and Jew has made it too hard, God's scrapping his original plan which involved Israel and the law and he's now starting again. The gospel of Jesus has always been God's plan.
You know, every now and then we have those 'Innovations' home shopping magazines dropped off on our doorstep. And it's amazing the stuff that you can buy. Stuff that you had never heard of. Stuff that you'd never dreamed existed before. Like a mobile dog ramp and the electric apple polisher. These innovations - I've never heard of those things before!
But the gospel of Jesus is not an innovation. God has not made it up as plan B and shown to be a promise breaker. The righteousness of God is revealed because the gospel has always been God's plan.
Now the righteousness of God is revealed secondly - because God's not ignored the place of Israel. It's just that Jesus himself has acted out what faithful Israel should've been like.
Now again we come to one of those funny translation issues - which makes it hard for everyone. But where it says "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" - it could also be translated - and it's there in your outline, "the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ."
See, Israel was called to be part of God's saving purposes. But they failed him. They were called to be faithful and so be a light to the nations - but they were faithless and went off and worshipped the gods of those nations. And so is it now that God's plan for Israel is null and void?
No - God is in the right, the righteousness of God is revealed because Jesus is faithful - he lives out what Israel was called to be. Jesus is the faithful one. Jesus acts out what Israel should've been like. Jesus is completely obedient and faithful to God. And it's an obedience and faith that takes him to the cross.
How is God's righteousness revealed? We now come to the third point. God promised to bring a solution to humanity's rebellion. God promised to put people in the right. And God has not forgotten his promise. He's not in the business of reneging on what he said he'll do.
And he puts people in the right (that what justified means there in v24) through the death of Jesus that brings redemption.
Redemption is one of those big religious sounding words. We don't use it that often in our every day conversation. But it's language of buying out of slavery. And for the Jew reading these words in Romans - the word 'redemption' would take them back to that great act God performed for Israel when he redeemed them out of slavery in Egypt.
With Jesus - this second great act of redemption has taken place. But this time it's for Gentile and for Jew who so desperately need to be set free from sin and guilt. Because of the redemption that Jesus brings, all those who are in the wrong - who stand in the dock as guilty so to speak - can be put right. Through the redemption that Jesus brings and by receiving Jesus by faith - all those who stand opposed to God, rebellious and full of sin - are justified and made his people.
Well, the righteousness of God has been manifested. God is shown to be in the right from every angle
But one more It's not fair protest could come -- because if God's making wrong people to be in the right, has not God simply wallpapered over sin, and not dealt justly?
And it's a fair enough protest. We feel the weight of any cry of injustice. A number of years ago the story came out that in England a British soldier in a fit of rage shot and killed his wife and child. It went to court. It was an open and shut case - the man did it. And in court he was very sorry for what he'd done. And the judge finally acquitted him on the grounds that he'd already suffered enough.
When that happens we ask - where is the justice in that! The wife and kids get the death sentence - their family gets a life sentence of grief and suffering. And he walks out scot-free. Where is the fairness? Where is any hint of doing what is right?
Well, in the gospel - there is no wallpapering over sin, there is no sweeping it under the carpet. The right is done. And it's done because punishment is fully paid. And this is where we get to the language of Jesus' sacrifice in v25.
You'll see there the phrase 'propitiation by his blood'… and you thought 'redemption' was bad! But propitiation is a word to describe - that in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross - he took on fully the anger and judgment of God for sin. Propitiation means that punishment is given out. It's given out and dealt with in the death of Jesus the Christ, God's own Son.
By the way - for those in growth groups this week - you would have probably already tackled that tough part of v25 where it says - in his divine forbearance (or patience), he had passed over former sins. It's tough to work out - but I take it to mean that even in the history of Israel - with their temple and animal sacrifices that were said to bring forgiveness - sin was carried over to be dealt with in Jesus sacrifice on the cross. In Jesus' death he deals with God's anger for sin - there is propitiation - even for the sin of people who came before him. That's sounds sort of strange but this verse from the letter of Hebrews may help our thinking. Hebrews 4:10:
...for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
God is in the right while he puts people in the right, v26.
So - the righteousness of God is made known in the gospel of Jesus. That's what every line of this passage is making clear. God is not unfaithful to his promises. God is not inconsistent in his character. All that he is - all that he said he'd do - has happened in Jesus Christ. God is righteous.
And we have that great concluding word in v26 where it says - 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.
Have you ever been caught in a dilemma? Either way you go it looks like you lose out? In the Good Weekend Magazine readers can put their own social dilemmas to a writer called 'the Modern Guru'. Dilemmas like this one: "Every time my friends and I go out for dinner and it's time to pay the bill, one particular friend always seems indisposed in the bathroom, or she doesn't have the right change - she'll pay us later. Of course she never does. Should I approach her about her tight-fisted tendencies?" And the modern guru writes back giving his own witty/humorous advice about how to resolve this dilemma.
But verse 26 tells us that - if it might have seemed that God had a dilemma of fairness, in fact He has not. In the death of Jesus, God has dealt with sin - mercifully bringing people into right standing with him. But he has dealt with sin impartially and properly. And He has kept all his promises. God is both just and the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus.
As a way of application - we need to see how this is supposed to effect our thinking. We looked at this last week, but the Jews, even Jewish Christians had a certain pride about themselves. They saw themselves at the centre of God's scheme for salvation. And because they had the law - they thought the law would be the basis for being 'in the right', justified by God. This self-awareness brought out a certain boasting. Actually two times already in Romans it talks about Jewish boasting. And this boasting brought out a clear division between Jewish Christian and Gentile Christians.
Sort of like the Jewish Christians had the AAA front row seating in God's stadium, and the Gentile Christians had the standup spots way out towards the back.
But v27 tells us - Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. But what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
Right through this section of Romans - we're told - made to be 'in the right', comes about by faith in Jesus. In another words - not only are Jews and Gentiles equal in their sin, Jew and Gentile Christians are equal in being put in the right - it's by faith. There is no division. For the Jewish Christian - There's no place for pride. Your boasting and insistence on some sort of distinction has no basis. As v30 says - Jew and Gentile Christian share in the same God. They share in the same way of salvation.
We're obviously Gentile Christians. We're not Jews. But I wonder if we're in danger of having a version of that boastful Jewish Christian thinking. Perhaps we can look at others and - those who aren't Christian - and we can look down upon them as if their distasteful lifestyle is the ultimate stopper in coming to God. In our behaviour we can bring up a barrier and treat them like second class. Might be the homosexual, might be the young single mum, might be the young person who uses bad language. The guy who been charged with a few offences.
Well, we need to be vigilant. We need to be always aware. Sinful people like us are justified as a gracious gift from God. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sin. And we receive him by faith. Let's not be boastful but thankful and humble for all that God's given us. If he did it for us, he can do it for anyone else as well.