04.08. LESSON 8

LESSON 8

According to our outline of Romans, condemnation and justification compose the first section of Romans 1:1-32, Romans 2:1-29, Romans 3:1-31, Romans 4:1-25, Romans 5:1-21 namely, "Philosophy of Christian Birth." In this article, we are passing out of condemnation into justification. Paul has established the truth that no man is able to pass God’s test of four points, and is therefore, being condemned, in need of justification. If Christianity is thought of as a great cathedral, condemnation (Romans 1:18-32, Romans 2:1-29, Romans 3:1-20) is clearing off the building site; justification (Romans 3:21-31, Romans 4:1-25, Romans 5:1-21) is the deep, solid foundation the building requires; sanctification (Romans 6:1-23, Romans 7:1-25) is the body of the building; and glorification (Romans 8:1-39) is the dome. Condemnation under law is an irrefutable argument for its opposite, justification under grace.

If it has seemed at any time in Paul’s discussion of condemnation that he thinks it possible for any man to escape condemnation, he is thinking of an ideal case that might have been had any man never violated his own sense of right or wrong. The violation of conscience is the crux of responsible sinning. Paul knows that, instead of pretending to be sinless, all men have their altars, priests, sin-offerings, and he can therefore write: "We before laid to the charge of both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin" (Romans 3:9); and again: "All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Thus closes Paul’s account of universal human failure. The tale of man under law has been told. Law is a mirror to reveal men’s sins unto them, and to bring out the need of justification, but it cannot forgive sins. As it is impossible to touch stars from the deepest valley or the highest mountain, likewise the mouths of the worst and the best men are closed in dumb despair before their Judge. With respect to condemnation, men cannot be divided into big and little sinners, for one breach of law condemns.

Paul, at the midst of his condemnation-justification argument, looks both backward and forward. From the ruin of the race under law, the result of God’s wrath against men for flying off the beam which he flashed them, Paul turns with an almost audible sigh of relief in his, "But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested," to a better prospect. The clause just quoted is the beginning of a long sentence comprising six verses, which holds a summary of divine wisdom and goodness—"The very marrow of the gospel." The sentence involves problems, which, because they transcend and baffle the cold, metaphysical searchings of our minds, all the better enlist our heart’s deep, humble trust and warm affections. Let us now try to take the massive, sublime sentence to pieces in order better to appropriate its unspeakably rich treasures.

Note that the righteousness which God gives is, though apart from law, not contrary to law, for it is "Witnessed by the law and prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus unto all them that believe." All the countless Messianic promises, types, and prophecies in the Old Testament underlie this "righteousness of God." There can be nothing unlawful or unjust about it, for according to the eternal Gardener’s purpose from eternity past, his bud is opening into its flower after its kind.

"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). To know the meaning of "justified," used for the first time in Romans, is necessary. It is a legal term which means that God in his sovereign right, not by a process, but by a judicial decree proclaims that in his reckoning all condemned men are acquitted immediately upon the "obedience of faith." Freely. Inasmuch as justification is out of man’s reach except as a gift, God, as a gracious act, gratuitously gives it to penitent sinners. By grace. God justifies, not on the ground of human merit or legal justice, but on the ground of his own personal kindness and pure goodness. Through redemption. Redemption always carries the idea of purchase price, ransom, and restoration. Grace the source, redemption the means, and freely the manner of justification.

After saying that redemption is in Christ, Paul concludes his mighty sentence by telling much more about redemption... about its how and why (Romans 3:25-26). First the how: "Whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood." This means that the death of the willing Christ is the sin-offering to God for the condemned-to-death human race. God’s purpose is to propitiate (win good will cooperation) men in order that the proper relationship between him and them may be restored. Only in this way can he satisfy the deep yearning of his heart to redeem mankind. "We have redemption in his blood" (Ephesians 1:7). Redemption is free to men, but not to God or Christ, "Christ gave himself (the absolute ultimate in giving) that he might redeem us from all iniquity" (Titus 2:14). "The dominant color in redemption is blood."

Now, the why: "... to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God, … that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." Before the cross, God neither punished nor forgave sins fully (Acts 17:30; Hebrews 9:15). Saints of the Old Testament times were all sinners, yet God accepted them. Probably, angels wondered why, for "God spared not angels when they sinned." Satan and his dupes were eager to slander God as a Compromiser, tolerant of sin. God’s holiness and moral integrity were at stake! But the cross clears up all of this. After God goes to the extreme of the cross in his war against sin, can he be tolerant of sin? The cross proves forever that God will not trifle with moral realities. It stands between the two covenants and vindicates God’s character throughout them both. The cross is a demonstration of God’s righteousness, and a propitiatory sacrifice for man’s unrighteousness; it satisfies God and expiates man, so they cry in unison: "Thou, 0 Christ, God-man, art all we need."

It is reported that Socrates said: "The gods may forgive sin, but I do not see how." To his great mind, the majesty of law and the acquittal of law-breakers were irreconcilable. This scripture is our fullest treatment of the overwhelming problem. Though we may never know all about it, we do know, by faith, that God is "Just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." This suffices.

Questions