Imagine yourself for a moment as a part of the church in Rome. This church, which is scattered throughout some of the cities more densely populated and poorer neighbourhoods is composed of a wild mix of people. There is however, one dividing line that matters more than all the other. That is, of course, the line between Jews and Gentiles. If you are to imagine yourself as part of the early Roman church you have to imagine which side of the line you might be standing on. Perhaps you are a part of that group that we– and Paul, have called the strong. You have a Gentile background. You knew nothing of this Jewish law but, despite your ignorance Paul has said that you are guilty. Perhaps you knew nothing of the Law, but you did know something of God and what he required of you. You ignored this knowledge of God. You stuffed his revelation down; you worshiped idols, and you sinned with gusto. You he says, “are without excuse” (1:20). Perhaps, you can imagine yourself as a Jew, you bear the mark of belonging to the people of God– you have been circumcised. You know the Law. In fact, you know it very well. Paul says that you also have “no excuse” (2:1). Scripture itself tells you that though you have the law, you sin against God. Now you– sinner that you are, stand before God. What do you say to him? On what ground do you dare to stand in his presence? The answer if we’ve been paying attention is nothing. Paul has prepared his readers and us to stand speechless before God and hear the good news. No human effort can solve our desperate situation, “but now” he writes in verse 21. But now, God has done something that we could not do.
What God has done is “reveal his righteousness.” There is a connection between what God has done in 3:21– revealing his righteousness and us in 3:24- we are justified. Righteousness and justified don’t sound much the same but, the Greek that stands behind them connects the words. God shows his just character by justifying us. This word is borrowed from the courts. A pardon cancels the penalty. Justification is bigger. It means that a person is reinstated in God’s favour and fellowship. Both factions in the Roman church– in fact, all of humanity can only stand before God on account of one thing– what God has done for us!
The way that God has justified us demonstrates that he is just. God does not just ignore human sin. Sin cannot simply be ignored because there is always a cost involved. Through Christ’s sacrifice he pays the price for our sin. If I were to borrow a friends truck and rather than driving it responsibly as I should, I choose to be reckless. I drive out of the parking lot as fast as it will go. The vehicle fishtails at the first corner and slides into a yield sign putting a dent in the passenger door. That is going to cost somebody something. Either my friend or I must pay the cost of having the truck repaired. In a similar way someone must pay the price of our sin. To ignore it would be unjust. It would be akin to God saying, “It’s no big deal.” Of course, my friend might say something like this if I dent his truck but, what if in my recklessness I ran over his puppy… or his grandmother? The point is that we all recognize that it is not just to respond to sin with “it’s no big deal.” Sin is a big deal. Because sin is a big deal the price must be paid. God in Christ has paid that price.
Christ’s death on the cross is “propitiation.” Propitiation is a sacrifice that appeases one’s anger. Which is an unpopular way to think of God but, remember that God’s anger is not capricious. His anger is not about him being irritated or annoyed because we chew to loud, or listen to country music. His anger is his righteous and settled opposition to evil. At the cross his just wrath against sin is turned aside by his grace. Three times Paul writes that people engage this grace through faith (22, 25, 26).
It is in other words, not by works we are saved but, by faith. Salvation is not cooperation between God and us. It is not a deal in which God says, I’ll give you the cross and you give me faith. Salvation is entirely about what God has done. Our faith is simply receiving the gift that he is offering (25).
Now we have to turn to a great question, what becomes of our boasting? If people did something in order to be saved they would have grounds for boasting. “I am circumcised.” “I am wise and teach the foolish.” “I have obeyed the law.” But salvation is a gift received by faith. If somebody gave you a spectacular gift– something beyond anything you deserve or could have earned on your own. You wouldn’t (or at least you shouldn’t!) go around boasting about yourself. You were not given the gift because you are smart, or good looking, or hardworking. You were given the gift because the giver is generous. This is salvation. It was given to you because the giver is good and gracious, and generous beyond measure. So any boasting is excluded; not because it is against the rules, but because it is unbecoming of one who has been saved by the work of another (3:27). The one God has saved all in one way- through the sacrifice of Christ. Paul anticipates an argument that has been lobbed at him before. It goes something like this– “Well, if that’s the way it works then you probably run around, breaking the law!” “No!’ Paul say, “we uphold the law.
So in this last paragraph of Romans 3 Paul has told us three things that naturally emerge out of the good news that we are saved by faith. First, we do not boast because we have done nothing to earn our salvation. Second, we live together in unity with others because we have all been saved in exactly the same way and finally, we uphold the law. That is, we do what is right in the eyes of God.