Dealing with the Jews, he goes back to his question and answer format. God met the terms of justice by dying on a cross is what he is saying. Nobody can brag about achieving salvation right there. Where is the boasting then? It's rhetorical. There is none. He says, actually, it's excluded. By what law of works? What terms will a man declare himself righteous before God? Is this what he is asking? If I could earn my salvation, I could lose it.
I could mess it up. Jesus alone is sinless and no one has the right to arbitrarily nominate another one to be sinless also. This is part of our salvation message. Not anyone could die for sinners. Anyone who tells you that Jesus is not the only sinless one makes them sinless.
This is part of our salvation message. Not anyone could die for sinners. Anyone who tells you that Jesus is not the only sinless one makes themself an enemy of God's Word. Because that is not what the Scriptures teach at all. This is all have sinned. And the only one in Scripture that says remain sinless is the Son of God, born of a virgin. There were no illusions about being sinless with Moses and the Gospels flattered no one.
No one is flattered by the Gospels of Jesus Christ. Man is first condemned. Now we come to verse 24, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now justified means, it doesn't mean to make one righteous incidentally, but to count one as righteous.
If you had to wait to be made righteous to behave righteously to be saved, nobody would be saved. Justification is not God changing us, but God changing our relationship with him because of Jesus Christ. And so we're not only set free from the condemnation upon us as sinners, but we're cleared of all charges, payment made by Christ. So, summarizing God's work for sinners is being justified.
Here's maybe another example. Those who crucified Christ, those who nailed the spikes unto him, they were forgiven for that act, but they weren't justified. To be justified, they had to come to Christ according to the Scriptures, like the Ethiopian eunuch did, like the apostles did, like the Gentiles who Peter was preaching to in Acts chapter 10. They were forgiven of the crucifixion, but they had other sins on them. When Jesus said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do, that did not justify them.
That bought them time. And we have to consider these things. We look at these things and say, yeah, I can see how this works and how it applies when I'm preaching Christ to people who are verbally crucifying him. I can say, Father, in front of them, right to their face, you do not know what you're doing and may God forgive you, but you're not justified with that alone. Freely, without charge. He says freely means without charge. Salvation is free or not at all.
You know, it goes back to what I was saying earlier. The religions of the world think you've got to earn your salvation. Your salvation in Christ is free or not at all. You have to pay nothing for it.
You just receive it, but only in Christ. And the flesh doesn't like this because the flesh wants to feel. Have you ever done something good for somebody and they insist on paying you back? It could be something petty and you almost get the feeling like, man, what is it? You think I'm going to like, you know, ruin your credit if you don't?
Why are you so insistent? Why can't you just receive the gift? Why can't you just say thank you? Now, there are some times, of course, you want to be paid back, or it's okay, but there are other times you just receive the gift. Imagine, as a pastor, sometimes people give me things, and if I had to pay them all back, I'd be broke.
It wouldn't work. So I just have learned to receive the gift, and I've opened a registry up at, no I have not. I'm always a little like, oh Lord, come on, I don't deserve this. And it's always very humbling. But anyway, it's sort of like the priest receiving the offerings, the meat that they were able to partake in.
Anyway, I do digress. By his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Well, the only thing necessary for justification is a changed heart. God looks at the heart. It's what we believe before how we behave.
That's how it is. God classifies our faith as righteousness in this sense. There's the righteous behavior, and there's a righteous standing. We're talking about a righteous standing before God. Because righteousness means right. To be right with God is going to have to come from my heart.
Now to do right things as a result of that is another story. It's a little like faith. There's saving faith, when I give my life to Christ, I trust him. Then there is serving faith, when I'm trusting him to do the work that he's called me to do.
So there are different tenses or forms of these things, and they're illustrated clearly in scripture in perfect context. Faith submits to truth. Saving faith does.
Serving faith acts on that truth. The very thing the devil and lost souls do not do is submit to the truth of Christ, and that damns the soul. Redemption that he talks about here is not only that I have been bought back, but restored into fellowship with God and free.
I am freed. We are damned because of who we are, sinners. We are saved because of who Christ is, the sinless one. Romans 5, verse 1, therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God.
He's just saying the same thing in another form. And he says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. See, the New Testament says things about Jesus that you can only say about a divine being. You cannot say about, could you imagine Peter saying believe on me? Can you imagine Paul saying I am the way, the truth, and the life? Can you imagine an angel?
No, you cannot. You know that'd be blasphemous. The one that says that has to be equal with the Father, just as we are told in Philippians 2 and other places. Well, we continue to verse 25, whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.
God the Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. Now, this is the Athanasian Creed. Athanasius was a man there in the fourth century who stood up against everybody when the Arian heresy, which is a form of Jehovah Witness teaching on Christ, was overtaking Christianity.
And he was told Athanasius, he said, you know, it's you against the world, Athanasius, then it'll be me against the world. And he upheld the Trinity. And this comes out of his upholding that Trinity. He said, God the Son is of the Father alone, not made, not created, but begotten. Well, Hebrews says he is the expressed image of God, not, it does not say that he is the expressed creation of God. He is the image of God.
You know how deep that is? Well, taught from Zechariah, John 16, 27, verse 28, Jesus says it right out, extending from the Father as a branch from the tree. That's the incarnation of Christ, but there's so much more to Jesus than his incarnation. Then he continued Athanasius, he goes now, he talks about the Holy Spirit, he says, God, God the Holy Spirit, of the Father and of the Son, neither made, created, or begotten, but proceeding, proceeding from the Godhead.
And so when we look at verse 25, whom God has set forth, this is who we're talking about. Not three gods, but one God, three distinct co-existing persons. The members of the Trinity are not separate persons as the shack.
If you fell for that, would have you, you see it. They are only distinct persons in one divine nature. Now that's a lot of information, and it's all backed up in New Testament Scripture and Old Testament Scripture. He says, of whom God sent forth as a propitiation. It's called, talking about Jesus now, this is a theological term. It's found, John uses it a lot in his letter, relatively speaking to how much he wrote there in that letter. In the regular usage of the word propitiation, it means to appease, but it does not mean that theologically. Theologically, it is satisfaction made for sinners through sacrifice. That Greek word for propitiation here, hilasteion, now remember that, it'll get you five dollars off at the gas pump.
You just go in there and you tell them. I try not to say these words, because really, unless you're in front of it studying, it really doesn't have much difference. But anyway, I said it. It occurs only here and in Hebrews chapter 9. But there, the translators rightfully translated the word in Hebrews 9 according to its context and its meaning.
And so I'm going to read that to you. Hebrews 9, 5. And above it, speaking of the Ark of the Covenant, above it with a cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. It's the same Hebrew word, but instead of being translated overshadowing a propitiation, they said overshadowing the mercy seat.
Well, why? Because the word, the Greek word, the meaning is merciful, the mercy of God with sacrifice. And the mercy seat spoke of that. And Paul, in context in writing the Hebrew in that ninth chapter, he's speaking about the mercy seat of God and the propitiation for sins.
God dealing with sin, satisfying the requirement of holiness through Jesus Christ. And so if we only translate it mercy seat here in Romans 3, instead of propitiation, we miss the blood sacrifice. We just then we're focused almost the mercy seat of Christ. Yes, it is the mercy seat of Christ, but at the cost of blood, the sacrifice.
And so the translators again doing I think in these two cases just an outstanding job. Some translations use mercy seat here where instead of propitiation. Now, you may be saying, I lost you at propitiation. So suffice it to say it is the mercy of God in dealing with our sin.
That's what it is. And that's what the temple spoke to the Jew. God is not finished with sin. And it is about your salvation and your righteousness and his love. The temple spoke all these things to the people.
No one else had that temple, especially in the wilderness. Well, Leviticus 16, 15 and Revelation 5, 9, if you compare those two, you'll get a closer look at what is being said here. Because, you know, when the priest went in at the Day of Atonement, he took the blood of a sacrifice goat and he sprinkled it on the mercy seat on behalf of the people. Well, what does a goat really speak of to us in the New Testament? Our fallen nature.
The sheep and the goats. And Christ has dealt with that fallen nature. And so by his blood, it tells us here, that is his death. There's no power in the physical blood of Christ. If there were, the Roman soldiers would have been instantly saved when they crucified him or when they were whipping him.
We don't believe in magic. It is the death of Christ, the will of God to be sacrificed. And we refer to it as the blood of Christ because it was a bloody affair. But it goes deeper than just what they did to him on the cross. It goes to him saying, no one takes my life.
I lay it down. And if he did not give up the spirit, he would not have died. Because he's God the Son. But he did give up the spirit. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. What if he didn't say that?
He did say it. This is my blood in the new covenant, the New Testament. Covenant and testament, same word. The cost of Jesus, that's what is meant by his blood. It costs God suffering to bring us into heaven. It says through faith.
Faith becomes saving faith when it is placed on the Lord Jesus Christ. To contrast the power of this, to catch the power or the force of this, if you contrast the faithful with the faithless, I think the force of the contrast becomes clear. You contrast a Daniel, a man like Daniel, with a man like Balaam.
And the contrast is clear. Daniel was a sinner too. But he loved God. Well Balaam was a sinner too. But he loved money way more than God. And turned against the will of God by turning against the people of God. To demonstrate, Paul says here in verse 25, to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.
So God didn't wipe man out. That's what he says and God is patient. And he said this in Acts chapter 17. Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent, to draw close to God through Christ. Verse 26, to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ. Well righteousness in this sense is a relative term. It assumes the existence of other people. You know if you're the only one on an island, there's no righteous deeds. There's nobody to be forgiving to.
Nobody to help out. You still need that righteousness before God but it is a relative term. And so it's a word of relationship. Having a relationship with God. God is always right.
He is always good. And I know I'm repeating some of this. Well because Paul is repeating some of this because it needs to be driven home. Because after all of this you would think nowhere in Christendom would anybody be talking about earning their salvation. Yet you have whole denominations that practice this. You can just go, you know, you can buy your salvation. A papal bull will do it for you. I'll restrain myself from further comment on that. That he might be just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
You don't need to buy indulgences. This cannot be overemphasized. That he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith, not works, in Jesus. Cannot overemphasize it. Verse 27. Where is boasting then?
It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the faith, by the law of faith. And so again, dealing with the Jews, he goes back to his question and answer format.
God met the terms of justice by dying on a cross is what he is saying. Nobody can brag about achieving salvation right there. Where is the boasting then? It's rhetorical. There is none. He says, actually, it's excluded.
By what law? Of works? What terms will a man declare himself righteous before God is what he is asking? If I could earn my salvation, I could lose it.
I could mess it up. Well, I worked hard to get it. We understand that line of reasoning or thought, even if it may be irrational before God. Such is a merit-based system. You can get merits and then you can get demerits.
And you go backwards in that sense. Earned righteousness would soon be earned unrighteousness. Okay, God, I've earned it.
I've walked up these steps on my knees and saying all these prayers and so now you have to be happy with me. And then I go out and I commit some sin, even if it's minor, and I've just erased it all by that system. That's how it would work. So God doesn't work by that system. He says, no, but by the law of faith.
And there he drives it home again. There is no boasting. It's excluded.
By what law? What works will we save? It is by faith. Jesus said, this is the work. Faith. Trust me. Believe in me.
I am the solution. Jude 24, he is able to present you faultless before the presence of his throne with exceeding joy. It's not like God says, you know, I died for you.
It was really hard. But okay, come in. It's an exceeding joy to this.
It's almost as though the angels are saying to us when one sinner repents, it's almost as if they're saying, do you know how many people refused to do what you just did? We're so happy you said yes. It is right there in front of you and you received it.
And we received it. He said, well, how am I going to tell my co-workers? How am I going to tell my fellow students about Christ? They mock him.
They line up with the world. Well, the first step is to build up your faith in Christ and your knowledge of his word and let him do the rest. Don't go jamming the gospel down anybody's throat. Cast not pearl before swine lest they turn and trample you underfoot. That means they're not ready. They can't receive it. And you don't know who those people are. You're not that smart.
You need God to do this. And if he's not doing it, then there's nothing to be said. Paul went to places and he passed right by. And there was no mention of him preaching the gospel.
No doors were open. Verse 28, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Ability to believe versus ability to behave. Verse 29, or is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. So that's telling us.
See, this is what he's fighting. Some Jews were saying, you can't bring Gentiles into salvation unless you make them Jewish. And there were Gentiles and Jews that were in the church that were buying into this nonsense. Every generation of Christianity has got to deal with something. And you may be dealing with one type of heresy on the East Coast, and then in the Midwest is another type of heresy that's running wild.
And then you get further west and everything's a mess. So just, you know, I don't like it. I don't like to have to, but it's necessary.
It's what war is all about, doing what you do not like because it is worth it. Verse 29, or is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.
So his hypothetical conversation is very informative. Verse 30, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. And this is where we have a monotheistic trinity, you know, and this is what trips up a lot of people. The first century church, the age of the apostles, they needed to guard against polytheism when they taught the trinity. They could not come out and say, God is the Father, the Son is the Father, the Holy Spirit is the Father, without risking someone saying, so wait a minute, you guys worship three different gods. And so it's pretty much presented by the actions, demonstrating the attributes of Christ matched the Father. The attributes of the Holy Spirit matched the Son and the Father, and in those teachings is the trinity.
So presenting the trinity, they were peculiarly challenged and they did it well. Jesus is clearly treated as God and worshiped by the apostles. He says, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. So Jews and Gentiles will be saved by Christ regardless of ethnicity. Verse 31, do we then make void the law through faith?
Certainly not. On the contrary, we establish the law, the law being what Moses was preaching. Moses said, there's one coming after me, there's a prophet coming after me. Listen to him, and if you don't listen to him, the consequences are severe, and he's talking about the Messiah, who is the Christ.
The morals remain. Paul does not mean that the Jews could completely dismiss their law. Oh, you're a Christian now, you don't have to, you know, you follow the, you can steal, you can lie.
No, he's not saying that. What he is saying is you have to apply the Scriptures to the messianic work of Christ in faith to be right with God according to the law of Moses. So the law is not the gospel. The law of Moses is not the gospel, but the gospel of Jesus Christ is not lawless. And that's an antinomian heresy that was around years ago, still around every now and then.
I think it was mostly up the northeast, up the coast, you might still find pockets of it. Certainly not, he says, don't be ridiculous. On the contrary, we establish the law. So Paul condemns lawlessness, and he says, you know, Christ did not die so people could feel good about sin. Even though, so I want to close with this, this verse from the Old Testament.
We mentioned, Paul mentioned passing over our sins, but it would have taken too much time to just really open that up, so I could squeeze it in here just a little bit. When it was time for God to pass over the house in judgment, when he was emancipating the Jews from Egyptian slavery, and he told them to put blood on the lentil and the post of the door, Exodus 12, the lamb, the blood of the lamb, and they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two door posts and on the lentil of the houses where they eat it, where they had that sacrificial meal. But no blood was to be sprinkled on the threshold, on the floor. Why not?
Wouldn't that make it complete, you know, encase the house? It's because there was to be no trampling of the blood. What does that mean in New Testament language? In a closing with this, Hebrews 10.
Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. So if you said, you know, I don't believe in the first commandment, you should have no other gods before me, well, you're going to be judged and condemned on that one. But then he says, comparatively, of how much worse punishment do you suppose will be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, a common thing, and insulted the spirit of grace. So the blood of Christ you can still trample on, but not without great consequence. How do you not trample on the blood of Christ? You follow the guidelines of scripture.
You have it on the lentil and on the door posts. You come to Christ according to his instructions. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.
We're currently going through the book of Romans. If you're in need of hearing this message again, or want to listen to others like it, head over to CrossReferenceRadio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. On our website, you'll be able to learn a little more about the ministry of Cross Reference Radio, so make a note of it, CrossReferenceRadio.com. That's all we have time for today, but thanks so much for listening. Pastor Rick will be back next time in the book of Romans here on Cross Reference Radio.
