The Righteousness of God and the Cross of Christ –
Romans 3:9-31
Gospel in a Sentence: Even though we are totally undeserving, God sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sins, and he declares those who believe to be righteous.
Big Picture: God grants a righteous status, based on Christ’s death, to everyone who trusts Christ.
Goal: That we glorify God for being both just and the justifier of the ungodly.
Key Ideas
1) No one is righteous.
2) The Law exists to show us how sinful we are, not to justify us.
3) A righteous status is given by God to everyone who believes in Jesus, trusting in his propitiatory (see definition below) death.
4) The good news of justification through faith apart from works honors God by demonstrating that our evil deeds are truly worthy of punishment – and that only God’s good deeds can save.
Key Terms
Righteous – Having the character trait of doing what is glorifying to God. This word is extremely important in Romans. The same Greek word is also translated as ‘just.’ The verb ‘to justify’ (see below) is closely related to this term.
Worthless – That is, morally worthless. We are of no worth to God in the sense that he is not pleased in any way by our moral choices.
Asp – One of several species of poisonous snakes.
Peace– When the Bible talks about peace, God is speaking of much more than a lack of hostility. He’s talking about the tranquility that results from things being the way they’re supposed to be, in his presence.
Fear of God – God is scary. The fear of God doesn’t mean one is personally afraid of being punished, but that he treats God in respect of the fact that God has the power to damn him – though God loves us and saves everyone who believes in him.
One way to think about this concept is to consider how you might treat a king, if you lived in a country that had a king. A monarch would have the power to do whatever he wished to you, even if he loved you. Our King is like that – hey may do with us whatever pleases him and he loves us.
Another way to think about the fear of God is to think about how Aslan is treated in the Chronicles of Narnia. He is described as ‘not safe, but good.’
A few passages that may help describe this concept include Luke 12:4-7, Revelation 1:12-18, and Revelation 14:7-8.
The Law – What God has revealed to us regarding our duty to him. In Romans 1, we learned that everyone knows, from nature, that they owe God all their worship and devotion. In Romans 2, we saw that God has given some people the Scriptures – explicitly and verbally giving them commands to follow. Both of these things are in mind when Paul talks about the Law. To be ‘under the Law’ means to be in relationship with the Law such that one is accountable to it and will be judged by it.
Works of the Law – Any deed that the Law requires. It involves anything and everything from loving God and neighbor to the Jewish ceremonial laws about the temple and how the nation of Israel was to run.
To Justify – To declare righteous. The idea here is that there is a courtroom that has a defendant with two potential statuses: righteous or guilty. His status will result in a verdict – either he will be justified (if he is righteous) or he will be condemned (if he is guilty). To justify means to ‘declare righteous,’ in the sense that a judge might in a courtroom.
The problem is that all of us are guilty before God. We do not obey his Law. This means that we will be condemned, since we do not obey God, nor are we able to (see Romans 8:7-8).
The good news is that God grants everyone who trusts Christ the status of ‘righteous’ based on Christ’s righteousness. In other words, God judges everyone who trusts Christ on the basis of what Jesus has done – not on the basis of what we do. Thus, we who believe are considered righteous and are therefore justified, or declared righteous.
The Law and the Prophets – This is an ancient Jewish way of talking about the different parts of the Old Testament, while speaking of the whole.
Faith – Personal trust. It isn’t merely an assent to statements, but a trust in a person.
Sin – Sin is a failure to keep God’s laws. A law can be broken by doing what it forbids or by failing to do what it requires. The term translated ‘sin’ was an archery term in older Greek, but it was no longer used as such in Paul’s day. It simply meant a breach of God’s commands.
Glory of God – God’s worth and the demonstration of his worth in such a way that it can be sensed, felt, or seen and responded to with worship.
Grace - Favor or kindness in action. It is the using of one’s power, in love, for the happiness of another.
Redemption – This term has two historical roots. One is in Israel’s rescue out of slavery in Egypt. The Old Testament says that God redeemed his people from Egypt. The other root is in the slave trade in the Roman empire. An exchange, or payment, could be made as a redemption for the slave, thus freeing him.
The commonality in these two situations is that an exchange is made for the freedom of a slave. Christ is the redemption for every believer by virtue of his life being exchanged for ours. We get the rewards that he earned by obeying God; he got the wrath we deserve because of our sin.
Propitiation – A sacrifice which averts wrath. Even in pagan religions, the situation would be thus: a god would be angry. A sacrifice would be made to that god. It would remove his wrath from the people and make him favorable towards them.
The big difference here is that God himself provides that propitiatory sacrifice in Christ. Christ took the full brunt of the wrath of God in the place of everyone who would trust him for eternal life. Because of Christ’s obedience even to death, God looks favorably upon everyone for whom Christ died; that is, believers.
Just – Righteous.
Law of works/Law of faith – The word ‘law’ in these phrases means something like ‘principles belonging to a certain realm.’ In 3:27, Paul is saying that the principles of being justified through faith exclude boasting, whereas the principles involved in being justified by keeping commandments do not.
Key Observations
3:9 You’ll probably notice here that we’ve skipped Romans 2:12-3:8. The reason for that is that Paul in that section primarily continues his dialog with his imaginary Jewish opponent, showing him that, despite having the Law, Jews are also sinners. The work of interpretation in this section is difficult and applicable only by analogy, so we’re skipping it.
That said, v. 9 is the conclusion of 1:18-3:8: Jews and Greeks, that is, every type of person, are all under sin and its penalty.
10-12 This section begins to give evidence for Paul’s conclusion in v. 9; hence, beginning with the words ‘just as.’ In these verses, God tells us how depraved, or rebellious and evil, we all are.
13-17 This section teaches us how we have created a violent society, whether in word, motive, or deed. We have failed to put society to ‘rights’ – or to create a righteous society. Rather, we have sought to establish ourselves as gods, taking what we want and hurting others and society for gain.
18 None of us treat God as his worth demands. We do not treat him as our Creator, Owner, and Judge.
19 Here Paul tells us the purpose of the Law – to hold every individual accountable to God. That is, it shows us that everyone is guilty of breaking the Law.
20 Verse 20 gives us the basis for v. 19: we’re accountable to God by the Law because no one can be justified by keeping it. The reason that no one can be justified by keeping it is because through it, we know our sin. So the more Law we know, the more we know we break it. We can’t be justified by it; it merely shows us how sinful we are.
21 Verse 20 leaves us with a problem. We are without righteousness before God and cannot be declared righteous. The ‘but now’ in v. 21 indicates that something in world history has changed – Jesus came. V. 21 tells us that a righteous status from God has been revealed, not by keeping the Law. Yet, Paul wants to make sure that we know that the Old Testament prophesies the days when the righteousness of God would be revealed. 22 Paul for the first time here begins to get specific about this new righteous status from God – it’s through faith in Jesus for everyone who believes. He argues that it’s for everyone who believes because there’s no distinction between types of people based on ethnicity or background.
23 There’s no distinction between people – Jew or Gentile – no matter how much Scripture one has – because all are children of Adam (see 5:12-14 which also says ‘all sinned’ in Adam) – that is, we all sinned. We’ve fallen short of God’s glory in the sense that we fail to glorify him (Romans 1:18- 21) and we fail, thus, to earn glory from him (Romans 2:6-10).
24 The righteousness of God is given to everyone who believes in Jesus since there’s no distinction between Jew and Gentile – all sinned – and both Jews and Gentiles (all, that is, all types – Jews and Gnetiles) are being justified by God’s favor (grace) and as a result of his favor. The cause of this justification is the redemption in Christ Jesus – that is, that Jesus was a substitute for us. He took God’s wrath in place of everyone who would believe in him, and everyone who believes in him gets Christ’s righteous status, and thus, rewards he earned by obeying God.
25-26 Jesus was God’s sacrifice averting God’s wrath towards everyone who would have faith. God punished Jesus in place of everyone who would trust him for eternal life. This substitution showed that God was righteous. Here’s how: God righteously punished us for our sins in punishing Christ for them, and yet declares us righteous because Christ has been substituted for us who believe.
Why did Jesus have to die?
Most Americans have heard the phrase ‘Jesus died for your sins.’ Yet, this phrase is often parroted without much explanation, and many times without much understanding.
It’s helpful to remember how Paul’s description of the Gospel begins – with a description of God’s wrath against our unrighteousness (1:18). Ultimately, God, being just, will punish every sinner in the world (2:5, 16).
If anyone is to enter into God’s Kingdom, he must be completely forgiven for his sins. However, if someone has sinned against God, God, to be just, must punish that person. He must not forgive him, but rather, must pour out the fullness of his wrath against that person. Proverbs 17:5 says, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.”
God, however, in love, has solved this problem. He has unified everyone who trusts in Jesus to Jesus himself. We are considered ‘in’ Christ, in union with him. That means that when God condemned Christ on the cross, everyone who would ever believe in him was condemned – was judged already.
In other words, that ‘day of judgment’ has already happened for every believer. God has already judged us by judging Christ, since we are unified to him. Everyone who is unified to Christ is forgiven since we have already been judged in Christ. We have already suffered the penalty for our sins in Christ’s having suffered in our place. Judgment Day still awaits everyone who doesn’t turn to Christ.
27-28 Here Paul tells us that any boasting – or self-glorification – is removed from us by the fact that justification is received through faith – we’re not declared righteous based on any righteous deeds of our own. Because we contribute nothing to our justification, all of the glory for it belongs to God.
29-30 Here Paul anticipates an objection to his teaching that people are justified apart from works of the Law. The objection is that the Jewish people are special to God. Paul answers by saying that God treats all people according to the same standard of righteousness – and the only righteousness that can satisfy that standard is Christ’s.
31 Paul then anticipates another objection to the Gospel. Does it nullify the Law since it’s a new ‘system’ in a sense? Absolutely not. The righteousness of God that’s revealed in the Gospel is in keeping with the Law’s demands. Christ’s death was the result of the penalties of the Law. Christ always kept the Law, and thus was righteous by God’s standards. In this great substitution, Christ was considered a sinner in our place and was condemned, and we who trust him are considered obedient based on his obedience. Paul will show in the next chapter how the Law actually teaches the Gospel.
Sample Discussion Guide:
Here are a few reminders as you’re considering how to lead people in discussion of this text. Feel the freedom to answer questions if discussion is going nowhere. Feel the freedom also, to stop people from rabbit-trailing. You can say that the discussion brings up an important issue, but it might be helpful to return to the main points of the text, and that you can get back to them next week with more clear answers. Also, please remember that I’m available to field your questions before you lead your studies.
-What’s one thing about yourself that you’re really proud of?
-How do you want people to see you? That is, what would you like your public identity or persona to be?
-How do you think God views people?
-Why is there a difference between how we see ourselves and how God sees us?
-What are some of the reasons that Jesus died?
-This week we’ll be looking at how exactly Jesus death saves everyone who trusts him. So far in Romans we’ve seen that both salvation and Christian growth come by hearing and trusting the Gospel, because God grants everyone who trusts it a righteous status before him. This righteous status is a gift and is necessary to enter heaven, because all of us have failed to obey God. We have not devoted ourselves completely to him.
-Have someone pray. Have someone read vv. 9-18.
-Ask if anyone notices anything in particular or has any questions.
-What kind of picture is painted of the human condition?
-What are some ways that these descriptions of humanity show up in society?
-Why do you think that we tend to lie? To speak angrily to people? To talk ill of people behind their backs?
-What do these verses say about the nature of our minds?
-Have someone read vv. 19-20. Define ‘Law’ and ‘to justify.’ See ‘Key Terms’ for definitions.
-What does God’s Law do, according to these verses?
-What sort of position does that put us in?
-How would you define ‘sin’? It may be helpful here to discuss the terms ‘righteousness’ and ‘sin.’
-Are there any particular commandments that God has given that make you feel particularly accountable to God? At this juncture, it may be good to have thought about commandments in Exodus 20 or even in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7 that you frequently break. You could even look back at Romans 1-2 and see the descriptions of sin there to answer this question.
-Have someone read vv. 21-26.
-This section is both very difficult and very, very important. Many theologians consider this paragraph the most important in all the Bible. What are some words in this section that we might need to define to really understand it? As people answer this question, ask the group if anyone can take a shot at defining the word. Then be ready to define it, since it will be very odd for someone in the group to know the definition of say, ‘propitiation.’ But praise God if they do! You’ll want to hit all the ‘key terms’ in this section.
-Have someone read the section again. Ask if anyone notices anything in particular or if anyone has any questions.
-The words faith and belief translate the same Greek word in this paragraph. What role does faith play in this section?
-Why is it significant that, in v. 22’s words, there is no distinction between ethnicities or backgrounds before God?
-Verse 26 tells us that Jesus’ death was a demonstration of God’s righteousness, so that God would be righteous (just) – and so that he could justify the wicked. How does this work? Be ready to explain this. For help, see the inset “Why did Jesus have to die?” in the Key Observations section.
-Given what we’ve looked at here, how would you summarize what Jesus’ death did?
-How does this news about Jesus’ death and our justification make you feel?
-Have someone read vv. 27-31, and ask if they notice anything in particular or have questions.
-This section is about how justification accomplished by Christ’s work without anything we do, received by trusting him alone, removes any reason we might have to boast. That is, it’s about God being glorified for what he’s done in rescuing sinners – rather than the sinners having any ground on which to boast. Why does the Gospel, according to verses 27 and following, exclude boasting?
-Verses 29-30 are Paul’s response to the objection that God might treat different types of people differently. What sorts of people do you feel need to ‘do’ more to be justified before God? How does this sort of thinking undermine what Jesus’ death did?
-Verse 31 tells us that the Gospel upholds the Law. It upholds our natural desire, then, for people who do right to be rewarded and people who do wrong to be punished. How does it do that? See Key Observations on verse 31 with help on this.
-How do you think we should respond to the following realities:
-Our sinfulness before God revealed by his Law?
-Jesus as our redemption and as a propitiatory sacrifice?
-Justification received by faith apart from works?
-The Gospel being consistent with what the Old Testament Law demands and teaches?
-Was there a point in your life at which you decided to trust Christ to rescue you from judgment? If you’re not sure, I’d love to talk with you after study tonight. Is there anyone who hasn’t placed their trust in Jesus who would like to right now?
-Have the group enter into prayer, particularly in thankfulness to God for such a great salvation!
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