“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.”

Romans 3:21-22

The gospel of Christ is the good news that Jesus Christ our Lord died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. The righteousness of God is revealed in it (Rom. 1:17). From Romans 1:18 to 3:20 we see the problem that mankind has when they try to go about establishing their own righteousness. We learn that we cannot save ourselves. Everyone has sinned against God and has come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18). The world is just treasuring up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God (Rom. 2:5). We would all be doomed if it wasn’t for the Lord Jesus Christ. The problem again was that we have all come short of God’s glory, because we are all unrighteous. We don’t have righteousness. God’s righteousness was revealed in the law, but none of us could keep the law.

We learn that the main purpose of the law was to give the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). Galatians 3:19 says, “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.” Romans 3:19 says that it was given so that “every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Galatians 3:23 says, “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith that should afterwards be revealed.” Romans 3 has the idea of shutting or stopping our mouths. We have no defense before God. We’re all guilty. Galatians 3 has the idea that we were shut up or confined under the law like in a prison or enslaved to the law. Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” The law was added until the seed or the faith should come. The faith is, of course, referring to Jesus Christ our Lord (referring to the faith of Christ). The law was added to “bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24). What the law couldn’t do (that is, to set us free), God did by sending us His own Son to condemn sin in the flesh, so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us (Rom. 8:3-4). Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of God, is the solution to our problem.

God has revealed His righteousness in a different way today. In Romans 1:16-17, it said it is revealed in the gospel of Christ. Here in Romans chapter three, it says God has revealed it without the law. “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.” This means that it was revealed apart from the law. The next verse also says that God has revealed it by faith of Jesus Christ. The faith of Christ speaks of the faith belonging to Christ. It’s the faith that belongs to Him, comes from Him, and that is in Him. We’re not talking about our faith yet. Christ is faithful. In other words, He is full of faith. All three of these statements are saying that the righteousness of God is revealed to us through the finished work of Christ on the cross. It is revealed to us through Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

His righteousness is offered “unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” (Rom. 3:22). It’s offered to all, but only those who believe will receive the gift of righteousness. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile today in the Dispensation of the Grace of God (Eph. 3:2). Anyone can believe and be justified by faith. We have all sinned and come short of His glory. Therefore, He has offered His righteousness to all. He’s offered it as a free gift. Romans 3:24 continues to say of believers, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” The word freely simply means “without a cause” (cf. John 15:25). When we believe the gospel of Christ, we are justified freely or without a cause. There was no cause for us to be justified in and of ourselves. But when we believed in what Christ did for us, it says we were justified freely. It was a free gift (justification) that we didn’t deserve. But that’s why it’s a gift. That’s why it is by God’s grace. And it’s all through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It’s all because of what Jesus Christ our Lord did for us on the cross on our behalf by dying for us.

Once again, this gift is offered to all. That is, both Jews and Gentiles. Romans 3:25-26 says, “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” God the Father has set forth His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the propitiation or the full satisfactory payment for our sins. Christ paid for all of our sins (the sins of the world). “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). We deserve death, because we have sinned against God. But, Christ fully paid the price for all of our sins, so that we may have life in Him, when we believe in Him. Paul has two declarations in this passage. The first one is that Christ was set forth as a propitiation in order to declare God’s righteousness “for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” The second declaration is to declare God’s righteousness “at this time.” Christ’s death on the cross paid for the sins of the people that lived prior to Christ, as well as paid the price for all of our sins today. God put up (forbearance of God) with the sins of the past, knowing full well that His Son would come and satisfy the payment for those sins. Acts 17:30 says, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.” He has declared His righteousness through the cross of Christ, so that He may be just and the justifier of the one that will believe in Jesus. This is why we can conclude of the saints of the past, who were under the law, that they too are justified by faith. We conclude today that anybody who believes that Christ died for their sins, was buried, and rose from the dead is “justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28). Romans 3 concludes by saying that God is both the God of the Jews and the Gentiles (Rom. 3:29). He will justify both the circumcision and the uncircumcision, if they believe (Rom. 3:30).

Romans chapter four explains for us that the righteousness of God has come to us through the righteousness of faith. “For the promise, that he should be heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Rom. 4:13). The Apostle Paul uses Abraham as an example to explain how God’s righteousness came to us. Once again, it didn’t come through the law. If Abraham was justified by works, then he would have reason to glory (not before God though) (Rom. 4:2). Instead, verse three says that “Abraham believed God, and it [his faith] was counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:3). We see in this chapter that righteousness was reckoned to Abraham by faith and while in uncircumcision.

First, Abraham believed God. Romans 4:5 says, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Righteousness is given to the person that doesn’t work for his salvation, but simply just believes God. It is reckoned to the believing person as grace (as a gift from God). Romans 4:17-21 explains Abraham’s faith in detail for us. God had promised to Abraham that he would be the heir of the world, and the father of many nations (Rom. 4:13,17,18). He said back in Genesis 12:2-3 that “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” He said to Abraham in Genesis 15:18 “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” In Genesis 17, God promised that Sarah would bear him a son and shall call his name Isaac (Gen. 17:16,19). He trusted that God could quicken (or make alive) the dead and call those things that be not as though they were [alive] (Rom. 4:17). Romans 4:18 continues to say, “Who against hope believed in hope.” In other words, while it seemed to be beyond all hope Abraham still believed God. He knew that God had the power to quicken the dead. Verse nineteen says, “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”

Second, we also learn that righteousness was reckoned to Abraham when he was uncircumcised (Rom. 4:9-12). “How was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision” (Rom. 4:10). Verse eleven tells us that that he received the sign of circumcision which was a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcisied. He had the righteousness of the faith before he was circumcised, so that he may be the father of all them that believe whether they be circumcised or not. This was the case so that righteousness might be imputed to even those who are uncircumcised. Therefore, Abraham is the father of both the circumcised and the uncircumcised (Rom. 4:12,16). When we believe the gospel of Christ, we become baptized into Christ, circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, and risen with Him (Rom. 6:3-4; Col. 2:11-13). We are also sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13; Rom. 5:5; Gal. 4:6). The Holy Spirit is our seal today, not the sign of circumcision (circumcision made with hands (Eph. 2:11)).

If it was by the law, then what?

If Abraham was justified by works (Rom. 4:2), if he did receive the promise through the law (Rom. 4:13-14), and if they which are of the law be heirs (Rom. 4:14), then two things would be true. First, faith would be made void. Second, the promise would be made of none effect. “For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect” (Rom. 4:14). If we could be justified by our own works, then it wouldn’t matter if we had faith or not. The only thing that would matter would be if we truly kept the law. If we kept it, then righteousness would be reckoned to us as a debt (Rom. 4:4) and we would be heirs. But, as we’ve already seen in the book of Romans, we cannot keep the law. There is therefore no way for us to be justified by our works. We all deserve death. But thanks be unto God that He didn’t give Abraham the promise through the law, but instead he gave it to him through the righteousness of faith. Galatians 3:18 says, “For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.” It was through the righteousness of faith and by the promise of God, so that He could accomplish what He set out to do through His Son. By the faith of Christ, we now can have eternal life when we trust Christ as our Savior.

“He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”

Romans 4:20-21

The verses above is one of the best, if not the best, definitions we have on the word faith or what it means to believe. Believing God means trusting in Him, being fully persuaded, that God will perform that which He has promised to do. According to Galatians 3:16, we know that the promises were made to Abraham and his seed (which is singular, not plural). That seed is Christ. God performed His will through His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When the Scriptures spoke of the faith of Christ in Romans 3, we learn that Christ Himself fulfilled the Father’s will. He came and fulfilled the law (Matt. 5:17). He kept it perfectly. Then He died for our sins (because we didn’t keep it), fully paying the price for our sins, and rose again from the dead. Christ condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us (Rom. 8:3-4). He did all that in order to declare the righteousness of God, so that God the Father may be both just (in dealing with our sin) and be the one who justifies the person who will believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Therefore, believers are now justified by faith because we belong to the promised seed. We belong to Christ. “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29). Righteousness is imputed to us also, when we believe the gospel (Rom. 4:22-24). “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

In conclusion, the law was given to show us that we are all sinners. We’ve all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But the good news or the gospel is that Jesus Christ our Lord died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. He fully satisfied the just payment for our sins by shedding His own blood on the cross on our behalf. God has revealed is righteousness through the faith of Christ, his work on the cross, so that we may be justified by faith when we believe what God has done for us. He offers it to all, both Jews and Gentiles, but only those that believe will be justified. His righteousness is reckoned to the believer by faith, by grace, and even if that person is uncircumcised. “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15).

Again, if you haven’t believed yet, do so now. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (Acts 16:31). Believe that He died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day for your justification (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Rom. 4:24-25). Believe and God will justify you.