Justified: A Survey of Romans 3:21-31

Author’s note: This blog post is part of an ongoing series about the book of Romans. To see other Romans resources, click here.

When Paul began his letter to the Romans, he quickly launched into praise for the Gospel. He promised his readers that it was ‘the power of God for salvation.’ He claimed that the righteousness of God is revealed in it. Then he did something unexpected: he brought up the wrath of God, and he spent the better part of three chapters talking about how wicked mankind is. Did Paul forget about his main theme, the gospel?

No, Paul hasn’t forgotten. He is as eager as ever to tell us about the wonderful gospel that he preaches. Now that he has convincingly argued that everyone is ‘under sin,’ we are eager to find the key that will unlock our shackles. Just as Paul began his diatribe with the words “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven” (1:18), now he transitions with the words “now the righteousness of God has been manifested.” The following verses contain some of the richest and most theologically meaty sections of Paul’s entire letter.

The Gift of Righteousness (3:21-26)

The ‘righteousness of God’ that Paul references is not the righteousness of God’s strict justice. Instead, this is the righteousness that we’ve all failed to attain – the concept of ‘being righteous’ that none of us is. None is righteous (3:10) – and we need righteousness in order to be saved from God’s wrath. Now, Paul says, that righteousness has been manifested (made accessible) and it is a righteousness that is ‘of God.’ It’s the righteousness that he gives. 

Having shown the Jews that the law is fundamentally unable to justify, Paul is quick to point out that this righteousness is manifested ‘apart from the law.’ You don’t have to be a Jew, and you don’t have to know the law, to know about this righteousness of God. The law plays its part – it bears witness to the righteousness and points men to it – but the law doesn’t actually provide it.

Instead of being available through the law, the righteousness of God is “through faith in Jesus Christ.” Although there is some debate about the exact translation of this phrase, it’s best to understand this as an explanation of how we obtain this righteousness. (This is Paul’s point throughout the book). Since righteousness is tied to faith in Christ, it isn’t tied to the law – and therefore it is available “for all who believe,” regardless of their relationship to the law.

Paul reinforces this by reminding the Romans of what he just explained: all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This reference to ‘glory of God’ is not clear. What does it mean to ‘fall short’ of this glory? Most likely, drawing on Jewish theological tradition, Paul is referencing the glory that mankind possessed from God during the time of Adam. Adam’s sin led to a loss of this ‘glory,’ with the consequence that mankind lost eternal life. For Paul, God’s glory and eternal life are connected (see Romans 5:2, 8:30).

When Paul played the prosecuting attorney, we saw that we had no hope for acquittal. Now Paul says that everyone has access to be ‘justified’ (legally declared righteous) and that this is “by his grace as a gift.” This rather redundant way of speaking is intended to make clear: God is the one who provides this righteousness, and he does it freely. This is good, because we have nothing that we could pay to obtain such an important gift. It is entirely by his ‘grace,’ his kindness, his generosity – and nothing that we do ourselves – that will provide us with the ‘righteous’ verdict that we so desperately need.

This justification comes “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” The word ‘redemption’ is an important word that we don’t used much nowadays, but it refers to liberating another person or ‘buying back’ the individual from slavery or ruin. Greek-speaking Jews were well aware that this word referred to the Exodus from Israel, and it is used frequently in the Greek version of Isaiah to refer to the Jewish release from exile. Jews understood, then, that God has always ‘redeemed’ his people – and Paul says that this redemption is now present “in Christ Jesus.”

Paul next uses another large theological word – ‘propitiation’ – to explain what Jesus does. To ‘propitiate’ someone is to calm their anger and put them in a good temper. In Greek, the word can also refer to the place where someone accomplishes this: ‘the location where someone is conciliated.’ There is a very famous object in the Old Testament that goes by this name: the ‘mercy seat.’ The famous Ark of the Covenant, the golden chest that contained the Ten Commandments, was covered with a blood-spattered lid. This lid (translated ‘Mercy Seat’ in English) is called the ‘place of propitiation’ in the Greek Bible. In the Temple, God’s presence was considered to rest on this place of propitiation, with cherubim bowing before Him on each side, and the blood of sacrifices sprinkled on this place.

The apostle now makes the astonishing claim that God has ‘put forward’ or ‘exhibited’ Jesus as ‘place of propitiation’ or ‘Mercy Seat.’ Jesus is the means by which God’s justice is assuaged and He is conciliated – and this occurs by the blood of Jesus. Jesus is both the sacrificial victim, whose blood must be sprinkled before God, and He is the Mercy Seat where this propitiation occurs.

Why is Jesus ‘put forward’ or ‘displayed’ by God? In order to be “received by faith.” Unlike the Mercy Seat, which was deep in the heart of the Temple and inaccessible to almost everyone, Jesus is ‘put forward’ or ‘set forth’ so that all people have ready access to him. God is eager for people to take advantage of Jesus’ propitiating work for all!

One reason why God chose to present Jesus in this way was “to show God’s righteousness.” Because of God’s toleration or ‘divine forbearance,’ he had ‘passed over’ or ‘overlooked’ sins that had been committed in the past. This is a reference to the sins committed during the time before Jesus. Although God demanded animal sacrifices, we know that God’s righteousness is not willing to overlook human sinfulness just because an innocent animal is killed. Still, God overlooked those sins, temporarily, during the ages before Jesus. However, this means that we could question God’s commitment to justice. How can God overlook sin?

God’s answer to this dilemma is Jesus. God wanted to “show his righteousness at the present time.” God intended to prove or demonstrate irrefutably that he is, indeed, both “just” and “the justifier.” God is just, and his judging righteousness (his attribute of strict righteousness that demands justice) is still intact. He must and will punish sin. Jesus dies as the sacrificial victim whose blood is sprinkled. God’s justice is satisfied.

At the same time, God is also “the justifier.” God can ‘declare righteous’ or ‘pass a verdict of innocent’ on “the one who has faith in Jesus.” And it isn’t a miscarriage of justice, since Jesus has already paid the penalty for the sin. Hence, God’s judging righteousness (‘just’) and saving righteousness (‘justifier’) can come together because of the work that Jesus did on the cross.

Justification by Faith (3:27-31)

If humans are utterly depraved (as Paul charged in vv. 9-18) and if the gift of righteousness comes through Jesus’ redeeming work (as he argued in vv. 19-26), then several implications must be true. The apostle turns to three of these implications, using questions to ask and then answer each implication.

First, there is no place for human boasting (vv. 27-28). Since humans have literally nothing that they can do that is ‘righteous’ in God’s sight, salvation is entirely a gift of God. There is nothing you can point to in order to say, ‘Look what I did!’ Or ‘This is why I deserve to be saved.’

The word ‘law’ in verse 27 isn’t referring to a set of moral commandments. Instead, it has a more conceptual meaning. Paul refers to the ‘principle’ or ‘system’ that excludes human boasting. Boasting is excluded because of the ‘system of faith’ that saves, not the ‘system of works.’ This is because (v. 28) our verdict of ‘righteous’ is obtained by faith apart from any human works, or obedience to the law.

Second, human beings obtain this righteous verdict in the same way, regardless of their ethnic heritage. Paul’s argument in vv. 29-30 is that since God is one, he therefore treats people in the same way. Paul references the most famous passage of Moses’ law, the Shema, to make this argument. Every Jew of the day knew this by heart: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). If God is one, then the implication is that he is God of all people. Indeed, Paul may also be referencing Zechariah 14:9, which highlights the global character of God’s oneness – “And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.” Even if Jews and gentiles had different relationships to God previously, they are fundamentally the same in how they obtain justification: ‘by’ or ‘through’ faith.

Third, justification by faith actually solidifies the importance of the law (v. 31). Jews might be afraid that the emphasis on ‘faith’ for all people might indicate that the law is ‘overthrown’ or has no value. Paul argues that, on the contrary, the moral norms of God are still important. The apostle isn’t ready to yet explain the way in which his approach upholds the law, but he is setting a placemarker here: ‘don’t be afraid that this approach overthrows the law or views it as insignificant.’ Later in the book, Paul will explain in more detail how his system still has a place for the law.

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