Romans 3:19-26; Psalm 85:4-13. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 31, 2024, Resurrection Sunday.
How much does God love humans? On top of that, how much does God love you? On top of that, how much does God love other people? You may respond to these differently. Some think that God loves others, but He doesn’t love me because of something He hasn’t done for them. Some may even think that God loves them, but He doesn’t love those other people over there.
Some people answer such important questions through an emotional response, sometimes even a visceral response. Their experience of life, personal wounds, and the influence of culture can lead them to believe that God either doesn’t care or doesn’t exist. They may reason this way. “If God is loving, then H should want to help us. Yet, He hasn’t helped us.” “If God is moral, then He would not let things become this bad, especially if He really is all-powerful (omnipotent).”
In fact, even believers in Jesus can some times “feel” like God’s isn’t doing anything. “God, where are you?” At the cross, God gives us a caution and a revelation. The caution is that we are most likely not as good as we would like to believe. The revelation is that God loves us even while we are yet sinners. He truly wants to save us.
Let’s look at our passage and see that God has done something for us. He has paid the price for our sins and given us help at the very source of our problem, which is our own heart.
Paul is writing to the Christians in Rome. They are a mixture of Jewish people who know God’s true character, Romans who had a pagan background, and people from other nations who were just as confused about God as the Romans.
Paul is dealing with a question that was at the root of their walk with Christ. What had God been doing over the last 16 centuries of working with Israel? What was His purpose with the Law of Moses? Both Jews and Gentiles tend to be confused about God’s motivation, or in some cases, the motivation of the “gods.”
Paul tell us that the giving of the Law to Israel says something to the world, but it says something even more important to Israel. Israel represents people who know God, who know what He wants, and who are serving His purposes. The classic problem of sin is that even those who have the truth, and say they are doing it, are part of the problem.
God’s problem was that even the people of Israel, who were supposed to be on His side, had come to think that they had the Law because they were so righteous and acceptable to Him. Just like them, we tend to misread God’s intentions when things are going well, or going bad. Yet, when we look at Jesus, we recognize that a perfect situation is not proof of rightness with God. Going to the cross was not a “perfect situation” to us and judging with the eyes of flesh. Yet, this didn’t catch God by surprise.
Paul doesn’t write out what exactly the Law of Moses says to those who are under it. However, it is clear from the passage that it is telling the people of Israel that they are not righteous, but instead, that they are sinners and have need of forgiveness.
Like a mirror, the Law shows us that we have a sin problem and are in need of God’s forgiveness. Yet, that forgiveness can only come through sacrifice. When you get out of bed in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror, you see what sleeping on a pillow all night has done for your hair and your face. In the same way, the word of God reveals what growing up and living in this world has done for our heart and mind. However, in this case, you can’t just splash some water on your face and comb your hair. It is the good news of Jesus that can actually forgive our sins and change our hearts.
God had not been trying to teach Israel that they were better than the other nations because they had His Law. It is better to have the truth, and God had blessed them amazingly. Like a house of mirrors, the Law continually reminded Israel that they were not what they should be in response to the amazing love that God had shown them.
Think of it this way. Even as Moses was on the mountain receiving the Law that they had pledged to follow, the people had Aaron make a golden calf and were worshiping it. This is a picture of our problem. Perfect Law-keeping will never save us because we do not have the power within us to perfectly keep it. However, the Law can help you to see just how badly you need God’s powerful help.
Paul says that God intends the presence of the Law, and the message it speaks to us, to stop our mouths. It is not that God wants to tell us we are sinners and rub our nose in it. The Law is speaking to those who are in the best place possible with God. They are near to the work of God and have His Word. They know God’s great purpose and intention towards them. They represent the righteous people of God. Just think about how the Pharisees and the scribes of Jesus day presented themselves. They were proud of their position and place with God, not just over the Gentiles, but even over people within Israel who were not as blessed as they were. They were proud of their righteousness because they weren’t actually hearing what the Law was trying to tell them.
God wants to help us with sin, but there are always too many of us touting our great righteousness compared to others. To fix this, God first sends the Law, and then He sends us grace and truth in Jesus. God is listening to children arguing about how good they are compared to their sibling. Of course, the sibling is also arguing how good they are compared to the others. Even if humanity could unite and make a singular argument, “surely we are now good enough, Lord,” the whole point is that we are not.
Sin is a real problem, and we are always trying to avoid the charge. We want to change definitions of righteousness so that is points to us, and we want to change the definitions of sin so that they do not point to us. Another way we try to avoid the charge is by placing the bar as low as possible so that it is easy for us to get over.
Yet, Paul makes it clear that we are all guilty before God. Even the best of us is a sinner who falls short of the righteousness of God, who falls short of being what God created us to be. Our guilt is that we choose sin and darkness rather than the light, the truth, of God.
If God can get you to a place where you quit fighting the truth with self-serving arguments, then you will see that you are in the same boat as “your enemy.” No people, no race, are more loved by God than others. No gender, no culture, is loved by God more than the others. We are all guilty before God because of our sin. If we are in the dark, it is because we have cast off the light that God has given us. We need to quit doubling down on our righteousness and come to God for His solution.
There is a part of our nature that resists this. It is not fair to lump me in with all of those others, God! However, all of our judgments are self-serving. If we will stop fighting long enough, we just might hear something that we need to hear. And, if you understood God’s heart for you and for humanity, you would realize that this is not a bad place to be (guilty before God and in need of mercy).
Verse 20 shows us that the Law cannot justify us. It can only give us the knowledge, or understanding, of sin. It may seem cruel for God to try and get us all to accept that we are guilty of sin before Him, that we are the reason why this world is so messed up. However, denial is always the saboteur of true change that brings life.
If we quit fighting God, if we can accept that we fall short of what is good and righteous, then we might be able to hear and see His answer, Jesus. No amount of laws can make us a better people. Even a thousand years of scientifically coming up with more and better laws will not make us a perfectly righteous people. All of our science is impotent in the face of our penchant for sin.
In verse 21, Paul points to a righteousness of God that does not come from Law-keeping. For those who continue to make the case that they are righteousness enough, the idea that they must be “perfect” as God defines it seems outrageous. “That’s impossible! God can’t expect us to be perfect.” Yet, Paul shows us that, in His love, God has made His righteousness available to us. God won’t change the truth for us, but He will die on a cross to pay the price for your guilt and for mine. It is true that we are all sinners, but there is a truth greater than our sin. God still loves us and will save us with His righteousness, if we will believe upon the One He sent to die on our behalf.
This is why the devil works so hard to get people to quit trusting God. He did this with Eve by saying that God was holding out on Eve, that He was keeping Eve from having something good. Think of it. The God who had done nothing but good to Eve, providing purpose and meaning, a perfect environment where all of her needs were taken care of, somehow was the problem. He does the same with us today.
Remember this point. For the same reason that we are bent toward sin, we are bent towards not trusting God’s heart of love for us. When a parent refuses to let a child ignore their sins, it is supposed to be because they care about that child and what they are becoming. However, God is a perfect heavenly Father. How much more is His heart full of love towards us?
Yes, God expects you to be perfect. However, He has also made it possible for you to be made perfect by giving you His righteousness. Instead of continuing to make the case of how righteous you are, start making the case of how righteous God is and then you will be on the right track.
God’s plan never depended on your perfection or mine. It always depended upon His own perfection, His own righteousness. No one ever was saved by their righteousness, except for Jesus. He alone was the perfect sinless one. Of course, we can misread this too. “Jesus fulfilled the Law so that I don’t have to do it!” These kind of self-serving arguments for why it is okay for me to keep sinning are themselves sinful. How can I look the grace of God in the face and pretend like He did that so that I can keep on sinning?
All throughout the Old Testament, the prophets pointed out that no one was saved through their Law-keeping. This is why Paul states that the Law and the Prophets testified to this righteousness of God. Jesus and the early Christians were not hijacking Judaism. This idea was as old as the Bible itself. Really? Yes, really.
In Genesis 15:6, we are told that “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Notice that God accepted Abraham’s faith and treated it as if it were righteousness. Of course, it is the righteousness of God that actually is applied to Abraham’s account. Yes, Abraham showed his faith in obeying God. However, Abraham was not without sin and falling short. He was not saved by perfect obedience, but by faith.
In Psalm 51:16-17, David had failed miserably before God. He had become an adulterer and a murderer. David knew that he had no righteousness to save himself before God. Yet, in that crisis, he recognizes that no amount of sacrificial animals could make him right before God. If it could work, then he would do it. David understood that the only act of righteousness that he could do was to be broken in his spirit over his sin, and to come to God with sincere remorse (contrition). “These, O God, You will not despise.” David too was saved by faith in God.
Habakkuk 2:4 says this, “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just (righteous one) shall live by his faith.” This is exactly what Paul is pointing out. The religious leaders had become proud of their righteousness instead of hearing the true witness of the prophets.
This testimony of the Law and the prophets tells us that none of us are righteous, no not one. Each of us like sheep have gone astray. “We have turned everyone to his own way. And the LORD has laid upon him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).” If we are going to be right before God, it will be by putting our trust in Him and His grace alone like David did.
The righteousness of God has always been made available to those who put their trust in Him and His Word. Abraham believed God. David put His trust in God, rather than his ability to do an act of righteousness himself. Habakkuk saw that a proud man is always pushing his own righteousness, even though he is not right inside.
Jesus is the ultimate Word of God. He is God’s solution for our lack of righteousness. You and I simply need to put our trust in Jesus and follow him. Trust, faith, believing, these are all different ways of saying the same thing. You can put your trust in God’s love for you, for us! And, when you do that, God will apply His righteousness to your account. You will become right before Him, justified.
Verse 26 brings the point home that Jesus is the only Just One who justifies those who have faith in him. Jesus is God’s answer for our predicament. God is just and cannot allow sinners to continue to wreck His world. I am a sinner and fall short of His righteousness. Yet, God loves me and doesn’t want me (you) to perish.
Paul references several big concepts in verse 24. Justification is being made right before God. He says that it is given freely by His grace to those who believe. He also mentions “redemption through Christ.” Jesus makes it possible for us to get back our lost place with God, and our lost inheritance. I can now truly image Him because of the work of Jesus. I can now inherit eternal life. I can walk in true righteousness as opposed to a false self-righteousness.
All of this is possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. He died in your place because he loves you. He paid the punishment for our sins so that we could enter into the fruit of God’s love. Jesus is the only just one who is able to justify those who come to him in faith.
At this point I want to finish by looking at an Old Testament picture of God’s character coming together in order to save us, and connect it to what Jesus did on the cross.
In this passage, the psalmist is calling out for God’s help. He knows from Israel’s past experience with God that He will save them. He then states that he will wait for God’s answer (v. 8).
In verse 10, we are given a picture of God’s coming salvation. It pictures the different aspects of God’s character coming together in order to save those who believe in Him. This verse really is about what the character of God is doing at the cross. The cross is not just a gory spectacle to get our attention. It is the very love of God going to war for your soul, for your eternity.
The four virtues are given in pairs: Mercy and Truth, Righteousness and Peace. I want us to picture them as opposing virtues that are at each end of the beams of the cross.
The Hebrew word behind “Mercy” is hard to translate. It is a love that includes the concepts of generosity and enduring commitment. Some versions translate it as unfailing love, steadfast love, and lovingkindness. God is unfailing, generous love (che’ sed in Hebrew), and He has this heart for us. Yet on the opposite side of the beam is the Truth of God (em’ meth in Hebrew). This word does mean truth, but it has at its roots the idea of faithful and trustworthy, even real. The truth can be depended upon, whereas a lie cannot. Yes, God is truth, but the truth is that we are not. How can the love of God be reconciled with the truth of our unfaithfulness? Before we answer that, let’s look at the next pair.
Righteousness (tse’ deq) is the rightness of God. Everything He does is absolutely upright, straight, perfect. Of course, we are not upright and perfect. Yet, God is Peace (sha lom’ in Hebrew), and therefore wants us to be at peace with Him. How can God make peace with man, who is not righteous, and remain righteous Himself?
The tension between these aspects of God’s character are pictured with two verbs that are parallel concepts. God’s unfailing, generous Love and Truth have a meeting, or an encounter, and His Righteousness and His Peace kiss. This is actually one meeting in which all of God’s character is unified in redeeming mankind, and it is happening at the cross. God’s righteousness and truth are satisfied in one great act of love and peace in the man Jesus. Jesus dying on the cross is the solution to preserving God’s character as perfect, and yet at the same time, making redemption available to mankind.
This is how much God loves us. Jesus was without sin and absolutely righteous. This is and was the truth about him at the time. He became the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sin. Yet, he also lives and invites us to enter into the eternal life that he has and shares with those who love him.
When you look at the world today, it is easy to think that everything is falling apart and that Jesus will never come back, or perhaps it was a fairy tale. Yet, this is the wrong view. God is patiently teaching humanity of His love and yet, the problems that come from rejecting Him. Today, if you hear his voice, will you not believe on Jesus, the One who took your place under God’s wrath against your sin?
Let us worship the Lord Jesus!