So let me invite you to turn this afternoon to the book of Romans. Steve has mentioned that our theme will be the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the glory of the gospel of our God, and we will spend our time together in this much-loved book of Romans. I wish we could cover it all. in the space of our time, but that would be an ambitious task. And so I've chosen several different places in this book that give particular attention to the content and the glory of the gospel. And we'll begin our time together in chapter three, this great turning point in the book. But before I read, I want you to just take a moment and do your best to picture in your mind the Apostle Paul. He is, as best we know, in his late fifties. He's in the city of Corinth, the furthest point out on his third missionary journey. He's staying in the home of a Christian brother named Gaius. We know this from a comment that he makes in the last chapter of this book. He's probably in a guest room there. Nothing fancy, probably a bed, maybe a washstand, maybe a rough wooden table there. And he's coming to anticipate going back to the city of Jerusalem. He has a desire to go to Rome, and ultimately he wants to go on to Spain, but he's got this obligation to get back to the city of Jerusalem to bear a gift there. But at the present, he's in Corinth and he takes the opportunity while he's there to write out a very carefully composed letter to the church that has been founded in the capital city of Rome. Now, exactly how that church began, we don't know. We do know that there were visitors from the city of Rome in the city of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. We are told that in Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit came upon Peter and he preached that great sermon about Jesus, and many people, we are told, came to faith in Christ. So it could be that among those visitors from Rome, there were now newly converted Christians who went back to the city of Rome and shared their newfound faith and found themselves there with a great desire to tell others about Jesus. And we know that in that day, all roads led to Rome. And so there would have been much travel, people carrying their faith with them and sharing it with those that they met. However it came about, there was now a significant gathering of believers in this great city, and Paul is eager to go there at some point and make sure that they are firmly established in this gospel. But so far he's been hindered, and so he sits down, in that guest room, in the home of his friend, and he writes this letter. And what we end up having in the letter of Paul to the Romans is the most complete and carefully put together presentation of the gospel that there is. And it's the gospel that I want us to encounter Again, as we have our time together, I know that we have, most of us, heard the gospel over and over and over again in our lifetime, but I love that old hymn that says, I love to tell the story for those who know it best seem hungry and thirsty to hear it like the rest. And so may we, in our time together this evening and tomorrow, glory in this gospel that we read about in Romans, and we'll start in chapter three. Please follow along as I read Romans chapter three, verse 21 through the end of the chapter. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means. On the contrary, we uphold the law. I want to begin this evening just by telling you two personal stories, one of them a little bit more personal than the other, in order to set us up for this hugely important passage here at the end of Romans chapter 3 with its reality changing news. The first story is from my years in high school, a few years back. playing sports for our high school team. There was one particular coach during my sophomore year, my second year in high school, who from very early on in our weeks of practice began riding me pretty hard. At least it sure seemed like that to me. Practice after practice, he was just getting after me, telling me I was doing this wrong, and I was doing that wrong, and that I needed to fix this, and I needed to fix that, and it was relentless. And over the course of the first couple weeks of practice I started, you can understand, getting a little discouraged. That coach must have picked up on that because one night after practice he kind of pulled me aside and he asked me how I was doing and I just looked at him and I said, well, I'm a little bit discouraged. And he said, why is that? And I said, well, it seems like you're riding me a lot. Now, what I wanted to say was, why are you picking on me so much? Why are you pointing out my faults so much? But my parents taught me to speak respectfully to my teachers in my coat, so I simply said, it kind of seems like you're riding me sometimes. And he smiled, and he said something to me that just changed everything. He said to me, you know, Mike, I think that I think you have the potential to be a pretty good player. But there's some things you're doing wrong, and if you're going to be a good player, those things need to be fixed. Knowing that completely changed my perspective at practice from that point on. Now, I want to be very careful. That illustration isn't exactly parallel, but up to this point in Romans, Paul has been He's been pounding on us pretty hard and pretty relentlessly about something that is a million times more important than our participation in some earthly endeavor. From a variety of different angles, but always making the same point repeatedly, relentlessly, Paul has been speaking the truth that human beings, all human beings, are guilty before God. No matter your background, No matter your ethnicity, no matter your social status, you are guilty, you are without excuse, and you are under God's just judgment. This is captured so clearly, so concisely in chapter three, look back at verse 10. Paul says, after all of those statements he makes in the end of chapter one and through chapter two and throughout chapter three, he comes to chapter three, verse 10, and he summarizes it this way, as it is written, none is righteous, no, not one. That verse, those words are a concise summary of this point that Paul has been making all through the opening chapters of this book. No one is righteous. All are guilty. All are without excuse. All are under God's judgment. He just keeps pounding that point. He wants us to get what verse 10 is saying. No one has the righteousness that is necessary to stand in the presence of a holy God who holds our destiny in his hands. And Paul's been saying that now for the better part of three chapters. And having been listening to this, we might want to cry out, Paul, why are you pounding on us like this? Why do you keep saying this over and over and over? Why so relentless in your judgment about us? And if Paul were standing here, hearing us ask that question, I believe he'd say two things to us. He'd say, I'm telling you this over and over because it's really important that you know that something actually is wrong, desperately wrong, and it needs to be fixed. But it's also really important for you to know that God has a purpose for you. There's something really good that God has in His mind. There is something of incredible value that is driving my pounding on this point. Here in the opening chapters of Romans, Paul says, listen, if you don't get this, If you don't understand and see, really see this point, if you don't think anything is wrong, if you're not deeply aware that there's actually something wrong between you and God, you won't feel any need for the help that is your only solution. So it's really important, Paul says, that you know no one possesses in themselves, no one can contribute by themselves, no one can generate the righteousness that is necessary for you to be right with God. That's Paul's point in Romans 1 through 3, and it's all to set up this reality-changing news. that he shares here at the end of chapter three. Yes, that was his message in chapters one through three, but it is not his main message. This is his main message, right here. This is, in fact, the main message of the entire Christian faith, and Paul's going to be elaborating on this message for the rest of the book of Romans. Did you see and hear how this passage starts? After all of that pounding, Paul pauses, You should have in your mind a long pause between verse 20 and verse 21 of Romans chapter 3. A long pause and then these words, but now. And when we hear those words, when we hear Paul say here in verse 21, but now, we've got to feel the full weight of what this is saying. Those two words tell us something monumental is coming. Even the weight that Paul has given to those words in chapters 1 through 3, given the weight of what Paul has said up to this point, there is no one who is righteous These words in verse 21 tell us something even more weighty is about to get said, something that will overturn the problem in all of its enormity. Those two words, but now, I think may be the two most important words in the whole Bible. They're certainly among the most wonderful words. Martin Luther calls this moment right here in Romans chapter three, he calls this the chief point and very central place of the whole Bible. If those words and what they introduce are not there, then we are still in the condition of our unrighteousness. We're still under God's judgment. Look back at chapter 2 for a moment, verse 2. After listing a long list of things that we're guilty of, Paul says in chapter 2, verse 2, we know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things, but now. Chapter 3, verse 21, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. Do you hear that? A righteousness from God for us who don't have the righteousness that we need. It's for us. God has done something for us in our desperate need. You should imagine, you should just imagine a brilliant, glorious stream of light coming out of your Bible at verse 21. A remarkable revelation of good news from God Out of all of that darkness that Paul has presented to us up to this point, Paul's point throughout chapters one through three is that we're doomed on our own. If there's gonna be any hope, something must be done. There must be something happening for us from outside, and Paul's point right here is that God has done something. God must do something, and God has done something. You know, this is the great unifying theme throughout the Bible. You see it everywhere. In the book of Exodus, the Israelites stand there before the Red Sea. They can't go forward. The Egyptian army is coming at them from behind. They can't go back. If there's going to be a rescue, God must do something, and God does something. Or I think about in 1 Samuel, where David stands before Goliath, this giant of a warrior from the Philistine army. David's just a youth. He's got no armor and no weapon to speak of. If there's gonna be a rescue, God must do something, and God does something. Or I think about in the book of Acts, Peter is there in prison. He's sentenced to die. The Christians there in Jerusalem have gathered. They're praying for him. God, you must do something. and God does something. And here, in Romans 3, here is all humanity, unrighteous, there's none righteous, not one, under God's judgment, heading for an eternity of utter darkness and terrible, complete aloneness, utterly cast out from the presence of God. If there is to be salvation, God must do something. And God does something. You know, in the ancient world, Drama was a major form of entertainment and the favorite form of drama was the tragedy. People would gather in these theaters and they would watch the actors on the stage act out these tragedies and there would be these elaborate plots and at critical points the playwrights would introduce the gods. They'd bring the gods out onto the stage to sort things out, and some of the less skilled of the playwrights would resort to the gods too quickly or too often. And so the Roman poet Horace, he wrote this book of guidelines for playwrights, and at one point he gave this advice. He said, do not bring a god onto the stage unless the problem is one that requires a god to solve it. Do not bring a God out onto the stage unless the problem is one that requires a God to solve it. And several centuries later, Martin Luther picked up on those words, applying them to this situation that Paul has described in Romans chapters one through three. And he said, here is a problem which requires God to solve it. Here is a problem for which we desperately need a solution. And we do not have what we need in ourselves, and there's no way that we can come up with it. And here Paul tells us God has come onto the stage of his own initiative, and he's provided a solution to our problem, the problem that defines our existence as humans. Here is God's solution, which is what our passage is all about. Which brings me to my second story. When I was in my early years of teaching at Trinity Seminary, there was another faculty member, an older gentleman. He was a distinguished professor of New Testament studies. His name was Murray Harris. And he was invited, I think it was my second year as a young faculty member, he was invited to do the faculty, the devotion at the faculty retreat. And I remember sitting there as a young man. I believe I can recount word for word the first minute or so of Dr. Harris's devotional. He said, I'm so glad that I don't have to choose. But if I had to choose between the Old Testament and the New Testament, I'd choose the New Testament. And then he said, I'm glad I don't have to choose, but if I had to choose one book from the New Testament, I'd choose the book of Romans. I'm glad I don't have to choose, but if I had to choose one chapter from the book of Romans, I'd choose chapter 3. I'm glad I don't have to choose, but if I had to choose one paragraph from chapter 3, I'd choose the paragraph that goes from verse 21 to verse 25. I'm glad I don't have to choose, but if I had to choose one verse from that paragraph, I'd choose verse 25. And then he said, I'm glad I don't have to choose, but if I had to choose one word from that verse, I'd choose the word propitiation. And he proceeded to give us just a brilliant half hour exposition of that one word. Now that little story sets us up for an exploration of the content of this great thing that God has done, that Paul is announcing here, but unlike Dr. Harris, I'm gonna focus our attention on three words. The three words that are, I believe, the life and the heart and the backbone of these verses. I'm guessing you might be able to tell me what they are. Here they are. Righteousness, justification, and faith. Let's start with that word righteousness. We've already seen this word in the book of Romans. It shows up four times in these verses, look at verse 21, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested. Verse 22, the righteousness of God. Verse 25 in the middle, this was to show God's righteousness and once again in verse 26 it was to show His righteousness. Now please notice in each one of those cases it speaks of something that belongs to God. You'll notice Paul is very explicit about that. And he's made it clear that when it comes to humanity, he's already told us this, that there is none who is righteous. No, not one. But there are actually two different senses in which Paul is using that word righteousness. And it's important that we see this. One sense has to do with God's character, something that is true of God, something about him. The other sense has to do with something that he gives, something that is a gift. So look with me first of all at verses 25 and 26. This is where Paul is talking about righteousness as a part of God's character. There in the middle of verse 25, this was to show God's righteousness. because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness. God is demonstrating something about himself because there was this possibility that he could be accused of being unrighteous for passing over the sins of people during the Old Testament times. So when God was waiting as it were, for the provision for those sins that were, this provision that was still to come in Christ. But now look at verses 21 and 22. Here's the more urgent way that Paul is using this word righteousness. Verse 21, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested. And notice in verse 22, Paul continues that thought, the righteousness of God through faith in Christ. You see, this is a righteousness that is somehow coming to us. It's through faith, which indicates that there's some process of it being given, and it's for All who believe, which makes it clear that God intends this to be something that is received. And if you look ahead at verse 24, Paul says that as a result of this righteousness, we are justified. Something happens to us. The righteousness of God is applied to us, and as a result, something happens to us. Do you see what Paul is saying here? There is a righteousness from God given to us. This is exactly what Paul was talking about when he, in his letter to the Philippians, remember when he says, I want to be found in him. He's speaking about that great day when he will stand before God. I want to be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, but that which is from God. We sing it, that wonderful hymn. on Christ the solid rock, remember the last verse, when he shall come with trumpet sound, oh may I then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. Maybe you'll remember those ever so important verses back in chapter one, where Paul said, I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes for In it, a righteousness from God is revealed. It's delivered, it's brought. Listen, if you are a Christian, this should be one of the most precious truths of your life. Do you know that wonderful passage in Ephesians chapter six, where Paul talks about the armor of God, and he encourages us to put it on? It's already on. God put it on us. But Paul is saying, listen, Christian, you put it on mentally. You remind yourself of what you have as a result of God's work. Remind yourself of this. Live in the good of this truth. And what is one of the key pieces of that armor that is covering your heart and covering all your vital organs? It is the breastplate of righteousness, this righteousness, the righteousness You've received from God, Christian, Paul's saying, put it on. Remind yourself of this. God has given you what you did not have and what you so desperately needed. He has provided this, verse 22, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. So that's the word righteousness. Second, the word justification. which really is so closely connected to that word righteousness that they are almost the same. What happens to you when God's righteousness is given to you? Well, to answer that, look with me at verse 24. Actually, let's go back to verse 22 and start there to get a running start. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and here it is, are justified by His grace as a gift. through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And then look at verse 26. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the, here's our word again, justifier of the one who has faith in Christ. So what happens when God's righteousness is given to you, you are justified. Which means you have been declared righteous in God's sight. God makes a judgment about you. He completely pardons your sin and He declares you to be guilt-free, righteous. There is a very interesting thing about these words that doesn't come through in English. That Greek word that is translated righteousness and the Greek word that is translated justified are both from the very same root word. It doesn't come through in English. I wish it did. In fact, some have tried to capture that connection by making up a word, righteousing. So there at the beginning of verse 24, we could say, and are righteous by God. I suppose it gets the job done to simply say every time you see that word justified, just insert the words declared righteous. Verse 24, and are declared righteous. But here's the question, how? How does that happen? How can God do that? How can a righteous God just pardon people who are actually guilty? I mean, he tells us very clearly in his word that we shouldn't do that. We should make sure that we work hard not to acquit the guilty. How can he do it? We'll look at verse 24 with me once again. And are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood to be received by faith. So here is that word, propitiation. What does it mean? A propitiation is a sacrifice that takes away the judgment. A propitiation is a sacrifice that takes away the punishment. Do you remember back in chapter 2? Look at verse 5. But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. A propitiation is a substitutionary payment, something that stands in your place and takes that penalty, takes that judgment so that it is turned away from you. Christ takes the judgment that we deserved. I mean, the only person who didn't deserve to experience that judgment experiences the judgment in our place. And by so doing, he turns the judgment away from us. That's what propitiation means, and that's how God can declare us righteous. On the basis of Christ's death, and all its merit applied to us, we are justified. And please note, it's a gift. Verse 24, and are justified by His grace as a gift. Paul's hope before he became a Christian, just like so many of us, was that by our good works, by our common decency, by our religiosity, that we could surely earn God's acceptance. But even if I do the very best I can, and the trouble is, I don't always do that, but even if I did, how can I know that that meets God's requirement? But if God, in sheer grace, tells me that I am accepted, that I am in full now, in full right standing with Him, that I am welcome to all of His love and all of His favor, then I can walk in absolute assurance. So because of Christ, because of His death in my place, verse 26, He can be just and and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ. He is just even in justifying sinners because of Christ's sacrificial substitutionary death. God remains perfectly righteous even when he pardons sinners who put their trust in Jesus. Now, our third word, faith. I just want you to notice how many times that word shows up in these verses. Trace with me through our passage. Verse 22, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. Good verse 25. Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. Verse 26, it was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Verse 27, then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded by what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. Verse 28, for we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works. Verse 30, in fact, it shows up twice there. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. And one more time in verse 31, do we then overthrow the law by this faith by no means? I mean, you'd almost think that Paul had something on his mind, which he does. This receiving of God's righteousness, this being justified is by faith, by faith and faith alone. So we need to ask the question, what is faith? Well, let's be clear. Faith is not something that I add to what God has done. Faith is not some work that I do to add to what God has done for me in Christ. No works. whatever their nature, whatever their motivation, can play any part in making a person right with God. I love the time that Luther said at one point, the only thing that I add to my justification is my sin, which God so graciously forgives. Faith is my response to what God has done and he has done everything Faith is a simple, open-hearted posture toward God which takes Him at His word and gratefully receives His grace. Faith is utterly humble, utterly helpless trust in what God has done for you through Jesus. You see, our regular temptation is to want to smuggle our good works or our character into God's work of grace. But everything depends on what God has done in Christ, and faith is simply the hand that reaches out to receive the gift. Look at how this becomes Paul's explicit point in verse 27. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith, for we hold that one is justified by faith, apart from the works of the law. And this is true for everyone. Verse 29, or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, the God of Gentiles also, since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. There is one way for everybody, simple trust in what God has done in Christ. I mean, it's clear what Paul is saying here. God's righteousness is available only through faith in Christ, and it is available to anyone who has faith in Christ. And notice the little point that Paul makes in verse 31. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means. On the contrary, we uphold the law, despite the fact that following the law plays no part in our justification, far from shoving aside the demands of the law, through Christ, through our union with Christ, the demands of the law are fulfilled. They're upheld. So, This is God's Word to us today through the Apostle Paul. Paul says to us in Romans chapter 3, God has done something. He brought a righteousness for us who desperately needed it. And here's the effect on your life. You're justified. You are declared righteous before God, and it comes through faith. Faith receives what Christ's death accomplished, so we ask the question, how should we respond? Well, let me conclude this first session with two points of application. The first one is the clear and obvious one, and we dare not assume, we dare not skip over, we can't look at this without asking the question, have you put your faith in Christ? Is it absolutely clear? Is it absolutely a settled matter that you've come to a point of putting your trust completely on what God has done for you in Christ? If not, I think the question is, what is holding you back? Ask that question of yourself. Is it fear? Is it pride? Is it unbelief? Stop and consider your life and what your life means. Consider the fact that you will die and you'll face God. Your life, your existence does not end when you die. And so the question that every one of us needs to ask, whether we're a young person, whether we're in our 20s or our 30s, maybe we're in middle age, maybe we've come to our later years, closer to the end of our earthly life than the beginning. The question is, has it become a point of absolute settled clarity? That you have come to a point of putting your trust completely in what God has done for you in Christ. God is making it absolutely clear here, what is needed is a humble coming to God in faith. But there's a second point of application and it's for those who have put their trust in Christ. So Christian, it should give you such joy and such assurance to know that your salvation is grounded, completely grounded in a righteousness outside of yourself. A righteousness that is completely outside of anything that you did or could do. Listen, if you can save yourself, well then you can unsave yourself. And how do you know exactly where you are? But if your salvation is from God and is grounded in something that He has done, well then it is absolutely secure because there is no wavering in God. You are loved and you are accepted by God through the merit of Jesus, and you are blessed by God with every spiritual blessing through the merit of Jesus. Nothing you do will cause him to love you any more or any less than you are loved now. His love and acceptance of you is unrelated to your performance. Christian, rest in that glorious news. Your security in your acceptance by God is totally by his grace. And your understanding of your living in that grace will affect everything in your life. You will worship God set free by grace. You will serve God, set free by grace. You will reach out in love to other people, set free by grace. You will submit yourself to joyful obedience to God, set free by grace. Oh, this should unleash things in us. See, when you realize that your life is absolutely dependent on something and that this something has been done. I remember not too long ago, a few years ago, being in a situation where I realized that my earthly life absolutely depended on one small thing. I was out climbing in Grand Teton National Park, one of our parks in the States. It's beautiful mountains, and I was there with a friend, and we were doing some climbing, and we came to a place where there was a fairly sheer 2,000-foot drop. And we had been told earlier by a climbing guide that if you fall from that point, you will fall for the rest of your life, which took a moment for us to understand, but then we got it. I remember being very aware that my earthly life absolutely depended on my foothold on that rock face at that moment. Now that was with reference to my physical life, which I value. But my earthly life is very small compared to my eternity. It's just a little dot on the line that extends forever. When you realize that your life, your real life, is absolutely dependent on something, one thing, and that God has done that, he has put forward Jesus to take my place, this great exchange, taking the judgment for my sin and His perfect, infinitely valuable righteousness credited to me, credited to all who believe. I tell you, what joy, what gratitude, what thankfulness, what assurance you should have. Let's pray. Father, we do want to thank you for the clarity with which you speak in this wonderful passage of your Word. Thank you that in the face of the fact that we were lost and without hope, that you did not leave us but that you extended your love to us through Christ and provided a righteousness for us that we might be in right relationship with you. Father, thank you. We thank you for the work of your son on the cross. We thank you that in him we have life and life everlasting. And so, Lord, I pray to help us, those who have put our trust in you, to live in the good of that glorious good news. I pray that we would be those who understand and know the gospel, so that we might live in the good of the gospel every day of our lives. Father, again we pray, impress this on us, We thank you in Jesus' name, amen.