Romans 3:21-31; But Now

Jason Sterling February 22, 2026 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin

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Transcript

The Weight Of Our Debt

SPEAKER_00 0:23

If you have a copy of God's word, turn with me. We're in a study in the book of Romans, Romans chapter 3 this morning. So turn with me, Romans 3, 21 through 31 this morning. As you're turning to think about this statement, you cannot appreciate a gift until you understand the debt. Imagine this morning, if you were to get home, or this afternoon, you were to get home and you were to have a letter waiting in your mailbox that says, I'm writing to inform you that your water bill has been paid in full. You would think that's nice. Thank you, I guess.$75 is helpful, but it's not life-changing. Now imagine tomorrow you get home and there's another letter in your mailbox and you open it and it says your mortgage has been paid in full. Well, everything changes now, doesn't it? If you owe ten thousand dollars, you're thrilled. But if you owe half a million dollars on your house, you're overwhelmed. You're maybe in tears. Perhaps you're speechless and you immediately want to know who did this and why did they do this for me? The greater the debt, the greater the gratitude. That's really a picture of what Paul's trying to do with us in these first couple of chapters of Romans. He has spent three chapters hammering away at us, showing us the debt that we owe. And it is infinite, far more than half a million dollars or whatever you owe on your house. We owe God perfect righteousness every moment for our entire lives. And it is a debt that we could never pay. Chapter one, the pagan world, the Gentiles stand guilty. Chapter two, the moral and the religious people stand guilty. Chapter three, the Apostle Paul says, and in case I left anyone out, none righteous, no, not one, guilty as charged. And this is the point where you expect the gavel to fall, case closed, we're moving on, guilty as charged. And then the judge speaks. And that is verse 21 of Romans chapter 3. Two, arguably, the two most important words in all the Bible. But now. But now, after three chapters of diagnosis, but now, with every objection that we've raised, that has been dismissed, but now the verdict is in, our mouth is stopped, we have absolutely nothing to say. We are silent right there in that moment, total bankruptcy, laid as low as we could possibly be laid. Paul pivots, and what he reveals changes everything. What we're about to read. Not saying that some passages are more inspired in the Bible than others, but boy, this is awfully good. This might very well be the most important section in all of Scripture. It's definitely the hinge in the book of Romans, and everything in Romans flows out of this, what we'll read this morning. And the question the entire Bible has been asking how can a holy God have anything to do with sinful people like us and be reconciled to us? Paul answers that question here in this text this morning. Follow along with me as I read God's word, Romans chapter 3, 21 through 31. 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 the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since God is one. Who 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 it. Let's pray and ask God to help us. Father, we come to this text and I my prayer for all of us. Some of us have heard this passage. We know the doctrine that it reveals. And I pray that you would move us by it and that you would make it fresh, that would make it like we're hearing it for the first time. Only you can do that through your spirit. Um, this is a glorious passage. And I pray that you would help me as I preach it to make it clear. You have us here. I pray that you would show us the wonders and the beauty of Jesus through this scripture this morning. May we encounter him in Jesus' name. Amen. Here's the question we're asking this morning. Let's get right to it. How can a holy God accept guilty sinners? How can a holy God accept guilty sinners? That's the question. And we're going to see the answer in this passage. He provides righteousness, number one. Secondly, God pays the penalty. And then thirdly, God prevents our boasting. He provides righteousness, he pays the penalty, he prevents our boasting. Let's take each of those in turn. Let's start with our first point. He provides righteousness. Look at verse 21 and 22. But now the righteousness of God has been made known apart from the law, the righteousness of God, there's the phrase again, through faith in Christ Jesus for all who believe. Notice that phrase, righteousness of God. We introduced it, Paul introduced it back in Romans chapter 1. But now, after three chapters of laying us low in the diagnosis, it comes alive a little bit more, doesn't it? Now we feel the full weight of this phrase and it lands differently. Every religion operates the same way. Work harder, be good enough, sacrifice enough, and maybe you can offer God a righteousness that satisfies his standards. That is a righteousness to God. Achievement in your good works presented to him. That's not the gospel. Paul says something entirely different and in very radical. And he talks about the righteousness of God or from God that is revealed to us. Something that God produces and that God gives us. And look at how he describes it, apart from the law. So it's not based on you. It's not based on your works and your performance and how good you are. Keep going through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction. And notice it continues on in verse 23, a verse that maybe you're familiar with, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Let me make a comment on this. Paul isn't just re-establishing guilt here. That's the way that verse is often read. No, he's already done that for three chapters. He is explaining why this righteousness is available that God provides is available to everyone equally. The offer is universal because the promise, the problem is universal. And then in verse 24, and he says, and are justified by his grace as a gift, freely, wholly, unwarranted by anything in us. Paul is simply saying here, no one gets in through a side entrance. No one brings their credentials and hopes to get better terms. The door is wide open for people precisely because no one can claim that they deserve it. Which means that the only way to Jesus and to God is through faith in Christ. Did you notice that Paul uses that phrase or that term faith eight times in eleven verses? That's significant because he is hammering away at this idea of faith because it is how salvation works. And Paul gets very specific here. It's not faith in some God, vague or general God, or some vague spirituality. It is faith in Jesus Christ. It is trust in what Jesus has actually accomplished on our behalf. Here's the key. Faith doesn't produce your salvation, it receives it. It's the instrument that receives it. And if we start thinking that faith saves us, that this faith that we have is something that we produce, and it's why God accepts us, what does that do to faith? It makes it a work. It makes it something that you have done, that you have achieved. And then you start measuring it. Is my faith enough? Is it strong enough? What about my doubts? But that's not how it works. Faith is simply the empty hands that receive the gift, not the payment, the receipt. And what makes the gift so astounding is this that Jesus does not just forgive sins. That's wonderful. We need that, but that simply brings you back to zero. Your debt has been canceled. Again, wonderful, but you're still not enough. Not only do you need forgiveness of sins that don't count against you, you also need, we need positive righteousness to count for you. You need someone to take your law breaking, but you also need the perfect record of law-keeping to be credited to your account. Here's a picture. Imagine that you have failed out of college, that your academic record has disqualified you, that there are no graduate programs that are going to touch you, no place of employment is going to give you a chance. You have no appeals left. You have nothing to show for yourself and no way to fix it. And then someone comes and they don't just erase your failing grades, they hand you their transcript, and they have a perfect GPA. They have all the honors, all the awards, the very top of their class, and it is transferred to your record. Every admissions office now sees their achievement, not your failure. You're not just readmitted, you are the most qualified applicant in the room and in the system. That's the gospel. God doesn't just wipe away your record and make it clean and send you back out into the world to try harder. He credits Christ's perfect righteousness to your account. His perfect transcript, his perfect obedience, honor, and record as if it were your own. Not just forgiven, fully righteous. Some of you, perhaps, this morning, you're really engaged and you're faithful and you're theologically sharp, but your relationship with God is running on your consistency and your faithfulness. And if that is true of you, this should stop you dead in your tracks. Because Paul is saying there is no difference. That you cannot stand before God with, I've been faithful. You cannot stand before God with my theology, it's really good and sound. Ask me any question. You know, that is righteousness to God. And it's still not enough. And so here's my question for all of us: What are you holding up this morning? What are we holding up as our highest confidence before God? Is it our record and our faithfulness? Or is it Christ and his righteousness? Is it our consistency, or is it the cross? There's an old evangelism explosion question, perhaps you're familiar with, or that you've heard at some point in your life. And the question goes like this if you were to die tonight and stand before God, and he were to ask you, Why should I let you into heaven? What would you say? And a lot of people answer that question. They say something to the effect of, uh, I believe in Jesus, and I'm a good person. I've tried to live a good life. Friends, if you add an and, you have completely lost the gospel. There is no end. It is Jesus and him only, and his righteousness. And that is what Paul is trying to get us to see: the gift of Jesus for us, forgiveness of sins, and we get his complete righteousness that is credited to us as if it were our own. We should just stop there. But it gets better, actually. Look at number two, he pays the penalty. Verse 26 might be the most important verse in the entire letter of Romans. God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. That's very significant and very important for you to understand if you're a Christian this morning. Just and justifier. How can those things coexist? A judge doesn't let, a just judge doesn't let the guilty go free. And so how does this work? Paul has one answer, and it's actually one word, verse 25, propitiation. And I'm not trying to be overly academic, I can barely say the word. But it's a Bible word. It's in this text, and it's very significant and very important in the Bible, and important for the Christian to understand. It means turning away of God's wrath. God's wrath towards sin must be fully satisfied. It cannot just be dismissed and waved away. And this gets at the very heart of the question that a lot of people often ask: why did Jesus have to die? Why did he have to shed blood? Let me ask it another way. Why can't God just forgive sin and move on? I mean, that's what we do. We forgive our children or our spouse or a friend, and we just get on with the relationship. Why can't God do that? That's a great question. And let's look at the answer, and it starts with understanding justice. Let's pretend that this weekend you bought the car of your dreams, that you've been waiting for this car your entire life. You're finally at the point where you can buy it, and it is brand new, and you pull into the church parking lot, and after church, I am backing out, and I tear the whole side of your car completely out. And let's say the judge looks at you and says, What's the big deal? He didn't mean to do it. This is really no problem. How would you feel about that? You'd be furious. You would demand justice. Let's take it something more serious and a little bit deeper. Think about abuse. Think about betrayal. Think about the wounds that you've carried. Think about genocide and human trafficking and children who have been exploited by powerful people who have no consequences. What if God were to look at all of that and just say, eh, whatever? No big deal. If a judge did that, we would run them out of town. A God without justice isn't loving, he's indifferent. And so, yes, everybody wants a God of justice. All of us. But here's the problem. If God is truly just, you know what that means? That same justice comes to you. That same justice is applied to your life. And so then the question comes What do I do with my sin? What do I do with my abuse? The harm that I've caused. The evil in my life. You see, that's the question, isn't it? It has to be dealt with. Because God is a God of justice. His justice is real. His holiness is real. The penalty is real. And he can't just simply say, whatever, never mind, because that would make him a corrupt judge, the one we've said we do not want. And so back to the question now: how can God be just and justify the guilty? And the answer is the cross. It comes back to that word, propitiation. Every other religion in history tries to satisfy their gods. And they satisfy their gods by bringing their offerings and doing their rituals and trying to appease their angry deity in God. Paul is saying something completely different. Don't miss this. God satisfies his own wrath. That's at the very heart of this passage and what the gospel teaches us. Notice how Paul says that is done by his blood, not by a gesture, not by a prayer, not by a ritual, a death. Because Hebrews says, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. The penalty had a price and it had to be paid in full. He doesn't wait for us to satisfy him at infinite cost. He satisfies himself through the work of his son Jesus Christ. Imagine you're on trial for your life, and the evidence is overwhelming. You are silenced. You know how this is going to end. The prosecutor is done and sits down. The judge calls the defense and they're silenced. There is no one coming because there is no defense. You are guilty as charged. And then the judge does something. He stands up and he comes down from behind the bench and he steps down on the floor and he walks towards you and he looks at you and he says, I will stand with you. And he turns and he faces the court. And he doesn't plead your innocence. That can't be done. He looks and he says, The charges are just. Not an acquittal. Not a loophole. Not a technicality. Justice fully satisfied by the judge himself for you. That's the cross. God is just, the penalty is real and it gets paid. God is justifier. Guilty go free. Let me be clear, they don't cancel each other out. At the cross, they are both fully expressed in the same moment. Because the one absorbing the sentence and the one issuing it are the same person. It's been said, justice and grace don't just coexist. At the cross, they kiss. So what? What does that mean for you this morning? Two things we need to hear. We could say more, but let me mention two as way of application. One, stop being haunted by your past. Stop just being completely crushed every single day for the things that you've done and for the shame that you feel in your life. The punishment fell on Jesus, which means there is no more condemnation for you. And so when that shame arises in your life and comes at you, maybe this afternoon on the way home, maybe it's Monday morning or Tuesday morning, and that old voice tells you that God can't possibly still accept you and forgive you for what you have done. That is a lie. That is the accuser lying to you. The sentence has been served. You're not on trial anymore. That's what that means. The other thing is that you can stop being suspicious of God's love. That's hard, isn't it? Some of you have been hurt and had real injustice done to you, real wounds, and you are wondering, does God actually still care? Does God still love me? Maybe you've prayed for something your entire life and gotten nothing. Maybe you're carrying pain and suffering for so long that this idea of God's love just feels like a theory to you. Heard Sinclair Ferguson this week says, don't measure God's love by looking at how well your life is going. Measure God's love by looking at the cross. And if God was willing to absorb his own wrath and not spare his own son, do you really think he's indifferent to you now? He didn't shrug off your suffering. He died for it. Unless you believe in a God of judgment, you will never know how deeply God loves you. Lastly, and briefly, he presents our boasting. Look at verse 27. I love this. He explains what God's done. Paul has one final question. What does this do for human pride? And his answer is it completely destroys it. Look at verse 28. He tells us why. For the one who's justified is justified apart from the law, apart from not faith plus anything, faith alone, receiving what Christ has accomplished. Boasting isn't just bragging. Boasting is deeper. It's something that fundamentally defines you. Boasting is what gives you confidence and makes you feel like you matter in the world. So we boast in all sorts of things. We boast in our resources. We boast in our education. We boast in our family background, in our achievements, in our morality. And Paul says here the gospel dismantles all of that. Because if righteousness comes through our obedience, if it did, we could boast, but it doesn't. If it came through us, we would be the heroes of our rescue. But Jesus is the only hero. And we can only receive what he gives us as a gift. Therefore, there is no boasting. And so what does that mean? Well, it levels every distinction among us. Being Christian for 40 years, or maybe you trusted Christ yesterday. We stand before Christ and before God with the same righteousness, not different grades, different levels, the same perfect standing. That is the church. We are a community that is built not on what we have achieved, but what Christ has achieved for us. And it means that there is no room in the church for spiritual pride, no room for ranking or judging or comparing or looking down our noses at other people in superiority. And let me say a word to us about where we are now as a church. We are sitting about a month away from moving in to a beautiful new sanctuary. And it is truly beautiful. It is stunning. There's a danger. And the danger is that we can easily think that the impressiveness of that place somehow makes us impressive. Or somehow reflects on us that we've arrived, that we have it all together. We do not. We are still beggars trying to show other beggars where we have found bread in need of the gospel every single day. And if that building matters at all, it is because it becomes a place where all kinds of broken people, including us, discover the same gospel, the righteousness from God, not us and them, all of us standing at the foot of the cross every single week, equally dependent upon Jesus, that must be and has to be the heartbeat of this church moving forward. May God make it so. Midway through the tour, he actually broke down. And so he calls Rolls-Royce and he says, I have no idea what to do. I'm on the side of the road. I need some help. Where do I take my car? They say, Stay put. We're sending a mechanic on a helicopter to come and fix your car so that you can continue on with your trip. So that's what happens. The helicopter comes, fixes the Rolls-Royce. He continues his vacation. He gets home and he's thinking the entire time, what did this just cost me? So he writes a letter, Dear Rolls-Royce, I was on my trip, car broke down, you sent a mechanic. What do I owe you? A few weeks later, he gets a letter back. Dear sir, there is no record in any of our files that anything has ever gone wrong with the Rolls-Royce. The debt is real. That's why it's called the good news of the gospel. And that's what but now means. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this good news. Why we were still sinners, you came and you saved us. And for that we say thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen.