Romans 3:21-24 - Bible 2000

Romans 3:21-24

Jed Sparks

Bible 2000

03/27/2012

The book of Romans is believed to be the last of letters written by the Apostle Paul. Martin Luther once said that "If Romans is a little New Testament, then Romans 3:21-26 is a little Romans (Dockery). Many have also compared the book of Romans to a last will and testament of Paul. The letter was written to Gentile Christians in Rome, who Paul had never met, around the year 60 AD. The book marks a major change in the times. Up to this point, God's relationship with man was based on the law, sacrifice for sins, and forgiveness; leaving man to sin again and start the whole process over. Paul presents that the relationship with God is based on faith in Jesus and his righteousness made us perfection in God's eyes. The other major implication that came with this was that the chosen people were not just Abraham's decedents, the Nation of Israel, but they were all men of faith. Part of the reason that Paul wrote this letter was to address the tension between the Gentile Christians in and the Jewish-Christians in Rome.

Romans 3:21-24 "But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (The New Oxford Annotated Bible, 2007). There are 5 major elements to this passage that mark a major change. Paul presents that we are now apart from the law, that righteousness comes thru faith, that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, that all have sinned, and that we are justified by grace through the redemption of Jesus Christ. To the people of this time this represented a major shift, especially to the Jews. In many ways the message of grace was easier to comprehend by Gentiles. The Jews had had centuries of living under the Law of Moses, and even though a messiah was prophesied, it was difficult for them to truly believe. Their whole culture was based around two central concepts. One, that Abraham's decedents, the Jews, were God's chosen people. They thought of God's chosen people as an earthly nation. Paul is now saying that God's chosen people were all people who accepted Jesus as the son of God thru faith. Secondly, the Jews had for centuries lived under the Law of Moses. The Law was based on a person's ability to live a Godly life by not breaking the law. Physical sacrifices and religious ceremonies were at the heart of the Jewish experience. Now, Paul asserts, God's relationship with man was dependent upon faith and redemption was dependent on God's righteousness and not the hopeless cycle of deeds, sin, sacrifice, and forgiveness over and over again. A very good analogy for this passage was presented in Nuggets of Wisdom by Mark Horowitz "Imagine God's glory as an island in the distance and our righteous acts determine how far we can jump towards the island. A 'really good person' may be able to jump ten feet while a 'big time sinner' may only jump a few inches. Neither person can reach the island. Christ died for one as well as the other." This message, this shift, was so great