Justification by Faith

Scripture: Romans 3:9-31
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:17 And the way of peace have they not known:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Observation: The Apostle Paul here makes the point that he has been leading up to for three chapters, that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone ... both the Jew and the Gentile the same. This is a pillar in the understanding of Christianity, and Paul takes great care, as he was trained as a lawyer, laying out the tenets of this important statement of our faith. Paul first established that we all have sinned, and that we cannot be justified by ourselves or by the law. Then he concludes that we must only be justified by faith in Jesus Christ and in there doing, we have made the law a reality.


Application: Jesus paid for our sins with his life. God himself allowed himself to die a horrible death to become the payment for our wrongdoings, past present and future. However, we are created in God's image and we, like God, make our own choices. We can choose to accept what God did for us, or we can chose to ignore or not believe it. And so, it is when we choose to believe it, faith in Jesus, that we are then made right with God and our ransom is paid. This is Christianity, that God loved us, and paid our ransom with his own life.


Prayer: Thank you father that you are our God. Thank you that you love us. Thank you that you gave your life for ours. Let us know acknowledge and put our trust in you alone. Amen.