The Most Important Paragraph Ever Written -- Paul's words in Romans 3:21-4:5
God has always had the same plan for our salvation.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Romans 3:21-4:5
In the most important paragraph ever written, Paul explains that the bad news is necessary to understand the good news -- yes, you are a sinner, and yes, that means you deserve damnation, and no, you can't do anything about that. But in Jesus, God offers you a way to be made right with Him; you just have to stop striving and trust in Jesus.
The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (3:22)
This post is written entirely by me, a human! (For better and for worse.)
From Our Last Time through Romans
Our last lesson on this topic was dated March 19, 2020. It's pretty short. That must have been when the lockdowns started and nobody knew what was going on.
Getting Started: Things to Think About
The Most Patient Person You Know
I'm intending this topic to be a pleasant way to say nice things about patient people, not to gripe about those who try their patience!
Who's the most patient person you know? How do they demonstrate patience? What do you think sets them apart from others?
This week, we're going to learn about God's patience with us. It should inspire us to be more patient with one another . . .
The Best Gift You've Received
I recommend a version of this every so often. It's a great topic that everyone has an answer for. I like bringing it back up because I think it's really interesting to see if a group member's favorite gift has changed since you last asked.
And if everybody just says the same thing as before, narrow it down to their favorite gift in the last 12 months. (Sheesh!)
In this week's passage, Paul introduces us to the greatest gift ever given. And in Paul's description, I hope we realize that God's gift to us in Jesus is so much more than we could possibly imagine.
The Most Important Paragraph in Human History
In my favorite Romans commentary (Leon Morris), Romans 3:21-26 is described as the most important paragraph written in all of history. (And Christian internet basically agrees.)
That . . . made me think.
Let's exclude the Bible for this one (because the answer is obviously in the Bible). What non-Bible paragraph do you think qualifies to be the most important paragraph ever written?
I'd say the first paragraph of our Declaration of Independence is pretty important. Gettysburg Address. One of the first paragraphs in The Art of War. Yeah, that's a tough question!
Natural Advantages
One last idea to spark your creativity. This one can devolve into a cesspool of petty jealousy if you're not careful, so watch how you frame this (if you use it).
What are areas in life where some people have real natural advantages? How do those advantages work?
For example, being tall is helpful for playing basketball. Having a famous father is helpful for getting into a line of work. Being born in America comes with myriads of advantages.
What advantages are you envious of? Do you wish you were a little bit taller? Why, and how has that envy affected your life?
In this week's passage, we're going to learn that for the one thing that eternally matters in your life -- whether or not you can be saved -- everyone is on a level playing field. Your height, weight, skin color, or nationality does not affect if you can be saved.
But Paul also wants his readers to know that if they were born into a Jewish home (in our case today, a Christian home), that's a blessing they should thank God for, because in that home, they were more likely to hear the truth about God (and now Jesus). Being told the gospel doesn't save you, but the more times a person hears the gospel, the more opportunity they have to listen to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
For many of us, that has happened simply because we were born or raised in the Bible Belt and grew up hearing about Jesus. We can look around us and know that that clearly doesn't save anybody. But that steady access to the gospel was certainly a key part of my own coming to Jesus.
Where We Are in Romans
It's time for the good news!
Last week, we wrapped up Paul's introduction to the gospel. I've been using the good ol' ABCs of salvation from Vacation Bible School to help frame this:
Admit to God that you're a sinner
Believe that Jesus is God's Son
Confess your faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord
I've wanted us to realize everything that's embedded in that first point:
God exists
God has the right to define sin
God has the power to condemn sin
You're a sinner
That's a lot.
I know some of you thought that Paul overdid it, but I want you to appreciate his task. On this side of the Bible, we realize that Paul was basically writing to every person who ever lived -- the worst heathen, the most law-abiding Jew, the devout follower of a religion in Asia who had never heard of Israel, the person who didn't believe in God, the person who devoutly worshiped one of the Roman pantheon, everyone. They all have to believe that there is only one God who can define and condemn sin. And they all have to beleive that they are all worthy of that condemnation.
That's why Paul was so careful in those first two chapters.
If you don't believe in God, if you don't believe in sin, then you won't care about salvation, and you certainly won't care about Jesus.
And that's where we will transition today.
A Couple of Points about 3:1-20
Growing Up in a Godly Family Is a Blessing
Some of Paul's Jewish readers would probably start to feel bad about themselves -- "if I'm a sinner and it doesn't matter if I know the law, then what's the big deal about being a part of 'God's people'?" What was the point of Moses and Israel?
I can put Paul's words in a modern Christian context. We talked about how being born into a devout Christian household doesn't make one a Christian. But does that mean there is no advantage to being born into a Christian household? Of course not! What a blessing to be born into a family who knows and loves God! Children in that family will hear the truths of the gospel more than just about anyone, and that means they will have more chances to respond to the gospel on their own.
So, yes, there was a blessing into being born into a Jewish family in Paul's day just as there is a blessing to being born into a Christian family today.
Paul takes it further. Who passes down the law and the traditions through the generations? God's people! Children who are born into a family of God's people -- whether they believe it for themselves or not -- are a part of the history of preserving God's word for the next generation. It might not benefit them directly, but it will benefit those around them.
But Paul still wants to make it clear to his readers -- you might have the blessing of growing up in a devout home, but that doesn't make you right with God. In other words, your parents might have taken you to church every week of your life, but if you have not made a personal confession of faith in Jesus, it will do you no good when you stand in judgment before God after your death.
Paul Isn't Making This Up
Finally, there's a series of Old Testament quotes in 3:10-18. This is very important to Paul. He wants everyone (especially his Jewish readers) to know that he isn't making any of this up. This is all clearly spelled out in the Old Testament for anyone to see -- if they have the eyes to see it. Paul, a Christian empowered by the Holy Spirit, now has those eyes. And he wants to share these amazing insights with the church in Rome.
Anyway, Paul is wrapping up his "Admit to God that you're a sinner" section and is about to transition to the "Believe that Jesus is God's Son" section. Of course, Paul isn't leaving things on an 8-yr-old's level. The more he's learned about what Jesus accomplished on the cross, the more amazed he becomes with God's plan of salvation.
This Week's Big Idea: The Romans Road
I'll bring this section back every so often this quarter. The more comfortable we are with a gospel presentation, the better!
I've shared this summary video from GotQuestions before:
Essentially, you just walk someone through the basic truths of the gospel entirely from the book of Romans. What's the point? It's always good when you can show a person what you're saying. One, it helps them know that you're not making it up, and two, it might be the first time they're read from the Bible.
The presentation is rather simple, and you'll notice in your own research that not everyone does it exactly the same. There are a lot of great verses in Romans, and some people want to share more or different one. For my part, I appreciate the value of keeping things concise, not always knowing how much time you'll have.
You do want to say the verse references and even give that person a "gospel tract" that has everything written down so that they can find it for themselves if they want to.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.
Romans 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
We're going to talk about these verses in future lessons, so I don't want to put the cart before the horse. There are some big concepts in there -- sin, eternal life, righteousness, Jesus, etc. -- that you can't assume the person you are talking to will understand. This is why we study the Bible!
Tips for a gospel presentation:
Pray! Pray that God will give you an opportunity to share the good news about Jesus with someone who needs to hear it. Pray that God will keep you from sin so that your witness will not be overshadowed by your hypocrisy.
Memorize! These are great verses, and you should commit them to memory. I think it's preferable to have a Bible that you can share, and of course there are plenty of "gospel presentation apps" available for you to download. But you don't want to have to rely on those things if you happen to be somewhere without your phone or a Bible.
Look! If you pray for opportunities to share the gospel, you should know that God will give you those opportunities. Keep your eyes open. We could spend a lot of time talking about how to do that, but that will have to be for another day.
Part 1: God's Plan for Our Salvation (Romans 3:21-26)
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
I mentioned above that Leon Morris calls this the most important paragraph ever written. So, no, we aren't going to do it justice!
"But now" is one of Paul's favorite transitions. Things are looking bad, we're on the wrong track, "but now" or "but God". We can't save ourselves, but God has a plan.
And that plan is not for us to work our way into heaven by obeying the law. That phrase alone sparked so much controversy in Paul's Jewish audience and raised so many questions -- "then why did God give the law?" "what's the value of the law?" "should we reject the law?" -- that Paul will answer later in this letter. But right now, Paul is focused on the implication of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
There are two really complex Greek concepts in vv. 21-22:
"the righteousness of God" and
"the faith of Jesus Christ" (translated here as "faith in Jesus Christ")
"The righteousness of God" could mean "God's righteousness" -- as in, Jesus' coming demonstrates that God has rightly acted in accordance with His justice, holiness, and mercy. Or it could mean "the righteousness that comes from God" -- as in, everyone who believes in Jesus is made right with God or receives Jesus' righteousness.
"The faith of Jesus Christ" could mean "the faithfulness of Jesus Christ" (or "God's faithfulness shown in Jesus Christ") -- as in, God's faithfulness to the promise He made to Abraham, and Jesus' faithfulness to God's plan to fulfill this promise, is the reason why people now have access to salvation. It could also mean "the faith that we are supposed to have in Jesus" -- as in, God restores a right relationship with everyone who believes that Jesus Christ His Son made their salvation possible by dying for their sins.
That's pretty thick.
There are plenty of places in Romans where Paul clearly uses the first phrase to mean "the righteousness that comes from God" and the second phrase to mean "our faith in Jesus Christ". That's how the Lifeway material takes it, and they're certainly not wrong.
But Leon Morris makes a pretty astounding case that Paul means all of it. Paul intentionally used a phrase that could be understood in many different ways because they're all true. If you have the time, think about salvation in terms of the different ways you might understand the phrases "the righteousness of God" and "the faith of Jesus Christ".
But I digress!
Paul, over and over again, wants his audience to understand that he isn't making any of this up. This is all clearly spelled out in the Old Testament if we would just slow down and read it with the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
And more importantly, Jesus didn't make any of this up. Everything He said and did was in keeping with the Old Testament. In other words, there has always only been one plan of salvation -- Jesus' crucifixion, which provides salvation for everyone who believed in Him.
Notice the word "through" in verse 22. "The righteousness of God" now in the sense of "our right standing with God" is not earned or worked for, it is given. We obtain our right relationship with God through our faith, not because of our faith. It's a fine line that Paul walks carefully because he's writing to people who have likely thought that they were supposed to earn whatever salvation they hoped for. But salvation is a free gift that cannot be earned! Language fails us here, but the point is that Paul wants us to be on guard against the trap that salvation can somehow be earned.
Romans 3:23 is the famous verse, but we've spent two weeks talking about that. Paul's use of "the glory of God" is interesting -- it seems to point us all the way to Adam and Eve; God created them to share in His glory in Eden, but Adam sought his own glory instead and thus cut off future humanity from that glory.
I want to focus on 3:24 and the massive concepts therein:
"justified" -- the famous phrase is "just as if I'd never sinned" which is a valuable learning tool. It's important for us to realize, though, that Paul isn't saying that saved people had never sinned! Being "made righteous" doesn't mean "made virtuous"; it means being made "right with God". In the legal sense, it means to be acquitted of charges. But it's not because we aren't guilty! It's because Jesus has already paid the penalty of our guilt.
"redemption" -- this word had several uses in the ancient world: payment for the release of prisoners of war; payment for the freeing of a slave; and payment for the release of a prisoner under sentence of death. (Important note: Paul never suggests who the price is paid to! Some have strangely said that Jesus was a price paid to Satan, but Satan has never had that kind of power. Instead, we can think of it as God satisfying His own holiness or justice.)
Paul has smashed two of the most important images for salvation into one verse. "Justification" is a legal image -- after death, people will stand before God the Judge and answer for their "crimes" against Him. They are all guilty and deserve hell. But Jesus has earned their acquittal. "Redemption" is a market image -- all people are slaves or prisoners of sin under a sentence of death; only the highest price could be paid to obtain their release. Jesus paid that price for us.
So, which one is it?
We're going to learn in Romans that salvation cannot be simplified. Salvation is such an incredible thing that no one word or concept can do it justice.
Don't be intimidated by that. Be amazed by it.
Why did God do this?
grace
mercy
patience
Grace reminds us that we do not deserve salvation. We have not earned it. God gave it to us graciously -- and out of mercy. If "grace" means "giving us what we don't deserve", then "mercy" means "not giving us what we do deserve" (thanks Veggietales!)
But why and how?
Paul explains this in verse 25, and it gets deep really quick. If God is holy, how can He release sinners from their rightly-earned prison? If God is just, how can He acquit sinners from their rightly-earned sentence?
The CSB says that God presented Jesus as "the mercy seat"; the NIV here says "the sacrifice of atonement"; the KJV famously says "propitiation". The best word is probably "propitiation", but no one today knows what that means, which is why modern translations search for a different word of concept. At its heart, "propitiation" means "to turn away wrath". The Greek word Paul uses is hilasterion, which can refer to a sacrifice or to the place where that sacrifice was made.
Modern translations emphasize the "sacrifice" part of this word. The CSB above uses "mercy seat" because once a year, the high priest sprinkles the blood of the Passover lamb on the ark of the covenant, symbolizing the payment made for sin that year (innocent blood) (and at least once in the Greek Old Testament, this word is used to describe the cover of the ark).
But Morris argues that Paul wasn't focused on the sacrifice -- he was focused on why the sacrifice was made. Jesus died to turn away the wrath of God from our sin.
That is not popular in the modern, liberal world. Many in-name Christians refuse to accept that God judges sin; they want a God who loves and approves everyone.
But for God to be true to Himself, He must punish sin. Why? Because sin infuriates Him -- sin damages or destroys the good creation He gave us, and sin harms His favorite creation: us! God's justice demands that sin is punished. God's holiness demands that He remand separated from that sin. So where does that leave sinful humans? In real trouble.
Enter Jesus. We'll talk a lot about Jesus this quarter. For now, help your group see this starting point: Jesus' sacrifice on the cross turned away God's wrath from us that we earned through our sin.
The Greek behind "by His blood, through faith" is literally "faith of His blood", which is a strange phrase. We are nowhere else told to have faith in Jesus' blood. And Jesus' blood does not have faith. The CSB has it right -- propitiation is effected (1) through faith, and (2) through Christ's blood (sacrifice).
Verses 25-26 introduce another critical truth of salvation. The phrase can be interpreted two ways: what about sins we committed before we became a Christian? And, what about sins committed before Jesus was even born?
The solution is the same for both: God's patience / forbearance / restraint. There is one plan for salvation: faith in Jesus. That plan reached back to Abraham who had faith in God and was saved, even though he did not know who Jesus was or how God would save him.
In other words, the Old Testament saints were saved because they had faith in God's plan to save them, even if they didn't know the details. And here's where things get controversial (and above my pay grade) -- this must also be true of non-Jews. We live in a world where people say that anyone who "sincerely" believes in their religion will be saved. That's not true; Paul is very clear that there is only one way to be saved. But Paul seems to be suggesting that the person who does not have access to the Bible but believes there is a one true God, believes that they are separated from that one true God because of their own sin, and believes that God must have made a way to forgive them of that sin, they will be saved. But Paul is very clear that you have to have faith in Jesus (specifically and uniquely). I interpret this to mean that God will send every person who rightly desires this salvation access to the gospel, be that through a missionary or another Christian. But like I said, this is way above my pay grade.
There is only one way to be saved -- through faith in Jesus. We'll talk more about what exactly that means in the weeks ahead.
Part 2: One Plan of Salvation (Romans 3:27-31)
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith. 28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
So, it concerns me that I have written the equivalent of an entire post and are just now getting to the second point. I'd be okay with spending your entire group time on the previous point, but you should really save some time for the rest of this.
Paul spells out some things that make his previous paragraph easier to understand. and begging your pardon, but I'm going to speed up through these last two points.
If every Christian has been freely saved by grace through the merciful act of God, then no one has anything to boast about. This is important to Paul. In his previous identity as the "Jew of Jews", he took great pride in everything he "did for God". He knew the subtle pull of ego -- "I'm saved because God loves me more than you". Salvation by grace removes all boasting. And a person who does not boast understands grace.
Paul helps us unpack the implication of there being only one God. If there is only one God, then He is the God of everyone -- He is not "just" the "God of the Jews". Indeed, the Jews were astonishingly selfish to believe that they could claim God for themselves.
Paul realizes this means that God must reveal Himself to the entire world and that Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient to pay the price for the sins of the entire world. This is why the gospel must be taken to the entire world. This is why every church should reach out to all of their neighbors. In the early church, the biggest bugaboo was predominantly Jewish churches reaching out to Gentiles. Soon enough, it became Gentile churches reaching out to Jews or barbarians. Paul's words here inspired many of the early missionaries to go to people who spoke different languages, who had different religious beliefs, and who had different moral codes. There is one God; there is one salvation; we must tell everyone!
Whether or not a person is circumcised (and by this Paul basically distinguishes Jew and Gentile), they are saved by faith.
Part 3: The Proof of Abraham (Romans 4:1-5)
1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. 4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.
Abraham is Paul's winning argument. Frankly, it properly frames everything about the law of Moses. Long story short: Abraham lived before God gave the law to Moses. So, how could Abraham be justified by God if one has to obey the law to be justified?
To Paul, it's simple. Abraham was justified by faith. (And something that we have since realized is also super-important: faith is not a work.)
Paul cites Genesis 15:6:
4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one [Ishmael] will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
God made a promise to Abraham; Abraham trusted God (had faith in God). And thus God granted Abraham righteousness.
"Is credited as" points to a financial image. Many people think that when they die, they will stand before God and find out "if their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds".
But really, Paul is telling us that the only thing that matters on that metaphorical scale is if we are right with God when we die.
Being right with God is something that only God can grant to us. And God will only grant it to us if we believe in Jesus. (Again, we'll talk about exactly what that means in the weeks to come.)
Abraham's righteousness was given to him, which means that his faith did not earn it. Faith is not a work. Here, Paul basically says that faith is the absence of work. Every other religion (all of which are manmade) involves some sort of work, some sort of act that justifies them to their god. But Christianity -- the "religion" that comes out of what Jesus said and did -- was given to us by God. Everything about our salvation is a gift.
So, we have the beginning of the good news.
You would rightly say, "This doesn't seem to line up with the ABCs."
Admit to God that you're a sinner.
Believe that Jesus is God's Son.
Paul seems to be saying something like
Believe that God justified you through your faith in Jesus and what He achieved by His sacrifice of atonement which turned away God's wrath to your sin thus making you righteous before God.
Look, cut the VBS people some slack. Two things here: (1) Paul will very soon make a big deal about the fact that Jesus is the Son of God; and, (2) even in VBS we're supposed to explain what it means that Jesus is God's Son!
I guess you could end with this -- what does it mean that Jesus is God's Son? Why is that important?
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