Justification by Faith

 Justified by Faith

May 19, 2025

Romans 3:21-26 - Justification by Faith

21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of theglory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul digs into a great mystery, justification by faith. It cut across the grain of Jewish theology which said that obedience to the law, Torah, was the be all and end all of the life of faith. Paul goes to great lengths to explain that the concept of grace was included in the Old Testament scriptures, even through the Scribes and Pharisees of that day didn’t teach that. Their teaching was that righteousness was only obtained by rigorous obedience to the hundreds of laws and proscriptions laid out in the Torah, plus the multitude of additional regulations that the rabbis had added over the years. They laid an impossible burden on the people. Paul is teaching a theology that liberates people form this burden. Jesus paid the price for disobedience to the law and having faith in Jesus allows the grace of God to work salvation and justification in the believer's life.  This is a great mystery and the working of this grace has been studies and debated over the years. This was notably a point of contention between Luther and the Catholic Church of his day. It is important to understand this,  but it is more important to believe if and live a life of faith, relying on the grace of God. It is a mystery, but the Lord gave us His Holy Spirit to guide us, so that we may know Him and His ways. So have faith in God and live by faith, and may the grace of God be with you today.