Monday, May 29, 2017

JUST so we're Clear - Rom. 3:27-31

I’m going to be really honest about how I felt concerning last week’s message. About halfway through the sermon I could sense that all of us, including myself, were becoming a bit overwhelmed by the material. I was rushing to get through it all and I could tell that I was losing some of us in the room. Add to that discussions on words like “propitiation” and other heavy doctrinal considerations and it made for a really dense morning that I might sure was altogether clear (the fault is all mine). Romans 3:19-26 is a heavy passage that, when I have the chance to preach it again, deserves to be broken up into two smaller passages that each deserves their own message. As I considered how I might remedy the situation and reiterate/clarify what I said last week, I began to read on in Romans and discovered that Paul probably felt the same way I did after he wrote what I preached on last week. Why would I believe this? Because in verses 3:27-31, Paul pauses to ask and answer four questions that were probably on the hearts and minds of many in his audience after they interacted with the heavy material just presented. Hopefully in this passage we can obtain the clarity that Paul’s original audience sought about justification as defined earlier. 


1) Of What Can I Boast?-3:27a

The first question that is hypothetically posed to Paul is “Where, then, is boasting?...” (3:27a). This question betrays the tendency that many have of believing that they ultimately drive their fate, even in spiritual issues. Such a tendency was especially prevalent among the Jews who had developed entire systems that were designed to measure one’s righteousness—adhering to the law, customs, traditions, festivals, etc. However, the Gentiles were not immune from such measures also. Even to this day people morally judge others based on any number of outward expressions—the quality of their family, income, material possessions, level of education, etc. Truly all people make the mistake of assuming that they can justify themselves on some level based on performance. If this were true, people would have grounds for pride and be able to say something to the effect of “Look what I’ve accomplished” or “Look how good I’m behaving” or worse “Look what I have done to fix myself.”
If what Paul said in vv. 19-26 was true—i.e. that justification is by faith and not by living up to some kind of standard—it was hard to see where the room was for feeling proud of oneself. This motivates the first question—“Where, then, is boasting?” or “What can I then be proud of?”

Paul’s answer is as short as it is sharp—“It is excluded” (3:27b). In other words, there is no room for personal braggadocio in God’s plan of redemption.  Why? Because Jesus, not the individual has done everything to make salvation available, apply salvation to the individual, and see that salvation is accomplished. Jesus is the one who perfectly upheld the law when humans could not. Jesus is the one who was offered up as a satisfaction for sin when no other was worthy. Jesus is the one who conquered death when all other efforts proved futile. As a result, if anyone is able to brag, it is He!

Ephesians 2:8-9-“For by grace are you saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is a gift, not of works lest any man should boast.”

If we want to understand justification properly we have to appreciate that it is not designed to bolster our resume, pad our ego, or to give us any sense of self-righteousness over others. God’s program of justification, and therefore salvation, gives the human person no room to boast in themselves.

2) What Kind of Law should I be most Concerned About?-3:27c-28

From the time that I 5 to when I graduated high school I took piano lessons. During these years I was taught by four different women who all had their own influence on my development as a musician. However, none had a greater influence than Gayle Dobbs—my latest piano teacher. When I began attending lessons with her, I learned that while I was already relatively accomplished for a middle-school aged musician, I was playing the piano all wrong. My posture was poor, fingering sub-par, and I had a nasty habit of reading what I wanted to the music to say rather than what was actually on the page. Needless to say, after years of endorsing bad habits, these tendencies were not easy to break. 
The same appears to be true of those to whom Paul was writing. After believing that they had some say so in their own righteousness through their adherence to the law or their consciences, it proved difficult for Paul to instruct them toward a more appropriate way of living. This lingering dependence on the law for righteousness by many in Paul’s audience is betrayed in the next question that they pose: “What Kind of Law should I be most concerned about?”

“By what kind of law? Of Works?” (3:27c). Other variations of this question that would communicate what is meant here might include the following: “What do I need to do?” “What rules must I follow?” or “What regulations, if followed, will get me closest to God?” However, all of these variations are more in keeping with the old, tired, religious tradition that Jesus turned on its head. This inquiry is totally missing the point that Paul made in verses 19-26.

In his answer, Paul plays along but then offers an entirely new (that is new to many in his audience) paradigm to consider—“No, but by a law of faith” (3:27d). In a brilliant example of contextualization, Paul says “If it is a law or standard you are looking for, here it is: faith!” Paul is hoping that his audience might learn to be as focused on their faith in God as they were their adherence to God’s law. Why? Because ultimately faith in Jesus is what justification/salvation is all about—not works.

Paul helps explain this by giving them the cliffs notes version of what he already said in verses 19-26—“for we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (3:28). The verb that Paul uses—“maintain”—means to think about something in a detailed and logical manner. Here, Paul calls the reader to really think about what he has been saying for some time now logically so that he or she might reach the same conclusion that he has on this matter.

First, God is absolutely holy and as such cannot tolerate any sin whatsoever. Human beings, no matter how closely they follow the letter of the law of God, fall short. Though they might work, improve, and follow orders (the law either written or internalized) as best they can, they still fall short of this standard. Something else, something miraculous must take place in order for people to be made right before God. This leads to the second consideration: Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth as God made flesh, lived out the law perfectly (unlike everyone before or after him) and was then offered up as punishment for sins. God’s holiness was satisfied in punishing Christ instead of human beings, giving imperfect people the ability to have a relationship with a holy God. This leads to the third consideration—justification through faith. If sinful people place faith in a perfect Christ, Christ’s righteousness will be conferred upon them, thereby providing salvation. Works are not involved and the law is not a major factor. In fact, as mentioned earlier, the law only reveals sin—it doesn’t fix the problem (see 3:20).

To the question “what law should I be most concerned about?” Paul says “be concerned about faith!”

3) Is This Program for Me?-3:29-30

I imagine all of this talk of the law in this letter to the church at Rome could have made it seem as though the Gentiles were left out. After all, Gentiles had not received a formal law from God. This may have prompted a question that Paul endorses here for the sake of clarity—“Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentile’s also?” (3:29). A crude paraphrase of this might read “is this program for me?”

Paul answers with “Yes, of Gentiles also…” (3:29b). Justification by faith, in other words, was not just a correction for the Jews, but a promise for anyone who would believe—Jew and Gentile alike. The hope that comes from Jesus alone is not reserved for a specific ethnic group—it is available to all kinds of people.

To help make this point, Paul recalls a discussion he had earlier about a practice that separated the Jews from the rest of the world—“…since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one” (3:30). Remember what Paul said earlier:

Romans 2:28-29-“For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”

In other words, God is not as concerned about outward symbols and genetic heritage as much as he is about the condition of one’s heart and the direction of one’s faith. Jew and Gentile, circumcised and uncircumcised are not the distinctions one ought to be concerned with. All are either lost or saved and all have the opportunity to be saved through faith. God’s program of salvation is the same for everyone. This program is for you, for me, and for all the world. 

4) Is the Law Irrelevant?-3:31

If all people cannot boast in the law, should be more concerned about faith, then is the law relevant anymore? This is the fourth question that Paul entertains in this passage—“do we then nullify the Law through faith?” (3:31a). The word “nullify” means to render ineffective or obsolete and this question very nearly asks that if Jesus has interrupted the paradigm of justification to this degree, can’t the law just be thrown out? I’m sure there were some looking for license to do all kinds of things now that following the law didn’t seem to score any points with God.

However, Paul answers “May it never be! On the Contrary, we establish the law.”
Though Paul does not yet elaborate on how justification by faith actually upholds the law here, he does argue very strongly that even though following the law does not save, it should not be thrown out entirely. After all, consider what Paul says in Romans 8:3-4.

Romans 8:3-4-“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The Law is compelling as it is a standard of righteousness—the very standard of righteousness that Jesus Himself fulfilled perfectly. However, the Law is also compelling as it reveals just how in need of Jesus people are. In people’s pursuit of upholding it and failing to keep it, they learn about their need for Jesus. What could be more important than that! Sounds like a good reason to keep it around.

To the question “Is the law Irrelevant?” Paul says, “No, it tells us we are not perfect and points us to the one who is.” Both of these are important uses of the law.

So What?

The questions Paul answers in this passage clarify a great deal about the important doctrine of justification. First, because Jesus has accomplished everything on our behalf, we cannot boast. Second, people ought to be more concerned about faith than they are the law (after all, why worry about something that cannot save you?). Third, justification through faith is the same for all people everywhere. Finally, though the law cannot save us, it reminds us that we need saving and points us to the Savior.

In response to what we’ve learned, perhaps I might conclude by asking a few questions of us.

Have you convinced yourself that you can save yourself by working hard and putting on a good face?

Are you more concerned about following a set of rules than you are resting in the arms of Jesus?


If your answer is “yes” to either of these, please know that Jesus has provided justification freely. All one must do is place their complete faith in Him rather, not in themselves, and quit striving and know that He is God. 

No comments:

Post a Comment