T H E
N E W
T E S T A M E N T
C O P Y R IG H T B Y W ILLIA M E V A N S
R OMA N S (Continued)
T N OUR previous study of this epistle we have considered: I. Sin—The Wrath of God—Man Destitute of God’s Righteous.- ness; Despair (1:18-3:20), comprising The Failure of the Gentiles (1:18-2:16); The Failure of the Jew (2:17-3:9) ; The Whole World, Jew and Gentile, Sinners before God and under the Divine Wrath (3:9-20). In our present lesson we will consider: II. JUSTIFICATION— THE RIGHTEOUS NESS OF GOD—HOPE (3:21- 5:21). How can a bad man be made good ? By showing him that he can become good in another—that is, in Jesus Christ. This section shows us how, a bad man may be made good, and how sinners may get from under the wrath of God and become recipients of the righteousness of God. If section I.—“Sin”—shows all men, irre spective of condition, to be alike under con demnation ; then section I I—“Justifica tion shows that all men alike may receive the righteousness of God, which will enable them to stand accepted in the judgment. I f all men need justification as they do (I.), then all men may have it (II.). The atonement is sufficient for all; it is efficient for those who believe and accept it. If there is no salvation by works of the law, there is salvation by the grace of God. Here we have set before us a new
way of life for all mankind: a by-faith-in- Christ righteousness, not a by-works-of- the-law righteousness. 1. The new way of life briefly described (3:21-31). Out from amid the silence of a guilty, and speechless world is heard the voice of God: “But now a righteousness of God without the law is manifested.” Here, in substance, is the new way of life for the fallen race. This new way is not heathen- istic (cf. 1:18-32) ; it is not moralistic (cf. 2:1-16); it is not Judaistic (cf. 2:17-3:8); it is theistic. It is not by conscience, ’by morality, or by religion, but by God’s appointed way: faith in the redemption pro cured by our Lord Jesus Christ. (a) God’s , plan o f salvation is clearly and concisely stated in 3 : 21 , 22 . It is a new way, a “by-faith,” not a “by- works” way. The message of God is not a gospel of despair, but of hope. It is God’s gospel, not man’s, and is of faith, not of self-righteous effort. No penitence, human merit, or good. works can earn salvation. There are no self-made men in heaven. Salvation does not come from law-keeping. (Galatians 2:16; 3:10, 11- James 2:10). That should be good news to us, for no living man can keep the law. The right- ousness which is required for acceptance in the judgment is not something which God demands from men, but something
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