THE KING’S BUSINESS
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God, is accepted by God and is perfect, as is God’s own righteousness. This “right eousness of God” is ( 1 ) “Apart from the law,” i.e., our law keeping has nothing to do ’with it. (2) It is “through faith , in Jesus Christ.” All we have to do to secure this “righteousness of God” is simply to believe on Jesus Christ ,(cf. Acts 13:38, 39). The moment one thus believes on Jesus Christ that moment he has this “righteousness of God.” It is put to his account. (3) Furthermpre this righteous ness is “unto all them that believe.” No matter what a man may have done or been, the moment he believes on Jesus Christ “a righteousness of God” is his. God reckons him righteous just as He reckoned Abraham righteous when he believed God (cf. Gén. 15:6). There is no distinction among men in giving them the righteous ness of God when they believe for the all- sufficient reason that there is no distinction of men in their standing before God until they do believe, that is to say, they are all sinners. When any man is justified he is not justified on the ground of any merit he possesses, but he is justified simply and wholly "as a free gift of God’s unmerited favor, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Jesus Christ in His shed blood, was set forth by God as a means of appeasing God’s holy wrath at sin, i.e., our sin was “made to strike on Him (Isa. 53: 6 , Hebrew). The word translated “pro pitiation” in v. 25 means a means of appeasing.” Jesus Christ was set forth as “a means of appeasing” God’s holy wrath at sin for the purpose Of demonstrating God’s righteousness. There was need that God’s righteousness be dêmonstra.ted because sin had been passed over and no explanation given of the ground- upon which it-was passed over. Christ’s death waç the explanation God had given at last of why He had passed over sin in days gone by. God had not passed over sin in disregard of the claims of Divine law or the claims of His Owil.holiness, â satisfac tory propitiation had been provided from all eternity and was now historically man-
sin. Their “feet are swift” to run the wrong way. “The way of peace is not known to man until he is illuminated by the Holy Spirit and brought to an accept ance of Jesus Christ. We wonder at the present worldwide and appalling w ar. it is the natural outcome of what men are, .The way of peace have they not known.” Saturday, June 16 . Rom. 3 : 19 , 20 , Paul now comes directly to the point that he has had in view all the way from chapter 1 , verse eighteen, viz. that every man is a sinner before God and that there is no hope for him on the ground of any thing he has done or can do. The law will never justify him, for in order for a man to be justified by law he must keep the law perfectly (Gal. 3:10). The law demands perfect obedience and the moment that a man breaks the law at a single point, sal vation or justification by'law becomes an impossibility and as all men have sinned, all the law does for a man is to stop his mouth by showing him that he is a sinner; and that is the purpose for which God gave the law, to stop men’s mouths, to deliver them from their self-confidence and boast ing and to show them their need of a Saviour. By the law of God every mouth is stopped “and, all the world (is) brought under the judgment of God.” “By the works of the law” not one single individ ual “shall be justified in God’s sight.” All that comes to us through the law is “the knowledge of sin.” Sunday, June 17 . Rom. 3 : 21 - 26 . Paul in bringing out this absolutely hope less condition of every member of the human race outside of the grace that is in Jesus Christ has something ‘in view beyond the mere bringing man under con viction of sin, and this something beyond is .something unspeakably glorious. It is this, that while no righteousness of man’s own working is possible, there is something possible, that is vastly better, i.e., “a right eousness of God.” It is called “a right eousness of God” because it comes from
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