Romans 3:19-27 Why Should We Be Assured of Salvation?

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Why Should We Be Assured of Salvation?

Romans 3:19-27

Introduction: When considering our salvation, I find the way Satan works on the minds of humans extremely interesting. Here’s what I mean: we have a world of people who are absolutely confident of their salvation even though they know very little about the Bible or what Jesus requires of a disciple. Most have this confidence because they have created their own standard of “living a good life” and then concluded that their “goodness” is the basis for salvation.

On the other hand, we Christians recognize that we have sinned and do sin and fall short of God’s glory. We believe that our only hope of salvation is in Jesus and that there is no hope outside of him. However, Satan works on our minds. It seems that our knowledge of the seriousness of our sins continues to weigh on our minds. We know God expects us to do better than we do! Therefore, can he, and will he save us? Yes, he says he can and will. But how can that be! 

We have talked a lot about God’s promises. This lesson is not a repeat of that. This lesson is, how could he possibly do that? In other words, what is the mechanism that makes it possible? You see, you and I simply cannot accept the idea that God would just say, “Don’t worry about it, Jesus died, I will save you.” Nope. That won’t suffice. That does not give me confidence. And that’s why God didn’t do it that way; he explained himself in great detail on the “how.” 

This will be our focus of our mini-series. Romans will be our text.

1. The Recognition that I Am Without Hope: 3:19-20
   1. Do you remember the times in your life when you were caught red-handed doing what you shouldn’t have done? Do you remember the feeling in your stomach and chest, the flush of your face? You have no explanation. You have no excuse. You did it, you can’t change it or make up for it, and now you must suffer the consequences. It is a moment of absolute helplessness.
   2. Verses 19-20 are Paul’s conclusion of 2 ½ chapters convincing us that we have been caught red-handed (over and over and over again) sinning against our Creator, and there is absolutely, positively nothing we can do about it! 
   3. Further, Paul gives the reason that our hopelessness is true: the law wasn’t given in order to convince you that you could keep it and be saved. It was given to show you and convince you that you have sinned and do sin. That was its purpose. But what did we do? Oh, we looked at the law and said, “I can do that.” Or, we at least said, “I can do that good enough.” Remember the rich ruler? – “What good thing can I do…” He expressed what we have all thought at one time or another.
   4. You might not initially think so, and it seems counter-intuitive, but you will never be assured of your salvation unless you know that God does not expect that you will live in such a way that he would say, “Well, okay, I will grant you mercy.” You are not God, and you will never live up to his requirements to be considered righteous. Listen to it: “There is none righteous, no not one!” Romans 3:10.
2. “But Now, Apart from the Law…” 3:21-27
   1. 21: “But now the righteousness of God has been made known apart from the law, although the Law and the prophets bear witness to it”: 
      1. But now – that is, God has now made something known that formerly had been foretold but was unknown as to how God would accomplish it. In other words, God had foretold a reversal of the Garden curse so that the world could be blessed. But how God would do that was unknown. 
      2. The righteousness of God has been made known apart from the law: 
         1. The righteousness of God refers to God’s faithfulness to his promises (1:17). That God would be faithful to his promises is not the issue. The question is, how he would be faithful.
         2. Paul announces that God’s righteousness/faithfulness comes apart from the law. That is, though the law and the prophets testified about it, God’s way of fulfilling the promises of saving/blessing man was not and is not through the law. 
         3. To say that it is not through the Law is intended to make a strong point to the Jews, but not to the Jews only. It makes a strong point to the whole world and to us with our problem of assurance. “Law” is the same as “works of the law” in verse 19. Thus, God’s eternal plan for salvation was never through man’s “good deeds” in obedience to God’s laws. That’s hard to accept, isn’t it?
   2. 22: “The righteousness of God is given through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile” (NET, KJV, NIV, margin).
      1. Through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ – the question is, how would God fulfill his promises to bless the whole world? It would be through what Jesus did; the faithfulness of Jesus (not through our faith (ESV, etc.) or our faithfulness, but through Jesus’ faithfulness).
         Do you remember when God said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”? Israel had been called God’s son, but they had failed according to the Law. Therefore, God presents his Son, who will not fail, and lead “many sons to glory” (Heb. 2). 
      2. Therefore, God fulfills his promises through what Jesus did, but the only ones who can access the blessings of the promise are “all who believe.” That being said, Paul concludes, “there is no distinction” between Jew and Gentile.
   3. 23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The reason there is no distinction is because all are under condemnation because of sin. Therefore, no one can obtain the blessing of God’s promises any other way but by trusting in the faithfulness of Jesus. 
   4. 24: And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus – Paul offers three explanations for how God has shown his righteousness:
      1. Justified (a court term causing us to see the eventual final verdict). This justification happens freely – it is not deserved or paid for by us in any way – it is a pure gift. 
         1. It is by his grace (first mention of grace since 1:5, 7, but will dominate the text of chapters 5-6). 
         2. Grace is a power-packed word that carries the meaning of the entire story of God’s love since the very beginning of time, “active in Christ and the Spirit to do for humans what they could not do for themselves.” (N.T. Wright)
         3. And by the way, notice this is God’s gift. Jesus did not beg a wrathful God not to destroy us.
      2. Redemption: 
         1. The word immediately points to slavery, slaves who have been “bought back” and freed. Isaiah is filled with these pictures in the Messiah (Isa. 49:11ff). 
         2. But there is more. When a Jewish reader would hear redemption, the entire story would come into view. They would think of Egypt, of Passover, the Red Sea, wilderness wanderings, and the Promised land. The word is a breath of fresh air. It is a new exodus! – explained more fully in chapters 5-8.
         3. Do you remember the covenant promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-15? “Your offspring will be slaves in a land that is not theirs…but I will bring judgment on the nation and they shall come out with great possessions.” That is redemption. It is a picture of being rescued. 
      3. In the Messiah, Jesus: In Isaiah 49:3, when God introduced the “servant-messiah,” he said, “The Lord called me from the womb…and he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’” 
         1. God called Jesus “Israel.” Jesus became what Israel, the nation and what we could never have attained. He is the true Israelite who would lead “Israel” to become everything God wanted. 
         2. Isaiah 49:6, God said that he would make Jesus “a light for the nations, that my salvation my reach to the end of the earth.” And when Jesus bursts on the scene and gives his manifesto of the kingdom, he said, “You are the light of the world.” Jesus, the true Israelite, in whom God was pleased, has now produced a whole nation of true Israelites in whom God is pleased. Galatians 6:16, “And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.” 
   5. 25-26: Whom God presented as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood…he did this to demonstrate his righteousness…it was to show his righteousness at the present time…” (NIV
      1. You will notice Paul’s repetition of why God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement. In other words, Paul wants to highlight the fact that the reason for Jesus’ sacrifice is to demonstrate and show his righteousness [faithfulness to his promises to bless and save]. 
      2. When you see the words, in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins,” Paul is justifying God in that he did not immediately condemn these people eternally. He justified Abraham, Moses, and David, etc. How could he justly do this? Jesus was set forth as a sacrifice of atonement. 
      3. Sacrifice of atonement: What would the Jewish reader think when he heard those terms? First, Passover would come to mind. Further, when John the Baptist came on the scene, he announced, “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And Leviticus 16 would immediately come to mind and the day of atonement. [Lev. 16:16 LXX, “make atonement for”. Same word Paul uses.] Cf. 2 Cor. 5:21, margin–“For our sake he made him to be a sin offering so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 
      4. Therefore, verse 26, God wanted us to know that our salvation was not based on something he did unjustly, that is, simply announcing our forgiveness. Jews needed to know, and we needed to know, why Jesus’ sacrificial death was so important. Without it, God would be unjust. He cannot justify without a proper basis for it, and he foreshadowed it throughout Leviticus. God is announcing that he paid a price to redeem us, to ransom us so that he could justly justify us. 
      5. Therefore, to what extent did God go in order to justify his free gift of grace toward us? We can’t think of anything higher than what he did. 
3. Conclusion: Verse 27
   1. “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith.”
   2. This text is a critical and appropriate conclusion. Anyone want to boast in how well you have obeyed God or served God? Anyone want to talk about the “good life” you have lived and therefore you know you are saved? No, no. That is excluded. Why? Because God did it through the faithfulness of Jesus. It was nothing you did.
   3. Now, what about WHY you should be assured of your salvation? Though God is not done with his explanation, this is the foundation. The “why” we should be assured is that it has nothing to do with us!! We didn’t live good enough for it. We didn’t demonstrate our worthiness to him so that he would bless us. And further, he has been screaming at us – you sin! You have sinned and you do sin, and none of you are righteous or good. No worries. I ransomed you. I sent a faithful Israelite so you could all be faithful Israelites and I could show my faithfulness. 
   4. Consider that these verses reveal God’s faithfulness and commitment to the whole human project.
   5. Now what did God intend for that to do for you? It has freed you to love him and give your life for him! No more bondage! Only the love of God and love for him.