- Righteousness
by Faith
- Articles on Romans
- By E. J. Waggoner
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- Article 3
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Introduction
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- It is not really correct to say that we
have finished the study of these two chapters, because we can
never finish the study of any portion of the Bible. After we
have put the most profound study upon any portion of the Scripture,
the most that we have done is only a beginning. If Newton, after
a long life of study of natural science, could say that he seemed
to be as a child playing on the seashore with the vast ocean
before him unexplored, with much more aptness can the same be
said by the greatest student of the Bible.
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- Let no one therefore think that we have
by any means exhausted this portion of the book. When the reader
has the text well in mind, so that he can quite distinctly recall
any passage at will, and can locate it with reference to the
connection, he has just got where he can begin to study with
real profit. Therefore let the reader who is anxious to acquire
an understanding of the Scriptures for himself, dwell upon the
words as though he were digging in a sure place for treasure.
An inexhaustible one awaits his search.
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- The second chapter is really summed up
in the first verse, "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man,
whosoever thou art that judgest; for wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same
things." The remaining verses are but an amplification of
this statement. Thus, we find that there is no exception to the
fact that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Hearing and knowing the
truth is not a substitute for practicing it. God is no respecter
of persons, but will punish sin wherever it is found.
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- Accepted With God. In the house of Cornelius
the apostle Peter made a statement: "Of a truth I perceive
that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that
feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."
Acts 10:34, 35. There are men in heathen lands who may never
have heard the name of God, or seen a line of his written word,
who will be saved. God is revealed in the works of creation,
and they who accept what they see of him there are accepted with
him as surely as they who have learned much more of him.
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- Objections Answered. The first part of
the third chapter of Romans consists of questions and answers.
The thoughtful reader of the epistles of Paul must have noticed
the frequent occurrence of questions in the midst of an argument.
Every possible objection is anticipated. The apostle asks the
question that an objector might ask, and then answers it, making
his argument more emphatic than before. So in the verses next
following it is very evident that the truths set forth in the
second chapter would not be very acceptable to a Pharisee, and
he would combat them with all his might. The questions raised
by the apostle are not difficulties that lie in his own mind;
this is clear from the parenthetical clause in verse 5, "I
speak as a man." With this in mind, we may read Romans 3:1-18:
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- 1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or
what profit is there of circumcision? 2 Much every way; chiefly,
because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. 3 For
what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith
of God without effect? 4 God forbid; yea, let God be true, but
every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified
in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. 5
But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God,
what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I
speak as a man.) 6 God forbid; for then how shall God judge the
world? 7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my
lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner? 8 And
not rather (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm
that we say), Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation
is just. 9 What then? are we better than they? No, in nowise;
for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are
all under sin; 10 as it is written, There is none righteous,
no, not one; 11 there is none that understandeth, there is none
that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way,
they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth
good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulcher; with
their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under
their lips; 14 whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness;
15 their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 destruction and misery
are in their ways; 17 and the way of peace have they not known;
18 there is no fear of God before their eyes.
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- "The Oracles of God." An oracle
is something spoken. That which was emphatically spoken by the
mouth of the Lord is the Ten Commandments. See Deuteronomy 5:22.
Stephen, speaking of Moses receiving the law, said, "This
is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel
which spake to him in the Mount Sina, and with our fathers; who
received the lively oracles to give unto us." Acts 7:38.
The Ten Commandments are primarily the oracles of God, because
they were uttered by his own voice in the hearing of the people.
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- But the Holy Scriptures as a whole are
the oracles of God, since they are the word of God, spoken "in
divers manners" (Heb. 1:1), and because they are but an
expansion of the Ten Commandments. Christians are to shape their
lives solely by the Bible. This is seen from the words of the
apostle Peter: "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles
of God."1 Peter 4:11.
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- The Law an Advantage. There are many who
think that the law of God is a burden, and they imagine that
the advantage of Christians is that they have nothing to do with
it. But on the contrary, John says, "This is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are
not grievous." 1 John 5:3. And Paul says that the possession
of the law was a great advantage to the Jew. So Moses said: "What
nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so
righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?"
Deut. 4:8. All who truly love the Lord, count it a great blessing
to have God's holy law made plain to them.
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- "Committed." The advantage of
the Jew was not simply in the fact that to them were made known
the oracles of God, but that "unto them were committed the
oracles of God," or "they were intrusted with the oracles
of God." That is, the law was given to them to hold in trust
for others, and not simply for their own benefit. They were to
be the missionaries to the whole world. The advantage and the
honor conferred upon the Jewish nation in intrusting them with
the law of God to make it known to the world, can not be estimated.
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- Tell It to Others. When Peter and John
were arrested and threatened for preaching Christ (who is simply
the living law in perfection), they said, "We can not but
speak the things which we have seen and heard." Acts 4:20.
They who appreciate the gift which God commits to them must tell
it to others. Some think that it is useless to carry the gospel
to the heathen when they hear that God justifies the heathen
who walk according to the little light that shines to them just
the same as he does the person who walks according to the light
that shines from the written word. They think that the wicked
heathen are in no worse case than the unfaithful professed Christians.
None who appreciate the blessings of the Lord could think so.
Light is a blessing. The more people know of the Lord, the more
they can rejoice in him, and all who truly know the Lord must
be desirous of helping to spread the "good tidings of great
joy" to all the people for whom it is designed.
- God's Faithfulness. "What if some
were without faith? Shall their want of faith make of none effect
the faithfulness of God?" A very pertinent question. It
is an appeal to the faithful of God. Will he break his promise,
because of man's unbelief? Will he be unfaithful because man
is unfaithful? Will our wavering cause God to waver? "That
can not possibly be;" for this is the force of the expression
which is incorrectly rendered, "God forbid." God will
be true even though every man be a liar. "If we believe
not, yet he abideth faithful; he can not deny himself."
2 Tim. 2:13. "Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and
thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds." Ps. 36:5.
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- Power and Faithfulness. Some one might
hastily affirm that this overthrows the previous statements,
that only those who have faith are heirs of the promise; for
"how can it be that only the faithful are Abraham's seed,
and thus heirs, if God will fulfill his promise even though every
man disbelieves?" Very easily, when we consider the Scriptures
and the power of God. Listen to the words of John the Baptist
to the wicked Jews who could be fitly characterized only as "vipers:"
"Think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to
our father; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones
to raise up children unto Abraham." Matt. 3:9. God will
bestow the inheritance only on the faithful; but if every man
should prove unfaithful, he who made man of the dust of the ground
can of the stones raise other people, who will believe.
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- God Will Be Justified. "That thou
mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when
thou art judged." God is now accused by Satan of injustice
and indifference, and even of cruelty. Thousands have echoed
the charge. But the judgment will declare the righteousness of
God. His character, as well as that of man, is on trial. In the
judgment every act, both of God and man, that has been done since
creation will be seen by all in all its bearings. And when everything
is seen in that perfect light, God will be acquitted of all wrongdoing,
even by his enemies.
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- Commending God's Righteousness. Verses
5 and 7 are but different forms of the same thought. God's righteousness
stands out in bold relief in contrast with man's unrighteousness.
So the caviler thinks that God ought not to condemn the unrighteousness
which by contrast commends his righteousness. But that would
be to destroy the righteousness of God, so that he could not
judge the world. If God were what unbelieving men say he ought
to be, he would forfeit even their respect, and they would condemn
him more loudly than they do now.
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- "I Speak as a Man." Was not
Paul a man? Most certainly. Was he ever anything other than a
man? Never. Then why the expression, "I speak as a man"?
Because the writings of Paul, like those of the ancient prophets,
were given by inspiration of God. The Holy Spirit spoke by him.
We are not reading Paul's view of the gospel, but the Spirit's
own statement of it. But in these questions the Spirit speaks
as a man; that is, the Spirit quotes the unbelieving words of
man in order to show the folly of that unbelief.
- Unbelieving Questions. There is a great
difference in questions. Some are asked for the purpose of gaining
instruction, and others are asked for the purpose of opposing
the truth. So there must be a difference in answering them. Some
questions deserve no more notice than would be given the same
unbelief if uttered as a positive statement. When Mary asked,
"How shall this be?" (Luke 1:34) with a desire for
further information, she was told how. But when Zacharias asked,
"Whereby shall I know this?" (Luke 1:18), thus plainly
showing his disbelief of the angel's words, he was punished.
- Wickedness Exposed. When the objector
says, "If the truth of God hath more abounded through my
lie unto his glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner?"
the swift retort comes, in effect: "You might rather say,
what you really mean is, Let us do evil that good may come."
The real intent of these unbelieving questions is that what which
is called evil is really good; people are really righteous, no
matter what they may do, so that good will at last come out of
evil. This is the substance of modern Spiritualism and of Universalism,
which teach that all men will be saved.
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- Evil Is not Good. There are many besides
Spiritualists who virtually say, "Let us do evil that good
may come." Who are they? All who claim that man is able
of himself to do any good thing. The Lord declares that only
God is good, and that good can come only from good. See Luke
18:19 and 6:43-45. From man only wickedness can come. Mark 7:21-23.
Therefore he who thinks that of himself he alone can do good
deeds, really says that good can come from evil.
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- The same thing is said by the one who
refuses to confess that he is a sinner. Such an one is placing
himself above God, for even he can not make evil into good. God
can make an evil man good, but only by putting his own goodness
in place of the evil.
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- "All under Sin." The objector
is silenced by the exposure of his infidel sentiments; the damnation
of those who hold such positions is just; and now the conclusion
is emphatically stated, namely, that all men, both Jews and Gentiles,
are alike under sin.
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- Thus the way is fully prepared for the
further conclusion that there is but one way of salvation for
all men. The one who has been brought up within the sound of
church bells and who hears the Scriptures read every day, has
the same sinful nature and the same need of a Saviour, that the
savage has. No one can justly despise another.
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- All Out of the Way. When the apostle wrote
concerning both Jews and Gentiles, "They are all gone out
of the way," he was but repeating what Isaiah had written
hundreds of years before: "All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid
on him the iniquity of us all." Isa. 53:6.
- "The Way of Peace." "The
way of peace have they not known" because they refused to
know the God of peace. It has already been shown that God's law
is his way; therefore, since he is the God of peace, his law
is the way of peace. So he says, "O that thou hadst hearkened
to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy
righteousness as the waves of the sea." Isa. 48:18. "Great
peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend
them," or, "they shall have no stumbling-block."
Ps. 119:162. So he who prepares the way of the Lord, by giving
knowledge of remission of sins, guides our feet into the way
of peace (Luke 1:76-79), because he brings us into the righteousness
of God's law.
- The portion of Romans thus far studied
has shown us both Jews and Gentiles in the same sinful condition.
No one has anything whereof to boast over another. Whoever, whether
in the church or out, begins to judge and condemn another, no
matter how bad that other one may be, thereby shows that he himself
is guilty of the same things that he condemns in the other. Judgment
belongs alone to God, and it shows a most daring spirit of usurpation
for a man to presume to take the place of God. Those who have
the law committed to them have a wonderful advantage over the
heathen; nevertheless they must say: "Are we better than
they? No, in no wise; for we have before proved both Jews and
Gentiles, that they are all under sin." Rom. 3:9.
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- The Grand Conclusion Romans 3:19-22
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- 19 Now we know that what things soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh
be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of
sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 even the righteousness
of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe.
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- Within the Law. This is not the place
to consider the force of the term "under the law,"
since it does not really occur here. It should be "in the
law," as in Romans 2:12, for the Greek words are the same
in both places. The words for "under the law" are entirely
different. Why the translators have given us "under the
law" in this place, and also in 1 Corinthians 9:21, where
the term is also "in the law," as noted in Young's
Concordance, it is impossible to determine. There certainly is
no reason for it. The rendering is purely arbitrary. What the
verse before us really says is, "Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are in the law,"
or, "within the sphere or jurisdiction of the law."
This is an obvious fact, and in view of what immediately follows,
it is a very important fact to keep in mind.
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- "What the Law Saith." The voice
of the law is the voice of God. The law is the truth, because
it was spoken with God's own voice. In the covenant which God
made with the Jews concerning the Ten Commandments, he said of
the law, "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice."
etc. Ex. 19:5. The commandments were spoken "in the mount
out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick
darkness, with a great voice." Deut. 5:22. Therefore when
the law of God speaks to a man, it is God himself speaking to
that man. Satan has invented a proverb, which he has induced
many people to believe, to the effect that "the voice of
the people is the voice of God." This is a part of his great
lie by which he causes many to think themselves above the law
of God. Let every one who loves the truth, substitute for that
invention of Satan the truth that the voice of the law of God
is the voice of God.
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- Every Mouth Stopped. The law speaks that
"every mouth may be stopped." And so every mouth would
be, if men would only consider that it is God that is speaking.
If men realized that God himself speaks in the law, they would
not be so ready to answer back when it speaks to them, and they
would not frame so many excuses for not obeying it.
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- When some servant of the Lord reads the
law to people, they often seem to think that it is only man's
word to which they are listening, and so they feel themselves
privileged to parley, and debate, and object, and to say that,
although the words are all right, they do not feel under obligation
to obey, or that it is not convenient. They would not think of
doing this if they heard the voice of God speaking to them.
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- But when the law is read, it is the voice
of God now just as much as it was to the Israelites who stood
at the base of Sinai. People often open their mouths against
it now, but the time will come when every mouth will be stopped,
because "our God shall come, and shall not keep silence."
Ps. 50:3.
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- The Law's Jurisdiction. What things soever
the law says, it sa to them who are within its sphere, or jurisdiction.
Why? "That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God." How extensive, then, is the
jurisdiction of the law? It includes every soul in the world.
There is no one who is exempt from obedience to it. There is
not a soul whom it does not declare to be guilty. The law is
the standard of righteousness, and "there is none righteous,
no, not one."
- No Justification by the Law. "Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin." One
of two things must be the case whenever a man is justified by
the law, namely, either the man is not guilty, or else the law
is a bad law. But neither of these things is true in this case.
God's law is perfectly righteous, and all men are sinners. "By
the law is the knowledge of sin." It is obvious that a man
can not be declared righteous by the same law that declares him
to be a sinner. Therefore it is a self-evident truth that by
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified.
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- A Double Reason. There is a double reason
why no one can be justified by the law. The first is that all
have sinned. Therefore the law must continue to declare them
guilty, no matter what their future life might be. No man can
ever do more than his duty to God, and no possible amount of
good deeds can undo one wrong act.
- But more than this, men have not only
sinned, but they are sinful. "The carnal mind is enmity
against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be." Rom.8:7. "For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary
the one to the other; so that ye can not do the things that ye
would." Gal. 5:17. Therefore, no matter how much a man may
try to do the righteousness of the law, he will fail to find
justification by it.
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- Self-justification. If one were justified
by the deeds of the law, it would be because he always did all
that the law requires. Note well that it would be he that did
it, and not the law. It would not be that the law itself does
something to justify the man, but that the man himself does the
good deeds required. Therefore if a man were justified by the
law, it would be because he has in him by nature all the righteousness
that the law requires. He who imagines that he can do the righteousness
of the law, imagines that he himself is as good as God is, because
the law requires and is a statement of the righteousness of God.
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- Therefore for a man to think that he can
be justified by the law, is to think that he is so good that
he needs no Saviour. Every self-righteous person, no matter what
his profession, exalts himself above the law of God, and therefore
identifies himself [in principle] with the Papacy.
- Righteousness Without the Law. Since because
of man's weak and fallen condition no one can get righteousness
out of the law, it is evident that if any man ever has righteousness
he must get it from some other source than the law. If left to
themselves and the law, men would truly be in a deplorable condition.
But here is hope. The righteousness of God without the law or
apart from the law, is manifested. This reveals to man a way
of salvation.
- Righteousness "Manifested."
Where? Why, of course where it most needs to be manifested, in
people, that is, in a certain class described in the next verse.
But it does not originate in them. The Scriptures have already
shown us that no righteousness can come from man. The righteousness
of God is manifested in Jesus Christ. He himself said through
the prophet David: "I delight to do thy will, O my God;
yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation; lo, I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest." Ps. 40:8, 9.
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- "Witnessed by the Law." Let
no one imagine that in the gospel he can ignore the law of God.
The righteousness of God which is manifested apart from the law,
is witnessed by the law. It is such righteousness as the law
witnesses to, and commends. It must be so, because it is the
righteousness which Christ revealed; and that came from the law,
which was in his heart. So, although the law of God has no righteousness
to impart to any man, it does not cease to be the standard of
righteousness. There can be no righteousness that does not stand
the test of the law. The law of God must put its seal of approval
upon every one who enters heaven.
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- Witnessed by the Prophets. When Peter
preached Christ to Cornelius and his family, he said, "To
him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever
believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Acts
10:43. The prophets preached the same gospel that the apostles
did. See 1 Peter 1:12. There is but one foundation, and that
is "the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone." Eph. 2:20.
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- This also suggests another thought about
"witnessed by the law." It is not simply that the righteousness
which is manifested in Christ is approved by the law, but it
is proclaimed in the law. In the portion of Scripture specifically
known as "the law," the portion written by Moses, Christ
is preached. Moses was a prophet, and therefore he testified
of Christ the same, "for he wrote of me." John 5:46.
More than this, the very giving of the law itself was a promise
and an assurance of Christ. This will appear when we come to
the fifth chapter of Romans.
- The Righteousness of God. While there
is no chance for the despiser of God's law to evade its claims
under cover of the expression, "the righteousness of God
apart from the law," there is also no need for the lover
of that law to fear that the preaching of righteousness by faith
will tend to bring in a spurious righteousness. Such is guarded
against by the statement that the righteousness must be witnessed
by the law, and further by the statement that this righteousness
which is manifested apart from the law is the righteousness of
God. No one need fear that he will be wrong if he has that righteousness!
To seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness is the one thing
required of us in this life. Matt 6:33.
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- "By Faith of Jesus Christ."
In another place Paul expresses his desire when the Lord comes
to be found "not having mine own righteousness which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith." Phil. 3:9. Here
again we have "the faith of Christ." Still further,
it is said of the saints, "Here are they that keep the commandments
of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12. God is faithful
(1 Cor. 1:9) and Christ is faithful, for "he abideth faithful."
2 Tim. 2:13. God deals to every one a measure of faith. Rom.
12:3; Eph. 2:8.
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- He imparts to us his own faithfulness.
This he does by giving us himself. So that we do not have to
get righteousness which we ourselves manufacture; but to make
the matter doubly sure, the Lord imparts to us in himself the
faith by which we appropriate his righteousness. Thus the faith
of Christ must bring the righteousness of God, because the possession
of that faith is the possession of the Lord himself. This faith
is dealt to every man, even as Christ gave himself to every man.
Do you ask what then can prevent every man from being saved?
The answer is, Nothing, except the fact that all men will not
keep the faith. If all would keep all that God gives them, all
would be saved.
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- Within and Without. This righteousness
of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, is unto, literally
into, and upon all them that believe. Man's own righteousness,
which is of the law, is only on the outside. Matt. 23:27, 28.
But God desires truth in the inward parts. Ps. 51:6. "These
words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart."
Deut. 6:6. And so the promise of the new covenant is, "I
will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts." Jer. 31:33. He does it, because it is impossible
for man to do it. The most that men can do is to make a fair
show in the flesh, to gain the applause of their fellow men.
God puts his glorious righteousness in the heart.
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- But he does more than that, he covers
men with it. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul
shall be joyful in my God; for he hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness." Isa. 51:10. "He will beautify the
meek with salvation." Ps. 149:4. Clothed with this glorious
dress, which is not merely an outward covering, but the manifestation
of that which is within, God's people may go forth, "fair
as the moon, clear as the sun; and terrible as an army with banners."
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- The Justice of Mercy Romans 3:22-26
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- 22 There is no difference; 23 for all
have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus; 25 whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 to
declare, I say, at this time his righteousness; that he might
be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
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- "No Difference." In what is
there no difference? There is no difference in the way in which
men receive righteousness. And why is no difference made in the
manner of justifying men? Because "all have sinned."
Peter, in relating to the Jews his experience in first preaching
the gospel to the Gentiles, said, "God, which knoweth the
hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as
he did unto us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith." Acts 15:8, 9. "Out of the heart
of men," not of one class of men, but of all men, "proceed
evil thoughts," etc. Mark 7:21. God knows the hearts of
all men, that all are alike sinful, and therefore he makes no
difference in the gospel to different men.
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- "One Blood." This lesson is
one of the most important to be learned by the missionary, whether
laboring at home or abroad. Since the gospel is based on a principle
that there is no difference in men, it is absolutely essential
that the gospel worker should recognize the fact, and always
keep it in mind. God "hath made of one blood all nations
of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." Acts
17:26. Not only are all men of one blood, but they are also of
"one kind of flesh." 1 Cor. 15:39.
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- The great burden of the Epistle to the
Romans, as has appeared up to this point, is to show that so
far as sin and salvation therefrom are concerned, there is absolutely
no difference between men of all races and conditions in life.
The same gospel is to be preached to the Jew and to the Gentile,
to the slave and to the freeman, to the prince and to the peasant.
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- Coming Short. People are fond of imagining
that what are called "shortcomings" are not so bad
as real sins. So it is much easier for them to confess that they
have "come short" than that they have sinned and done
wickedly. But since God requires perfection, it is evident that
"shortcomings" are sins. It may sound pleasanter to
say that a bookkeeper is "short" in his accounts, but
people know that the reason for it is that he has been taking
that which is not his, or stealing. When perfection is the standard,
it makes no difference in the result, how much or how little
one comes short, so long as he comes short. The primary meaning
of sin is "to miss the mark." And in an archery contest,
the man who has not strength to send his arrow to the target,
even though his aim is good, is a loser just as surely as he
who shoots wide of the mark.
- "The Glory of God." From the
text we learn that the glory of God is his righteousness. Notice,
the reason why all have come short of the glory of God is that
all have sinned. The fact is plain that if they had not sinned
they would not have come short of it. The coming short of the
glory itself consists in sin. Man in the beginning was "crowned
with glory and honor" (Hebrews 2:7) because he was upright.
In the fall he lost the glory, and therefore now he must "seek
for glory and honor and immortality." Christ could say to
the Father, "The glory which thou gavest me, I have given
them," because in him is the righteousness of God which
he has given as a free gift to every man. It is the part of wisdom
to receive righteousness; and "they that be wise shall shine."
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- "Being Justified." In other
words, being made righteous. To justify means to make righteous.
God supplies just what the sinner lacks. Let no reader forget
the simple meaning of justification. Some people have the idea
that there is a much higher condition for the Christian to occupy
than to be justified. That is to say, that there is a higher
condition for one to occupy than to be clothed within and without
with the righteousness of God. That can not be.
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- "Freely." "Whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely." That is, let him
take it as a gift. So in Isaiah 55:1: "Ho, every one that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;
come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money
and without price."
- It was the Epistle to the Romans that
accomplished the Reformation in Germany. Men had been taught
to believe that the way to get righteousness was to purchase
it either by hard work or by the payment of money. The idea that
men may purchase it with money is not so common now as then;
but there are very many who are not Catholics who think that
some work must be done in order to obtain it.
- Making Prayer to Be a Work. The writer
was once talking with a man in regard to righteousness as the
free gift of God, the man maintaining that we could not get anything
from the Lord without doing something for it. When asked what
we must do to win forgiveness of sins, he replied that we must
pray for it.
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- It is with this idea of prayer that the
Roman or Hindu devotee "says" so many prayers a day,
putting in an extra number some days to make up for omissions.
But the man who "says" a prayer, does not pray. Heathen
prayer, as for instance when the prophets of Baal leaped and
cut themselves (1 Kings 18:26-28), is work; but true prayer is
not. A man comes to me and says that he is starving. Afterwards
he is asked if anything was given him, and he says that he received
some dinner, but that I made him work for it. When asked what
he had to do for it, he replies that he asked for it. He could
hardly make any one believe that he worked for his dinner! True
prayer is simply the thankful acceptance of God's free gifts.
- Redemption in Christ Jesus. We are made
righteous "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
That is, through the purchasing power that is in Christ Jesus,
or "through the unsearchable riches of Christ." Eph.
3:8. This is the reason why it comes to us as a gift.
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- Some one may say that everlasting life
in the kingdom of God is too great a thing to be given to us
for nothing. So it is, and therefore it had to be purchased,
but since we had nothing that could buy it, Christ has purchased
it for us and he gives it to us freely, in himself. But if we
had to purchase it from him, we might as well have bought it
in the first place, and saved him the task. "If righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Gal. 2:21.
"Ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver
or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your
fathers; but with precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish
and without spot, even the blood of Christ." 1 Pet. 1:18,
19. The blood is the life. Lev. 17:11-17. Therefore the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus is his own life.
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- Christ Set Forth. Christ is the one whom
God has set forth to declare his righteousness. Now since the
only righteousness that is real righteousness is the righteousness
of God, and Christ is the only one who has been ordained of God
to declare it upon men, it is evident that it can not be obtained
except through him. "There is none other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.
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- A Propitiation. A propitiation is a sacrifice.
The statement then is simply that Christ is set forth to be a
sacrifice for the remission of our sins. "Once in the end
of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself." Heb. 9:26. Of course the idea of a propitiation
or sacrifice is that there is wrath to be appeased. But take
particular notice that it is we who require the sacrifice, and
not God. He provides the sacrifice. The idea that God's wrath
has to be propitiated in order that we may have forgiveness finds
no warrant in the Bible.
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- It is the height of absurdity to say that
God is so angry with men that he will not forgive them unless
something is provided to appease his wrath, and that therefore
he himself offers the gift to himself, by which he is appeased.0
"And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body
of his flesh through death." Col. 1:21, 22.
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- Heathen and Christian Propitiation. The
Christian idea of propitiation is that set forth above. The heathen
idea, which is too often held by professed Christians, is that
men must provide a sacrifice to appease the wrath of their god.
All heathen worship is simply a bribe to their gods to be favorable
to them. If they thought that their gods were very angry with
them, they would provide a greater sacrifice, and so human sacrifices
were offered in extreme cases. They thought, as the worshipers
of Siva in India do to-day, that their god was gratified by the
sight of blood.
- The persecution that was carried on in
so-called Christian countries in times past and is to some extent
even now, is but the outcropping of this heathen idea of propitiation.
Ecclesiastical leaders imagine that salvation is by works and
that men by works can atone for sin, and so they offer the one
whom they think rebellious as a sacrifice to their god not to
the true God, because he is not pleased with such sacrifices.
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- Righteousness Declared. To declare righteousness
is to speak righteousness. God speaks righteousness to man, and
then he is righteous. The method is the same as in the creation
in the beginning. "He spake, and it was." "We
are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
Eph. 2:10.
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- God's Justice in Redemption. Christ is
set forth to declare God's righteousness for the remission of
sins, in order that he might be just and at the same time the
justifier of him who believes in Jesus. God justifies sinners,
for they are the only ones who need justification. The justice
of declaring a sinner to be righteous lies in the fact that he
is actually made righteous. Whatever God declares to be so, is
so. And then he is made righteous by the life of God given him
in Christ.
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- The sin is against God, and if he is willing
to forgive it, he has the right to do so. No unbeliever would
deny the right of a man to overlook a trespass against him. But
God does not simply overlook the trespass; he gives his life
as a forfeit. Thus he upholds the majesty of the law, and is
just in declaring that man righteous who was before a sinner.
Sin is remitted sent away from the sinner, because sin and righteousness
can not exist together, and God puts his own righteous life into
the believer. So God is merciful in his justice, and just in
his mercy.
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- "There's a wideness in God's mercy,
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Like the wideness of the sea;
There's a kindness in his justice,
That is more than liberty."
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- We now come to the close of the third
chapter of Romans. We found that righteousness is the free gift
of God unto every one who believes. It is not that God gives
a man righteousness as a reward for believing certain dogmas;
the gospel is something entirely different from that. It is this,
that true faith has Christ alone as its object, and it brings
Christ's life actually into the heart; and therefore it must
bring righteousness.
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- This act of mercy on the part of God is
eminently just, because in the first place the sin is against
God, and he has a right to pass by offenses against him; and,
further, it is just, because he gives his own life as an atonement
for the sin, so that the majesty of the law is not only maintained,
but is magnified. "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness
and peace have kissed each other." Ps. 85:10. God is just
and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. All righteousness
is from him alone.
- Establishing the Law Romans 3:27-31
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- 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded.
By what law? of works? Nay; but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds
of the law. 29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also
of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also; 30 seeing it is one
God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision
through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith?
God forbid; yea, we establish the law.
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- No Boasting. Since righteousness is a
free gift of God through Jesus Christ, it is evident that no
one can justly boast of any righteousness that he has. "For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."
Eph. 2:8, 9. "Who maketh thee to differ from another? and
what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst
receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received
it?" 1 Cor. 4:7.
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- What Boasting Proves. "Behold, his
soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but the just shall
live by his faith." Hab. 2:4. Boasting therefore is an evidence
of a sinful heart. But suppose a man boasts of his righteousness,
as, for instance, when a man says that he has lived without sin
for so many years? "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8.
- But are not the grace and power of God
manifested in Christ to cleanse and keep us from sin? Most certainly;
but only when in humility we acknowledge that we are sinners.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:9. When we say that we have no sin, that very thing
is evidence that we have; but when with faith in the word of
the Lord we say that we are sinners, then the blood of Christ
cleanses us from all sin. In the plan of salvation there is no
place for human pride and boasting.
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- No Boasting in Heaven. The result of boasting
in heaven is seen in the case of Satan. Once he was one of the
covering cherubs above the throne of God. But he began to contemplate
his own glory and goodness, and his fall was the consequence.
"Thou hast sinned; therefore I will cast thee as profane
out of the mountain of God; and I will destroy thee, O covering
cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was
lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom
by reason of thy brightness." Eze. 28:16, 17.
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- If the saints after their translation
should begin to boast of their sinlessness, they would be as
bad as they ever were. But that will never be. All who are admitted
to heaven will have fully learned the lesson that God is all
and in all. There will not be a voice or a heart silent in the
song of praise, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from
our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever
and ever."
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- The "Law" of Works. The law
of works does not exclude boasting. If a man were justified by
works, he would have whereof to boast over another who had the
same privilege, but did not use it. In that case the righteous
could boast over the wicked; and people would continually be
comparing themselves with one another to see who had done the
most. The law of works is simply the Ten Commandments in form
only. Compliance with the law of works enables one to appear
outwardly righteous, while within he is full of corruption. Yet
the one who follows the law of works is not always necessarily
a hypocrite. He may have an earnest desire to keep the commandments,
but may be deceived into thinking that he can work them out of
himself.
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- The "Law" of Faith. This has
for its object the same thing as the law of works, namely, [obedience
to] the commandments of God, but the result is different. The
law of works deceives a man with a form; the law of faith gives
him the substance. The law of faith is the law "as it is
in Jesus." The one may be a sincere attempt to keep the
law; the other is the actual accomplishment of that desire, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
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- The Ten Commandments as given by the Lord
are only a law of faith, since God never designed that they should
be taken in any other way; and he never expected that anybody
could get righteousness from them in any other way than by faith.
The law of works is man's perversion of the law of God.
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- Faith without Works. "Therefore we
conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law." Because there is no other means by which he could
be justified! We have before seen that all men are sinners, and
that no man has power in himself to perform the deeds of the
law, no matter how strong his desires. "Not the hearers
of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall
be justified." Rom. 2:13.
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- But "by the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge
of sin." Rom. 3:20. Therefore whoever is justified, or made
righteous at all, must be made righteous by faith alone, wholly
apart from the deeds of the law. This is of universal application.
It means that justification, first, last, and all the time, is
by faith alone. The Christian can not be justified by works any
more than the sinner can be. No man can ever get so good and
strong that his own deeds can justify him.
- Faith and Works. But that is not to say
that works have nothing to do with faith. Justification means
making just, or making righteous. Righteousness is right doing.
Faith which justifies, therefore, is faith which makes a man
a doer of the law, or, rather, which puts the doing of the law
into him. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them." Eph.. 2:10. "It is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
Phil. 2:13. "This is a faithful saying, and these things
I will that thou affirm constantly. that they which have believed
in God might be careful to maintain good works." Titus 3:8.
A man is not justified by faith and works, but by faith alone,
which works.
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- One God for All. There is but "one
God and Father of all." Eph. 4:6. He "hath made of
one blood all nations of men," "for we are also his
offspring." Acts 16:26, 28. "There is no respect of
persons with God." Rom. 2:11. "In every nation he that
feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."
Acts 10:35. The Scripture saith: "Whosoever believeth on
him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto
all that call upon him." Rom. 10:11, 12.
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- One Means of Justification for All. The
fact that justification is only by faith, and that God "commandeth
all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30), shows that God
regards Jew and Gentile alike. Nor is there any evidence that
he ever did put any difference between them. A believing Gentile
was always accounted righteous, and an unbelieving Jew was never
considered by the Lord any better than any other unbeliever.
Remember that Abraham, the father of the whole Jewish nation,
was a Chaldean. The Jews were related to the Chaldeans who remained
in their native land, just as surely as they were to one another
in the land of Canaan. Unfortunately, they forgot this; but they
are not the only ones in the world who have forgotten that all
men are their brethren.
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