The Book of Romans

Chapter Three

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Preface

In the latter part of chapter two of Romans Paul wrote of God’s condemnation as it pertains to the Jew.  He continues this theme in this chapter.  Whereas in the previous chapter he spoke of their condemnation as it related to their intrinsic disobedience to the Law, in this chapter he speaks of it related to their to intrinsic disbelief of the promises of God.

Once he finishes with the Jews as a specific object of God’s condemnation, he next groups both the Jews and the Gentiles together—all mankind—and states that they are both unrighteous and deserving of God’s condemnation.  He speaks of the futility of the Law as efficacious in saving mankind from its condemned condition, but then in verse 21 and through verse 26, he takes up the subject of God’s righteousness that is available and may be imputed to man in order to accomplish his eternal salvation—one of the most beautiful passages in Scripture detailing God’s message of grace and the only step man must take to obtain eternal life (i.e., to be “saved”).  In the closing verses of this chapter he describes this righteous as justification that comes by (Gk: ek—out of) and through (Gk:  dia—the channel of) faith in a specific person, Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:1, 2

What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?  Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.

In the latter verses of chapter two Paul had informed his readers that the Law and its ordinances, such as circumcision, were of little value to the spiritual welfare of the Jew.  This was because they were only utilized as a façade (front or pretense), which produced no inward spiritual change.

We hear people say today, “Well, doesn’t my church, my creed, my membership, my baptism help toward my salvation?”  The answer is no, it doesn’t help you toward salvation.  But if you are saved, then these things are a badge, and these things are a means of communicating to the world who you are.  But if you’re not measuring up, then your church membership and your baptism are a disgrace; and instead of being sacred they become profane. (Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983)

Paul now entertains several Socratic-method questions, which he believes a Jewish contender would present.  In this passage is the first two of the contender’s questions.  If what all Paul stated in chapter 2, verses 17-29, is true, then “What advantage [Gk:  perissos—superiority] then has the Jew, or what is the profit [value or benefit] of circumcision?  The first question pertains to Paul’s words in 2:17-24, and the second question to his words in 2:25-29.  Paul’s response is direct and immediate.  He was not saying that being a Jew or being circumcised had no benefits.  Paul unequivocally states that the Jew has many advantages, and he states the foremost one in verse two.  Other advantages for the Jew are stated later in this epistle (9:4, 5):

Who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Immediate in this passage is that to the Jews were “committed the oracles of God.”  The Greek word logion, here translated oracles was used to denote divine utterances, i.e., God’s infallible and eternal words.  The word “oracles” is a synonym for the Holy Scriptures, a term used only four times in the New Testament (also Acts 7:38; Hebrews 5:12; 1 Peter 4:11).  These were given to and through the Jews and are preserved now in the Old Testament.  This phrase reaffirms the belief of the apostles in the inspiration of the Old Testament.

These “words of God” were committed (Gk:  pisteuo—“entrusted”) to the Jews, which conveyed more than simply being the recipient of them or simply being their custodian and transmitter—but rather that they were expected to be cherished (taken to heart) by faith, which would result in an inward change that would produce a life of faith-based obedience.

Also, the Jews had a distinct advantage in being chosen as a special people by and for God and who will one day, when the Age of Grace comes to an end and Israel turns to Jesus Christ as the Messiah, have a very special future that will be fulfilled during the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ upon earth (Kingdom Age).  It will be then and there that God will fulfill His promise to Abram that Israel will inherit the Promised Land.

Romans 3:3, 4

For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged.”?

This passage contains the second two of the contender’s questions.  To paraphrase:  “So, what does it matter if some Jews did not believe God’s Word?  Does this mean that God will not keep His promises?”  Paul retorts succinctly that this is certainly not true.  In every case where there is a question of whether God or man is right, one must always proceed on the basis that God is right and man is a liar.  This is what David said, in effect, in Psalm 51:4:  “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.”  Man’s sins only serve to confirm the truthfulness of God’s Word; and when God’s Word is honestly evaluated, it will always be found superior and true.

The fact means nothing whatsoever that many people reject the Scriptures, even alleging that the Bible has been disproved by modern science and reason, except that it displays their own self-inflicted deception.  God’s Word has been forever settled in heaven and will endure forever (Ps 119:89, 160), even after this present earth has passed away (Ma 24:35).  God’s revealed Word is absolute truth, and will judge all its detractors in the last day. . . . (The New Defender’s Study Bible, World Publishing, 2006)

God will always keep His promises no matter what man does.  He will also keep His covenants with man provided they are unconditional.  The signature unconditional covenant that God made with man is the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:1-7; 17:1-19), in which God:

1. Promised Abraham great personal blessing, his name would be great, and he would be a channel of blessing to others (12:2, 3).

2. Promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation (12:2) with innumerable posterity, compared to the dust of the earth and the stars of the heaven (13:16; 15:5).

3. Promised Abraham that God would bless those that bless him and curse any person who cures him (12:3).

4. Promised Abraham that he and his descendants would be given title to the land forever (13:14, 15; 15:7; 15:18-21) “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”

5. Promised Abraham that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed (12:3).  Note:  This blessing went beyond physical lineage and concerned all nations.  It was fulfilled in the coming, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which was God’s provision for the sins of the whole world.

Romans 3:5, 6

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.)  Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?

Here the contender advances two more questions, the second one the completion of the first.  They essentially question how God can shed wrath on those whose unrighteousness causes the righteousness of God to shine more gloriously.  Here Paul assures the readers that he is using a typically human argument in posing such questions.  In other words, it might be argued that since the nation’s unbelief merely brings into light and emphasizes the faithfulness of God, God would not be just to punish those who bring greater glory to Himself.

He concludes that God is indeed not unjust; otherwise how then could He judge the world.  If because of sin God is glorified, such does not violate the righteousness and duty (responsibility) of God.  If it did, then God would have to abdicate His throne as Judge of the world.  Or in other words, if God were unfair in judging unfaithful or disbelieving Jews, then He would be unqualified to judge all others of the world.  And of course, that could not be so.  The flow in logic is evident:  God’s justice demands that He judge unrighteousness no matter its source.  To claim that God is unjust because He judges is a ludicrous argument.  So, since God will judge the world (2:5) He will not be unfair in extending His wrath to guilty Jews (cf. 2:11).

Romans 3:7, 8

For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?  And why not say, "Let us do evil that good may come"?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.

The contender then continues this argument with two more questions, but on a personal level.  Again he essentially questions how God can find fault with him as a “sinner,” since it is his sin that brings glory to God, i.e., it is his “lie” that vindicates God’s truth.  His following question in this passage suggests that since the demonstration of sin brings glory to God, evil should be practiced in order that “good may come.”  This is the old adage that “the end justifies the means.”  And here Paul interjects that there are those who slander believers by saying that they indeed use this argument.

To this Paul asserts that those who make such malicious and untruthful remarks are justly condemned, i.e., their condemnation is well deserved.

Actually this last argument, stupid as it seems, is constantly leveled against the gospel of the grace of God.  People say, “If you could be saved just by faith in Christ, then you could go out and live in sin.  Since God’s grace superabounds over man’s sin, then the more you sin, the more His grace abounds.”  The apostle answers this objection in chapter 6. (Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)

To suggest, as did these two questions, that God is unfair in condemning sin is to blaspheme the very nature of God.  Such persons who question God’s condemnation of evil are therefore themselves properly and rightly condemned by God.

Why did some accuse Paul of promoting evil (3:8)?—because they thought Paul’s preaching about grace would devalue the law, leading people to abandon their moral standards and do whatever they wanted to do.  Paul’s critics did not understand that grace gives people the power to live holy lives—just as God intended.  Grace not only justifies, it transforms.  We are made right by grace; by grace we can also live right.

 (The Quest Study Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, 1994)

Romans 3:9-18

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.  As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.  They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.”  “Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit;” “The poison of asps is under their lips;” “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”  “Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

So finally the Jewish contender puts forth his last question:  “Are you saying, then, that we Jews are better than those sinful Gentiles?”  Paul declares resoundingly: “Not at all.”  Paul now addresses the sinfulness of all mankind, stating that previously he has charged that all men are “under sin.”  In this respect, the Jews are no different from the Gentiles.  Here Paul puts forth a composite picture of man by stringing together a number of Old Testament passages (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Psalm 5:9; 10:7; 14:1-3; 36:1; 53:1-3; 140:3; Proverbs 1:16; Isaiah 59:7, 8), which clearly demonstrate this fact.  In it is displayed the various charges that God through His oracles (Holy Words) has already brought against man.  The charges are:

1. None are righteous, no not one.
2. None understand.
3. None seek after God.
4. All have turned aside.
5. All have become unprofitable (Gk: achreioo—rendered useless/become rotten).
6. None do good deeds, no not one.
7. Their throats are open graves.
8. They speak deceit.
9. Their words are extremely poisonous.
10. They speak with cursing and bitterness.
11. They are quick to shed blood.
12. They are surrounded with destruction and misery.
13. They have never known the way of peace.
14. They do not fear (Gk: phobos—exceedingly afraid or alarmed) God.

In these indictments Paul utilizes a number of metaphors of different parts of the body in order to clearly state the case that man is totally unrighteous and in no way seeks after God.  In fact, if man is left to his own devices, there would be no hope.  Although man has an inner voice of conscience and the clear voice of nature to remind him that God exists, man prefers to always go his own way—to make God fit his own “religious” contrivances.  And this is always “away from God.”  If it wasn’t for the fact that God in His grace, mercy, and love seeks out man—and in fact provides for Him through the sacrifice of His Son—man’s future would only be just and excruciating painful.

This, then, is God’s X-ray of the human race.  It reveals universal unrighteousness (3:10); ignorance and independence toward God (3:11); waywardness, unprofitableness, and lack of any goodness (3:12). . . . Obviously every man has not committed every sin, but he has a nature which is capable of committing them all. (Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)

The nature of man as here revealed is the bases for all his particular ills and sins, such as pride, envy, covetousness, ingratitude, drunkenness, hatred, bitterness, racism, exploitation, deceit, betrayal, broken promises, adultery, homosexuality, sexual perversion, pornography, murder, child abuse, mutilation, theft, embezzlement, vandalism, graft, cursing, blasphemy, lies, backbiting, gossip, grumbling, character assassination, smut, . . . . and the list goes on and on.  What further proof of human depravity is needed?

Romans 3:19, 20

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.  Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Beginning in chapter 1, verse 18, Paul has been outlining man’s inability to produce righteousness and his certain and eventual condemnation.  He has covered both the Gentiles and the Jews—those under natural law and those under divinely revealed Law.  Those without God’s divinely revealed Law are subject to God’s laws “written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.” (Romans 2:15)  These laws make even pagan Gentiles “by nature do the things in the [Mosaic] law” (Romans 2:14), since they are manifested in conscience (2:15) and confirmed by nature (1:26f.)—all as a result of man being imprinted with the image of God at creation (Genesis 1:26f.).

But the Jew assumed a privileged position by continuing to cling to God’s revealed Law and its observance as being his justification before God.  Therefore Paul concludes his condemnation discourse with a final statement to the Jews (i.e., “those who are under the Law”) concerning the purpose and ministry of the Law. 

The Law was administered “so that every mouth may be stopped” (which is to say “so that no one would ever be able to offer an excuse”) and that everyone in the world would become accountable before God.  No one can argue in his own defense that he is not under sin.  The Law reveals God’s standards and man’s inability to live up to them.  And then Paul firmly declares that by the deeds of the Law no one can be justified in the sight of God (Acts 13:39; Galatians 2:16; 3:11); that the Law’s purpose is to reveal man’s sinful nature and personal acts (Romans 7:7).  The Law was given to reveal man’s sick and rebellious nature, along with all his thoughts and acts that stem from it, so that without doubt man would understand that he is indeed a sinner and stands unrighteous and unjustified before God.

We could never know what a crooked line is unless we also knew a straight line.  The Law is like a straight line.  When men test themselves by it, they see how crooked they are.  We can use a mirror to see that our face is dirty, but the mirror is not designed to wash the dirty face. . . . The Law is good when it is used to produce conviction of sin, but it is worthless as a savior from sin.  As Luther said, its function is not to justify but to terrify. (Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)

The Law is in fact our teacher.  It instructs us and reveals our own limitations and sinful nature.  By so doing it brings us to a place of admission of our personal unrighteous condition, that is, if we allow it (for we always have choice).  But once we recognize our condition and by faith choose Christ, this job of the Law is finished.  The book of Galatians puts it this way:

Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:24-26)

Romans 3:21-26

But now the righteousness of God apart from the Law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Underlining by commentator)

In this passage Paul expresses the heart of this epistle and the heart of God’s message of grace to man.  It is in fact the amplification of Romans 1:16, 17:  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’” 

Paul answers the question:  “Then how are ungodly sinners justified by a just and holy God?”  He addresses the dilemma of the righteousness of God that requires man to be punished for his sin as opposed to the love of God that wants to save man from such punishment.  Because God is holy, He cannot condone sin or overlook it.  He must punish it, and the punishment for sin is (spiritual/eternal) death.  Therefore God’s righteousness demands the sinner’s death, yet His love desires the sinner’s eternal happiness.  And this passage extolling God’s grace discloses how God can save sinners without compromising His righteous.  This passage also declares and reiterates the one step man can and must take in order to secure or acquire God’s grace-gift of eternal life.

In the first place this righteous plan of God, which is totally apart from the Law, is witnessed by the Law (the Pentateuch or first five books of the Old Testament) and the Prophets (the other books of the Old Testament).  By this Paul means that the ceremonial elements (and particularly the sacrificial components that required the shedding of blood for atonement) of the Law that were given and handed down by Moses foretold in types and symbols this righteous plan of God.  And it was further foretold by direct prophecies (e.g., Isaiah 51:5-8; 56:1; Daniel 9:24).  In Romans 4 Paul illustrated this same truth from the Law (Abraham:  Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:1-3, 9-23) and from the Prophets (David:  Psalm 32:1, 2; Romans 4:4-8).

More pointedly, this “righteousness of God” (Gk:  dikaiosune, which speaks of character) refers to the holy nature of God as embodied in Jesus Christ and which is transferred to the believer upon faith in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21:  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him). 

This is a righteousness that is achieved by and through no merit of man.  It can only be appropriated by faith alone in Christ alone.  This only means (step or action) of acquiring this righteousness, which is non-meritorious on man’s part, is repeated four times in this passage alone, e.g., “through faith,” “who believe,” “through faith,” and “has faith.”  In fact, throughout the New Testament there are approximately 150 verses that indicate faith, or its synonym believe, as the only means of action that a person may take in order to acquire eternal life.  It is faith or belief in a particular person, Jesus Christ.  And such faith is not merely mental assent to the person (deity) and work (sacrifice) of Jesus Christ, although it includes this, but in particular it is a decision of genuine and total trust or confidence (dependence/reliance) in Him and His sacrifice for one’s personal salvation.

The book of John, specifically written to convince its readers to place their faith in Christ for their personal salvation (John 20:31) speaks over and over again of a decision of faith in Christ as the only means of obtaining eternal life.  No other “requirement,” such as confession of sin, repentance, requesting forgiveness, prayer, public confession of faith, or lordship salvation is ever mentioned in this narrowly focused book of the New Testament.  In the book of Acts (16:30, 31) one finds the only place in the Bible where the question is asked as to what a person must “do” to be saved.  And the complete answer that was given by Paul and Silas was: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”  To hold to any position that would add anything to this exacting means of acquiring salvation, represents ignorance or lethargy on the part of the person holding such a view.

William MacDonald in the Believer’s Bible Commentary puts it this way:

Verse 21 told us that this righteous salvation is “not” obtained on the basis of law-keeping.  Now the apostle tells us how it “is” obtained—through faith in Jesus Christ.  Faith here means utter reliance on the living Lord Jesus Christ as one’s only Savior from sin and one’s only hope for heaven.  It is based on the revelation of the Person and work of Christ as found in the Bible. (Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)

J. Vernon McGee in Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee puts it this way:

And the important thing about securing this righteousness of God is not that there’s any merit in your faith or that there’s merit in just believing.  Because, actually, faith is not a work on your part.  The “object” of faith is the important thing.  Spurgeon put it like this:  “It’s not thy hope in Christ which saves you.  It’s Christ.  It’s not thy joy in Christ that saves you.  It is Christ.  And it is not thy faith in Christ that saves you, though that be the instrument, it is Christ’s blood and merit.”  Now friend, that’s very important to nail in our thinking.  And that righteousness is like a garment.  It is available “to” all, but it only comes “upon” all that believe. (Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Thompson Nelson Publishers, 1983)

This last sentence in the above quote by J. Vernon McGee deserves further comment.  There are those who believe in a “limited atonement,” i.e., Christ died only for a select few whom He predestined to be saved before the beginning (dimension) of time.  This is utterly false!  Christ’s sacrifice was for all human beings!  Christ’s sacrifice can be effectual for absolutely everyone, even though it “practically” only becomes effectual for those who place their complete and sincere trust in Him.  This is the meaning of “to all and on all who believe” (3:22).  The universality of Christ’s death is expressed over and over again in Scripture, e.g., John 3:16; 12:32; Romans 5:18; 1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9; but never better than in the following passage:

And He [Christ] Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 2:2)

Paul states that the reason or necessity for this offer of God’s righteousness to all human beings (Jews or Gentiles) is because in the matter of sin there is no difference among them—“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  The Greek is literally, “all sinned” (pantes hemarton).  This is the same Greek expression used in Romans 5:12 (Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned).  Adam’s sin plunged the entire human race into sin, so there is no difference; all by nature and practice are sinners.

Not only are all sinners, but all “fall short of the glory of God.”  This Greek expression is in the present tense, stressing continuing action.  It may be translated “keep on falling short.”  No human being is able to measure up to God’s glory—His splendor, the outward manifestation of His attributes.  God would have humans share in His splendor, that they become like Him, that is, Christlike (2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 1:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:14), but this is only possible “in Christ.”

Paul recaps that man’s justification comes only in Christ.  It should be noted that the Greek word for “justified” is dikaioo, a legal term used in the courts of the day to render a verdict of “just or innocent.”  Here he introduces a number of important aspects of this verdict of justification:

• It is absolutely free.  He didn’t say “cheap,” since nothing could have cost the Father more than to give His Son to:

1. Take upon Himself human form and to retain this form with all its wounds for all eternity (John 1:14; Romans 1:3; 8:3; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:7; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14, 17; John 20:24-29).

2. Be subject to all of man’s temptations (Luke 22:28; Hebrews 2:18; 4:15; 5:2).

3. Experience all forms of human suffering including torture and physical death (John 19:1, 30; Philippians 2:8; Hebrews 5:8; 12:2; 1 Peter 1:11).

4. Take on and become man’s sin and thereby suffer a “spiritual” death of separation from God as payment for this act (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; Matthew 27:46).

The Greek word translated “freely” in this passage is dorean, which means “without cost or charge.”  This confirms that eternal life in Jesus Christ is in fact a grace-gift from God (Ephesians 2:8), which is offered to all and may only be received by means of faith:  And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)

• It stems exclusively through the instrument of God’s grace (Gk:  charis), which is God’s unmerited favor toward mankind.  Nothing man did or can do merits God’s favor.  In fact, man merits just the opposite from God, i.e., His judgment and wrath.  But God so loved His created beings and so longs to have fellowship with them (a fact far beyond human understanding) that He has offered a way to justify man to this end.  And this is an act of God’s grace—a favorite term used by Paul some 24 times throughout this epistle.

• Its basis is redemption, a result of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  This is the objective basis for God’s grace and verdict of justification.  The word for “redemption” in the Greek is apolutrosis, a compound word meaning “to release on payment of ransom” or “the act of paying the ransom in full.”  The term is used 10 times in the New Testament (Luke 21:28; Romans 3:24; 8:23; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:7, 14; 4:30; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:15).  It was a term used in the slave trade of the day.  A slave could be released if someone would come forward and pay his ransom.  But if the slave refused to be ransomed, he would remain in slavery.  In this respect, man is a slave to sin and to Satan and forever will be unless his ransom is paid (i.e., sin requires a cost).  And it was Christ, by His spiritual death upon the cross, that completely paid the ransom for mankind’s sin—a payment that is only effective if accepted by faith.

Six Words for redemption in the New Testament

• It provides propitiation (satisfaction) to God, which was secured by the spiritual death of Christ on the cross (cf. 1 John 2:2; 4:10).  The Greek word for “propitiation” is hilasterion, which actually means “mercy seat.”  The mercy seat was the lid or covering of the Ark of the Covenant made of pure gold, on and before which the high priest was to sprinkle the blood of the atoning sacrifices on the great Day of Atonement.  On that day goat’s blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat to cover (atone for) Israel’s sins and satisfy God for another year.  It was at the mercy seat where the Lord promised to meet His people (Exodus 25:17, 22; 29:42; 30:36; Leviticus 16:2, 14, 15).

Paul, by applying this term to the sacrifice of Christ, asserts that Christ was the true mercy seat, the antitype of the cover of the Ark of the Covenant, which meant that because of God’s mercy toward man, it is in Christ who is the true place of conciliation or atonement for man’s sin.  Jesus’ death is the final sacrifice that completely satisfies God’s demands against sinful people, thus averting His wrath from those who believe.  It is only by the sacrifice of Christ that God can be permanently satisfied regarding His glorious and just nature, which requires justice for all those who violate Him and His Word.

The phrase “by His blood” is a common metaphorical expression meaning “His death.”  Because “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11, 14), the shedding of blood represented the termination of life.  And Christ’s physical death, which all could see, serves as a symbolic reference to His spiritual death—the separation that Christ experienced on the cross for a period of three hours and which was the actual payment (ransom or penalty-price) Christ paid for the sins of mankind.

• It is appropriated (obtained, acquired, apprehended) only by the non-meritorious step of faith (see comments above).  Here it is speaking of the placement of faith, not “in His blood” but in Christ Himself—He is the object of saving faith.  It is only a resurrected and living Christ Jesus who can save.  He is the propitiation.  Faith in Him is the condition by which man avails himself of the propitiation.  His death (“spiritual death,” which is symbolized by His physical death, i.e., His “blood”) was the price that He paid for man’s sin.

• It demonstrates God’s righteousness.

Paul was so insistent that God’s righteousness be recognized that (Rom. 3:26) he repeated (from v. 25) the words “to demonstrate His justice” (“dikaiosynes”— righteousness) “and the One who justifies (“dikaiounia,” “the One who declares righteous”) the man who has faith in Jesus,” God’s divine dilemma was how to satisfy His own righteousness and its demands against sinful people, and at the same time how to demonstrate His grace, love, and mercy to restore rebellious, alienated creatures to Himself.  The solution was the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Son, and the acceptance by faith of that provision by individual sinners.  Christ’s death vindicated God’s own righteousness (He is just because sin was “paid for”) and enables God to declare every believing sinner righteous. (The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Cook Communications Ministries, 2004)

The phrase “because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed” is often misunderstood.  The following rather lengthy commentary taken from the Believer’s Bible Commentary by William MacDonald superbly clarifies this issue.

The finished work of Christ declares God’s righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.  This refers to sins committed before the death of Christ.  From Adam to Christ, God saved those who put their faith in Him on the basis of whatever revelation He gave them.  Abraham, for example, believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness (Gen. 15:6).  But how could God do this righteously?  A sinless Substitute had not been slain.  The blood of a perfect Sacrifice had not been shed.  In a word, Christ had not died.  The debt had not been paid.  God’s righteous claims had not been met.  How then could God save believing sinners in the OT period?

The answer is that although Christ had not yet died, God knew that He “would” die, and He saved men on the basis of the still-future work of Christ.  Even if OT saints didn’t know about Calvary, God knew about it, and He put all the value of Christ’s work to their account when they believed God.  In a very real sense, OT believers were saved on credit.  They were saved on the basis of a price still to be paid.  They looked forward to Calvary; we look back to it.

That is what Paul means when he says that the propitiation of Christ declares God’s righteousness because He had passed over the sins that were previously committed.  He is not speaking, as some wrongly think, of sins which an individual person has committed before his conversion.  This might suggest that the work of Christ took care of sins before the new birth, but that a man is on his own after that.  No, he is dealing with the seeming leniency of God in apparently overlooking the sins of those who were saved before the cross.  It might seem that God excused those sins or pretended not to see them.  Not so, says Paul.  The Lord knew that Christ would make full expiation, and so He saved men on that basis.

So the OT period was a time of the “forbearance” of God.  For at least 4000 years He held back His judgment on sin.  Then in the fullness of time He sent His Son to be the Sin-bearer.  When the Lord Jesus took our sins upon Himself, God unleashed the full fury of His righteous, holy wrath on the Son of His love. (Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)

This passage closes with the declaration that the death of Christ; which (1) is free to all, (2) stems from God’s grace, (3) is based on the redeeming sacrifice of Christ, (4) provides propitiation—satisfaction—to God for His offended holiness, (5) can only be acquired by faith in the person and work of Christ, and (6) demonstrates God’s righteousness in passing over man’s sin prior to the cross; declares God’s righteousness by showing that He is “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

It is beyond imagination and reality to this commentator how anyone, who honestly and faithfully reviews this passage (vss. 21-26) can possibly believe that the acquisition of salvation—spirit salvation (deliverance from an eternity in hell)—could possibly entail anything other than faith alone in Christ alone.

Romans 3:27-31

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.  Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.  Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Paul then concludes that in this free and grace-based plan of salvation, which comes only through faith in Christ, there can be no boasting.  His thoughts most likely go back to his Jewish roots in which he took pride in his keeping of the Law.  By keeping the Law the Jews, and especially the religious leaders of which Paul was one, would boast of their privileged position before their God—a position that Paul previously in this chapter has soundly refuted by showing that the Jew, in the matter of sin, was no better than the Gentile; and the Law was never meant to justify anyone, but instead was meant to shut every mouth by providing the “knowledge of sin” and to verify that everyone is “guilty before God” (vss. 19, 20).

Paul makes it a point to stress that “works” have no place in God’s plan of salvation.  All boasting is excluded then by the “law of faith” (a play on words).  And the conclusion is that if a person wishes to be justified before God, he may achieve this state only “by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”

If salvation were by works, that would allow room for all kinds of self-congratulation.  But when salvation is on the principle of faith, there is no room for boasting.  The justified person says, “I did all the sinning; Jesus did all the saving.”  True faith disavows any possibility of self-help, self-improvement, or self-salvation, looking only to Christ as Savior. (Believer’s Bible Commentary, William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995)

Paul finally reaffirms that God is the God of both the Jews (circumcised) and the Gentiles (uncircumcised).  Both need His salvation.  They are both His creation and He loves both the same.

Paul assures his readers that the law (or principle) of faith does not void God’s Law; it actually upholds and establishes (confirms and verifies) it.  Placing one’s faith in Christ as the only means of salvation only proves that the Law demands perfect obedience, which man can never achieve; therefore, unless he comes to Christ by faith, he has only the prospect of spiritual death before him.