In Romans 1:18-3:21 we have seen that both Gentiles and Jews are under sin and are in need of salvation. The whole human family at the beginning had the knowledge of God. Notwithstanding this fact, they glorified Him not as God and became unthankful. Then of course their minds were darkened, and they began to engage in idolatry. Then God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which were unseemly. In the process of time as the centuries rolled on, God found in Abraham a man in whom He could put confidence. The Lord wrought upon his body, when he was ninety-nine years of age and upon that of his wife Sarah, aged eighty-nine, a biological miracle which made possible the birth of Isaac. Jacob, the chosen seed of Isaac, with his sons and their families went down into Egypt and sojourned there. When the time drew near for God to bring them forth out of bondage into their own land, the Lord sent Moses who led them to Sinai, where He delivered His revelation to them. The Lord graciously dealt with His people Israel by pouring out upon them the riches of His blessing, being limited, however, only by their lack of surrender and their disloyalty to Him. In the fullness of the times the Lord Jesus Christ, their promised Messiah, came. Not having a burning desire to know the truth, but being carried on by their own desires and wishes, they did not recognize Him. On the contrary, they had Him put to death. At the time of the writing of the Roman Epistle, Israel as a nation was still rejecting Him. Thus they were brought under the judgment of God, together with the Gentiles, as we saw in last month's study. The Scriptures, as Paul proved, had already declared that both Jew and Gentile are all under sin and condemnation. But the law, which was holy and good and perfect for the purpose for which it was given, could never be relied upon as a means of salvation. On the contrary, by the law no flesh can be justified in God's sight. The purpose of the law was to give a knowledge of sin. Thus in our study of this book we see that the whole world, Jew and Gentile alike, are under the condemnation of sin. Condemnation means damnation. To be headed toward the outer darkness from which there never returns a single one is an awful doom, too horrible to be contemplated. Yet it is a fact.

Having shown, then, that the world needs a Saviour, one who can save to the uttermost all who come unto God by faith in Him, the Apostle, upon the background of the lost condition of the world, has painted in most glowing colors the redemption which God has provided for us--as we now proceed to study.

"21 But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; 24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; 26 for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:21-26).

In contrast with the indictment of the human family that all are under condemnation, the Apostle, in verse 21, declared that "now apart from law a righteousness of God hath been revealed" (lit. tr.). There is no article before the word law in the original text. It should therefore not be inserted in this passage since nothing demands it. The Apostle is not speaking about the law of Moses, but law in general. There is no law that could be given and that could make people alive. If there were such a law "Verily righteousness would have been of the law [of Moses]" (Gal. 3:21). Since there is no law that could impart life, and since the thing that man needs is spiritual, eternal life, God has revealed a righteousness of His own--the way of eternal life--apart from all law, yes, apart from the law of Moses though it was perfect in every way.

This righteousness "hath been manifested ..." It is a revelation, a disclosure, made by the Lord to men. It is something that man could not discover, but could be made known to man only by a direct revelation of God.

This "righteousness of God," this way of eternal life, was witnessed by "the law and the prophets." The sacrificial system under Moses was a provisional arrangement for the time being and was given by way of adaptation to the Chosen People, which pointed definitely forward to the real righteousness of God and the actual way of life to eternal bliss. Moreover, this righteousness of God apart from law was revealed through the prophets, who foretold this period of grace and the gospel of grace and salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. To King Agrippa and those present, Paul declared that, in his preaching the gospel, he was saying nothing "... but what the prophets and Moses did say should come; how that the Christ must suffer, and how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles" (Acts 26:22,23).

According to Romans 3:22 Paul tells us that this righteousness of God is "through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe ..." This righteousness is God's righteousness. The idea of righteousness is that of right, absolute right. Nothing that is wrong or impure is tolerated in connection with this righteousness. One who is righteous is righteous in the absolute sense of the term and is recognized by God as such.

This righteousness is a righteousness which God has prepared, and which He has revealed and offers to all who believe. We might label this a righteousness "made in heaven"--by the Lord himself. It therefore is called "the righteousness of God." This righteousness is available "through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe." Only "through faith" can one procure this righteousness. But what is faith? It is simply trusting God, relying absolutely upon Him, believing in Him as a faithful and a truthful Creator. Sometimes we are told that faith is never recognized as such unless it has expressed itself in action or in obedience to something that God has said. Thus by this unique method of reasoning the pure gospel of Jesus Christ by faith is converted into a legal system requiring obedience. An examination, however, of the "roll call of faith" in Hebrews, chapter 11, dispels this error. In Hebrews 11:1 we are told that "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen." This is a very fine and excellent statement regarding the nature of faith. Faith is the assurance of things for which we hope, it is a conviction regarding things which are not seen. The elders, that is, the ancient heroes in primitive days, by faith had witness borne to them. They believed that God responded to their faith by giving evidence that they were acceptable to Him. In Hebrews 11:3 we are told, "By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear." It is by faith we understand that the visible worlds were created out of things that are not seen. There is nothing for faith to do in this case. It simply accepts the testimony which God has given relative to the creation of the visible material universe. The attitude that, the one who has faith takes is this: "I do not know and cannot understand how God could create a visible universe. But He has told us in His Word that He has done that very thing. I believe it without any question." Anyone who thus accepts His testimony does so by faith. There is nothing that is required of one in this case. Again, we are told that by faith Sarah "received power to conceive seed when she was past age." By faith she received power to become a mother. She believed God. He had assured her that she should become the glad mother of a child who was to be the son of promise, the one through whom God would bless the world. She simply believed Him. There was nothing for her to do. Hers was a case of faith. Again, if anyone will only read Hebrews 11:32-39, in which passage we have a record of the heroes of endurance, he will see that faith is an attitude that a person takes toward God. Such a one believes what God has said and makes his calculations upon that basis. It is true, however, that the one who has a saving faith will, under normal conditions, never falter at anything that God says for him to do.

God says that this righteousness of His comes to one through his faith in Jesus Christ. Thus this righteousness which God has prepared for the world is one which is wrapped up in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. A person avails himself of it by faith. To reinforce this thought the Apostle declared in this same statement that this righteousness is unto all that believe. If one will only believe, his faith can take hold of this righteousness.

"For there is no distinction ..." God does not have pets and favorites. This righteousness is for all, for all who believe; for there is no distinction. Jesus gave the invitation to everyone who would come. In Revelation, chapter 22, the last chapter in the Scriptures, the invitation is to "whosoever will." If one will believe, he is eligible to the gospel call.

The reason that there is no distinction among people is that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." All are under condemnation, because all sinned originally in Adam--as we shall see in our study of chapter 5. The verb rendered "have sinned" is not in the present perfect tense, as appears in the text of our translation, but is simply the aorist form of the verb which indicates a single act in the past. When we read this in the light of Romans 5:12-21 we see that all sinned in Adam when he pitted his will against God's. When man sinned, his nature became corrupt. As a result of his fallen nature, man keeps on falling short of the glory of God. This rendering of the words in this connection is accurate and represents man as constantly falling short of the glory of God. There is not a man who does not fall short of the glory of God--regardless of how good he may be. In view of the fact that all sin and all are constantly sinning and falling short of the glory of God, all are in need of salvation. This salvation, or righteousness of God, has been provided in Christ for every one, who will believe.

In verse 24 we are told, "... being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ..." The word rendered justified in the original means "to show to be righteous" or "to declare, pronounce righteous." This is a legal term and was used to indicate the innocence of a person who had been on trial. Since God has provided and offered His righteousness through Jesus Christ to all who believe, the Apostle therefore could say that those who believe are "justified freely." Upon the basis of this righteousness which God has provided and offered, the believer is pronounced justified, he is declared to be righteous. God is the one who makes this pronouncement. He does it freely, without coercion, because the believer has accepted this righteousness which God alone has prepared and has offered freely.

The Apostle is very careful to let us know that this pronouncement of the believer's being righteous is procured "by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." This scheme of redemption is by grace. God was under no obligation to do anything for man. Man had deliberately put his will up against that of the Almighty and fell. Paul tells us in his first letter to Timothy that Eve was deceived, but that Adam was not--that Adam committed a deliberate act. We all sinned in him. Hence God was under no obligation to save us. But His grace and mercy led Him to provide a way of escape from eternal damnation. But this way of escape is through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father except by me." There is no such thing as ignoring Jesus Christ and one's being saved. There is no such thing as anyone's approaching God in prayer who does not do so by going through Jesus Christ. There is one Mediator between God and man. Himself a man, Christ Jesus our Lord (I Tim. 2:5).

The word redemption has various shades of connotation. The early Greek Church Fathers chose the meaning of paying a ransom to another as the principle idea that was conveyed by those passages which speak of redemption through Christ. They thought that Satan was the one who had the "bill of sale" of man and that Christ paid a ransom to him in order to rescue man. This conception of the atonement has now by orthodox theologians been abandoned as being untenable. Since this righteousness of God and salvation through Christ were witnessed by the law and the Prophets, we can get a glimpse of the principal idea of redemption if we will but look at the Old Testament. God speaks of Himself as having redeemed the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage. This fact stands out most prominently in the history of Israel. The redemption which He wrought for her was by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by which He wrought many mighty works and powers. Thus the dominant thought of the redemption of Israel, which was typical of our own salvation, was that of the Redeemer's going into the territory of the enemy, of meeting him at hand's-grip, of rescuing those in bondage, and of leading them forth. This Old Testament idea constitutes the form into which the New Testament doctrine of redemption through Christ has been poured. Satan was the enemy who held the power of death over all humanity. Christ laid aside His glory which He had with the Father, entered the world by miraculous conception and virgin birth, trod the weary way up to Calvary, and, during the hours when He was on the cross, fought the battle with Satan to a finish and conquered. Through death He brought to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and delivered all those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Thus what was lost in Adam was regained in Christ.

Concerning the Lord Jesus the Apostle declared, "... whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood ..." (vs. 25). The word rendered a propitiation is one which indicates graciousness and satisfaction. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by doing what He accomplished during His life and on the cross and then by going to Sheol and seizing the keys of death and Hades, dealt with Satan and sin in such a way that its existence no longer moves God to be otherwise than gracious. His work on the cross canceled sin--made it for the believer as if it had never existed. Only on that condition could God become gracious. "How then shall He become gracious, unless He himself performs something whereby sin may be thus in His sight annulled?" asks Hofmann. Since our Lord thus annulled sin and its force, He is said to be a propitiation for us "Through faith, in his blood."

This annulling of sin was done through His blood. The whole scheme of redemption is attributed to the blood of Christ. In the blood is the life, as we learn in Leviticus 17:11. Christ, in pouring out His blood for us, poured out His life in our behalf and thus canceled sin. We who know God in Christ can still sing,

"There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains."

A gospel that does not recognize the efficacy of the blood of the Lord Jesus is not the gospel that is revealed in they Scriptures. Any congregation that denies the blood cannot be a New Testament group of believers.

The Lord Jesus went to the cross and suffered and died for us "to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God ..." From the sin of Cain onward to the cross, God, figuratively speaking, passed by the sins of His own people; that is, He did not deal summarily and drastically with them upon the basis of merit. Had He done so, everyone would have been sent to that part of Sheol to which the lost go upon death. Doubtless seraphim, cherubim, and all ranks and orders of angels noticed that from Cain's sin to the cross there were certain ones who, upon death, went not to that place where the wicked were being confined, but rather to the place called "Abraham's bosom" (Luke 16:22). They could not understand how a holy God could make the distinction between men. They were therefore in a quandary as to the reason for the separation. When, however, Christ went to the cross and dealt with the sin question and with him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, it became immediately evident that God was righteous in passing over the sins of those who had believed throughout the centuries prior to the cross.

In God's passing over the sins of the heroes of faith, He exercised forbearance. He did this, knowing what would be done when the Messiah went to the cross and dealt with sin.

Our Lord's work on the cross not only canceled or annulled sins that were committed aforetime, but also dealt with those of the present and all future time. That this is true is evident from the following statement: "For the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus" (vs. 26). God must be just in His justifying anyone. His holiness and righteousness will not allow Him to palliate sin in any way, or to pass it by unnoticed. Sin is of such a nature that it is abhorrent to His holiness and righteousness. It must therefore be dealt with properly. Thus when the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, He annuled sin--made it as if it had never been committed. When that was done, God's gracious character enabled Him to receive the vilest sinner who comes believing in the meritorious vicarious suffering of the Lord Jesus. The one who comes to the Father through Him and upon the basis of His merits, He will in no wise cast out. Thus since Christ annulled sin, God can be just and is just at the time that He pronounces the believer just and righteous in His sight. Figuratively speaking, God throws the mantle of Christ's righteousness round about the believer and looks at him through it. The justified one is in God's sight just as if He had never sinned. His name is written in the Lamb's book of life--and never will be erased from it. His salvation is certain; it is sure.

Lord, how secure and blest are they
Who feel the joys of pardoned sin!
Should storms of wrath shake earth and sea,
Their minds have heaven and, peace within.

They scorn to seek earth's golden toys,
But spend the day, and share the night,
In numbering o'er the richer joys
That Heaven prepares for their delight. --Isaac Watts

In the last issue we studied Paul's teaching concerning the righteousness of God which is revealed apart from all law. It is God's righteousness--one which in plan had been made in heaven but had been carried out upon earth by the Son of God. It is for all who believe. There is no distinction among men; because all sinned in Adam and are constantly falling short of the glory of God throughout their earthly existence. We are freely justified by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Our Lord, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, figuratively speaking, went into the territory of Satan who had the power of death and conquered him and thus wrought redemption for us. God sets forth Christ as the propitiation for our sins, as that which makes satisfaction for sin and annuls it. So that no longer does His wrath against sin cause Him to be otherwise than gracious. Christ is the satisfaction for our sins through faith in His blood. He laid down His life for our sins, suffering vicariously for us--in our stead.

From murderous Cain to the crucifixion of our Lord there were those who believed and put their trust in God, and to whom God did not impute iniquity. He, in anticipation of the satisfaction that Christ would make on the cross, passed over their sins. To all the celestial hosts this fact was a mystery. They could not understand it. When, however, Christ championed the cause of man and made satisfaction for sin, it became manifest to all the celestial host how it was that God was righteous in passing by their sins and in not executing judgment upon them because of the same.

Moreover, Christ, as we have already seen, in His suffering and dying for humanity, showed forth at the present season His righteousness, so that God can now be just and at the same time justify the ungodly who have faith in the Lord Jesus.

With this rapid survey of what we have already learned on this point before our minds, let us advance one step forward in this most important study. Those who trusted God prior to the crucifixion of our Lord, upon death, passed out of this world, going into that apartment of Sheol to which all believers were consigned. During this same period the wicked who never put their trust in God while alive passed out of this life through the portal of death. But they took another road, one leading to that apartment of Hades to which the lost went. There was a vast gulf between these two localities so that those in one place could not cross this gulf to the other and vice versa. Why was it that the saved were detained in Sheol, or Hades as the place of the departed spirits is known in the New Testament? The answer seems to be this: Because of their faith they were counted righteous as was Abraham. But they were not then actually clothed with the righteousness of Christ, being only reckoned as righteous because of their faith. They were therefore detained in that apartment of Hades set apart for the righteous. They remained there until the death of Christ on the cross and His descent into Hades to clothe them with His own righteousness and to deliver them from their confinement.

Both the good angels and the fallen spirits doubtless watched the stream of humanity as it crossed the stage of human endeavor and passed out of life through the portal of death. These noticed that there was a separation after death: That there were certain ones who went to the right, we may say, and were escorted to a place of comfort and ease; on the other hand, there were those who went to the left to a place of punishment (not Gehenna, the place of final and everlasting punishment; but to that department of Hades to which the wicked were consigned, and where they are punished to a certain extent). All of the hosts of spiritual beings--both good and bad--having observed the lives and the conduct of the two groups, the saved and the unsaved, could not understand why there was a separation of the multitudes after they had passed through the portal of death. Doubtless there were many of excellent character, humanly speaking, who were sent down to the left into outer darkness. At the same time there were many whose lives from a human standpoint had not measured up to the lives of some of those who had gone to the left, yet they were turned to the right and went into this place of bliss and contentment. Why the difference? Were they not judged according to their lives and conduct? This situation was indeed a mystery--until our Lord Jesus Christ dealt with the sin question on the cross and then made His descent into Hades. Then it became evident to all why some went to the right and some went to the left after passing out of this life. The deciding factor was their faith and their faith alone. Their goodness and their fine characters did not enter into the determination of their destiny.

God's scheme of redemption made it possible for Him to allow all believers to turn to the right into the "waiting room" of the redeemed, to await the time when redemption would actually be wrought out by the strong Son of God who, upon having dealt with the sin question on the cross, passed out of death and by so doing brought to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and then made His descent into Sheol.

Upon His arrival there He seized the keys of death and Hades, figuratively speaking, clothed all believers there with the robe of His righteousness and brought them forth. When He returned to earth, His spirit reunited with His body and He came forth from the grave a triumphant conqueror over Satan and the hosts of evil. After His resurrection all the hosts of the saved, with their robes of righteousness about them, appeared with Him. We are not to assume that all of these received their resurrection body at that time. It is true that many of the saints who were asleep in the grave came forth with their glorified bodies after His resurrection and appeared to certain ones in the city of Jerusalem (Matt. 27:51-53). When our Lord ascended to glory, these who had been rescued from Hades and clothed with His righteousness followed Him to glory. Thus they graced His triumphs as He returned to the Father's house.

Thus the righteousness of God in justifying the ungodly upon the basis of the satisfaction which Christ made regarding the sin question by His atoning death became manifest to all.

Since our Lord's ascension those who believe upon Him are justified, are pronounced righteous. God therefore is just in justifying the ungodly, since Christ made satisfaction for sin. Being actually clothed with the righteousness of Christ, the believer upon death now goes immediately into the presence of the Almighty. "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord."

"Where then is the glorying? It is excluded. By what manner of law? of works? Nay: but by a law of faith. 28 We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yea, of Gentiles also: 30 if so be that God is one, and he shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. 31 Do we then make the law of none effect through faith? God forbid: nay, we establish the law" (Rom 3:27-31).