Romans 3:21-31

3:21-22 | All that Paul has said from 1:18-3:20 is painfully true: man has earned the condemnation of a righteous God. Paul’s first words here (Now we know) signal the beginning of a new section of his letter – and a new day in the world of faith: before Jesus Christ, the Jews were self-righteous and the Gentiles were unrighteous. Now the righteousness of God is revealed through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe (Acts 13:39).

3:21-22 | No one is outside the scope of God’s righteousness; there is also no distinction among those who are saved – or among those who are lost: all fall short. Bishop Hanley Moule put it dramatically: “The harlot, the liar, the murderer, are short of it; but so are you. Perhaps they stand at the bottom of a mine, and you on the crest of an Alp; but you are as little able to touch the stars as they.”

3:24 | Grace is one of God’s expressions of love for us. It is the gift unsought, unmerited, unlimited that overrules whatever a person has done, no matter the depth of transgression or the darkness of heart.

3:26 | Because many years passed during which God continued to atone “temporarily” by covering over sin, it might have appeared that God did not take sin seriously. The cross of Christ removed all doubt: The cross is the public declaration that God is righteous in the way He has handled human sin. It is no longer merely covered, but removed!

3:27-31 | Divine righteousness excludes all boasting. It eliminates human pride, prejudice, and presumption.