Eternity Daily Bible Study: No. 513 Romans 1-8 - A Righteousness That Is By Faith Verses: Romans 3:19-23 Topic: Righteousness Apart From The Law Date: 23rd September 2004 Romans 3:19-23 MKJV But we know that whatever things the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law; so that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may be under judgment before God, (20) because by the works of the Law none of all flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law is the knowledge of sin. (21) But now a righteousness of God has been revealed apart from Law, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets; (22) even the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ, toward all and upon all those who believe. For there is no difference, (23) for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Paul's logic goes like this (you may need to read this a few times): 1. All are sinners, both Jew and Gentile, therefore all are law-breakers 2.So there is no one who is righteous by the Law's standards. 3.The role of the law is simply to show us that we are sinners and to reveal "the knowledge of sin" - so the whole world may be under judgment before God. 4.So righteousness cannot be obtained via the law because we all fall short and just end up under God's judgment. 5. So if there is to be such an actual thing on this earth as righteousness , it must be obtained some other way than by the Law. 6.There must be a righteousness "apart from the law". 7.That is the righteousness that is by faith, the only way out of God's judgment is faith in Christ Jesus 8.This righteousness by faith is witnessed to in the Law and the Prophets and is available to all who believe, both Jew and Gentile. The Law puts righteousness out of the reach of fallen mankind. The Law is so condemning that no one can totally live up to it. No one can make it, no one will be justified by it. The Law is an examination for the human soul - which has a 100% failure rate. That is why Paul says: "because by the works of the Law none of all flesh will be justified in His sight;" We can try as hard as we might to be righteous but one day we will sin - and then we will fail. If this is so then logically there are only two possibilities: a) If the law is the only source of righteousness before God, and we all fail the standards of the Law, then logically righteousness cannot exist on planet Earth. b) If the law is not the only source of righteousness before God - and there is another way to be righteous that is accessible to fallen mankind, then it is possible for righteousness to exist on planet Earth. If righteousness is to exist in a fallen world then it cannot come through the Law which requires perfect performance. Now God wants righteousness to exist - but the Law only brings condemnation. The Law cannot fulfill God's desire for righteousness to exist on planet Earth. Not because the Law is wrong, but because we are weak and sinful. It just won't happen. The Law fails because of our weakness. So because God's intention to create a "world in which righteousness dwells" cannot be brought about by the Law, then it must happen "some other way" which does not involve the Law. If righteousness is to exist in a fallen world it must come through "option b" - there must be another more realistic way to be righteous before God. Faith in Christ Jesus is "option b" - that is faith is another (non-legalistic) way to be righteous. A way that does not involve obeying the Law. A way that is accessible to all who believe. This is what Paul means when he maintains: "But now a righteousness of God has been revealed apart from Law, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets." There is another way of righteousness, a better path, a new and living Way that is apart from the Law, and which does not involve having to keep long lists of rules or having to work our way to Heaven. It is not just a matter of changing a few commandments or of replacing Law X with Law Y. If that was all that was need for this earth to become a place in which righteousness dwells then God would have sent a book or a prophet or a persuader. If all that was needed was a change in the rules then God need not have sent His Son, and Jesus need not have gone to the cross. His teachings would have been sufficient. In Galatians Paul puts it this bluntly: Galatians 2:21 MKJV I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness is through law, then Christ died without cause. If righteousness could be obtainable by law-keeping then Jesus' teachings and example would have been enough. Just add a few laws and the job is done! But sin is deeper than that and required the radical solution of the cross. Law-keeping is impossible until the human sin-nature is dealt with. And that required Jesus to die on the cross. The law cannot make any one good. It only points out that we are bad. It is like the California traffic laws which tell me that X is wrong but which give me no help in doing what is right. If you put a bad driver in a place with strict road rules, he just gets more traffic fines! So in a fallen world righteousness does not come through the Law. In fact in a fallen world the Law just brings "more fines" and the Bible calls that "condemnation". The path of obtaining righteousness through rule-keeping is a fruitless dead-end that only results in guilt, condemnation and judgment. But this is not because the law is bad but because we are weak and sinful (see Romans 7) and cannot keep the Law. In fact the Law is holy, righteous and good. Faith in Christ Jesus takes us off the dead-end track of rule-keeping and puts us on the new and living Way of life in Christ Jesus. Faith in Christ Jesus move us off the path that leads to condemnation and death and onto the path of eternal life and hope. We move from under the law to under the Spirit. We find we are righteous but in a completely different way. The righteousness is not earned from an outside source but flows from an inner dynamic - the life of Christ within us. The righteousness apart from the Law is the righteousness of Christ who comes to live within the heart of the believer. This righteousness apart from the Law is witnessed to in the Old Testament, especially in the life of Abraham who was declared righteous long before the Law was handed down. Thus Abraham was righteous with this alternative righteousness - the righteousness that is by faith. 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