How Does Righteousness Come to Us?
22This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith…
Romans 3:22-25 (NIV)
Moving on to Romans 3:22-25, we can see two essential lessons about how sinful people can receive righteousness from God:
- Jesus is the source and the object of our faith:
- Through faith in Jesus Christ alone, we have righteousness (Ro. 3:22). The object of our faith is crucial; it is not faith itself that saves, but rather faith in the right object. Just as having faith in feathers strapped to one’s arms will not enable flight, faith in anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ will not bring salvation. It is not even faith in God that saves, but specifically faith in Jesus Christ.
- Saving faith is specifically in Christ’s work on the cross (Ro. 3:25). It is not enough to have a general admiration for Jesus as a great man or inspirational example. Righteousness comes “through faith in his blood,” meaning faith in Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice on the cross.
- The nature of righteousness:
- Righteousness cannot be attained through our own actions or efforts (Ro. 3:23). Paul states that all have sinned and lack the glory of God. Due to our sin, we have lost the ability to live in God’s presence and enjoy his approval. No amount of personal striving can bridge this gap.
- Righteousness is given freely by God, without any cause or merit on our part (Ro. 3:24). Faith should not be viewed as a “work” or a psychological state we must achieve. The word “freely” emphasizes that righteousness is given in a way that is totally unwarranted and undeserved. Faith is simply coming to God with empty hands, like a child asking his mother for something, trusting in her generosity. It is crucial to understand that faith is the instrument by which we receive salvation, not the cause of it. Misunderstanding this can lead to pride and a lack of assurance.
Because all have sinned, there is no one who does not need to receive righteousness, and because Christ died for those sins, there is no one who cannot receive it. “All who believe” are made righteous, regardless of their background or past actions.
How do these two truths work together to provide a complete understanding of salvation? What are the potential consequences of emphasizing one while neglecting the other, and how can you maintain a balanced perspective in living and sharing your Christian faith?
[The ideas for this week’s materials on Romans 3:21-31 were drawn from Tim Keller’s book “Romans 1-7 for You“]
These two truths work together to provide a complete understanding of salvation in that it is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved. Both the object of our faith and the grace through which righteousness is obtained are absolutely crucial to recognize that it is not what we do, but what God has done for us through Christ that makes us right with Him. As a matter of fact, even our faith is a gift from God, an extension of His grace. If we emphasize one of these truths while neglecting the other we run the risk of either misplacing our faith in something with no power to save, or else coming to rely on our own works, leading to pride and, inevitably, frustration. In either case, as the Big Book says, “lack of power is our dilemma.” One of the best ways to maintain a balanced perspective in living and sharing our Christian faith is spending time in the Word on a daily, consistent basis, being constantly reminded of the truth of the gospel message, as it seems we are prone to wander and forget😔 At least I know I am!
I think both points are intended to point out the same truth. We have come to a point where we recognize our inability to be “good” enough to save ourselves. Once we realized that then we will also realize our desperate plight. Nothing we can do will somehow make us worthy to be in God’s presence some day. So at that point we must find hope in the “but” – that Christ has already sacrifice Himself in our stead to redeem us. If we don’t understand or accept that point then we will find nothing but a black hole to oblivion. So if we don’t recognize the first then we will try and try and fail. If we don’t recognize the second after we understand the first then we will fall into hopelessness.
I think we can speak of these truths and we should share them when we find opportunities but I do not believe that it can be understood intellectually, it must be experienced. The only way to experience is to take that first step of “faith” and then study God’s Words and nature and open our heart and mind to the Spirit at work and through experiencing a relationship with our Lord can we eventually understand. It is not about intellectual discovery but spiritual experience. That was my mistake at first, I tried to understand intellectually – now I feel Him and I love God for I am beginning to believe in the Godly love He has for me!
Understanding these two truths is very helpful to me. Do you know that in Vietnamese Buddhism, there is a chant “Nam Mô A Di Đà Phật” (deriving from the Sanskrit “Namo Amitābhāya Buddhāya”), which is a belief that when they pray that chant, the merit of the Amitabha Buddha will be imputed to them so that they can swiftly go into “Tây Phương Cực Lạc” (“Western Land of Bliss”) after death, where they can easily meditate themselves into Nivarna rather than going through thousands of reincarnation cycles?
While there may be some superficial similarities to the Christian concept of righteousness being imputed to believers through faith, there are significant differences that highlight the unique nature of the gospel message.
The Buddhist chant focuses on the idea of the Buddha’s merit being transferred to the devotee, which seems to parallel the Christian understanding of Christ’s righteousness being imputed to believers. However, the Buddhist perspective fails to address the second crucial truth presented in Romans 3: the nature and availability of righteousness.
In Christianity, righteousness is not merely imputed to believers, but it is given freely, without any cause or merit on our part (Ro.3:24). This means that righteousness is not earned or attained through our own efforts, actions, or even through the sincere recitation of a specific chant. The gospel message emphasizes that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Ro.3:23), and that no amount of personal striving can bridge the gap between us and God.
Moreover, the Christian understanding of salvation is rooted in the historical event of Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross (Ro.3:25). It is through faith in this specific work of Christ that righteousness is imputed to believers, rather than through the merit of any other spiritual figure.
While the Vietnamese Buddhist chant may offer comfort and hope to its adherents, it ultimately fails to address the fundamental problem of human sinfulness and the inability to attain righteousness through our own efforts. The gospel message, as presented in Romans 3, provides a comprehensive solution that acknowledges our need for a savior and the freely given nature of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.