good news = gospel

Romans 3:21-26

Observation:

The key words are: righteousness, law, faith, justifies. They are repeated through out these verses. The contrast is the righteousness that comes from the law vs. the righteousness that comes from God.

There is a small word picture that most readers would have picked up on comparing the death of Jesus to the atonement sacrifice in the OT.

Interpret:

The phrase that connects this to the rest of the chapter and the book is "But now..." indicating that there is a change in the present that alters everything. Up to this point, Paul points out that all of us are guilty, whether we have the law or not. All of our religious ceremonies and arrogance will not save us from God's wrath. But now...

Up to this point, Paul has proven that we are not declared righteous by observing the law adn therefore the just do not live by the law. In this passage, he proves how we can be declared righteous through the death of Jesus Christ - adding to his thesis that the just will live by faith (or, we are declared just/righteous by faith).

The main argument of this passage is that righteousness comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ. None of us could attain righteousness on our own because we all (whether Jew or Gentil - there is no difference when it comes to righteousness) fall short but we all (whether Jew or Gentile) can be declared righteous by God's grace through the sacrifice of Jesus. In Jesus, we see the justice and the grace of God.

Apply:

God's exceptional and indescribable mercy is seen clearly in this passage: because I could not attain his standard of righteousness, I deserve punishment but he gives me righteousness through Jesus. Wow! I also see God's justice - he could not let sin go unpunished but in his grace allowed Jesus to take the punishment for me. Wow (again)! My response should be complete surrender to God and a complete humbling before him. He saved me - it wasn't my merit or effort or attractiveness (and I know I'm pretty attractive...). It was his character that moved him to act on my behalf. My salvation depends on God, not on me.