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JUSTIFIED BY FAITH

THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER 3
 

          Welcome back! So glad to have you here for more Daily Bread. Let me remind you what Paul was writing about when we left off. He was explaining that to be Jewish is not about being born with Jewish blood, it’s about being Jewish in your heart and your spirit.

          Paul goes on with a little question and answer style of teaching, so put on your thinking caps while we study it together.

                    Q ... What advantage is there then, or what profit is there to be born Jewish?

                    A ... Much, in every way. Mostly because the messages of God were written to them.

 

                    Q ... Well, what if some Jewish people did not believe, would their unbelief make the Faith of God untrue?

A ... Certainly not. Yes, let God be true, but every man a liar, as it is written (by David in Psalms 51:4), That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

 

Q ... But if our unrighteousness commend (makes right or worthy) the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who takes vengeance? (I speak in human terms)

A ... Certainly not, because then how shall God judge the world?

 

Q ... Because if the truth (faith in the reality) of God has become more clear through my lie for His glory, why am I still judged as a sinner? And not instead (as we’ve been slanderously spoken of and as some claim that we say), Let us do evil, so that good may come of it? Whose condemnation is deserved. What then? Are we (the Gentiles) better than they (the Jewish)?

A ... No, in no way, because we have before found out the TRUTH, both Jewish and Gentiles, that they are all under sin, as it is written (by David in Psalms 14:1-3),

There is none righteous, no not one,

there is none that understand,

there is none that seek after God.

They are all gone out of the way,

they have together become useless,

there is none that do good, no, not one.

 

Psalms 5:9

Their throat is an open sepulchre (grave),

with their tongues they have used deceit,

the poison of snakes is under their lips,

 

Psalms 10:7

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness

 

Isaiah 59:7,8

Proverbs 1:16

Their feet are swift to shed blood,

destruction and misery are in their ways,

and the way of peace have they not known

 

Psalms 36:1

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

 

 

          Sooooo, using scripture, Paul just showed us that we’re all subject to sin, whether we’re Jewish or Gentile, it matters not. We are all under sin. We all sin.

BUT ...


          We’re not all under the law (the Old Testament). In fact, nobody is under the law unless they choose to be. And when a person chooses to be under the law, they are obligated to obey it. Paul explains:

Now, we know that whatever things the law says,

it says to those who are under the law,

that every mouth may be stopped,

and all the world may become guilty before God.

So, by the deeds of the law,

no man shall be made righteous in God’s eyes,

because by the law is the knowledge of sin.

To say this simply, if there are no rules to break, everything is within the law. Once rules are introduced, then you know there is right and wrong (sin). If you didn’t know what wrong was, you couldn’t have any sin.

But now, the righteousness of God without the law is clear,

being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

That is the righteousness of God which is by Faith of Jesus Christ

for all and upon all them that believe,

because there is no difference,

for all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God,

being justified without cost by His Grace

through the redemption (freeing of sin)

that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God has given to be an atoning sacrifice

through Faith in His blood,

to declare His righteousness

for the forgiveness of sins that are past,

through the forbearance of God,

to declare now, His righteousness,

that He might be just

and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus.

 

 

Q ... Where is the bragging then?

A ...  It is eliminated.

 

Q ... By what law? Of works?

A ... No, but by the law of Faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law.

 

Q ... Is he the God of the Jewish only? Is He not also of the Gentiles?

A ... Yes, of the Gentiles also. He is one God, who will justify the Jewish by faith and the Gentiles through faith.

 

                    Q ... Do we then make the law void through Faith?

                    A ... Certainly not,  we establish the law by way of Faith

 

          Works are not only things that you do, they can be your attitude or a train of thought, or anything that comes from you, humanly speaking. Here, Paul is pointing out that nothing that is “of you” can get you into Heaven. Being Jewish, although it is not something that a person can control, is still a human trait that Jewish people possess, therefore, it is not a means by which you can obtain eternal life.

          Faith is the key. It doesn’t matter if you do a dozen good deeds per day, if you give 20 percent of your income to the poor, or if your family is in the direct bloodline of the tribe of Ephraim, without faith, your “works” are useless. Following the law is a “work." It does not admit you into Heaven. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t follow the law. It means that if you have Faith, you will want to follow the law, effortlessly. It will come naturally to you, because it is written in your heart by the Hand of God. (Hebrews 8:6-10)

         Next time we’ll talk a little more about faith, as we continue with Paul’s letter to the Romans, right here at Daily Bread.

 



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