Believers Are Justified by Faith

Romans 1-8

As God’s apostle to the Gentiles, it was Paul who led the church in spreading Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. He made three missionary journeys to much of the Mediterranean world, tirelessly preaching the gospel that he once had sought to destroy. Toward the close of his third missions trip, he wrote this letter to the Romans from Corinth.

Unlike Paul’s letters to other churches, he was not writing the Romans to correct aberrant theology or rebuke ungodly living. This church — which was likely founded by some who were converted on the Day of Pentecost — was doctrinally sound. Yet, like all churches, these believers were in need of rich doctrinal and practical instruction.

As much as Paul longed to meet these Christians, he had thus far been prevented from visiting them. However, in God’s providence, the apostle’s inability to visit Rome gave the world this divinely inspired masterpiece of Christian doctrine that later became the New Testament book of Romans. The overarching theme of the book is the righteousness that comes from God.

God justifies guilty and condemned sinners by grace alone — and through faith in Jesus alone.

Paul first presents the theological truths of this theme and then details its practical outworking in the lives of individual believers and the life of the church. The entire thrust of Paul’s letter is distilled in its opening paragraphs. The bad news is that a destructive power has gripped human beings at the core of their being — sin. However, the good news of the gospel is that a righteous God makes sinners righteous through faith. 

• In Christ, sin can be forgiven, selfishness can be overcome, guilt can be removed, and people can indeed have hope and eternal glory.

Paul understood his readers could not fully understand the wonder of God’s grace until they comprehended God’s righteous anger against sin. So, in the first part of his letter, he expounds on the wretchedness of the human heart and the divine wrath elicited by this rebelliousness. He is determined for the believers to understand we are all sinners under God’s wrath — and the consequences of sin are eternal. We are also without excuse, writes Paul, because God has made Himself evident to all people in the marvels of nature and in the human conscience. But instead of acknowledging and worshiping God in response to this revelation of Himself, fallen humanity has rejected Him and increased in sin.

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. — Romans 6:23

As a result of humanity’s God-less choice, the Lord gave them over to a depraved mind. A mind that finds God worthless becomes worthless itself. It is debauched, deceived, and deserving only of divine wrath. The final verdict, then, is that unredeemed humankind is guilty of all charges, with no grounds for acquittal. This is the verdict Paul proclaims:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. — Romans 3:23

This divine indictment silences every mouth and quells every argument to the contrary. There can be no defense — humanity is incapable of saving themselves. There is only one way to be right with God, and it is not through works. Righteousness comes only by faith in response to God’s grace. 

This is where Paul reveals that “bad” news is necessarily part of the “good” news. Paul, having shown that God is a holy judge, now reveals the God of love who reaches out with open arms to lost, wayward, sinful people. Sinners are saved, Paul explains, by turning to God for the righteousness that He alone provides. God “justifies” (or declares repentant sinners righteous) solely on the merits of Christ’s righteousness. Jesus’ death on the cross has provided the way of salvation for everyone who comes to God in faith. Christ’s perfect righteousness, which is the only standard God accepts, is now imputed to the believer’s account. This act of Christ provides a pardon from the guilt and penalty of sin.

Paul, the consummate theologian, knew that after his readers heard this, they would have questions. How complete or secure is this salvation in Christ? How can what one man did at one time in history have such an impact on humankind? If the old self is dead, why is there continually a struggle with sin? So Paul sets out to demonstrate the practical ramifications of salvation for those who have been justified.

• He declares that the gospel doesn’t stop at the miracle of justification. It includes sanctification, the process by which God makes redeemed sinners holy, transforming them into the very likeness of Christ. 

Believers are able to live in obedience to God’s Word through the power of His Spirit, whose work Paul now highlights. It is the Spirit who frees the redeemed from sin and death, changes their nature, empowers them to overcome the desires of their unredeemed flesh, confirms their adoption as God’s children, and guarantees their eternal glory. There can be no success or progress in the Christian life apart from an utter dependence on the third Person of the Trinity.

Paul punctuates this part of his letter with profound teaching about the believer’s absolute security. Not only are we saved by the blood of Christ and indwelt by the Spirit, but we are also safe in the Father’s love. God, who graciously saved us from sin and death and began the process of transformation in us, will never let us go. Paul, also giving thought to the concerns of his Jewish readers, explains how the Old Testament law given to Moses relates to their faith in Christ. After discussing the purpose and the limitations of the law, which Paul knew well as a former Pharisee, he assures his fellow Jews (and everyone else) that they are no longer under the jurisdiction or penalties of this law but are under grace. 

REFLECTIONS

We are saved by Christ. Paul writes, 

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. — Romans 1:16

Some object to terms such as salvation and being saved, claiming the ideas they convey are out of date in modern society. But salvation is God’s term, and there is no better one to describe what He offers fallen humanity through the sacrifice of His Son. Through Christ and Christ alone, we can be saved from sin, Satan, judgment, wrath, and spiritual death.

All humanity is guilty of sin. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). All means all — everyone except Christ, the only sinless human. Unredeemed humankind has no defense and is guilty of all charges. The defense must rest, as it were, before it can say anything, because the omni- scient God has demonstrated the impossibility of any grounds for acquittal. Absolute silence is the only possible response, just as there will be utter silence in heaven when Jesus one day breaks the seventh seal and releases the seven trumpet judgments upon the condemned earth (see Revelation 8:1–6).

Jesus’ act of redemption is permanent. Jesus broke the power of sin and death, but the converse is not true. Sin and death cannot break the power of Christ! The condemnation of Adam’s sin is reversible; the redemption of Christ is not. The effect of Adam’s act is permanent only if not nullified by Christ. The effect of Jesus’ act, however, is permanent for believing individuals and not subject to reversal or nullification. We have the great assurance that once we are in Jesus Christ, we are in Him forever. 

Jesus calls us to transformation. Christ is not looking for those who want to add Him to their lives as an insurance against hell, or want to apply His high moral principles, or want only to be outwardly reformed by having their old nature improved. Jesus calls those who desire an entirely new nature created in His own holy likeness. He calls those who are willing to die with Him in order to be raised with Him. When we come to Him on His terms, He changes our destiny from eternal death to eternal life.

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What does Paul reveal in the opening chapter of Romans about the promise of the good news and the Person of the good news (see Romans 1:1–7)?
2. Why does Paul argue that when it comes to a person’s standing before God, no one has the right to boast or be filled with religious pride (see Romans 3:9–20)?
3. How does Paul refute the idea that we receive salvation by faith but must preserve it through good works? What evidence does he give that salvation is unconditional (see Romans 5:1–11)?
4. How would you summarize Paul’s response to the idea that believers in Christ can continue to live as they did when they were unbelievers (see Romans 6:1–23)?
5. What illustration does Paul use to explain the manner in which believers are dead to the law (see Romans 7:1–6)? What stands out to you from this illustration?
6. In what areas are you frustrated by your sinful inclinations? Based on Romans 7:13–25, how effective is legalism in fighting against the inclinations of the flesh?
7. According to Paul’s statements in Romans 8:1–17, what acts or ministries does the Holy Spirit perform in us, through us, and for us?
8. What does Paul mean by the references to “groaning” in Romans 8:18–25? What more do you learn in this passage about the Holy Spirit?

Excerpted with permission from 52 Weeks Through the Bible by John MacArthur, copyright John MacArthur.

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Your Turn

All believers are in the process of sanctification. We’re not perfect, but we are forgiven and loved! How does that change your perspective? ~ Devotionals Daily