The Justification Controversy I

The biggest and most important question that anyone that believes in God can ask is ‘How can I, a sinner by nature be reconciled and brought into a right relationship with a Holy and Fearful God who sees and knows all things, even my thoughts are known to Him? When a person asks himself such questions he must conclude that there is nothing he can do to achieve this, he does not have anything that God needs, He can’t be bribed to turn a blind eye and He can’t be bargained with so that He ignores our sin in exchange for our attempts to do better – such efforts would be futile and would only add to our condemnation. The truth is that God is perfect in Holiness, in righteousness He shall judge the world, and bring the secrets of mankind into the light and lay out their sins before them in that day.

Knowing and teaching such things the Apostle Paul was able to write:

Epistle to Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Epistle to Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that EVERY MOUTH may be stopped, and ALL THE WORLD MAY BECOME GUILTY BEFORE GOD

Epistle to Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

The message of this section is that God gave a law and the law has been broken, broken even by the Gentiles to whom the law was not given in writing because the law is written in their hearts and in their conscience – they know what is evil and their thoughts accuse them when they do it. (Romans 2:14-15). This is the great crisis that every man and woman finds themselves in, the case is closed, the sentence is pronounced  – ‘the wages of sin is death’ and death will take them to their judgement where condemnation awaits, we have a short time between now and then to be reconciled to our God.

That was the bad news, the wonderful news is that our God loves us and wants to be reconciled to us but He must do so on a just basis that does not impugn His righteousness and Holiness, this was God’s dilemma He needs to remain Just and be the justifier of the ungodly to achieve this reconciliation. Our Lord Jesus bore witness of this plan of God when He declared :

St. John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

So from this perspective Paul in Romans 3-5 builds upon this very teaching to show us that a man is declared righteous by God when He believes in Him who has made such a promise. So let’s look at the texts with this in mind.

Having declared the guilty standing of all men Paul declares:
Epistle to Romans 3:21-24 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

He we learn that God’s righteousness apart from the law is now shown (in the gospel) and is even witnessed to in the OT (Paul later cites Abraham and David as examples of this), this righteousness of God is by faith and is available to all who believe, Jew or Gentile.  This justification is free and is an act of God’s grace on the just basis of the redemption that has been obtained through Christ Jesus.

Epistle to Romans 3:25-26 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus

Paul expands on the redemption here. God has set forth the offering of Christ Jesus as a propitiatory sacrifice, his blood is a covering for those that believe, Propitiation is connected in the old testament equivalent with the covering and removal of sin (blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (Ps:32.1) and the covering /mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. This propitiation is applied by faith in His blood, that is in the value of and worth of the offering of Christ to effect the redemption and on this basis God can justly justify the one that believes in Jesus.

Epistle to Romans 3:27-31 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

So because all of this was God’s work to which we contributed nothing what can we boast of? What good thing did we do to obtain this? This justification is given freely by God as a gracious gift upon all who believe. So Paul concludes that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law, does he mean the moral law, the ceremonial law? He means all of the law and any of the law and not only in regards to Judaism because he has already said that the gentiles have this very law (the moral aspect) written on their hearts, and as far as the Jews  go it is all of the law, none of it is able to justify a man is what Pauls concludes. The context and the subject is Jew and Gentile, every man for there is no difference. So how come some say Paul only means the ceremonial law as he builds on this foundation taking us into Romans 4?