8“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

What a bombshell! In the middle of the chaos humans have made…God stepped in and did something so outrageous that it needs careful unpacking for humans to understand. 

First, God did not come down on every sinner in wrath and judgment as He had the right to do. He waited! He had a plan! He had a heart of compassion for His broken and ruined world. He started from the beginning…slowly…over many centuries…one step at a time…He prepared His world for the one He would send to fix the mess. 

God chose a man, Abraham. Through him, He built a family, a nation, a covenant people to belong to Him…to live by His holy standards…and to show the nations the real God. They failed but…they had the law…

The Jews thought that they had the upper hand. They had the law…even though they didn’t obey it. The law they cherished and clung to as a passport to God was only the beginning of God’s plan. The law was never intended to deal with their sin because they could not obey it. The law could only show them how holy God is and how unholy they were. They were helpless to obey it even though they had the law. 

The law had another function. The very fact that they could not obey it perfectly even if they tried, pointed them to something more. God would step in with His master plan to send someone without sin to keep the law for them and then to die as a law breaker to pay their debt for breaking the law. 

For the Jews, boasting about having God’s law was futile. What did it help them to have God’s law if all it did was show them how bad they were? The only thing the law could do was to drive them to God for mercy…and that demanded faith. Only God could do something about their helpless condition. Both Jew and Gentile were in the same condition…guilty before God. 

“Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭25‬-‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God didn’t abolish the law. He did something else. He made a promise that He would write it on human hearts. He would take what was written on stone and engrave it inside everyone who believes in the one He sent, Jesus,  to pay the debt and atone for sin by dying in the place of sinners. 

So…Faith in Jesus is the key to the world’s dilemma…but how does this plan demonstrate God’s righteousness? Let’s follow to the process.

Paul said that God is just. This means that God must be true to His word. He must treat every sinner justly. Justice demands that sin be punished. However, since everyone has sinned, and death is the penalty for sin, everyone must pay their own debt. 

So, God made a plan. He would come to earth as a human, live a  human life without sin…and then die as though He had sinned. His death would then pay the debt for every sinner. Was this just? Was this fair? Was this the right thing to do? 

Since there was no other way to rescue the human race from the punishment for sin…by dying in our place Jesus, who is God, became a man and died. He paid for our sin and then rose from the dead to prove that He was God and that death has no power over Him because He was sinless. 

Was God just? Yes! He punished a human for sin. Can He justify humans…declare them not guilty? Yes! Sin’s debt has been paid! 

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The only way to experience the forgiveness God has made possible through Jesus and to participate in the eternal life He offers is to turn back to God, to receive His forgiveness for sin,  and to turn one’s life over to Jesus…to live in union with Him and under His control. 

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To be continued