But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;” (Romans 3:21 KJV)
One of the craziest, boldest and most liberating revelations of Paul is justification by grace. That is, made righteous before God by believing in Christ. It is not a difficult concept to understand. It is difficult to accept. It means a person is righteous before God by simply believing in Christ. In the verse following, Paul clarifies what He meant and said,
“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” (Romans 3:22 KJV)
He calls it the righteousness by faith, that is, it comes by believing in Christ. How can believing produce righteousness? The mystery of righteousness by faith lies not on faith or believing, but on Who your faith is based on. The human heart and the ability to believe are wonders by themselves. Please remember, that it is the Lord who created us with the ability to believe. When a sinner believes in Christ, a mysterious connection and oneness takes place which transfers everything Christ is to that person. The sinner’s sins are not wiped out because God is sovereign and simply writes them off. No! They are wiped out because Christ paid for them. The sinner does not become righteous because God can do all things and decided to make sinners righteous when they believe Christ. Believing in Christ unleashes all the righteousness of Christ in the spirit and downloads them to the sinner, such that God looks at the sinner and cannot find even one trace of sin. It is not faith that is the wonder. It is the work of Christ our Saviour!
MEDIDATE
What is justification by grace?
APPLY THE WORD
The Lord means what He says. We are righteous by faith in Christ. There is a place for our walk of righteousness but that does not blur or annihilate this glorious truth. On the contrary, until this truth is established in our lives, our walk of riotousness will either be a burden or a failure. Believe and live this truth!
PRAY
Ask the Spirit to help you believe this truth, which is the heart of what the Good News really is.
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