Righteousness, faith and the law

Do you remember the sadness of yesterday?
Of no one being righteous?  Not a single one. 

But listen to this:
²¹ But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

Righteousness doesn't come based on the law.  Righteousness come through FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST!!

 For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. 

See, we know from the previous verses the depravity of mankind.  How we all turned away from him.   That horrible picture of what sin is. 

But now there is hope for us right?   Hope  because God's righteousness is now found in our faith in his SON.  It doesn't matter if you are Jew or Greek.  There is no distinction between people.    All have sinned.  All fall short of God's glory.  ALL.  No exceptions to this fact.   But just as all have fallen, so all CAN come to faith in Christ Jesus.  All can receive the gift of God's grace in his son.Christ is our redemption.  Christ paid for our sin.  God put him forward as an atonement.  Christ, to be received by faith.
 
This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Why did God do this?   To show his righteousness.  God is ever so patient with us but he can't keep letting us sin and not giving us a way through it.   He needs to be just you know?
 
²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
This gift is received in faith.  So Paul is clear.  There is not boasting.  How can you boast about faith?  Either you have it or you don't.  Works you can point at and say SEE.. See what I did?  But faith is faith.  
 
²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹ Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

So having faith doesn't negate the law right?    Remember.. it's written on our hearts.  Having faith causes us to want to follow the law, to uphold it, to not turn aside from it. Paul affirms how God is God to everyone, doesn't matter if Jew or Greek.  The offer is the same, our faith is the same, It's all about our faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ, God's gift of Grace offered to us.   So our faith will naturally cause us to want to stick to the law of God written on our hearts.   (and yes I know.. the old sinful nature will cause us to want to fight that...but that's another lesson).  :)

To follow along with the rest of this devotional series in Romans Click Here. 

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites