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Romans 3 and the Plan of Redemption

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Each month, we will be highlighting a particular theological topic here at the BLB blog. This month, we are highlighting the topic of soteriology—the doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ. The following is adapted from the Blue Letter Bible Institute’s soteriology class.

Let’s talk about the plan of redemption in Romans 3.

For those of you who like to outline the Book of Romans, I believe there is a definite division between verse 20 and 21. Romans 3:20 is a summary of the opening three chapterin which it’s talking about condemnation—why all men are condemned and lost before God. The verse says “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).

And the revelation that God has given us on how the guilty are condemned is threefold:

  1. Creation (Romans 1)
  2. Conscience (Romans 2)
  3. Commandments of the Law (Romans 3).

All three condemn us. And verse 21 is just such a beautiful break both in the original text and here in English when it says, “But now….” I mean, you could preach a whole sermon on those two words. “But now…”

We were condemned and lost, but now—praise the Lord—there’s been a change:

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”
(Romans 3:21)

That’s an interesting statement right there because he just told us that by the law was the knowledge of sin and how we’re all guilty.

What he’s saying is that when Christ died, He has provided righteousness and that is now being manifested. You don’t need the law to do that. But it was witnessed to by the law and prophets as they, through the sacrificial system and all the prophets predicting that a redeemer would come. The Old Testament is replete with promises that this Redeemer would one day come.

When Paul wrote the Book of Romans, he knew that day had already come. Christ Jesus is that Redeemer. “But now…” he says, writing after the death of Christ, it’s fully manifested.

Romans 3:22-31,

“the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood…”
(Romans 3:22-25)

The Greek word propitiation is the one that is used in translations of the Old Testament Hebrew for mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. That slab of gold on the top of the ark and with the cherubim looking down on it. That’s where the high priest put the blood of the sacrificial animal once a year on the Day of Atonement, the only time he ever went in there. And he was the one only one to go in there. So, “God set forth Jesus in this redemption, to be a propitiation [a mercy seat] through faith in his blood [not the blood of the animal that was there], to declare [to announce] his righteousness for the remission [or forgiveness] of sins that are past…”

Paul mentioned this because the Jews commonly had an insecurity about that, knowing that the blood of bulls and goats would not take away sin. So Paul wanted to declare that when Jesus died, His blood was shed, His blood took care of sins that are past.

“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.
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. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
(Romans 3:26-28)

It’s a fascinating argument when you think for three chapters he’s been telling them how they are condemned. By the law is the knowledge of sin. Everybody’s guilty. And now, he says, you we are declared righteous by faith without following the law at all. Quite a remarkable statement!

“Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”
(Romans 3:29-31)

When we show the whole principle behind the law, we are reminded that the law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. It shows us we were sinners and, thus, admits our need for a Savior. We don’t wipe out the law; we establish the law’s purpose very clearly – to bring us to Jesus. The law reminds us of the substitutionary sacrifices that were once required but is now satisfied in Jesus.

In order for God’s enemies to spend eternity with Him, someone had to fulfill the demands of God’s moral law. That Someone is Jesus. He was our propitiation. He substituted Himself for us. We are united with Him in His death and resurrection. Let us turn to Him and thank the Lord God for authoring this wonderful plan of redemption.

Comments

  1. Thank you GOD for sending your son so I can have everlasting life with you! I am so very thankful Jesus for your sacrifice that I will get to see my son again in heaven! Praise God!

  2. What a wonderful blessing we received today when my husband and I read your blog. We recently did a study of Romans in Sunday School and this went right along with it. Thank you so much.

  4. Vacationing this week at home, so more time available.

    This is the Replacement Theology that has been taught for centuries, since Origen used his “System of Analogy” to co-opt the Kingdom of Israel to the Church (Kingdom) of Constantine. Shaul wrote the Book of Romans to battle and correct Replacement Theology that was becoming prevalent in Rome. What irony to perpetuate it by using what he wrote.

    “We were condemned and lost, but now—praise the Lord—there’s been a change:” What changed!? Then a contradictory statement “The Old Testament is replete with promises that this Redeemer would one day come.” -follow this thought through. The hope of deliverance from “Death” and the justice that will be served against the “Accuser of Gods People Israel” (the serpent) for what he did in Eden has been there from Gen 3:15 HNV. Sidebar – the “offspring” is Yeshua the Hebrew Messiah and the “her” is Miriam a Hebrew woman commonly known as Mary-. This hope of deliverance is what Abel’s sacrifice, Gen 4:4 HNV was justified by, Seth and Enoch walked with GOD by, Gen 4:25-26 HNV, Gen 5:24 HNV, Noah saved himself and his family by, Gen 6:22 HNV, etc. All before the LAW showed GODS “chosen people” they were going about it all wrong! Doesn’t seem to fit into the theology that the LAW is there only as a “schoolmaster” to show us right from wrong, at least to me. What LAW were the Gentiles and Hebrews following pre Moshe to show right or wrong?

    Minor issue here but, “propitiation” is an English word, ἱλαστήριον is the Greek word and “hilastērion” is the English transliteration.
    Question, why use the English words “Mercy Seat” for OT and then switch to “propitiation” in NT? Answer, “Mercy Seat” is too Jewish and doesn’t fit Replacement Theology. Strong’s and Thayer’s may be doing a disservice to their readers when the traditional English interpretation of a Hebrew or Greek word is used for its definition. And may also be the reason for the contradiction found in Thayer’s that (ἱλαστήριον) has also been used in historical writings as referencing “monument”. See also (ekklēsia) Strong’s 1d – “in a Christian sense”, what does that mean…. When the LXX was written the Greeks had no concept of Hebrew concepts (little joke there so we don’t get to boring) as evidenced by Shaul’s sermon on Mars Hill (Mars is a Greek god) Act 17:22 HNV. See Justin, with BLB, learning to read and write Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and the rest aint as necessary as it used to be.

    “Paul mentioned this because the Jews commonly had an insecurity about that, knowing that the blood of bulls and goats would not take away sin.” Where does this stuff come from? – If the CREATOR of all things gave you an “if – then” command would you not believe it to be all TRUTH, Exd 30:1-10 HNV? Do you not believe it now?

    In my humble opinion, the reason Shaul’s “arguments” and “statements” are “fascinating” and “remarkable” is due to the inferred contraction resulting from Replacement Theology that the LAW is for the Jews and grace is for Christians. Yeshua is the LAW and it is as applicable for “mankind” today as it was for “Adam”.

    If all this sounds “out of the mainstream”, it is Mat 7:13-14 HNV. I’ve already dropped Oswald Chambers name in a previous comment. Let me drop another. Thru BLB, go to http://www.blueletterbible.org/audio_video/comm_topic.cfm?AuthorID=21&commInfo=54&GroupID=67 and listen.

    J.

    • Jerry~

      When you write, “Doesn’t seem to fit into the theology that the LAW is there only as a “schoolmaster” to show us right from wrong, at least to me,” you do realize that these are not Chris’s words but Paul’s, don’t you? Galatians 3:24-25 state, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Because of this truth, the question you posed as to “What LAW were the Gentiles and Hebrews following pre Moshe to show right or wrong?” is irrelevant.

      With regard to your comment that “…the inferred contraction resulting from Replacement Theology that the LAW is for the Jews and grace is for Christians. Yeshua is the LAW and it is as applicable for ‘mankind’ today as it was for ‘Adam’” shows an amazing lack of understanding of the NT and Christianity. You are so bent on proving replacement theology, that you ignore the Scripture that doesn’t suit your purposes. In the first place, Scripture itself gives the distinction between the law and grace in God’s plan, which is very much taught in Christian churches: “For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17). Does this mean that grace was not in the OT or that the law is not in the NT? Absolutely not. In Galatians 2:16, we read, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” What this means is that people in the OT were saved by grace just as much as those in the NT, a fact taught in Christian churches. In addition, we read in Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law,” another fact to which Christians hold. However, Jerry, because the Jews of the physical house of Israel have not accepted Jesus as their Messiah, they will be judged, and judged guilty, by the law because they don’t have the blood of animal sacrifices being put upon the mercy seat to cover their sins anymore, so, as Romans 2:12b states: “as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.”

      Your post, here, is just one more example of how you have manipulated and ignored the Word of God to accuse the body of Christ of something that just isn’t true. Since you are on vacation this week, I would like to suggest that you lay aside all of your false preconceived notions about Christianity, because, Frank, you have not been able to prove even one of them, and begin an earnest and honest study of the Bible. The Lord promises that He will guide us into all truth (Jn. 16:13) if we have been born again (I Cor. 2:14).

      I will continue to pray that your eyes of understanding will be opened.
      Barbara

        • Jerry~

          Because we are talking about what the Bible says or doesn’t say and what Christianity is or isn’t, you bet I’m “picky” as should be every believer on this site. All I have done is to provide Scripture and sound reasoning to expose your false beliefs, and your answer here is just another example of what I wrote sometime back, that you have plenty to say when it comes to accusing Christianity of something but absolutely nothing to say when you are held accountable to God’s Word for it. This, alone, should make you step back from your theology because you, just like every other person, will be held accountable to God for what you believe and teach.

          Believe it or not Jerry, I am not the enemy here, and I am not responding to your posts to cause you grief. I am truly concerned for you and others that hold to your particular set of beliefs because they do not line up with truth no matter how many times you say them. Coming out of Mormonism, I very much know the scriptural manipulation and argumentative fallacies that are used to propagate the lies of false religion, two of which are attacking the person rather than the issue and refusing to provide valid evidence, both of which you and several others on this site use repeatedly as though you are exempt from accountability. However, the truth is that God gave us His Word to know the truth (II Tim. 3:16), and it most certainly wasn’t given as some vague collection of opinions that will excuse us from error before Him (Heb. 4:12).

          I also know that that those who persist in refusing the truth, regardless of whether they are born again or not, are going to be in a precarious position with God. Jerry, it is one thing to be ignorant of the truth. Even God excuses that up to a point. It is quite another to be arrogant toward it, which comes from repeatedly ignoring the truth after it has been given. Next to desiring God to reveal our sin to us is desiring God to reveal any incorrect understanding of His Word to us. However, if this is done with mere lip service and not a true desire born from a humble heart and a contrite spirit, no good will come of it as we see from God’s Word. Although the Pharisees and many other Jews gave the pretense of wanting to know and follow the truth of God, when the very truth of God (Jn. 14:6) dwelt right in their midst (Jn. 1:11), they refused to accept it, exposing their rhetoric for the lie it was, and the result was that Jesus left the physical house of Israel desolate (Matt. 23:37-38). This was written as a warning to us. We are to bring every thought into captivity to Christ (II Cor. 10:5-6), so that we will be brought into subjection to Him for God’s glory (Col. 1:20, I Cor. 1527-28).

          The bottom line, Jerry, is that you are wrong, and it doesn’t matter how much support you receive from your “ekklēsia” or how much support you receive from some people on this site. Please, before it is too late, humble yourself before God, repent, and seek the truth of His Word.

          Barbara

          • Jerry~

            I have a great sense of humor when the situation warrants it, but I don’t find anything in your falsely accusing Christianity and your falsely interpreting Scripture that is humorous. In addition, your post only substantiated what I wrote, that all you offer as evidence is fallacy, attacking the person rather than the issue and refusing to provide valid evidence. As long as you post the incorrect premises, incorrect conclusions, incorrect evidence, and incorrect interpretations that you do, I will continue to refute you because we are to contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), and we are to expose false doctrine (II Tim. 4:2). If you refuse to align yourself to the Word of God, there’s nothing I can do, but I can at least expose your false theology so that others will at least be warned. I will continue to pray for you.

            Barbara

          • Jerry~

            I will listen to Missler and get back to you. Depending on what’s going on, I will try and get something posted by tomorrow.

            Barbara

          • Jerry~

            The link didn’t work for me. I am interested in what you are referring to with Chuck Missler. Could you give me another resource that gives his thoughts on the law being a schoolmaster and specifically any support for replacement theology and how the law and grace work, according to what you have written in the above posts?

            Thank you~
            Barbara

          • Jerry~

            What do you mean, “Take it to the LORD…..”? Take what to the Lord? All I asked is if you had another resource about Chuck Missler because I couldn’t get the link to work. If you don’t want to supply it, then why did you offer a link in the first place?

            Barbara

          • You don’t need the link to get there. Type or paste and copy the address in your browser or follow the path thru BLB. Other than that, I can’t help you use a computer sister….

          • I did do that, and when I clicked on “stream,” the only thing that came up was some computer stuff. I thought that maybe you knew of another source.

  5. Law and Grace are two area’s where there is so much error that is taught…..J. I love where you are coming from…..Jesus is Messiah….the gospel of John is always pointed to as a starting point for every Christian…..If you start with John….he always goes back to the beginning….and tells who God is and who Jesus is….then he records a road map of the way…..Jesus is recorded doing and saying all the things that are important to God….Repent, the Kingdom of God, (Jacobs Ladder)Angels ascending and descending on Jesus, Blessings, the Sabbaths, the Feasts,the Cross,…..Most Christians have missed the Feasts as only for the Jews….and Sabbath to most Christians are Sunday….the Law of God cannot be “kept” externally because then it is “flesh” trying to keep it…..Jesus said You must be Born Again…..Your Spirit must be raised from the dead….Jesus paid for this by putting his Blood on the MERCY SEAT…Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats or calves,but by his own BLOOD, he entered ONCE into the holy place,having obtained eternal redeemption for us….9:25-26 goes on to state than he did’nt make this sacrifice every year like the priests did…he went to the end of the world and put his blood on the mercy seat once forever putting an end to sin…this is the last YOM KIPPUR or Day of Atonement or DAY OF THE LORD…..by recieving this atonement of blood you are then entitled to recieving the free gift of Grace that rescues us from sin and the consiquenses of sin….Faith is given to each of us …but it can be increased….grace is given….but it can be multiplied to us by our asking for it….the Law is to be written on our hearts….that is what Pentecost was all about… getting in unity with God and recieving the Holy Spirit and having him give us a new heart with the Law written on it….Blessings to the Hearers!

    • Donna~

      It’s not that “Most Christians have missed the Feasts as only for the Jews,” it’s that Christians know that the feasts were only historical bookmarks foreshadowing the life and ministry of the coming Messiah, four of which, the spring feasts, have already been fulfilled (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Weeks). The final three, the fall feasts, (Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles) will be fulfilled at a later time. While there is nothing wrong with observing these feasts, and we certainly should study about them. there is no need to physically observe them. They were/are a shadow of things to come. Looking at this from a mathematical perspective, if we see these feasts as something about which we only physically observe, then we would only be recognizing 57% of Christ because only four of the seven feasts have been fulfilled; however, we are blessed because, upon accepting Jesus as our Savior, we have the fulness of Christ, 100% of Him, dwelling in us. John 4:24 says, “God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.” Unfortunately, the Jews of the physical house of Israel only have the feasts because they have refused their Messiah. Our prayer is that their eyes, minds, and hearts will be open to receive what has been given to them.

      Barbara
      


  6. Barbara, I am posting for both Nov.16th and 20th on this post. I can not help you by argueing scriptures or how they can be interpreted…you find insult were none is being given….I am speaking to you as if you are in the room with me..as for the subject of can a Christian “loose” their salvation the answer is no…. I grew up being assured of my salvation…but as an adult I went to different denominations and non denominations…I was instructed with the same interpretaions you are using….and it was very convincing….I cried out to God in my confusion….He taught me by taking me back to the beginning with Adam….I am giving you what he taught me…..He said…when Adam sinned his spirit died….we are then all born with a dead spirit, Adam became the father of death…..When we ask Jesus into our heart, our spirit is raised from the dead, Jesus is the father of life….Adam gave up the keys of life and death over to Satan….Jesus won them back…..when Jesus raises our spirit to life it cannot be put to death again….Jesus will never be crucified again….you can’t kill your spirit and raise it from the dead again….an evil heart of unbelief is just that….it has never been redeemed…. work backwards and you will see the truth….God sees the end from the beginning…..He KNOWS who has been REDEEMED and who hasn’t quoting scriptures isn’t the proof…..Knowing him is….people can say the have been saved or have ssked Jesus into their heart….I just have to say I hope so….as for me God himself taught me by revelation how salvation works….he didn’t quote me scriptures but later I found scriptures that verified everything He said….you see I recieved Him by faith and then He showed me His Word………….As to the second point about the feasts….again it is by revelation…..does the word have the same weight or worth today as when God said it 6 thousand yrs ago???? If your answer is yes then you will see when you go back and study the feasts, you will see that God told his choosen people to keep these feasts FOREVER….now ask yourself does your theology on the feasts honour Gods’ word or does it make it of no effect….you see there are secrets locked up in the feasts that can not be revealed except you follow Jesus into the feasts….study John and you will find Jesus taking you on a walk and goning to every single thing that is important to God….when GOD SAID KEEP THESE FOREVER….JESUS DID JUST THAT…..what have we done with the things that were important to God?????…I will finish with this point I have used the word revelation several times…when Peter said to Jesus YOU are the Christ….Jesus said to Peter a very important message…he said flesh and blood had not revealed it to Peter…but the Holy Spirit did…then he goes on to say that upon this rock he would build his church….was he calling Peter a rock???? it looks like that….but the truth is it is the ROCK OF REVELATION ONLY GIVEN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT…..that’s how people can study forever and never come to the truth….we must fall on that ROCK and break our will, our thinking our theology…..then God will teach us and the gates of HELL shall not prevail against that revelation…..God bless you!