Romans 3:21-4:25 | THE SOLUTION TO SIN
Synopsis Paul transitions from the declaration of universal human sin into the good news of the gospel. While all men are under condemnation (Rom 1-3), here we see God has made a way for all to be declared righteous. That way is faith. Faith has no ethnic boundaries, nor does it have a prior behavior requirement, both of which the Law was thought to delineate. Instead, Christ’s atonement on the cross means that all people have access to God. Romans 3:21-31 spells this out, and Romans 4 shows how this isn’t new, but the same message always delivered by God starting with Abraham.
You’ll read Romans 3:21-4:25, where Paul talks about how it actually has always been about faith and not law, even since Abraham, but the focus passage is Romans 3:21-31, where Paul discusses the relationship between law and faith.
Your win for the week is to transition from the heavy burden of condemnation in Romans 1-3 to the good news of Romans 4-8 by discussing the role of faith. You can talk about how it’s accessible to all people, how it relates to the Jewish law, or talk about Christ’s atonement.
Righteous by Faith This section comes off of one of the most humbling sections of the New Testament. Paul spends the first 3 chapters of Romans leveling the playing field, declaring the whole of humanity under condemnation. Happy, right? But we know the good news, and here Paul begins to jump into it.
Read Romans 3:21-31
There are a few major points of discussion here: 1) God’s love of all people, not just a select few or group (as the Jews thought). 2) The relationship of faith and law. 3) Christ atonement. Any one of these is worth spending a good amount of time on.
Having spent the last few verses talking about Law, Paul tells the Roman Christians what’s in contrast to law—faith. He makes the turn from Romans 3:20, describing how the Law revealed sin, to 3:21, describing how Jesus revealed righteousness. This goes back to the heart of one of the major concerns Paul has about many of the early Christian churches. Jews who now believe in Christ often can’t tell how to relate to Gentiles. For so long they had been taught that they, and only they, had God’s favor, evidenced in His giving of the Law. Paul says absolutely not! The righteousness of God comes to all, not just Jews, through Jesus Christ. And this is because the Law—something only the Jews had—doesn’t save you. Faith does. Faith in Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul declares that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile (3:22).
This theme is one of the most repeated themes in all of Paul’s letters. Never assume that God won’t accept a certain ethnicity, gender, or class. He will have all who would have Him. God is the God of Jews and Gentiles (3:29). This has practical import in how we view God—he’s a God of inclusion, one who desires the salvation of all nations—and how we view other people—we aren’t worth more than anyone else, and every person or group on campus needs Jesus. Particularly this last part could be a hang up for college students. There can be bitterness about groups or individuals. Parts of campus we avoid or judge rather than evangelize and love. This is a good place to press your students.
Then we come to one of the most famous verses in Scripture, Romans 3:23. Everyone has sinned. Nobody deserves communion with God. This is the Law. When we’re measured against it, every person fails. But that famous verse is followed directly by one of the best verses of Scripture. All are justified freely by grace. The law brought condemnation; grace brings justification. Now there are a couple things to note: Paul seems to use the Law as sometimes denoting ethnic distinction (3:28-29), and other times as a way of indicating the specific ruleset. Why is this important? Because we often read words like “apart from the law” salvation or righteousness has come, and we assume that means that God doesn’t care how we act. But then words like “we uphold the law” seem to affirm constraints on how we act (3:31). When Paul places law and faith (or grace) in opposition he communicates a couple of things: that grace doesn’t have ethnic boundaries, and faith is the mechanism of righteousness. Ethnic distinction doesn’t save you. But neither does the set of rules, or “works” (3:27). This doesn’t mean that Christians are free to do whatever we want. This is a huge discussion Paul has in Romans 6. Paul merely means to illustrate that faith is the mechanism that remedies the ills outlined in Romans 1-3. And he illustrates in chapter 4 how this has always been the mechanism, ever since Abraham. But again, it’s worth noting that Paul never uses the law as code for ethical or Christian behavior or “good works” (Eph 2:10). Christian behavior and good works are never opposed to faith. Paul says as much in Romans 3:31. When we operate and exercise faith we become little Christs and, in doing so, uphold the law.
Finally, Paul mentions in 3:25-26 the atonement of Christ. The word “atonement” is just a fancy way of saying how it is that Christ paid for our sins—what his work on the cross accomplished. Christ’s atonement is a pretty huge doctrine, so if it’s something that sticks out to your students, or just something you want to spend some time discussing, that could be a great way to spend your time. This could come in a few different forms. You could talk about what atonement means and why it happened. Why did Christ have to die? Why couldn’t God just forgive us? These questions get to the deep things of faith. You could discuss different theories of atonement and what Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross did (there’s a list of theories in the resource toolbox that you can print off and take to group to discuss). Did Jesus die to give us an example on how to live? Did Jesus die to pay a price for us? Who was it paid to? Did Jesus die to win a battle over death? This is a pretty fun theological debate and could be a time contemplating the dominate theme the cross. Both of these discussions are probably a little too large to discuss here, so take some time looking through the extra resources for more information here.
Questions
What does Paul mean by “apart from the law” righteousness has been made known?
How does the death of Christ demonstrate the righteousness of God?
Verse 25 says that the sins beforehand were left unpunished. What about sins after Christ died? Are sins now forgiven?
Paul uses the word “law” in a bunch of different ways it seems like. What are some of these ways?
Paul uses the phrase “law of faith.” We usually don’t see the words law and faith used in this manner, but usually they’re opposed. What does he mean?
Didn’t Paul just tell us we aren’t saved by the law? Why uphold the law? Should I not get tattoos now?
The language of boasting comes up a few times in some popular Scripture passages. What do you think Paul is referring to? What did boasting look like in his day and why was it bad?
Paul mirrors verse 23 with verse 24, but how are we to understand the word “all” in each verse? Are they exactly parallel? Have all people sinned? Are all people justified?
Application Questions
Are there things you boast about as a Christian? Are there areas of your life that you feel like you’re better than other people?
Do you feel like you’re not good enough to be a Christian? Have you met someone who believes this? How does this passage speak to you or the other person?
Are there practices you have that make you think you’re a better Christian than other people? Can you be a better Christian than other people?
What is the marker of true faith? Is there such thing as faith that’s insincere? How can we tell the difference in our own lives?
Many people memorize Rom 3:23, but have your group memorize Rom 3:2324.
Do you feel like God punishes you because you mess up? What does the atonement mean for your own sin?
What are the themes of the atonement? How do those themes translate to overcoming your particular sin? For example, the Moral Exemplar theory is where the cross gives us the example of how to love others. How am I laying my life down for others? Who specifically?
Resource Toolbox
D. A. Carson on Romans 3 Tim Keller on Romans 3 C. S. Lewis “Why Did Jesus Have to Die?” A Few Theories on Christ’s Atonement