[:en]God’s Faithfulness (vs. 1-8)
The law that God gave to show the way to live reveals our evil deeds and condemns us. But the law is not the basis of our hope. It is God who in His righteousness and love gives us salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. It is not earned but given as a gift from our loving Father.
The Jews are chosen people given the privilege of being entrusted with God’s laws (Exo. 19-20, Deut. 4-8). They are the race through which the Messiah came to earth (Isa. 11:1-10, Mat. 1:1-17) and the beneficiaries of covenants with God Himself (Gen. 17:1-16, Exo. 19:3-6). These privileges made them more responsible to live up to God’s standard.
No One Is Righteous (vs. 9-20)
God cannot allow sin because He is holy. Every sinner has to answer to God for his sin. We are valuable to God because we are created in His image. However, no one is good because we have fallen into sin. But God through His son Jesus, has redeemed us and offered to forgive us if we turn to Him in faith.
Righteousness through Faith (vs. 21-31)
By putting our confidence in Christ to forgive our sins and make us right with God, we are declared not guilty. This is available to all of us regardless of our background or past behavior.
All sins lead us to death no matter how great or small they are. “Little” sins or “big” sins all separate us from God. But they can be forgiven by God. When God forgives, He declares us not guilty as if we had never sinned. Christ set sinners free from slavery to sin by redeeming us with His life. He paid the penalty of death for our sins and completely satisfied God’s demands. His sacrifice brings pardon, deliverance and freedom.
The righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood (vs. 23-25)
“Man is justified by faith apart from observing the law” (v. 28) Human achievement or personal goodness cannot make us acceptable to Him. Good deeds cannot earn us eternal life. We are saved by trusting in what God has done for us. (Eph. 2:8-10)
Why is “faith” the vital criterion for justification?
- Faith eliminates the pride of human effort
- Faith exalts what God has done not what we do
- Faith admits that we cannot keep the law as measure to God’s standards.
- Faith is based on our relationship with God not our performance for God
Do you have faith in God?
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