In the Name of Him Whose Blood Sets Us Free, Dear Friends in Christ,

“If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” So says the supervisor at work when the presentation isn’t what it should be; or the frustrated parent whose child leaves half the chores undone; or the man who notices a few missed spots on his vehicle after the workers at the car wash are done wiping it down. There tends to be a general rule of thought that somehow when faced with a problem or challenge, the best person to fix or solve it is ME! “I can do it better than anyone else.” “I can handle things on my own.” “I got myself into it, I can get myself out of it.” Even though we may fail, still our attitude of self-reliance seems to urge us to try and fight so many of our battles completely by ourselves.

Unfortunately, this same attitude prevails in our sinful nature when it comes to our salvation. The temptation is so strong to believe that our status in eternity somehow depends on what we do, on our ability to fix what we messed up. Yes, when it comes to making things right with God, we hear our sinful nature’s constant reminder, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

There’s only one problem with this way of thinking – you can’t do what’s already done! And this problem for our sinful nature proves instead to be a blessing for each of us, because no matter how much we tried to win our own salvation, we could never pull it off. We needed someone else to do it for us. We needed a Savior!

Today I have wonderful news for you from God’s Word. The words before us from the Book of Romans is the beginning of what has been called “one of the most wonderful gospel sermons that you can find anywhere in Scripture” (Becker). Today we’re going to talk about:

“Righteousness: A Done Deal”

I. From God

II. Through Christ

III. By faith

This month marks the end of the school year for most children, which also means that the last report cards had to be handed over to parents. Perhaps some children did so with a little fear and trepidation, knowing that their grades may not have reflected their abilities or reached their parents’ expectations. Imagine the fear that would be ours if we had to present our report card to God in order to get into his heaven – especially when it would be filled with nothing but F’s! In the verse preceding our text, Paul points out that we cannot get a passing grade here on this earth by ourselves (Ro 3:20), “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” God’s law only shows us where we’ve gone wrong. It does not provide a solution.

So what the law could not do, God did instead (v 21), “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.” Trying to make ourselves right with God is useless. We’re like a man sinking in quicksand: Insist on saving yourself, and you’ll only quicken your demise. In order to survive, you have to find something to cling to. So it is with righteousness. We have to cling to someone other than ourselves in order to be saved. Our righteousness comes “from God,” and he revealed it to us in his Word, “the Law and the Prophets.” Way back in the Garden of Eden God told Satan that he would be the one to make things right (Ge 3:15), “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Throughout the Old Testament God’s spokesmen proclaimed this righteousness that came from God (Ac 10:43), “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Do you see what great news this is? The perfection, the righteousness that you and I could never accomplish on our own, God provided for us! We couldn’t keep God’s law. We failed miserably. There’s no righteousness of our own to present at God’s throne. So we have to look outside ourselves, “apart from law.” That’s where we find hope, for we’ve been given “a righteousness from God.” So now our salvation is secure! We have what it takes to enter our Lord’s eternal kingdom — we have righteousness! Yes, our righteousness is a done deal!

We’ve seen where our righteousness comes from, but now let’s take a closer look to see through whom it comes. It’s been won for us by that Seed of the Woman – our Savior, Jesus Christ.

No matter how different people may be, we all have one thing in common – we’re all incapable of living up to God’s expectations (vv 22,23), “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The Greek word translated here as “glory” in some contexts can also mean “praise.” So then we could see Paul telling us that all people have sinned and, therefore, fall short of God’s praise. In other words, we all have sinned and lack his approval. God demands perfection from us, and we’ve all fallen short – way short! – of that standard. Try buying a $1 ice cream cone with a nickel, and you’ll get the picture of coming up short. Our sinfulness rules out any chance of winning God’s approval on our own.

But whereas all have sinned, our gracious God has seen to it that all also are justified, declared “not guilty,” in his sight (v 24), “And [all] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Notice the piling up of terms used by Paul to drive his point home. All people have been declared “not guilty” “freely” – that is, as a gift, without payment. This has been done “by his grace” – by means of the undeserved love that God bestows upon sinners. And this status has become ours “through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” – literally, through the payment of a ransom in which you and I were bought back from the devil. Notice who paid the price – “Christ Jesus.” Remember, the price was steep (1 Pe 1:18,19), “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed . . . , but with the precious blood of Christ.” Nothing less than the blood of Christ could open heaven’s door for us.

When we failed, God sent his Son to take our place (v 25), “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” There’s some beautiful picture language here that sometimes gets lost in translation. I’m sure you remember that in the word “atonement” we’re reminded that through Christ we are once again “at one” with God. But here the word is being used by Paul to picture the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant in the Old Testament. Remember how the Children of Israel carried around this box-like structure as a sign of the Lord’s presence and power? Inside this ark were the two tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments. When the Lord looked at these tablets, he was reminded of how all people had sinned against his will. But this same God in love sent his Son “as a sacrifice of atonement” – as the one who would cover up those commandments by keeping them in our place. Our God now looks at his law through Christ and sees those commandments kept perfectly. Instead of failure he now sees righteousness – righteousness won for us by his Son!

Jesus was a complete Savior. He did everything for our salvation. That’s what he meant when he cried out from the cross (Jn 19:30), “It is finished.” If your children tell you that they have finished their homework, you may ask them to prove it by showing it to you. When Jesus says he finished his work of salvation, you can ask him to prove it and he’ll show you his hands and his side. He’ll show you the empty tomb. He’ll tell you that all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to him as the resurrected Lord and Savior. Our salvation is complete! It’s finished! Jesus said so! Righteousness is a done deal!

How does this righteousness become our own? How does it get applied to our account? By faith you are saved!

Faith makes the difference (v 22), “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Faith doesn’t create righteousness. It’s already there, an accomplished fact. But this righteousness is revealed to us through the preaching of the Word. The gospel awakens faith in us, and this faith opens our eyes to all that God has done for us. Faith is the empty hand that receives what God gives, the hand into which God pours his righteousness. Faith is simply trusting in something that has already been accomplished.

So no bragging allowed! “Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.” You and I are saved through faith, not because of faith. Remember, even the fact that we’re able to believe is an act of God (Eph 2:8,9), “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that on one can boast.” Or, as Paul writes to the Corinthians (1 Co 1:31), “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” After all, the Lord did everything for our salvation. He deserves all the credit. It’s his righteousness that makes salvation possible. And it’s all a done deal!

All of which brings us to Paul’s beautiful conclusion (v 28), “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” Seems so simple, doesn’t it? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Ac 16:31). And yet the devil has a way of even making the simple complicated. He tempts us to hang on to the idea that we still have to do something to help God out. But the message is clear: “Just believe.” What a comfort to know that our righteousness is a done deal! It’s an accomplished fact. Our salvation is secure, even on those days when the devil’s causing us to doubt it. That’s why I’ll never ask people on their deathbed how they feel about their salvation, as if that makes a difference on where they’ll be spending eternity. No, I’ll just keep pointing them to Jesus and what he did for their salvation. I’ll keep telling them that the righteousness they need to enter God’s kingdom is already theirs. It was given to them on the cross. It’s a done deal!

“If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” That statement might be true most of the time, but it can’t be true if what you’re talking about is already done. Righteousness was never meant to be a “do-it-yourself” project. There’s too many parts, and we could never follow the directions. Be thankful that Jesus put it all together for us! Everything’s taken care of! Thank God that your salvation is secure – all because your righteousness is a done deal!

Amen