Romans 3:21–31
But Now: The Righteousness of God
Paul has spent nearly three chapters explaining the human problem.
Gentiles are under sin.
Jews are under sin.
Possessing God's Law does not make a person righteous.
Knowing the Law does not make a person righteous.
And Paul has just reached his conclusion:
“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
Every mouth has been stopped.
The whole world is accountable to God.
If Romans ended there, the news would be terrible.
But it doesn't.
The next two words change everything:
“But now...”
— Romans 3:21
A Righteousness Apart From the Law
Paul continues:
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it.”
— Romans 3:21
Notice the contrast.
Human beings cannot make themselves righteous by keeping the Law.
But God has acted.
A righteousness from God has now been revealed.
And although it is “apart from the law,” it is not disconnected from everything God had said before.
Paul says:
“The Law and the Prophets bear witness to it.”
The Old Testament had been pointing toward what God was going to do.
The gospel is not God's emergency plan after Israel failed.
It is the fulfillment of the plan God had been revealing all along.
Through Faith in Jesus Christ
How is this righteousness received?
Paul answers:
“The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”
— Romans 3:22
Then Paul immediately reminds us why everyone needs it:
“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
— Romans 3:22–23
There is no distinction.
That connects directly with everything Paul has been saying.
Jew and Gentile have different histories.
They received different privileges.
But when it comes to sin, both need the same rescue.
All have sinned.
That may be one of the best-known sentences in Romans.
But we understand it better when we see where Paul put it.
Romans 3:23 is not an isolated slogan.
It is the conclusion of the case Paul has been building since Romans 1.
“Justified by His Grace as a Gift”
Then comes the good news:
“And are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
— Romans 3:24
Paul uses several important words here.
Justified.
To be justified is to be declared right before God.
Grace.
This is not something sinners earn.
It comes from God's favor.
Gift.
God is not paying us wages for living perfectly.
We have already failed to do that.
Redemption.
This is the language of being set free at a cost.
And Paul says that redemption is found:
“in Christ Jesus.”
The answer to the human problem is not greater confidence in ourselves.
It is Christ.
What Did God Do Through Jesus?
Paul continues:
“Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”
— Romans 3:25
Different translations use words such as propitiation, atoning sacrifice, or sacrifice of atonement here.
The underlying idea takes us into the language of sacrifice and atonement.
Sin is real.
God does not simply pretend it never happened.
Something had to be done about it.
And Paul points us to the blood of Christ.
The cross is not merely an example of human cruelty.
It is something God did to deal with human sin.
How Can God Forgive Sinners and Still Be Just?
Paul explains why this matters:
“This was to show God's righteousness...”
— Romans 3:25
God had shown patience toward sins committed beforehand.
So a question arises.
If God forgives guilty people, does that mean He simply overlooks evil?
Paul says no.
The cross demonstrates God's righteousness:
“So that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
— Romans 3:26
That sentence is at the heart of this passage.
God is just.
And:
God justifies sinners.
He does not have to choose between justice and mercy.
At the cross, God's righteousness and God's grace meet.
Then What Becomes of Our Boasting?
Paul immediately asks:
“Then what becomes of our boasting?”
— Romans 3:27
His answer:
“It is excluded.”
There is nothing left to boast about.
If salvation depended upon our perfect obedience, perhaps we could congratulate ourselves.
But Paul has already shown that none of us has perfectly obeyed.
We are justified because of what God has done.
So the gospel leaves no room for one group to look down upon another.
The Jew cannot boast over the Gentile.
The Gentile cannot boast over the Jew.
The religious cannot boast over the irreligious.
Grace eliminates boasting.
“Apart From Works of the Law”
Paul continues:
“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
— Romans 3:28
This verse has stood at the center of theological arguments for centuries.
But before bringing later debates to the verse, we should first ask:
What has Paul been talking about?
He has been discussing Jews and Gentiles.
He has discussed circumcision.
He has discussed possession of the Law.
He has shown that having the Law does not make the Jew righteous before God.
So when Paul speaks of “works of the law,” we should first hear those words within Paul's own argument.
No one can stand before God and say:
“I deserve to be justified because I have perfectly kept God's Law.”
Paul has already shown that nobody can make that claim.
Justification must come another way.
It comes through faith.
Is God Only the God of the Jews?
Paul asks another question:
“Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also?”
— Romans 3:29
His answer:
“Yes, of Gentiles also.”
Why?
“Since God is one.”
— Romans 3:30
There are not two Gods.
There are not two different ways of being made right with God.
One for Jews and another for Gentiles.
There is one God.
And both circumcised and uncircumcised are justified through faith.
This has been where Paul's argument has been heading from the beginning.
The gospel is for all.
Does Faith Make the Law Worthless?
Paul anticipates one more misunderstanding:
“Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?”
— Romans 3:31
Again comes his strong answer:
“By no means!”
Instead:
“On the contrary, we uphold the law.”
Paul is not attacking God's Law.
The Law did exactly what it was supposed to do.
It exposed sin.
It showed humanity's need.
And, as Paul said in verse 21, the Law and the Prophets themselves bore witness to the righteousness God would provide.
The gospel does not prove the Law was wrong.
The gospel shows where God's revelation was leading.
The Argument Has Changed
Something important has happened in Romans.
Up through 3:20, Paul's question was essentially:
Who is guilty?
His answer:
Everyone.
Beginning in 3:21, the question becomes:
How can guilty people be made right with God?
And Paul's answer is not:
Try harder.
Become Jewish.
Possess the Law.
Accumulate enough good works to outweigh your sins.
His answer is:
God has acted through Jesus Christ.
Before Moving On
Paul has told us that justification is by faith.
Now he is going to show us that this is not some new idea he invented.
And to do that, he reaches all the way back to Abraham.
That is important because Abraham lived before the Law of Moses and even before he was circumcised.
So Paul asks us to look at Abraham and see how he was counted righteous before God.
The answer will take us straight back to Genesis:
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
— Romans 4:3
Paul has made his claim.
Romans 4 will now give us his biblical evidence.
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