The Revelation of Righteousness: Romans 3:21-26

But now.

Two words that change everything. But now. After the long indictment—Gentile sin, Jewish sin, every mouth silenced, the whole world accountable—but now.

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known.

Apart from the law. Not through law-keeping, not by commandment compliance, not via religious performance. Apart from it entirely. Another way has opened.

The righteousness of God. Not human righteousness polished and presented. Not our best efforts accumulated. God's own righteousness. The righteousness that belongs to him, that defines him, that he now makes known.

To which the Law and the Prophets testify.

This isn't new. The Law pointed here. The Prophets spoke of this. Abraham believed and it was credited. David sang of the blessed one whose sins are covered. Isaiah saw the servant bearing iniquity. The whole Old Testament leaned forward into this moment.

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

Given. Not achieved. Not earned. Not purchased. Given. Through faith—the empty hand that receives. In Jesus Christ—the object matters. Faith in Christ, not faith in faith. To all who believe—no ethnic restriction, no cultural requirement, no prerequisite beyond believing.

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The great leveling. No difference. The religious and irreligious equally fallen. All have sinned—past tense, completed action. All fall short—present tense, continuous reality. The glory of God—the standard no one meets.

This is bad news only until you hear what follows.

And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

All are justified. The guilty declared righteous. The accused acquitted. The condemned released.

Freely. Dorean. As a gift. Without cost to the receiver, though at infinite cost to the giver.

By his grace. Grace—the unmerited favor, the unearned blessing, the undeserved kindness.

Through the redemption. Redemption—the slave market word, the price paid, the freedom purchased. Redemption that came by Christ Jesus. His blood was the currency. His death was the payment.

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.

Sacrifice of atonement. Hilasterion. The mercy seat. The place where God's wrath and God's mercy met. Where blood was sprinkled. Where sins were covered. Where God was propitiated.

Christ is that place now. Christ is where wrath and mercy meet. Christ is where blood was shed. Christ is where sins are covered. Christ is where God is satisfied.

Through the shedding of his blood. Not metaphor. Not symbol only. Blood shed. Life given. Death died.

To be received by faith. The atonement is objective—it happened whether we believe or not. But the benefit is received by faith. The gift must be taken.

He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.

A question had lingered through the centuries. How could God forgive David's adultery and murder? How could God pass over Abraham's lies? How could God show mercy and still be just? Had sin gone unpunished? Had righteousness been compromised?

The cross answered. God was not ignoring sin. He was forbearing, waiting, until the full payment could be made. The sins committed beforehand were not unpunished—they were punished at Calvary. Every sin from Adam to the thief on the cross was laid on Christ.

He did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

The demonstration. At the present time. Now. The cross proves God is just—sin is fully punished. The cross proves God justifies—sinners are fully forgiven.

Just and justifier. How can both be true? Only at the cross. Only where the just penalty was paid by the justifying God himself.

Those who have faith in Jesus. Not those who achieve. Not those who deserve. Those who believe.

Six verses. The heart of the gospel. The center of Christianity. The hinge of human history.

But now.