Mankind Is Justified by God’s Grace through Christ’s Redemption 2

Romans 3:27-31

Do you know that according to God’s Word all men were ungodly and unrighteous, and deserving of God’s wrath? “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (23). The law was not given to save us; it was given as a schoolmaster, making us conscious of sin: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (v.20).

However, the only way we can be redeemed from the grip of sin is to be justified, declared righteous, by faith in Christ Jesus. He died and resurrected from the grave so that we could have forgiveness of our sins and access to eternal life. Our heavenly Father requires us to have a change of attitude toward sin. Do we want forgiveness and His undeserved favor? If so, we must repent of our sins, or we will perish. It’s senseless to perish when Jesus has already redeemed us; He is the way of salvation through faith in Him, not through works of the law.The Jews thought because they were God’s chosen people, the law saved them. Paul let them know boasting was excluded. They didn’t have a need for boasting; being a Jew didn’t give them any advantage. On what kind of law was righteousness based? Was it based on a law of works? Paul said, no, it’s based on the principle of faith (v.27). Scripture declares that the just shall live by faith. Mankind is freely justified by faith in God’s plan of redemption. It is apart from works of the law (v.28). It’s by grace through faith in the work Jesus did on the cross for all. Ephesians 2:8 (paraphrased) says that God’s plan of redemption is not through our own effort – through works of the flesh or keeping the law, but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God. He is the only true God, and He justifies all – the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Thank God for Jesus. He came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17) and to justify man by the grace of God through redemption in Him. Give Him glory!