Romans Bible Study, Chapter 3

by Matt Slick | Jan 5, 2023 | Bible Studies, The Bible

Romans 3 Outline for Bible study. This outline will increase as the study progresses through Romans 3.

Romans Bible Study

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Also, please feel free to use these notes to teach on Romans. God bless.

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?
1. Advantage has the Jew
  1. The advantage of being a Jew is great. They had the oracles of God (v. 2), the Law, the prophets, the miracles, etc. God had chosen them to know righteousness and to know Him. The privilege was great, as was the responsibility.
2. Circumcision
  1. Note how circumcision became a means for the Jews to distance themselves from the Gentiles who needed to hear the word of truth. It symbolized their purity and separateness from the uncircumcised.
  2. Sometimes we Christians become comfortable in our spiritual knowledge and relationship with God. Occasionally, we hide the truth from those who need it because we have become judgmental. Also, sometimes speaking up can be risky.
Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.
1. Oracles of God
  1. What were (are) the oracles of God? They are the divine communications to Israel. God would speak in different manners: face to face (Ex. 3:11), in dreams and visions (Num. 12:6-8), and through the prophets (Heb 1:1).
    1. Oracles, λόγιον lógion, four occurrences in the New Testament: Acts 7:38; Rom. 3:2; Heb. 5:12; 1 Pet. 4:11
      1. Acts 7:38, “This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers, and he received living oracles to pass on to you.”
      2. Heb. 5:12, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
      3. 1 Peter 4:11, “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
  2. But whatever way God communicates to His people, the Jewish nation had that incredible means of grace given to them. They knew it, and it could easily become an excuse for pride – and separation from others.
What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?
1. Does the faithfulness of God depend upon the faithfulness of man? Not at all. Even though many Jews did not believe God’s words regarding the Messiah, the faithfulness of God remained.
2. God came to the Jews (Matt. 15:24) even though He knew that, as a whole, they would reject Him (Matt. 27:25; Acts 18:5-6). He still sent His apostles, even though he knew that countless thousands would reject Him. He still gave us the Word, even though he knew that most of the world would reject Him.
  1. Matt. 15:24, “But He answered and said, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’“
  2. Matt. 27:25, “And all the people said, ‘His blood shall be on us and on our children!'”
  3. Acts 18:5–6, “But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.'”
3. Question: How has God been faithful in your faithlessness? Can you recall any instances where you have not been faithful to the Lord, but he has been faithful to you?
May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, ‘THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED.’
1. The words of God will never fail, as Jesus said in John 10:35, “and the scriptures cannot be broken.”
  1. This is because God, in His great sovereignty, omniscient, and omnipotence, works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11). He cannot.
    1. Eph. 1:11, “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,”
  2. God is as good as His word, and His word is as good as He is. Whatever He says will come to pass.
    1. Matt. 5:18, “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.)
1. Our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God
  1. Our unrighteousness is our failure to keep the Law of God, though we are not under the Law. For us, the Law is a guide. We Christians have died to the Law (Rom. 6:6, 8; 7:4).
    1. Rom. 6:6, “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.”
    2. Rom. 6:8, “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”
    3. Rom. 7:4, “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”
  2. The Law proves that we are guilty and that we need a Savior – which the Law provides for us.
    1. Lev. 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”
  3. So, God keeps the Law in Jesus and does what we cannot (Gal. 4:4; 1 Pet. 2:22).
    1. Gal. 4:4, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,”
    2. 1 Pet. 2:22, “Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth.”
  4. Paul here exonerates God – not that God needs it. Because God is the perfect and ultimate standard of holiness that His judgments are righteous – always and in every way.
  5. Aren’t we all sinners who deserve wrath? Absolutely! How, then, can God be blamed?
May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?
1. God will judge the world by a standard He Himself has established: His Word. God’s Word is a reflection of who He is.
2. Again, the standard is Himself, which was revealed to the Jews in the Law. It is a reflection of His character. It is pure, righteous, holy, and without error.
3. The Law will stand, though not as a means of justification (not for Christians, but for God). Why? Because the Law shows us that we are incapable of keeping it, and it also demonstrates how perfect God is.
4. Because we cannot keep the Law, the Messiah came to offer Himself and deliver us from the power of death by keeping the Law perfectly.
  1. 1 Pet. 1:16, “because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.'”
  2. 1 Pet. 2:22, “who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth.”
But if through my lie, the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?
1. Through my lie
  1. Paul is using hyperbole (an exaggeration not meant to be taken literally). He is contrasting his own faithlessness with God’s faithfulness, his lie with God’s truth, his sin with God’s holiness.
  2. Is God being fair to punish us if our wickedness shows His goodness? Of course! Sin is still sin, whether or not God is gracious to the sinner.
2. The truth of God
  1. God’s integrity, holiness, and righteousness.
  2. Truth is what corresponds to the mind of God since He knows all things (1 John 3:20) and cannot lie (Titus 1:2)
    1. 1 John 3:20, “in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.”
    2. Titus 1:2, “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,”
  3. Note: Whatever truth God possesses, He does not possess its opposite. So, if God possesses the characteristic of eternal existence, it cannot be the case that He also possesses the characteristic of eternal nonexistent. Likewise, since God is true, it cannot be that He lies.
3. Abounded to His glory
  1. How does our wickedness show the goodness of God? …by God’s grace in redemptive sacrifice, by God’s patience with us, and by God using man’s sinfulness to accomplish His righteousness.
4. Judged as a sinner
  1. If our sins show the greater goodness and holiness of God, then that further shows judgment is necessary.
And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come“? Their condemnation is just.
1. Slanderously reported
  1. The enemies of the gospel often misrepresent the Christian faith and accuse God, and the followers of injustice.
    1. We do not support LGBTQ, abortion, socialism, the confiscation of property, censoring of free speech, defunding the police, letting criminals go free, the redefining of terms, etc. But the unbelievers hate us for it.
    2. They accuse us of unrighteousness and immorality, of being bigots, homophobes, right-wing extremists, and more.
      1. John 1:5, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
      2. John 3:20, “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”
  2. Today’s unbelievers have no universal standard of morality. They have only their subjective and evil prejudices. They are hypocrites and malicious gossips.
    1. 1 Tim. 4:1–3, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.”
    2. 2 Tim. 3:1–5, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.”
2. Let us do evil that good may come
  1. It seems that Paul is answering questions or objections from Jewish leaders with whom he has had many discussions. The Jewish leadership placed much of their righteousness in their ability to keep the Law. Therefore, they would question Paul’s sanctification when they heard him teach people that the Law is not what saves us.
3. Their condemnation is just
  1. “Their condemnation is just” is a dismissive statement. He doesn’t even tackle the issue because it is so preposterous to say that since we are not justified by what we do, it is okay to go sin.
    1. Rom. 6:1–2, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”
  2. This is often the accusation of those who oppose the teaching of Once Saved, Always Saved (OSAS). Many of those who reject such teaching say it is a license sin. But it is not.
  3. This is because they often assume that keeping the Law is what keeps us saved.
  4. Essentially, this is maintaining what Christ has done through our effort and weaves into the lives of people, the great error of works righteousness.
    1. John 6:39, “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”
    2. John 8:29, “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;
1. Paul established earlier that all men are under the condemnation of sin. How, then, could any Jew be any better than a gentile?
as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE.”
1. O.T. Source for vv. 10-12:
  1. Psalm 14:1–3, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt. They have committed abominable deeds. There is no one who does good. 2 The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.”
2. The testimony of the scripture is conclusive. There is none righteous.
3. What does it mean to be unrighteous? It means to be guilty of breaking God’s Law. It means to be a sinner. We are all sinners. Therefore, none of us are righteous before God.
  1. 1 Cor. 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
  2. 1 John 3:4, “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”
THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS. THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
1. Part of the consequence of the fall is that man wants to be on the throne of life instead of God.
2. The Edenic lie of being like God still echoes across the centuries in the hearts of man and still manifests itself in our sinful, selfish pride.
3. There can be only one Ultimate.
ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
1. It is said that the criteria for doing good is based upon three things: the motive, the object, and the standard. What is the reason for doing a good work? For whom are we doing it? And finally, what standard do we go by to judge whether the work is good or not?
2. To turn aside is to move away from the truth. Isn’t that what sin is?
3. Question: Can a work be good if it is partially to satisfy one’s self? What then are we seeking? Is it God? (Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the LORD while He may be found…”)
“THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;
1. O.T. Source:
  1. Psalm 5:9, “There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue.”
  2. Psalm 140:3, “They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.”
2. An open grave to a Jew was a vile place of uncleanliness. This carried significant ceremonial implications involved in coming in contact with an open grave. But, more importantly, Paul is trying to illustrate the sheer magnitude of the speech of their deception. Picture an open grave with a rotting human corpse in putrid decay. Such is the deceit of the sinner.
  1. Num. 19:16, “Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.”
3. Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21).
  1. Prov. 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
1. O.T. Source:
  1. Psalm 10:7, “His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.”
Their feet are swift to shed blood,
1. O.T. Source:
  1. Isaiah 59:7–8, “Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways. 8 They do not know the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, Whoever treads on them does not know peace.”
Destruction and misery are in their paths,
And the path of peace they have not known.”
1. O.T. Source:
  1. Isaiah 59:7–8, “Their feet run to evil, And they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, Devastation and destruction are in their highways. 8 They do not know the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, Whoever treads on them does not know peace.”
There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
1. O.T. Source:
  1. Psalm 36:1, “Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes.”
2. This is the cause of the problems listed in verses 10-17. The Bible says that the fool in his heart has said there is no God (Psalm 14:1). That is the beginning of foolishness. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God (Psalm 11:10)
  1. Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.”
3. To fear God does not simply mean to be afraid of Him, but also, and more so, to revere Him in awe. To worship and love Him.
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.
1. Those who are under the Law
  1. Under the Law means being obligated to keep it since it has authority over you.
  2. The whole world is under the Law.
2. Every mouth may be closed
  1. “Every mouth” is the whole world. There is none who may escape the righteous requirement of God.
3. All the world may become accountable
  1. The whole world is held accountable because God’s Law is universal. The Law is written on the hearts of every individual (Rom. 2:12-16), and in particular, it was given to the Jews in the clear, unmistakable form of the 10 commandments. Therefore, on the day of Judgment, all illusions of self-righteousness, all pretense to self-glory, and all hopes for self-salvation will fall with the unforgiven sinner into the pit of hell.
4. Adamic Covenant
  1. The Adamic covenant is the covenant (agreement with stipulations) between God and Adam (and Eve) where Adam was to tend the garden (Gen. 1:27-28) and refrain from eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:16-17). As long as he obeyed the covenant requirements, he would live. But if he were to disobey the covenant requirements, he would die (Gen. 2:17). The covenant sign was the two trees.
  2. The Adamic covenant is sometimes called the covenant of nature, the covenant of creation, and the covenant of works. In it, the covenant stipulation was that by perfect obedience, they would retain eternal life. To break the commandment and eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil would result in death (Gen. 2:17).
    1. Gen. 1:26–28, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
    2. Gen. 2:17, “but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
  3. Federal Headship We are all represented by Adam. When he fell, we fell. All are under obligation, in Adam, to carry out the requirement God set forth, to subdue the earth – which requires wisdom, children, cities, government, laws, etc.
    1. In the Adamic covenant, Adam represented all people. The phrase “in Adam” is a term of federal headship which designates that he was our representative.
    2. Rom. 5:18–19, “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”
    3. 1 Cor. 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
5. Note
  1. As Christians, we are no longer under the Law but under grace (Rom. 6:14; 7:6). We are not bound by the Law to maintain it as a means for our justification. We cannot. That is why grace came (Gal. 3:24) to deliver us not only from the Law but also from our natural inability to keep it.
    1. Rom. 6:14, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
    2. Rom. 7:6, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”
    3. Gal. 3:24, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
because by the works of the Law, no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
1. Works of the Law
  1. This signifies that the Law spoken of here is universal and not just the Mosaic Law only. We see this in Romans 3:23 below.
2. Justified
  1. Justification is the legal declaration of righteousness.
    1. Rom. 4:1–5, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,”
  2. The righteousness is somewhat of a conclusion that encompasses the arguments set forth beginning in Rom. 1:18.
3. Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
  1. Paul later comments on the Law revealing sin.
    1. Rom. 7:7–9, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died.”
  2. Other
    1. 1 Cor. 15:56, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets
1. Apart from the Law
  1. Literally, “apart from law.” The word ‘the’ is not in Greek.
  2. The gospel is the righteousness of God apart from Law. We see this in the next verse, where Paul mentions faith in Christ. Paul contrasts the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of the gospel.
  3. The gospel falls under the requirements of the Law from the Old Testament revelation. Our righteousness is not by law. In other words, we cannot obtain it by what we do.
2. The righteousness of God has been manifested.
  1. What is this righteousness that has been manifested? It is Jesus. It was not the requirements of the Law that sent the Son, but the love of the Father (1 John 4:10). God is love (1 John 4:16). And in that love is the manifestation of righteousness. So, the Son came to do what we and the Law could not. Because our love is imperfect and because we are by nature sinners.
3. Being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets
  1. Jesus said in Luke 24:44 that what was written of Him in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. What was written of Him? Everything! The Law and the Prophets prophesied of Jesus: “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John” (Matt. 11:13); “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you will find eternal life. But it is these that bear witness of Me” (John 5:39). The scriptures also spoke of His birthplace (Micah 5:1-2); manner of death (Psalm 22); the resurrection (Psalm 14); atonement (Isaiah 53), etc. Lev. 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of Acadia breaking the life that makes atonement.’
even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction.
1. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ
  1. We never read of the righteousness of repentance, of humility, or meekness, or of love. This is because it would be our righteousness and not God’s
2. For all those who believe
  1. The Jews and the Gentiles who believed, would be justified.
  2. This righteousness of God is manifested and applied to us through faith because we cannot keep the Law.
3. No distinction
  1. Rom. 2:11 that there was no partiality with God in reference to their doing good or bad in reference to the Law. And so there isn’t. Here, the impartiality of God is shown another way, in that all who believe will be made righteous in God.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
1. All have sinned
  1. This is perhaps one of the best-known scriptures in the Bible. It is all-inclusive in its extent: every human (except Jesus 1 Pet. 2:22) has sinned.
  2. Rom. 5:18–19, “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”
  3. 1 Cor. 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
2. Fall short of the glory of God
  1. The glory of God here is His holiness and purity.
  2. They have fallen short because they are unable to fulfill the Law of God. Remember, the Law is a reflection of the very character of God and, thereby, a reflection of His Holiness.
being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus
1. Here we have two significant phenomena as a result of our faith in Jesus (v. 22 above)
  1. Our justification in Christ
  2. Our redemption in Christ.
2. Questions
  1. Since justification is a gift, what part do we play in it?
  2. In regards to faith, is it our part or God’s, or both?
    1. Phil. 1:29, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,”
    2. John 6:29, “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
  3. Justification is instantaneous and permanent.
    1. John 6:35, “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not [οὐ μὴ] hunger, and he who believes in Me will never [οὐ μὴ] thirst.’”
      1. Emphatic Negation Subjunctive: “Emphatic negation is indicated by οὐ μή plus the aorist subjunctive or, less frequently, οὐ μή plus the future indicative (e.g., Matt 26:35; Mark 13:31; John 4:14; 6:35). This is the strongest way to negate something in Greek. One might think that the negative with the subjunctive could not be as strong as the negative with the indicative. However, while οὐ + the indicative denies a certainty, οὐ μή + the subjunctive denies a potentiality. The negative is not weaker; rather, the affirmation that is being negatived is less firm with the subjunctive. οὐ μή rules out even the idea as being a possibility: “ου μή is the most decisive way of negativing someth. in the future.” (Wallace, Daniel B.; The Basics of New Testament Syntax: An Intermediate Greek Grammar, p. 212. Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)
    2. John 6:37-40, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
      1. In John 6:37-40, Jesus is saying that he came down from heaven to do the will of the Father (John 6:38). Jesus always does the will of the Father (John 8:29). The will of the Father is that Jesus does not lose any of those people given to Him by the Father (John 6:39). If any of those given to Jesus by the Father is lost, then Jesus has failed to do the will of the Father. That would mean that Jesus would have sinned. But it is impossible for Jesus not to do the will of the Father. Therefore, it is not possible that Jesus loses anyone. Despite this, some say that we can lose ourselves. But the issue in John 6:37-40 is not about us losing ourselves. It is about Jesus doing the will of the Father and He not losing anyone. Therefore, if anyone says we can be lost, then he is saying Jesus failed to do the will of the Father.
      2. Finally, the words “will certainly not” in v. 37 in Greek are οὐ μὴ (ou ma), which “rules out even the idea as being a possibility.” (Wallace, Daniel B. The Basics of New Testament Syntax, Zondervan, p. 212). This same οὐ μὴ (ou ma) usage occurs in John 4:14 and 6:35, where Jesus says those who trust in Him will never thirst, and also in John 10:28, where those who have eternal life “will never” perish. So, it is not possible to lose one’s salvation. Otherwise, Jesus failed to do the will of the Father, and it would mean that we would thirst again and could perish in contradiction to John 4:14; 6:35 and John 10:28.
    3. Justification is the legal declaration where the righteousness of Christ/God is imputed to the believer.” To impute means “to reckon to another’s account.”
      1. The believer is found in Christ having the righteousness, which is of God,
        
        Phil. 3:9, “and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”
      2. We are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10).
      3. We are perfected in Christ (Heb. 10:14).
      4. We are alive to God in Christ (Rom. 6:11)
      5. We are sanctified in Christ (1 Cor. 1:2)
      6. We are forgiven by God in Christ (Eph. 4:32)
      7. When we are said to be made righteous in Christ, the meaning is that we are made righteous to such a degree as that there can be no addition to that righteousness. In other words, in Christ, we can’t be made any more righteous by anything we do.
      8. Roman Catholicism says,
        
        Baptism “Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ. It is granted us through Baptism. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who justifies us. It has for its goal the glory of God and of Christ and the gift of eternal life. It is the most excellent work of God’s mercy” (CCC 2020).
        
        Penance “…Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification” (CCC 1446).
        
        Trent on Justifcation, Canon 9 “If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema” (Council of Trent, Canons on Justification, Canon 9).
whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed.
1. God displayed publicly
  1. God caused the events which led to the crucifixion.
    1. Acts 4:27–28, “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.”
2. Propitiation
  1. Propitiation (hilasmos) is also used in 1 John 2:2; 4:10. (hilaskomai) is used in Luke 18:13; Heb. 2:17. (Hilastarion) is used in Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:5.
  2. “Propitiation” means the “Turning away of anger by the offering of a gift.” (Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988.) “The removal of wrath by the offering of a gift.” (Bromiley, Geoffrey W., ed. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised. Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988.)
  3. The propitiation does not make the removal of wrath possible, but actual.
    1. Col. 2:14, “having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
  4. God turned away the wrath upon those who are saved.
    1. 1 Thess. 5:9, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
  5. Jesus was made sin. He was not merely made a sin offering, He was made sin and treated as a sin offering – and then He died fulfilling all the righteousness of God. He redeemed us from the curse of the Law.
    1. 2 Cor. 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
3. Passed over the sins previously committed
  1. God did not execute judgment on people before the time of Christ, or even before people trust in Christ, because of the crucifixion. He waited because without His patience, none would live.
for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
1. Demonstration of His righteousness at the present time
  1. The time of the gospel
    1. 1 Cor. 15:1–4, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
    2. 2 Cor. 6:2, “for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”
  2. Be just and the justifier
    1. God is just because He is always holy and perfect. It is His nature.
    2. He justifies whom He will through the work of Christ, which we receive by faith
  3. Faith in Jesus
    1. Paul repeats the cause of our justification – faith in Jesus.
Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of Law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
1. If it is through the gift of grace in manifested in the incarnation and propitiation, then how is it possible that any man could boast, even in part, of righteousness? No one can.
2. But people boast without realizing it when they say they keep their salvation by what they do – being faithful, not sinning ‘too much,’ etc.
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
1. Is justified by faith apart from works of the Law
  1. Paul’s argument is summed up in this verse. Paul does not do away with the Law, but only rejects it as a means of salvation. Here, justification is through faith apart, not in combination with, not after, but apart from works.
    1. Matt. 22:37–40, “And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
  2. The purpose of the Law was to induce righteousness. This it could not do, not because it was imperfect, but because man is imperfect and was the one required to fulfill the Law.
    1. Gal. 3:24, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
2. To review briefly. Paul has demonstrated that the Law is insufficient to justify because all who would seek justification by it must keep all the Law.
  1. Deut. 27:26, “Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”
  2. Gal. 3:10, “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.””
  3. James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”
Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
1. This reflects Rom. 2:12‑16, there is a Law on the hearts of the gentiles also. God is the God of all people, not just the Jews.
  1. Rom. 2:12–16, “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; 13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”
since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
1. If God is the creator of all people, then He is the God of all people. If He is the God of all people, then He will justify all people the same way – by Jesus.
Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.
1. Nullify the Law, establish the Law
  1. The Law is not nullified by faith but established but it!
  2. Christ fulfilled the Law, lived it perfectly, and became our propitiation. Therefore, the only thing left is faith. Salvation is either by Law or Faith, not both.
  3. The Law requires purity, satisfaction, and righteousness. All these things were met when Christ was crucified. That is why the Law was given, to lead us to Christ.
    1. Gal. 3:24, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
  4. Furthermore, Jesus fulfilled the Law by being born under it (Gal. 4:4), being baptized (Matt. 3:15-16), as a high priest (Heb. 6:20; 6:25), as a sacrifice (1 Cor. 5:7), as the perfect law keeper (1 Pet. 2:22), and more.