But Now

Romans – A Treatise
Chapter Three
“BUT NOW”

Scripture Reading: verses 21-24

BUT NOW THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WITHOUT THE LAW IS MANIFESTED, BEING WITNESSED BY THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS; EVEN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WHICH IS BY FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST UNTO ALL AND UPON ALL THEM THAT BELIEVE: FOR THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE: FOR ALL HAVE SINNED, AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD; BEING JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS.

From the beginning of the Epistle to the end of verse 31 in chapter 3, we have heard the counsel for the prosecution set forth his case in brilliant legal argument, and be has, so to speak, brought in his two criminals – Jew and Gentile. He has stopped their mouths, for they are left without excuse, and are both proved guilty before God. Since they are but representatives, all the world stands condemned in them. In these few previous verses we have heard the summation of the case for the prosecution, and it is now a closed issue wherein the sons of Adam, both under law and without law, are declared guilty of sinning and both stand in silent condemnation.

It is exceedingly inspiring to note that God uses Paul in the second role of counsel for the defense and, just as he has declared conclusively that man is a fallen creature, a sinner both by nature and practice, so just as conclusively he sets forth how God takes that same condemned criminal and justifies him through the death of another – and that other, His own beloved Son.

We cannot stress too much the fact that this Epistle is a legal document, giving us the foundation stones upon which we can stand immovable in the presence of the Lord. Without a proper understanding of the truths here set forth, one cannot come to a proper realization of the assurance of salvation. In this so-called enlightened age, it is remarkable that Satan has sown doubt and fear in the minds of so many of the Lord’s people. Far too many today are not sure whether they will eventually be saved or not. A proper understanding of these early chapters of Romans should set their minds at ease regarding this great truth.

In verse 21, Paul begins with a great contrast to what he has already said: “But now.” It is an abrupt transition from what has gone before. He has traced the history of mankind down through the ages, both under law and without law, and he has found that man is incorrigible; corrupt in the inner springs of his being, and by nature his every act displays the corruption of an unregenerate heart. Then Paul says,

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.

Here, the contrast is between the righteousness which man has failed to gain based on the principle of works, and the righteousness of God which, apart from law and works, is set forth in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is, so to speak, a change of identi-fication. Because of both his nature and practice, the criminal stands before the bar of justice condemned before the judge. The sentence of condemnation has been placed on him, when suddenly another person steps into view before the court. This person is the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of it in terms of a typical courtroom scene today. There stands the criminal-man, the son of Adam’s race (whether Jew or Gentile) – condemned, for “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” On the bench is God, the Judge of all, the One before whose august throne the verdict is reached. On the other side stands Paul, the great apostle, the brilliant lawyer who has been commissioned by God Himself to present the case; first against the criminal, and then on behalf of the throne. Paul has spoken his piece; has presented his lawyer’s brief bringing summary condemnation on the criminal, and at the end of verse 20 there is rapt silence in the courtroom. The criminal has been proven guilty. He stands silent, his mouth stopped, and representatively in him the whole world is proved guilty. The lawyer for the prosecution has finished and all in the courtroom stand tense, awaiting verdict of the Judge. Shall He banish the condemned criminal from His presence, sentencing him to an eternity of unspeakable woe without fear or favor? This is the position in which we find ourselves at the end of verse 20.

Then suddenly the courtroom is electrified, as a Person hitherto unnoticed enters. He is One who has been despised and rejected of men, a lone figure, His Name – Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul introduces Him. He comes forward, and, before the judgment throne of the Holy God, He presents Himself as a Substitute to bear the penalty for the criminal. He is spotless, undefiled, sinless, pure, holy; the law has no claim on Him. He says:

No one taketh My life from Me; I lay it down of Myself, I have power to lay it down, I have power to take it again; this commandment have I received of My Father.

Then Jehovah, the Judge on the bench, allows this blessed Person, the Son of His love, to take on Himself the guilt of the prisoner; as a substitution, He wends His way up Calvary’s mountain, and is nailed to a cross. Then the sun hides His face in shame as the Son of the Living God, the Creator, becomes the Sin Bearer, and Jehovah lays on Him the iniquity of us all. During three hours of darkness, He bears the penalty of our sins.

Then after three days He rises from the dead, and just as suddenly He appears in the courtroom once more. At this point, Paul takes up the case for the defense in verse 21:

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested . . . Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference . . . Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood.

Here we have an enlargement of the subject under discussion. Paul bridges over the entire court trial, so to speak. He leads beyond the legal deliberations of the court, wherein it will be settled regarding whether we are all sinners, guilty before God, or whether we can be justified. He goes beyond all that, and, when he speaks of our being brought into judgment, he says that judgment is in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ – not according to the law of Moses; not according to our conscience; not according to any other element, but “according to my gospel.”

The criminal is offered a full pardon. That is the drama of the Gospel by which we are saved, by which the righteousness of God in Christ is imputed to us, and by which the forgiveness of sin is accorded to true believers.

Before concluding, it might be worthwhile to briefly consider Paul’s long sentence in Romans 3:21-26. After all, by understanding this sentence we understand the Gospel, all of Romans and the Bible. The 1885 English Revised Version changed “the faith of Christ” to “faith in Christ” in Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16; 2:20; 3:22; Ephesians 3:12; and Philippians 3:9.

Coffman concludes that the KJV is a correct translation of all these verses1,

…a fact confirmed by the total agreement of the Emphatic Diaglott in each case. James Macknight, Adam Clarke, as well as other older commentators, also agree with the KJV translation of these verses – “the faith of Christ,” like the “faith of Abraham” in Romans 4:16.

The StudyJesus.com team asked a pulpit minister serving a large church, about whether he believed that to be saved one had to believe in the "faith of Jesus Christ." In answer, he wrote: "God provides righteousness to those who believe. If through the faith of Jesus then everybody would be saved." We asked the same question to a university Bible professor. He expressed a view accepted by several modern-day translations, and held by many "church learders" today. He wrote: "Both ideas are biblical." However, we also presented the question to an elder of the church who wrote: "The believer"s faith causes him to respond to that perfect justification which is and was brought by Christ in His obedience to God"s will of offering His son as the perfect atonement for the sins of all mankind."

The StudyJesus.com team concurs with the elder, older commentators and the King James Version, as well as Coffman, whose commentary on this verse is a scathing rebuke of many modern-day professors and preachers. He points out that we should stay with the KJV in this verse, because changing it represents the same tampering with the Word of God which resulted in the monstrosity of changing “the righteousness of God” to “a righteousness” (Rom. 3:21; 1:17). He writes:

The true Scriptural justification by faith has absolutely no reference to the faith of stinking sinners, but to the faith of the Son of God. The only end served by this change was to bolster the faith only theory of justification.2

Coffman further writes:

The true grounds of justification cannot ever be in a million years the faith of fallible, sinful people, would appear to be axiomatic. How could it be? The very notion that God could impute justification to an evil man, merely upon the basis of anything that such a foul soul might either believe or do, is a delusion. Justification in any true sense requires that the justified be accounted as righteous and undeserving of any penalty whatever; and no man’s faith is sufficient grounds for such an imputation. On the other hand, the faith of Jesus Christ is a legitimate ground of justification, because Christ's faith was perfect.3

In the absolute sense, only Christ is faithful - "Faithful is he that calleth you" (1 Thess. 5:24). Only He is called "the faithful and true witness" (Rev. 3:14). The faith of Christ was also obedient; a perfect and complete obedience, lacking nothing. Therefore, we conclude that the sinless, holy, obedient faith of the Son of God is the only ground of justification of a human being - Christ only is righteously justified in God"s sight.

How then are we saved? We are saved “in Christ,” having been incorporated into Him – justified as a part of Him. Our study prompts agreement with Coffman’s conclusion that faith is not the ground of our justification; it is not the righteousness which makes us righteous before God. The “faith of the Son of God” is the only basis for our justification, and that faith is definitely included in the “righteousness of God” mentioned in this verse. Even the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ shows the principal constituent of God’s righteousness.

God’s righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ – His absolute, intrinsic, unalloyed righteousness – implicit in His perfect faith (mentioned here) and His perfect obedience (implied). The contrary notion that God’s righteousness is some imputation accomplished by the sinner's faith is unfounded. Any righteousness that could commend itself to the Father and become the ground of anything truly worthwhile would, by definition, have to be a true and genuine righteousness. That righteousness was provided by the sinless life of the Christ, summarized in Romans 3:21-26 as “through faith of Jesus Christ,” the idea being much clearer in the KJV, “The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.” These are the basic reasons why we concur with Coffman on this subject, including his final conclusion.

The word “believe” in this verse refers to sinners’ faith (believer’s faith) which is no part of God’s righteousness at all, but, like baptism, is but a mere condition of salvation – being neither more nor less important than baptism.

The below diagram4 is offered to hopefully entice a deeper study of salvation:

Footnotes:
¹ Romans 3:22, James Burton Coffman’s Bible Study Library on the Old and New Testament.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ For more information on the diagram and salvation, see God’s Salvation section on contents page of this website (lesson titled “What Must I Do To Be Saved?”).