“But,” is an important word. “But,” takes what was said before and tosses it aside. “But,” is like the turning of the tide, a changing of direction, a shift in circumstances.
Since the last half of chapter 1 Paul has been talking about sin and human depravity. In chapter 3 he lists a litany of Old Testament Bible verses that show our state before God: “None is righteous, no not, one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside . . . no one does good, not even one.” “Their through is an empty grave; . . .” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; . . . the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Until, in v. 20, he comes to his conclusion, “. . . by works of the law no human being will be justified in [God’s] sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” In other words, there aren’t enough good works out there to justify us out there! The Law makes it clear we are broken in our sin.
BUT!
But now the righteousness of God has been made known apart from the law . . .the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. The situation was hopeless, . . . but now there’s hope. We were dead in trespasses and sins, . . . but now we have forgiveness and life in Jesus. We were separated, alienated, and far from God, . . . but now we are his children.
“But,”” is an important word!
All may have sinned, fallen short of the glory of God, and therefore become worthy of God’s wrath and judgment, but Jesus has justified us. And by justify, we don’t mean that he excused us, but rather that he took the punishment of death to pay for our wrong doing. That way God is both just, that is fair and holy, and justifier.
That’s the power of the Gospel! Without sounding too disrespectful, the Gospel is a big “BUT.”
In 1741 a preacher named Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon called, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It was pure fire and brimstone. If you google it, you can find the text. He spoke of sin and wrath and man’s impending destruction. He warned of God’s power to cast into Hell and the Devil’s eagerness to receive sinners. Here is the last paragraph of the message: Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed." Ouch.
“But,” he was wrong. The wrath of Almighty God that his congregation deserved, and that you and I deserve hung over Jesus on the cross, and Christ took that wrath so we could know the Father’s love and mercy, and so we could live in the resurrection, that is Jesus’ resurrection.
One other thing I’d point out here. Look back at vv. 23 & 24. “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” says v. 23. We’d expect a “but” here, right? But, here is what it says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, AND are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” We are both sinner and saint; fallen and forgiven. In this life we will never achieve the total perfection that we would like – so we have nothing to boast about in the things we do. They’re all tainted by sin. The only thing that we have to boast about in our sin is, “but!” Yes, I sin, but God has made me righteous in Christ.
Father God, thank you for giving your own son to satisfy your holy judgment on my sin and the sins of all people! I still have a desire in me to want to justify myself and make excuses for my behavior, but there really aren’t any excuses. Help me to embrace the power of your Gospel and release my pride, and make me a messenger that revels this message: But now the righteousness of God has been made known through faith in Jesus. Amen
Since the last half of chapter 1 Paul has been talking about sin and human depravity. In chapter 3 he lists a litany of Old Testament Bible verses that show our state before God: “None is righteous, no not, one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside . . . no one does good, not even one.” “Their through is an empty grave; . . .” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; . . . the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Until, in v. 20, he comes to his conclusion, “. . . by works of the law no human being will be justified in [God’s] sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” In other words, there aren’t enough good works out there to justify us out there! The Law makes it clear we are broken in our sin.
BUT!
But now the righteousness of God has been made known apart from the law . . .the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. The situation was hopeless, . . . but now there’s hope. We were dead in trespasses and sins, . . . but now we have forgiveness and life in Jesus. We were separated, alienated, and far from God, . . . but now we are his children.
“But,”” is an important word!
All may have sinned, fallen short of the glory of God, and therefore become worthy of God’s wrath and judgment, but Jesus has justified us. And by justify, we don’t mean that he excused us, but rather that he took the punishment of death to pay for our wrong doing. That way God is both just, that is fair and holy, and justifier.
That’s the power of the Gospel! Without sounding too disrespectful, the Gospel is a big “BUT.”
In 1741 a preacher named Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon called, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It was pure fire and brimstone. If you google it, you can find the text. He spoke of sin and wrath and man’s impending destruction. He warned of God’s power to cast into Hell and the Devil’s eagerness to receive sinners. Here is the last paragraph of the message: Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed." Ouch.
“But,” he was wrong. The wrath of Almighty God that his congregation deserved, and that you and I deserve hung over Jesus on the cross, and Christ took that wrath so we could know the Father’s love and mercy, and so we could live in the resurrection, that is Jesus’ resurrection.
One other thing I’d point out here. Look back at vv. 23 & 24. “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” says v. 23. We’d expect a “but” here, right? But, here is what it says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, AND are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” We are both sinner and saint; fallen and forgiven. In this life we will never achieve the total perfection that we would like – so we have nothing to boast about in the things we do. They’re all tainted by sin. The only thing that we have to boast about in our sin is, “but!” Yes, I sin, but God has made me righteous in Christ.
Father God, thank you for giving your own son to satisfy your holy judgment on my sin and the sins of all people! I still have a desire in me to want to justify myself and make excuses for my behavior, but there really aren’t any excuses. Help me to embrace the power of your Gospel and release my pride, and make me a messenger that revels this message: But now the righteousness of God has been made known through faith in Jesus. Amen
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