The
condemnation of all men needs Mercy Seat -Christ as the propitiation place (Romans 3:21-31)
By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music
Righteousness
imputed, Justification, Salvation 3:21-5:21
The
description of Righteousness 3:21-31
21But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 29Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
3:21 apart from the law - God’s
righteousness, which is revealed in the gospel (1:17), is the basis and
foundation of His dispensing Himself into man in His New Testament economy.
This righteousness has nothing to do with the law in His Old Testament economy
(Phil.3:9).
Righteousness used in various ways in the Bible,
righteousness refers: 1) to God’s character (John17:25);2) to the gift that is
given to everyone who receives Christ (3:21;5:17) and 3) to standards of right
living (6:18;2Tim.2:22)
Manifested The
Jews sought the righteousness of God by keeping the law. However, they did not
attain to it, for out of the works of the law no flesh shall be justified
before God (v.20).But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been
manifested to us through faith in Christ (1:17).
3:22
through the faith of Jesus Christ
or, faith in Jesus Christ. This faith refers to the faith of Jesus Christ in
us, which has become the faith by which we believe in Him, as in v.26;
Gal.2:16,20; 3:22; Eph.3:12; and Phil.3:9.
Faith has an object, and it issues from its object. This object is
Jesus, who is God incarnate. When man hears Him, knows Him, appreciates Him,
and treasures Him, He causes faith to be generated in man, enabling man to
believe in Him. Thus, He becomes the faith in man by which man believes in Him.
Hence, this faith becomes the faith in Him, and it is also the faith that
belongs to Him.
In
God’s New Testament economy, God desires that man believe in Jesus, who is God
incarnate. If man does not believe in Him, he commits the unique sin before God
(John16:9). However, if man believes in Him, he is righteous to the uttermost
before God, and God reckons this faith as his righteousness. At the same time,
this faith brings its object, that is, this One who is God incarnate, into
those who believe in Him. He is God’s righteousness, and God has given Him as
righteousness to those who are indwelt by Him (Jer.23:6). All this is out of,
and depends on, the faith that is in Him and of Him (Heb.12:2).
3:23
glory of God God’s glory is God
expressed. Whenever God is expressed, His glory is seen. Man was made by God in
His image that man might express Him for His glory. But man has sinned and has
contradicted the holiness and righteousness of God. Instead of expressing God,
man expresses sin and his sinful self. Hence, man falls short of God’s glory
and expression is sin. Sinners are not only under the requirements of God’s
holiness and righteousness but also under the demand of God’s glory. All have
offended God’s holy being and have broken God’s righteous law, and all are
short of God’s glory. Therefore, all are under God’s condemnation.
3:24 justified freely Justification
is God’s action whereby He approves people according to His standard of
righteousness. God can do this on the basis of the redemption of Christ. Freely Since Christ has paid the price for our sins and in His
redemption has fulfilled all God’s requirements on us, God, because He is just,
must justify us freely. Such justification is by the grace of God, not by our
works. Redemption To redeem is to purchase back at a cost. We originally belonged
to God but became lost through sin. The requirements of God’s holiness,
righteousness, and glory were so great upon us that it was impossible for us to
fulfill them. However, God paid the price for us through Christ, repossessing
us at a tremendous cost. Christ died on the cross to redeem us
(Gal.3:13; Titus2:14;1Pet.2:24; 3:18); His blood obtained eternal redemption for
us. (1Pet.1:18-19).
Verse 25 set forth to be a propitiation - In the Old Testament , the expiation
cover, the lid of the Ark, as a type, was hidden in the Holy of Holies; in the
New Testament, Christ as the propitiation place, the reality of the expatiation
place, the reality of the expiation cover,
is open set for the before all men.
The propitiation place
is typified in Exo.25:17 by the sin-covering lid on the Ark. The Ark was the
place where God met with people. In The Ark was the law of the Ten
Commandments, which by its holy and righteous requirement exposed and condemned
the sins of the people who came to contact God. However, by the lid of the Ark,
with the expiating blood sprinkled on it on the Day of Expiation, the entire
situation on the sinner’s side was fully covered.
Therefore, upon this
sin-covering lid God could meet with the people who broke His righteous law,
and He could do this without, governmentally any contradiction to His
righteousness, even under the observing of the cherubim that bore His glory and
overshadowed the lid of the Ark. Thus, the problem between man dn God was appeased,
enabling God to forgive and be merciful to man and thereby to give His grace to
man. This is a prefigure of Christ as the
Lamb of God taking away the sin that caused man to have a problem with God (John1:29),
thus satisfying all the requirements of God’s holiness, righteousness, and glory
and appeasing the relationship between man
and God. Hence, God could pass over the people’s sin that had previously occurred. And, in order to show
forth His righteousness, He had to do this. This is what this verse refers to.
The Hebrew word for the
lid of the Ark is kapporeth, from a root
meaning to cover. In the Septuagint this
word is translated hilasterion, which
means the place of propitiation (implying
to forgive and to give mercy –the word rendered propitious in Heb.8:12 is the root
of hilasterion, and the word rendered propitiated in Luke 18:12 is the derived from
this root0. The King James Version adopts
the rendering “Mercy seat,” referring to the place where God grants mercy to man.
In Heb.9:5 Paul also used hilasterion
for the lid of the Ark. Here, in Rom.3:25, the same word, hilasterion, is used to show that the lid of the Arks signifies Christ
as the propitiation place set forth by God.
In Addition to hilasterion,
two other words derived from the same Greek word as hilasterion are used in the
New Testament to show how Christ took away man’s sin to appease the relationship
between man and God. One is hilaskomai (Heb.2:17), which means to propitiate, that
is, to appease, to reconcile one by satisfying the other’s demand; the other is
hilasmos (1John2:2;4:10), which means that which propitiates, that is, a propitiatory
sacrifice. Christ made propitiation for out sins (Heb.2:17); hence, He has become
that which propitiates, the propitiatory sacrifice, between us and God (1John2:2;4:10),
and He ahs also become the place as typified by the lid of the Ark (Heb.9:5), where
we enjoy propitiation before God and where God gives grace to us.
During the Old Testament
time, the sins of the people were not taken away but were only covered with the
blood of the animal sacrifices, which were types of Christ. God passed over these
covered sins until Christ came. He was the Lamb of God who took away the sin of
the world (John 1:29). By His death on the cross and the shedding of His blood for
redemption, He carried away all the sins that had been previously covered and passed
over. In passing over their sins, God demonstrated His righteousness to the Old
Testament saints.
Verse
26 God’s justifying the believers is with a view to the demonstrating of His righteousness
to those in the New Testament time who are of the faith of Jesus.
Verse
30 Faith is the source out of which the circumcision, who already have the position
as God’s people, may be justified by God; hence, their justification is out of faith.
But as to the uncircumcision, who are positionally far away and are not God’s people;
faith is the way for them to reach the position where they can be justified by God;
hence, their justification is through faith.
Bibliography,
Friberg, Timothy, Barbara
Friberg, and Neva F. Miller et al., eds. Analytical Lexicon of the
Greek New Testament.1st ed. Victoria BC: Trafford
Publishing, 2005.
King James, The Holy Bible, Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company
Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
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