Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com

Sermon #35 — Romans Series[i]

Title: “The Righteousness of God”

Text: Romans 3:21-22

Subject: The Righteousness of God in Christ

Introduction:

My subject is — “The Righteousness of God”. My text will be Romans 3:21-22. The righteousness of God in this portion of Holy Scripture is not God’s attribute of righteousness. Paul is not here discussing God’s character, but his work, the work of his grace by which the holy Lord God makes sinners “the righteousness of God” in Christ. Having proved that all men are unrighteous, and that no man can be justified in the sight of God by his obedience, either to the law of nature or to the law of Moses, Paul proceeds to show us that righteousness, by which God justifies sinners, “the righteousness of God” which is the revelation of the gospel.

(Romans 3:21-22) “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; (22) 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.”

This phrase, “the righteousness of God,” is always used in the Word of God in this way. Everywhere it is used it refers to that righteousness by which God saves his elect (Romans 1:16-17; 3:5, 22; 10:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; James 1:20; 2 Peter 1:1).

(Romans 1:16-17) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (17) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

(Romans 3:5) “But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man.)”

(Romans 9:30-33) “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. (31) But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. (32) Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; (33) As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”

(Romans 10:1-4) “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. (2) For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. (3) For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. (4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

(2 Corinthians 5:17-21) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (18) And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; (19) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (20) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. (21) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

(James 1:17-20) “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (18) Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (19) Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: (20) For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”

(2 Peter 1:1-4) “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: (2) Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, (3) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (4) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Proposition: The righteousness of God is God’s work of righteousness by which we are saved.

It is of sin and righteousness that the apostle speaks so fully and so minutely throughout this whole epistle. Throughout the first three chapters of the Book of Romans he establishes this one thing: — We are sinners in need of righteousness, righteousness without which we cannot stand before God.

· The light of creation (nature and conscience) can never produce righteousness.

· Circumcision and the ordinances of the law cannot produce righteousness. They were only ceremonial rites showing that righteousness (cleanness) is needed, no more.

· The commandments of the law cannot produce righteousness. They are merely a declaration of what righteousness is, and that the unrighteous shall not stand before God. The law condemns, it cannot justify. By the law is the knowledge of sin, and thus every mouth is stopped, and the whole world brought in guilty before God.

· Religious privileges and duties can never produce righteousness.

· But there is a righteousness which meets the needs of the unrighteous in every detail, a righteousness which can reverse even the verdict of the law against the unrighteous, a righteousness on the footing of which we can stand with boldness in the presence of the holy Lord God without either shame or fear.

It is of this righteousness, “the righteousness of God,” that that Paul speaks of in the words of our text. Let us hear what God the Holy Spirit declares regarding it.

Divine Righteousness

First, it is the righteousness of God. It is a divine, not merely a human righteousness. That righteousness which we lost in Adam was but a human righteousness, finite like him who lost it. But this is a divine righteousness. Being a divine righteousness, “the righteousness of God” is an infinite compensation for that which Adam lost in the Garden. When we receive this, “the righteousness of God,” in the new birth we are made “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lusts” (2 Peter 1:4). By the glorious exchange of grace we are “made the righteousness of God” in Christ.

· Imputed Righteousness in Justification

· Imparted Righteousness in Sanctification — Regeneration

This righteousness is called “the righteousness of God” because it is a righteousness provided by him, a righteousness which was conceived by him, a righteousness performed by him, carried out and accomplished by God alone, in every part entirely and alone by God! It is a righteousness with which we have nothing to do, neither in thought nor in desire, let alone in execution. “The righteousness of God” is God’s work alone.

· Purposed by God the Father

· Performed by God the Son

· Applied by God the Spirit

Human Righteousness

Second, this divine righteousness is the righteousness of a man, the God-man, the Man who is God in our nature, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the righteousness of God our Savior, performed and brought in by the obedience of God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, unto death. It is “everlasting righteousness” brought in by the doing and dying of our blessed Savior.

It behooved him, who is the only-begotten of the Father to take our flesh into union with himself and live, and suffer, and die that he might bring in “everlasting righteousness” for us. He lived and died for us, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.

This righteousness was not accomplished by his sufferings alone, but by his doings as well. It was by our Savior’s obedience “unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8; Romans 5:19), that righteousness was brought in for us.

(Romans 5:12, 18-19) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. —— (18) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (19) For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

What he did on earth in magnifying the law and making it honorable, what he did on earth in obeying the Father’s will in every jot and tittle, makes up this righteousness. Our Savior’s doings as a man, his obedience to the law and will of God infinitely pleased the Father, infinitely glorified him, and infinitely honored his holy law, which our unrighteousness had violated and dishonored.

“The righteousness of God,” is our blessed Savior’s infinite and infinitely meritorious compensation to Jehovah for our unrighteousness and sin. It takes away our guilt and brings in righteousness for us. It removes our sin and gives us that “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord”.

At Hand

Third, “the righteousness of God” is righteousness at hand. It is righteousness “without the law” (v. 21). Paul does not mean by that that it is in any sense an unlawful righteousness, — a righteousness not based on law, — a righteousness, in which the law has been set aside. — Oh, no! — This is the only righteousness by which the law is magnified, honored and fulfilled.

Paul’s meaning is that “the righteousness of God” by which we are saved is a righteousness in which we have no part, a righteousness established not by what we do, but by that which God alone has done for us in the person of his dear Son, the Lord Jesus. It is a righteousness which asks for nothing from us, requiring no works, no obedience, and no payment from our hands. —— If it required something from us, anything from us, it would cease to be “the righteousness of God” and must be called “the righteousness of man”.

The righteousness of God does not send us to the law to be justified, but to Christ. It sends us not to Mt. Sinai, but to Mt. Calvary! It does not say, “Do and thou shalt live.” It says, “Look and live!” It does not say “Do.” It says “Done!”

(Acts 13:38-39) “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: (39) And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”

(Romans 3:28) “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”

(Romans 4:5) “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

(Galatians 2:16) “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

(Galatians 3:10-11) “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (11) But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”

In no sense, and at no time, does it say to us, “Do this, and you shall live; do this, and you will be saved.” In no sense does it give us the idea that righteousness is a thing far off, but of a thing that is near at hand, at our very side; not of a thing for which we must work and toil (Deuteronomy 30:1-20; Romans 10:5-13). — Read Deuteronomy 30.

(Deuteronomy 30:1-20) (1) And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, (2) And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; (3) That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. (4) If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: (5) And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. (6) And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live (See 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 3:9). (7) And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. (8) And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. (9) And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: (10) If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

(11) For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. (12) It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? (13) Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? (14) But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

(15) See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; (16) In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. (17) But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; (18) I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. (19) I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: (20) That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Now read the commentary God the Holy Ghost gives us on this passage in Romans 10.

(Romans 10:5-13) “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. (6) But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) (7) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) (8) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; (9) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (11) For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (12) For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Let us hold fast this sweet truth of the gospel, this foundation truth: — “The righteousness of God” by which we are saved is righteousness without law, righteousness founded in no sense upon our keeping of the law, but wholly and absolutely upon the fact that another (the Son of God himself) has kept the law for us!

Righteousness Manifested

Fourth, God the Holy Ghost tells us that “now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.” That is to say, it has been so clearly brought to light that there can be no mistake concerning it, and no mystery about it. It is not a thing hidden, wrapped up, reserved, held back, veiled from our view. It is a thing so clearly brought to light in the Word of God, in the gospel of Christ, that the difficulty seems to be not how to see it but how to miss seeing it!

God has set this righteousness as a Star in the heavens above us, so that every eye may see it, that no mountains of earth may come between us and the heavenly vision. He has made it peculiarly bright, so that every eye may be attracted to it. He has removed other stars from the sky around it, so that it may not be mistaken. It stands alone in its brilliance. It is to this star we point the eye of sinners everywhere, the Star of Bethlehem, the brightest in God’s firmament, the Bright and Morning Star, the Star which God has set as his light to the world — The Day Star!

Walk in the light of this Star, and you will not walk in darkness, but in the light of life. Knowing and possessing “the righteousness of God” in Christ made manifest in your soul by the revelation of his Son, saved sinners should never stand in doubt regarding their blessed acceptance with God. God himself bids us come to him in confidence, using “the righteousness of God” as our own, as our worthiness before him!

Righteousness Witnessed

Fifth, This “righteousness of God” is a righteousness “witnessed by the law and the prophets.” The whole of the Old Testament bears witness to this righteousness. It is not something now come to light for the first time. It is something which has been proclaimed from the beginning of time. To this righteousness, “the righteousness of God,” the eye of every child of God, from Adam to this day, has been directed. On this righteousness the feet of every saint from the beginning of time have stood.

· Adam

· Abel

· Enoch

· Noah

· Abraham

· Lot

· David

· Isaiah

· Jeremiah

· Ezekiel

Of this righteousness every prophet has spoken. To this righteousness every type has borne witness. And to this righteousness every sacrifice has pointed.

It is this Star which shined down upon the pilgrimage of Old Testament worthies, and in the light of which they walked. It is this Star which sheds light on every page of their history. It was to this Star that they, with one consent, age after age, pointed the eyes of fallen men. They knew none but this. They cared for none but this. To those saints of old, as to those who believe now, Christ was “all and in all.” On this righteousness they rested. In it they rejoiced.

This is no new righteousness which we preach. It is no new foundation of which we speak. It is the old one, the well-proved one. It has been abundantly sufficient in ages past; and it has lost none of its luster and none of its efficacy in these last days. It was enough for the saints in former ages; and it is enough for us now. They who found salvation, ages and generations ago, found it here; and he who finds salvation now finds it only here.

Righteousness by Faith

Sixth, This righteousness is a righteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. — “Even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference.”

· Righteousness Accomplished by the Faith of Christ

· Righteousness Received by Faith in Christ

It is not our faith that is our righteousness, but Christ. It is not our act of believing that justifies. If your faith were your righteousness, then faith would be itself a work. If it were our faith, our act of faith, that justified us, then would we be justified by our own act, by our own work. The expression, then “the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ,” means simply that it is a righteousness which passes over to us, and becomes our experimentally, by believing in him whose righteousness it is, by believing God’s testimony concerning Jesus Christ. It is by believing that we are identified with him.

Our union with Christ is from everlasting; and that eternal union is identified and made known to us and in us by faith in him. Now, believing on the Son of God, we are made to see that…

· His doing is our doing.

· His suffering is our suffering.

· His dying is our dying.

· His fulfilling the law is our fulfilling the law.

· His righteousness is our righteousness.

· His obedience to the Father’s will is our obedience to the Father’s will.

· “The righteousness of God” is our righteousness.

This is where we are brought by faith in Christ. Thus “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ,” is presented to us, that in believing on him he becomes ours. This righteousness, “the righteousness of God,” is proclaimed and set forth in the gospel.

(Hebrews 10:1-23) “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (2) For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. (3) But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. (4) For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (5) Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (6) In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. (7) Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (8) Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; (9) Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. (10) By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (11) And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: (12) But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; (13) From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. (14) For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (15) Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, (16) This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; (17) And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (18) Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. (19) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (20) By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (21) And having an high priest over the house of God; (22) Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (23) Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised.)”

Our receiving it does not create it. Our receiving it does not complete it. Our receiving it is the sweet and blessed experience of it that brings us peace with God; but our receiving it adds nothing to it. — Believing on the Son of God, we reckon ourselves “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11).

(Romans 8:1-4) “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (3) For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (4) That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

(1 Peter 4:1-2) “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; (2) That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”

For the Unrighteous

Seventh, This righteousness, “the righteousness of God,” is righteousness for the unrighteous. It is for sinners who have no righteousness of their own. It “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.” It is righteousness for the unrighteous. It is not righteousness for the good, but for the evil. It is not righteousness for the worthy, but for the unworthy. It is our unrighteousness that fits us for this righteousness. It is the evil that is in us that fits us for the excellence that is in Christ.

How foolish, then, to say as men often do, “I am too great a sinner to be forgiven.” Why, if you were not such a sinner, you would not need such a righteousness. It is your unrighteousness that fits you for a righteousness so infinite, so divine. If the righteousness were not the righteousness of God, if it were merely a human and not a divine righteousness, if finite and not infinite, your fear would be reasonable. But this is divine righteousness, “the righteousness of God,” not creature righteousness, infinite righteousness, not finite righteousness. Can anything be more foolish, more presumptuous, more profane, than to say, “My unrighteousness is too great for the righteousness of the Son of God”?

This righteousness for the unrighteous is said by the apostle to be “unto all and upon all them that believe.” The moment we believe “the righteousness of God” is ours!

Again, the apostle affirms regarding this righteousness for the unrighteous, that “there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” There is no difference as to its fitness for the sinner, whatever your sin may be; and there is no difference as to the fitness of the sinner for the righteousness. There is this twofold fitness: the fitness of the righteousness for the sinner, and the fitness of the sinner for the righteousness. “There is no difference.” There is no man more fit for “the righteousness of God” than another. If you are unrighteous, “the righteousness of God” suits your case. It is righteousness for the unrighteous that we proclaim to sinners by the gospel. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and go home with this blessed possession in your very soul — “The Righteousness of God.”

(2 Corinthians 6:1-2) “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (2) (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”

Amen.

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s