Romans 3:1-26: Law and Grace

Romans 3:1-26: Law and Grace

Please turn with me in your Bible to Romans 3. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 779. We’ve been working our way passage by passage through Paul’s letter to the Romans, and this morning the next passage we come to is Romans 3:1-26. And for the sake of time, I’m going to begin reading at verse 9. Verses 1-8 are mostly a carryover from what we looked at last week at the end of Romans 2. They emphasize further that God is righteous to judge those who break his law. Then we come to Romans 3, verses 9-26:

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 

I don’t know if you’ve ever been lost in the woods before, but I can tell you from experience that it’s definitely not a fun thing. One time when I was teenager, I found myself lost out in the woods. I had gone out hunting with a couple of friends, and we were having a good time tracking some deer until we realized that none of us knew where we were. We were lost. And we had to wander around for a few hours in the snow and with the sunlight quickly fading before we finally figured out where we were and how to get back home. Of course, we could have figured it out a lot faster if we had a better understanding of the overall lay of the land. A bird’s eye view of that area would have shown us exactly where we were and where we needed to be. Our problem was that we didn’t have that bird’s eye view and could only see what was in front of us. 

And perhaps you find yourself in a similar situation when it comes to the Bible. You read a passage here and a passage there but aren’t exactly sure how most passages relate to one another. You struggle to grasp the overall message of the Bible. Well, I believe our passage here in Romans 3 is very helpful in providing us with that bird’s eye view. It explains how God’s law in the Old Testament relates to God’s grace the New Testament. It tells us that God’s given the law to reveal sin and grace to remove sin. That’s the main idea I’d like to draw out. God’s given the law to reveal sin and grace to remove sin. So let’s take a closer look first at the role of the law and then second at the role of grace. 

The Role of the Law

First, the role of the law. In verse 9, Paul gives a good summary statement of what he’s been trying to communicate throughout these first three chapters. He says that “All, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin.” So every single person in this world is sinful and therefore condemned before a holy God. Paul then continues in verse 10, “None is righteous, no not one,” and then he gives a string of quotations from the Old Testament that describe in detail just how far we are from being righteous. Then Paul concludes in verse 19, 19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. That’s the effect the law has when properly understood: it causes every mouth to be stopped. In other words, God’s law reveals our sin so clearly that it puts an end to all excuses and utterly silences us from saying anything to defend ourselves. Sometimes it does that with statements like the ones Paul’s just quoted in verses 10-18. And other times, perhaps more often, it does that simply by setting forth a moral code that’s so pure and right that nobody can keep it. Think about all the commandments God gave to Israel in the Old Testament. Why did he give those commandments? It wasn’t because he expected that Israel would be able to obey all of them and earn for themselves a right standing before him. God knew they’d never be able to do that. Instead, God gave them his commandments in order to show them just how sinful they were. He wanted them to see that they were totally incapable of ever being good enough or performing well enough to earn his favor. Try as they might, they could never measure up and were therefore in desperate need of his grace. And that’s exactly what verse 20 says: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” So that’s how God intended the law to function: “through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

The Role of Grace

Then, after Paul explains the role of the law, he goes on in verses 21-26 to explain the role of grace. And I’m not going to sift through these verses in detail today since we’re actually going to circle back around and look at them in detail next Sunday. For now, let me just read a few of the verses and point out one thing. Beginning in verse 21: 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. I have to say that this is one of the clearest summaries of the gospel in the entire Bible. One theologian refers to it as “the acropolis of the Christian faith.” Notice in verse 24 that people are “justified by his grace as a gift.” And that’s what grace is, by definition. It’s a gift—a free gift that’s given to unworthy people who don’t keep the law and can’t keep the law. And that grace comes to us, Paul says, “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” You see, when Jesus died on the cross, he was dying for our sins. All of our failures to keep the law had made us deserving of nothing but judgment. That’s what we had coming to us. But Jesus took all of that judgment on himself when he died on the cross. Paul explains in verse 25 that Jesus was put forward as a “propitiation by his blood.” That means his blood shed on the cross satisfied the justice and appeased the wrath of God the Father. And then, three days later, Jesus rose from the dead to demonstrate his victory over sin and death. So that’s God’s grand design. He’s provided the law to reveal our sin and grace in Jesus to remove our sin. 

Dr. Law and Dr. Grace

Now to further illustrate the way law and grace work together, I’d like to introduce you to two doctors. Their names, quite appropriately, are Dr. Law and Dr. Grace. And I have to give credit here to a pastor down in Texas named Lester Roloff for being the first one to talk about these two doctors. Lester Roloff went to be the the Lord back in 1982, so he belonged to a previous generation, but the things he said about these doctors are truly timeless. 

Roloff explained how Dr. Law and Dr. Grace are two of the most unusual physicians this world has ever known. To begin with, these doctors are unusual because neither of them ever charges a fee for their services. In addition, they’re also unusual because they’ve never been wrong in their diagnosis of any patient who’s come under their care. Every diagnosis they’ve ever given has been entirely accurate. And this is all the more remarkable since neither Dr. Law nor Dr. Grace ever consult with any other doctors. In fact, they never even ask their patients about any of the symptoms they’re experiencing. Instead, they’re able to immediately diagnose what’s wrong with their patients with 100% accuracy and then treat their patients on the spot with 100% success. So that’s why these men are probably the two most unsual doctors the world has ever known. 

Now one day, I could sense that I was having some serious internal trouble, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. So I decided to head over the Dr. Law’s office, hoping that he would see me as a walk-in. To my surprise, when I arrived, the secretary told me that Dr. Law was actually waiting for me. She immediately took me back to the examination room, where Dr. Law was already sitting on his stool, prepared for my arrival. So I also took a seat and began to tell this doctor about all of the symptoms I’d been experiencing. But he quickly interrupted me and said rather matter-of-factly, “I will not need your help.” Then I asked him, “Do you think you can find out what’s wrong with me?” He replied, “No, sir, I don’t think but rather I know what’s wrong with you. You have heart trouble—just like all the rest of my patients.”

At this point, I have to admit that this pronouncement immediately struck me ask me as very strange. After all, how could it be that every one of this man’s patients would have the same disease? So I felt this surprisingly strong impulse rise up within me, and I responded, “Dr. Law, I just don’t think you understand. You see, I’m having trouble with my tongue. It frequently says things to people that are unkind and unloving. I also have the bad habit of telling dirty jokes. So I think you need to examine my tongue.” Yet the doctor said to me, “No, it’s your heart.” I then went on speaking: “Doctor, I hate to argue with you. I know you’re trained as a physician, but I still don’t believe you understand the situation correctly. I’m also having trouble with my eyes. I’ve been looking at things on the Internet that are terribly inappropriate to look at. And I can’t seem to stop myself. I keep going to those bad websites day after day. So I think you really need to examine my eyes.” Yet, again, the doctor said, “Nope, it’s heart trouble—just plain old heart trouble.” By this time, I was getting fairly frustrated. So I boldly continued to resist this doctor’s advice. I told him about my ears that frequently listened to whatever juicy morsels of gossip other people wanted to tell me. I told him about my hands that frequently took things that didn’t belong to me. I told him about my feet that frequently carried me to places where I just didn’t need to be. Yet even after I told Dr. Law about all these issues with my ears, my hands, and my feet, he just said to me, again, “These things will all be taken of when your heart is fixed.”

Now I found it difficult to believe this was the case. So I politely informed Dr. Law that I believed our visit had gone on long enough and that I’d like to see another. In response, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “There are plenty of other doctors out there, but you’ll never get what you need until your heart is made right.” I then got in my car and continued down the road until I came to another doctor’s office. I pulled into the parking lot and noticed the sign on the doctor’s door. It said, “Dr. Religion.” As soon as I opened the door, Dr. Religion, who happened to be in the waiting area already, warmly greeted me and said, “Come on in here, I’m glad to see you!” And I said to him, “Thank you, I’m glad to see you too. I’ve just visited that unusual doctor up there, Dr. Law.” And as soon as Dr. Religion heard me say that, he interjected, “Oh, you’ve been to see Dr. Law, have you? Let me tell you: that guy has no idea what he’s talking about. He really should have retired a long time ago. He’s definitely an antique. Modern folks usually don’t go to him since he hasn’t had the proper training and doesn’t know anything about the latest modes of medicine.” And that sounded about right to me, so I said, “Yeah, I don’t like him myself. Dr. Religion, would you just give me a good examination and tell me what’s wrong with me?” And he said, “Sure, I’d love to do that for you.” He then examined me for a little while and finally smiled and said, “Josh, there’s nothing seriously wrong with you. I recommend that you just start going to church.” That sounded reasonable to me, so I thanked the doctor and left. Then when Sunday rolled around, I attended church, but for some reason, I didn’t get any better. Even after attending church for several Sundays, I still seemed to be in very poor health. 

So I went back to Dr. Religion and said, “Dr. Religion, I don’t believe I’m any better.” He replied, “Well, did you start going to church?” I told him, “Sure. I’ve been going to church every Sunday.” Then he asked, “Did you get baptized and join the church?” I had to admit I hadn’t done that. Then he said, “Do that, and that will make you feel better.” So I went back to the church and got them to baptize me and also joined the church. But still, I didn’t feel any better. So eventually, I returned again to Dr. Religion and said to him, “Doctor, there’s still something wrong with me. I don’t believe I’m any better.” “Well,” he answered, “are you really working at it? Maybe you should start volunteering in the church and helping other people.” So I did. But no matter how involved I became, none of my efforts seemed to do anything for my sickness. Then a good friend of mine recommended I see a couple of brothers who happened to be doctors, the brothers Dr. Be Good and Dr. Do Good. So I went to see them. But it wasn’t long before I discovered that their advice proved to be just as useless as Dr. Religion’s advice. I also tried visiting a few other doctors, Dr. Positive Thinking, Dr. Therapy, and Dr. Self Help. Yet I found all of them to be utterly useless in treating my disease. So finally, I became so desperate for help that I decided to back to Dr. Law. 

Surprisingly, Dr. Law was waiting for me again—this same stern, obstinate old doctor with the same diagnosis. “It’s your heart,” he said once again. But now, being quite desperate, I asked him, “What do you recommend?” He replied, “There’s only one thing to do in your situation. You need to undergo a major surgery. Your heart will have to come out and be replaced with a new heart.” So I asked, “Dr. Law, when can you perform this surgery?” “I don’t operate,” he told me, “The only thing I do is give a diagnosis.” Then, with my hands trembling and my face sweating, I said, “You mean I’m going to have to die even though you know what’s wrong with me?” Thankfully, he responded, “I didn’t say that you had to die.” Then he took me by the hand and led me across the hall to another doctor’s office. I saw on the door that this doctor was named Dr. Grace.” Dr. Law said to him, “Dr. Grace, this is Josh, and he’s got the same problem all my other patients that I’ve brought to you have had. He’s coming to you for surgery.” 

Dr. Law then walked back to his own office and left me standing there with Dr. Grace. Naturally, of course, I had a few questions for Dr. Grace before I let him do major surgery on me. I asked him, “Dr. Grace, do you have any other doctors or nurses that will help you with this operation to make sure everything goes okay?” He told me, “No, in fact I don’t. I do it all. This surgery is performed by me and me alone.” I then asked, “Well, I’m sure you at least have a good anesthetic that will put me into a deep sleep, right?” But he said, “No I never use anesthetics either. I want you to know exactly what I did for you so you can tell the world about it.” So I said to him, “Dr. Grace, I’m a little nervous about this surgery. Your methods seem very unconventional.” He then put his hand on my trembling shoulder and assured me, “You don’t have anything to worry about. Every single one of my surgeries has been successful, and yours will be no different.” So I asked one final question: “Dr. Grace, what about the charges of having this surgery? How much will it cost?” He told me, “Everything has already been paid for by a very generous donor.” “A generous donor,” I thought, “How about that?” Of course, I had all kinds of other questions racing through my mind. But I was now so desperate for relief from my sickness that I decided to just let do Dr. Grace do what he was apparently so skilled at doing. So entirely by faith, I lay down on the operating table and that great surgeon, Dr. Grace, took his knife and sliced open my chest and pulled out the blackest heart I’d ever seen—accompanied by the most terrible odor. It was sickening! And for the first time, I realized that old Dr. Law was right. My problem actually was a bad heart. It only took Dr. Grace a moment to throw away that old heart and carry over a new one—a heart that was pure and clean. He put it in my chest and closed the incision without even leaving a scar. I felt the flow of new life coursing through my veins, color came to my spiritual cheeks, and I exclaimed, “I now finally feel better. In fact, I feel wonderful.” I was so grateful. And I asked, “Dr. Grace, when I do need to come back for a follow up visit?” He replied, “Actually, no follow up visit is necessary. I already know that this operation has been a success and that these improvements are permanent.” So I enthusiastically thanked Dr. Grace and even went back across the hall to Dr. Law to thank him as well for his top-notch diagnosis. 

Conclusion

Now here I am speaking to you all this morning, and I can’t help but wonder whether you’ve ever visited these two doctors. Have you ever visited Dr. Law and been given an honest report of your life and your spiritual condition and the true nature of your problem? Has Dr. Law ever shown you that, no matter how hard you try, you can never measure up to God’s expectations—that standard of perfect holiness and righteousness we find in the Bible? “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and mother. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet.” Have these commands and all of the hundreds of behaviors and attitudes they imply ever shown you just how hopelessly you fail? And has Dr. Law ever shown you that the reason you fail so miserably at measuring up isn’t just because you’ve made a few wrong decisions or taken a few wrong turns in life but rather because you have a bad heart? And then, have you submitted to Dr. Law’s diagnosis and followed his leading toward Dr. Grace—the only doctor who’s able to fix your true problem and make you healthy again by giving you a new heart? And of course, as I’ve explained, Dr. Grace always works alone in his operations. He neither needs nor accepts any help from you or anyone else. That’s his procedure for operating. So have you ever been to see him? Have you ever looked to Jesus for rescue? Jesus is the donor who, through his death on the cross, paid the price to give you that new heart. Have you put your trust in him to do that? Listen: Dr. Religion can’t help you. Dr. Be Good and Dr. Do Good can’t help you, nor can Dr. Positive Thinking, Dr. Therapy, or Dr. Self Help. None of these doctors can solve your greatest problem or meet your greatest need. Only Jesus can, and he always works through Dr. Grace. Have you yet turned to him? 

And maybe you’re already a Christian this morning, but you sense that you’ve sort of run out of steam in your spiritual life. Your prayers are cold, your heart is distracted, and you just don’t have the spiritual life and vitality you once had. It feels like you’re running on fumes. Perhaps it might do you some good to visit these two doctors again—not to receive a diagnosis or an operation but simply to be reminded of what they’ve done for you. Let Dr. Law remind you of what a miserable condition you were in at one time. Let him remind you that, “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” That was you at one time! And then, having allowed Dr. Law to remind you of that sobering reality, you can then go back across the hall to Dr. Grace and be in a position to truly appreciate all that he’s done for you through Jesus. Let Dr. Grace remind you of how all of your guilt has been washed away entirely and how you’ve been given the new heart you have today not because of any merit in you or any payment on your part but as a free gift from God. Remind yourself how amazing that is and let the magnitude of God’s grace hit you all over again!