Romans 3:21-26: Which Gospel Are You Sharing?

Romans 3:21-26: Which Gospel Are You Sharing?

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, we come to Romans 3:21-26. Romans 3:21-26:

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. 

One of the things we emphasize a lot around here is the calling and privilege those of us who are Christians have of sharing the gospel. We talk a lot about sharing the gospel—and rightly so. But in seeking to share the gospel, there’s a very important question that we dare not overlook: which gospel are you sharing? 

You know, I have this random memory from middle school of biting into a rotten orange from the school cafeteria. Now I’m sure I’m not the only one in here who’s had cafeteria experiences that are, let’s just say, less than optimal. School cafeterias generally don’t have the reputation for being fine dining establishments—though I’m sure some are better than others. So most of us have probably had cafeteria experiences that have, you might say, left a bad taste in our mouths. Mine involved an orange. I picked up an orange one day from the fruit bowl in the cafeteria and brought it to my table. And on the outside, from what I remember, this orange looked fine. I don’t remember it looking any different than the other oranges in the bowl, so I didn’t think twice about grabbing it. But then, after I had peeled the orange and took a big bite out of it, I immediately realized that this orange was rotten. I mean, it was bad. And of course, I couldn’t get it out of my mouth fast enough. It was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever eaten. And this was such a scarring experience that I still remember it to this day, 17 years later. To this day, I remember where in the cafeteria I was sitting, which direction I was facing, and the way my stomach turned over after taking that fateful bite. In fact, whenever I pick up an orange out of my fruit bowl at home, it’s actually still not uncommon for me to momentarily remember that middle school cafeteria experience and double check my orange before I bite into it to make sure it’s okay. I’m also probably more diligent than the average person about throwing away oranges that have been in the fruit bowl longer than I think they should be. 

And as those of us who are Christians think about our privilege of sharing the gospel, I’d like to give you a word of caution: be careful about which so-called “gospel” it is that you’re sharing. You see, there are a number of messages frequently being presented in books and even in churches today that are treated as though they’re the gospel when in fact they’re just cheap imitations of the gospel as it’s taught in the Bible. And these supposed “gospels” are a lot like that orange I picked up out of the cafeteria fruit bowl in middle school. They may look okay on the outside and at first glance, but they’re rotten on the inside. Let me give you three examples. And if you’re taking notes, these aren’t the three main points of the sermon—this is just introduction. First, there’s the prosperity gospel. This prosperity gospel teaches us that God wants everyone to be healthy and wealthy and prosperous in this life. In fact, it claims that God promises health, wealth, and earthly prosperity to every Christian if they’ll simply claim it by faith. So basically, just muster up enough faith and start claiming God’s promises, and you can be rich. That’s the prosperity gospel. And that may sound really good—especially if you’re struggling financially—but the problem is that God never promises those things in this life. And furthermore, to seek God’s blessings above God himself is idolatry. 

Then in addition to the prosperity gospel, we also have to be on the lookout for what I’ll call the therapeutic gospel. This “gospel” is directed toward people who are hurting. It talks about Jesus and his death on the cross but focuses on the way Jesus can meet people’s felt needs and help them with their emotional struggles. Jesus is presented as the answer to our loneliness, our pain, our low self-esteem, and our anxiety. He’s the one who truly understands what we’re going through and can give us whatever kind of emotional healing or comfort we need. That’s what Jesus does, according to the therapeutic gospel. Now, I do want to make it clear that there’s a lot of truth in those statements. Jesus does care about what we’re going through and help us with our struggles. But…that in itself is not the gospel. The primary reason Jesus came wasn’t to meet our felt needs or give us a greater sense of self-worth. So the therapeutic gospel ends up being nearly as harmful as the prosperity gospel. Then finally, we should also watch out for what I’ll call the self-actualization gospel.  The self-actualization gospel is similar to the therapeutic gospel in that it still focuses on a person’s felt needs. But instead of focusing on people who are hurting and struggling, it focuses on those who are relatively satisfied with their lives. It basically says to people, “Look, your life is pretty good already, but Jesus can make it even better. He can help you feel like you’re more significant and give you greater meaning and purpose in your life. He’s like the cherry on top of your ice cream sundae.” And again, there’s some truth mixed in with that message. A life with Jesus legitimately is more meaningful and satisfying than any other life. But that’s not the main thing Jesus came to this earth to accomplish. That’s not the gospel. 

So make sure the gospel you’re sharing—and for that matter the gospel you’re embracing—isn’t the prosperity gospel, the therapeutic gospel, or the self-actualization gospel. Instead, embrace and share the biblical gospel. And the place where we find the biblical gospel summarized more clearly than perhaps anywhere else in the Bible is in our main passage—Romans 3:21-26. This passage gets right to the heart of what the biblical gospel is. Here’s what it teaches: Sinful people are justified before a holy God through the redemption that is in Jesus and propitiation by his blood. And I know that’s a lengthy sentence, so in case you’re taking notes, I’ll say it again. This is the main idea. Sinful people are justified before a holy God through the redemption that is in Jesus and propitiation by his blood. So let’s look at the three terms upon which that statement is built—the three key terms of the gospel. These are three of the most important words you’ll ever hear: justification, redemption, and propitiation. 

Justification

So first, justification. Look again at verses 21-24: 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…. So “justified by his grace as a gift.” That word “justified” literally means being declared righteous. That’s different from being made righteous—although God does make us righteous as well. He makes us righteous progressively, throughout our Christian lives, and will one day make us completely righteous in heaven. But that’s not what justification refers to. Justification refers to God declaring us righteous. It was actually a legal term that referred to a judge handing down a verdict of “not guilty” after someone had been tried for a crime. If the judge determined that the person was innocent, he would officially declare them to be righteous. I recently read a story of a man in Texas being accused of a crime that he didn’t commit. Apparently his ex-girlfriend accused him of breaking into her house and assaulting her with a utility knife. So the police showed up at his workplace one day and arrested him and took him to jail. Fortunately, however, on the evening of this alleged attack, this man had taken a selfie of himself at a location 65 miles away from the scene of the supposed crime. The selfie was time stamped and geo-located and had been posted on social media. And this selfie was the key piece of evidence that proved this man hadn’t committed the crime his ex-girlfriend said he had committed. So the selfie didn’t make this man innocent but merely demonstrated or, you might say, declared his innocence. By the way, his ex-girlfriend later admitted to police that she had made up the whole thing because she was bitter about their rocky relationship. So I guess the moral of that story is be careful who you get involved with. Or if you do find yourself involved with the wrong person, take a lot of selfies I guess.  But in a similar way to the way that selfie ended up functioning, when God justifies us, he doesn’t make us righteous but rather declares us to be righteous. He issues a declaration about our legal standing before him. 

Now you might wonder how he’s able to make that declaration. After all, as our experience shows and as this passage clearly teaches, the fact of the matter is that we don’t live righteous lives. Paul states quite clearly in verse 23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So how can God declare us righteous? The answer is in verse 24, where Paul explains that we’re “justified by [God’s] grace as a gift.” So we’re justified not because we’ve earned that status but rather through the undeserved grace of God and as a gift.  Justification is God’s gracious gift to us. So that begs the question, “How is God able to be gracious in that way and give that gift while still maintaining his justice?” I mean, human judges who ignore crimes and subvert justice are fired, not commended. So should we expect anything less than perfect justice from God? How is he able to justify those who have sinned against him? 

Redemption

Well, answering that question brings us to the second key gospel term that’s found in this passage: redemption. Let’s read a little farther in verse 24. It says that we’re “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” So the way God’s able to justify sinners is “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” That word translated “redemption” was a term borrowed from the marketplace—specifically the slave market. It referred to purchasing a slave out of his or her captivity. You see, back in ancient times, if your country went up against another country in war and your country lost, there was a good chance you’d be enslaved by that other country. But if you were lucky, you’d have a rich uncle somewhere—or any other relative, for that matter—who would buy you out of slavery. He would pay the required price to purchase your freedom. And that’s what Jesus did on the cross. Notice this verse describes our redemption as “the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” He purchased our freedom through his death on the cross. 

And there are two aspects to this redemption. Jesus redeems us from both the guilt of our sin and from the power of our sin. First, he redeems us from the guilt of sin in the sense that we’re no longer under the shadow of God’s condemnation. No longer is the record of our crimes following us wherever we go, no longer does God view us as sinners or rebels, and no longer do we have to fear the wrath of God. Because of the payment Jesus made, we’re free from all of that! It’s as if we owed a massive debt to God’s justice. And this debt was greater than we could ever pay. But Jesus stepped in and paid that debt by dying on the cross. He redeemed us. So that’s one aspect of our redemption. Then in addition to Jesus redeeming us from the guilt of our sin, he also redeems us from the power of our sin. You see, the Bible teaches that before we become Christians, we’re in a state of bondage. We’re enslaved—not by anything external but by something internal. We’re enslaved by our own sinful tendencies and sinful desires. In Romans 6:20, Paul explicitly refers to us as “slaves of sin.” I read another news article recently, in addition to that one about the man who wasn’t guilty, about another man who, unfortunately, was very guilty. This man had been imprisoned for rape. And when he had served his time, they released him. But then, just six weeks after his release, he was arrested again for raping another person. What happened? Well, he was enslaved to his lustful desires. But don’t think that’s the only sin that enslaves people. You may not be enslaved by those kinds of lustful desires, but are you enslaved other desires? Are you enslaved by an idolatrous desire for money or social prominence or alcohol or control or professional success or material luxuries or anything else that dominates your life and acts as a master over you? The Bible teaches that, prior to conversion, all of us are enslaved to sin in some way. At the most fundamental level, we’re enslaved by a desire for independence from the rule of God. We want to be god over our lives instead of letting God be God. And left to ourselves, we can never break free from that desire. It enslaves us and will eventually destroy us. But Jesus rescues us from that. He redeems us from the power of sin. So that’s what redemption refers to. Jesus purchases our freedom from the guilt and power of sin through his death on the cross. 

Propitiation

Then finally, there’s one more key gospel term Paul uses in Romans 3. We find it in verse 25. That word is propitiation. And let me begin reading at verse 23 so we can be reminded of the flow of these verses. Verses 23-25: 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…. So God the Father put forward Jesus the Son to be “a propitiation by his blood.” Here’s what that means: Jesus’ death on the cross satisfied the justice and appeased the wrath of God against sin. Probably the best way to explore this concept of propitiation is to go back to sacrificial system in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to sacrifice animals. Now that’s kind of a foreign concept to us today. Like if you saw your neighbor performing an animal sacrifice in his backyard, you’d probably call the cops. That’s not cool. You can’t do that on our society. So why did God tell his people to do that in the Old Testament? And why did he not only tell them to sacrifice animals but even make that the ceremonial centerpiece of their religion? That was what the temple was for. That was why the priesthood existed. That was why the entire book of Leviticus was written. It was all about sacrifices. Why? 

Well, the idea was that those sacrifices would, in a certain sense, serve as a propitiation for sins. There was no question that the Israelites committed their fare share of sins—just like all human beings. And those sins deserved God’s wrath. As we’ve already said, God can’t just turn a blind eye to sin or sweep sin under the rug. Rather, his own righteous nature compels him to punish sin. So whenever the Israelites sinned, which they did pretty consistently, their sin had to be dealt with. That’s where the animals came in. God told his people to sacrifice animals like bulls and goats and sheep. And the idea was that the innocent animal would be counted as a substitute for the guilty person. Instead of God’s wrath coming down on the person, it would come down on the animal. That’s why the animal had to die. So the animals would serve as a propitiation for the sins of the people. Their blood would appease God’s wrath and turn his wrath away from the people. 

Or at least, that was what God intended the animal sacrifices to illustrate. Because if we read the New Testament, Hebrews 10:4 states that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” So wait a second: God told Israel to sacrifice all of those animals even though the animals could never truly take away sins? Why would he do that? Very simple: God wanted to instill within his people’s minds this concept of propitiation so that when Jesus came, they’d have some framework for understanding what he accomplished on the cross. You see, Jesus is the sacrifice that serves as a true propitiation for our sins. Animal sacrifices in the Old Testament provided what we might call a temporary covering for sin, but Jesus is the true propitiation through his death on the cross. 

Conclusion

Imagine a little 5-year-old boy in the Old Testament going with his family to the temple to sacrifice a sheep. Imagine the father of that family slaughtering that sheep before the little boy’s eyes, the blood making a terrible mess all around that area, and the ugliness of seeing that animal’s internal organs spill out on the ground. I can picture that young boy asking his father, with tears in his eyes, why such a horrid thing was necessary. What did the animal do to deserve such a death? And I’m sure the father would say to that boy, “Son, this is what’s necessary to deal with our sin. It’s ugly. It’s bloody. But this is how serious it is to sin against a holy God. This is what our sin requires.” Now of course, we know from reading the New Testament that even that sacrifice doesn’t fully demonstrate the seriousness of sin or what’s necessary to take care of it. In reality, our sin is such an abomination that it required the death of God’s own Son to do away with it. It took the death of One who had never sinned and who was worth more than all of creation combined to be the true propitiation for our sin and appease God’s wrath. Jesus had to be slaughtered. That’s the gravity of what Paul’s presenting back in our main text in Romans 3. As verse 25 says, God put forward his own Son as “a propitiation for our sins.” And it’s there, at the cross, that the uncompromising justice of God and the unfathomable love of God come together. God loved you so much that he gave his own Son as the bloody propitiation for your sins and then, of course, raised him up again in full victory and triumph. 

Isn’t that a better message than the flimsy, pseudo-Christian message so often preached today of “three steps to a better life”? I’ll tell you how to have a better life. You want your best life now? You want every day to be a Friday? Then ask God to open your eyes to the majesty of Jesus and the glories of the biblical gospel. You’ll never be the same. And we come to the heart of that biblical gospel here in Romans 3 and in the three key words Paul uses: justification, redemption, and propitiation. So you see that the biblical gospel doesn’t focus on our earthly prosperity as the prosperity gospel teaches. Nor does it focus on meeting our felt needs as the therapeutic gospel and self-actualization gospel teach. Instead, the biblical gospel focuses on us being rid of our sin and made right with God through Jesus. 

So if you haven’t yet embraced this biblical gospel, I invite you to do that even this morning. Surrender your life to Jesus and look to him as the only one who can cleanse you and free you from your sins. And if you’ve already done that, let this morning be a time of refocusing your attention on that biblical gospel. You know, some of you may wonder why we talk about these same gospel truths over and over again. Isn’t there more that God wants us to know? Aren’t there other topics that would be helpful for us to explore? Why such an emphasis on the gospel? And I would reply that we focus on the gospel for the same reason you have your furnace at home turned on all winter long. I mean, why can’t you just heat your house up to around 70 degrees right now in November and then turn off your furnace for the rest of the winter? That would certainly save you a lot of money on your heating bills, wouldn’t it? So why not do that? Well, of course, it wouldn’t take long for you to become a popsicle—because the heat in your house leaks out. It leaks out around your windows, it leaks out through your roof, it leaks out every time you open your door. It leaks. And in the same way, you and I leak when it comes to the gospel. We hear it and we’re amazed by it, but then we continue going about our life and, slowly but surely, our gospel amazement and gospel joy and gospel awareness kind of leak out of us. So we need to come back to the gospel again and again and again in order to warm our hearts and stir our affections for God.