Soli Deo Gloria
Romans 3:27-31P. G. Mathew | Sunday, August 10, 2008
Copyright © 2008, P. G. Mathew
In the previous section (Romans 3:21-26), Paul speaks about God’s plan of salvation through faith in Christ alone. Now he makes the logical connection: If salvation for sinners is by grace alone (sola gratia) through faith in Christ alone (sola fide), then the saved sinner must give glory to God alone (soli Deo gloria). A poor, dying beggar who was given a feast by a gracious king cannot boast and say, “I deserved this feast from the king.” He must give all the glory to the king. In the same way, the saved saints of God shall praise God forever, saying: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Rev. 7:10).
God in his mercy saved us through his Son, who redeemed us from all slavery and propitiated the wrath of God that was against us by his shed blood on the cross. Because Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification, God the Father justified us forever, pardoning all our sins.
Consider who we were when we met Jesus Christ. First, we were impotent, without strength to save ourselves. No man can save himself, even though all other religions except the religion of the Bible speak in terms of self-salvation. Second, we were sinners who transgressed all God’s holy laws and thus dishonored him. Third, we were ungodly and therefore unrighteous fools who said in our hearts that there is no God. Fourth, we were enemies of God, for sin, in its essence, is enmity toward God. Yet we were loved by God the Father, who sent his Son who died for us. Away with all human pride! Instead, let us praise God now and forevermore in all humility.
The Danger of Pride
Pride is the sin that made Lucifer the devil. In Isaiah we read, “How you have fallen, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High'” (Isa. 14:12-14). The essence of human arrogance is for man to dethrone God and establish himself as God. But God has something to say to such arrogant people: “‘I will rise up against them,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘I will cut off from Babylon her name and survivors, her offspring and descendants,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,’ declares the Lord Almighty” (Isa. 14:22-23). The Lord will not tolerate human arrogance.
C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, speaks about pride:
There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it in ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. The vice I am talking of is Pride.1
Paul writes in Romans 3:24-25, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God presented as propitiation through faith in his blood” (author’s translation). The proper response to our eternal salvation is not boasting but praising the triune God who saved us. In this next passage, Romans 3:27-31, Paul teaches us that salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ excludes three things: boasting, discrimination, and lawlessness.
Justification Excludes Boasting
Justification by grace through faith excludes all boasting. Verse 27 tells us that God has shut out all human pride: “Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.”
The Jews were boasters who constantly bragged about their race and religious privileges, considering themselves holy and looking down on others, calling them unclean dogs. Paul speaks about this bragging: “Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God . . . You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? . . . If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before God” (Rom. 2:17, 23; 4:2). Elsewhere he lists the privileges the Jews boasted about: “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen” (Rom. 9:3-5). John the Baptist rebuked such boasters, saying, “Do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham” (Matt. 3:9).
Jesus spoke of the boastful pride of a Pharisee: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get”‘” (Luke 18:9-12). Examine the words of another Pharisee, who became a battle-scarred veteran of the cross: “If anyone else thinks he has reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless” (Phil. 3:4-6).
Such bragging, however, is not only the business of the Jews; Gentiles boasted also. Of the Gentiles Paul writes, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. . . . Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools. . . . They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator. . . . Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind. . . . [They are] slanderers, boasters, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful” (Rom. 1:18, 22, 25, 28, 30).
To the Corinthian church Paul writes, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? . . . Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” Then he concludes, “Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord'” (1 Cor. 1:18-20, 26-29, 31).
Though Jews and Gentiles may boast, the Bible clearly teaches that sinful man is not justified by any human merit but only by the merit of Jesus Christ. As Paul writes, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law . . . But now a righteousness from God apart from the law has been made known . . . For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law” (Rom. 3:20-21, 28).
Our own works only can condemn us to hell; the work of Christ alone saves us. Romans 3:22 says this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no other way to be saved.
Paul gives the reason God sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins: “He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). The efficient cause of justification by works is what man does, while the efficient cause of justification by faith is what Christ does. Our faith is extraspective, looking always to Christ alone, not introspective, looking to ourselves. Paul thus declares, “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).
Even Abraham, the father of all believers, had no cause to boast in himself, but believed in God and was justified (Rom. 4:2). Salvation by Christ’s death excludes therefore all human boasting. The cross has done it all. Jesus paid it all; all to him we owe. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”
What about our good works of obedience to God? All our good works are the effect of God’s grace. It is by God’s grace we do them. Jesus taught that a branch can do nothing unless it is united to the vine and lives by its life. Then he said, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). Paul also proves this point: “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). We are God’s workmanship, “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has foreordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10, KJV), but we do all these works by grace. And if it is by grace, where is our boasting? Paul also writes, “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (2 Cor. 9:11). Why are we generous? Because God gives us grace to do so.
Yet the saints of God are boasters, both here and in heaven. We worship God and give him all the glory, as Paul did: “Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord'” (1 Cor. 1:31; see also Gal. 6:14). Jeremiah speaks of this: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth. For in these I delight,’ declares the LORD” (Jer. 9:23-24).
If you still want to boast, consider these words of Paul: “For who makes you different from anyone else? And what do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Cor. 4:7). Therefore, let us pour contempt upon all our pride and let us praise God.
Justification Excludes Discrimination
The second thing that justification by grace through faith excludes is all sinful discrimination. We can make rules against discrimination, but it is deep in the human heart. But there is no such discrimination with God; all have sinned and fall short of his glory, and all need to be saved by Christ.
Paul writes, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law” (Rom. 3:28). The Greek text uses anthrôpos as the word for “man,” meaning every man, both Jew and Gentile. The only way of salvation for every man is through faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, man is justified, not by his works, but by faith. Either one tries to save himself by his good works, which is true of all religions except Christianity, or he is saved by faith in the work of Jesus on the cross.
Then Paul adduces the argument that God is one and that this one God is the God of both Jews and Gentiles: “Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith” (Rom. 3:28-29). Paul is using the monotheistic doctrine of the Jews to defeat their arrogance and exclusivism.
There is one God, one Judge, and one Savior. This idea that God is one is found throughout the Scriptures. Moses declared, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4). Isaiah often spoke of it (see Isa. 43:11, 45:5, 21, 22). The psalmist exhorts: “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth” (Ps. 96:1). Abraham asks the Lord, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” If God is one, then he is God of all people, and there can therefore be only one way of salvation.
Man is always creating differences, whether racial, color, gender, or rank. But Paul declares in Romans 3:22-23, “There is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Then he says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Just as there are not many gods, so there are also not many ways of salvation-one way for the Jews and another way for the Gentiles. There is no discrimination in the way sinners are saved. That is why Paul so boldly proclaims, “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes-to the Jew first and also to the Greeks” (Rom. 1:16).
This way of salvation was God’s plan from all eternity. The Lord told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you, I will curse. And all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Gen. 12:3). We read the same thing in Genesis 22:18: “And through your offspring,” meaning Jesus Christ, “all the nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” Jesus confirmed this to his disciples: “He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem'” (Luke 24:46-47). Paul also speaks of this plan: “Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith” (Gal. 3:6-9).
There is one God, one people, one way of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and one Savior. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Peter declares that there is salvation in no other (Acts 4:12) and Paul explains that God is one who is God of all, and this one God has one way of salvation (1 Tim. 2:5-6). We become Christians by faith in Jesus Christ.
At the foot of the cross, we are all equal. There is no difference, whether in sin, condemnation, or salvation. God pardons the sins of Jews and Gentiles alike, making them all saints and sons of God. (PGM) All other ways of salvation are false because they refuse to recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Sinful discrimination in the church, therefore, should be outlawed. How many churches are organized by ethnicity? We see Korean churches, Chinese churches, white churches, black churches, and so on. But a church that discriminates is not a church. Paul writes that both circumcised and uncircumcised are saved by faith in Christ. The people of God consists of believing Jews and Gentiles. John R. W. Stott said the church is an international body of believers from all tribes and languages and nations, all colors in the spectrum.
Jesus Christ destroys all sinful discrimination. Paul speaks of this:
>Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called ‘uncircumcised’ by those who call themselves ‘the circumcision’ . . . remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the diving wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Eph. 2:11-22)
Elsewhere he writes, “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 3:6); “There is one body and one Spirit” (Eph. 4:4); “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:26-29).
In the church of Christ, there cannot be any racial, color, gender, or master/slave discrimination. There is only one way by which we can discriminate: that salvation is to be found in Jesus Christ alone. In a book on Christian ethics, the author cited a situation in which a black family visited a white church. The pastor later visited the family and suggested that they would be more comfortable in a black church several miles away. This is not the church of Christ.
In contrast, I was brought up in the Syrian Orthodox church. As people of an upper caste, my family did not associate with anyone who was of lower caste. But when the Holy Spirit was poured out in that area, he destroyed all such human barriers. I remember going as a young boy with my father and our pastor to visit an untouchable who had come to know Christ. We sat on the ground in this pariah’s hut and ate what he gave us and experienced true biblical fellowship. When the Holy Spirit was poured out, deeply embedded distinctions were abolished.
We all belong to one family-we have one Father, our heavenly Father, and are brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. We all are saints of God and can all approach God in the name of Jesus.
Dr. Stott says: “All who believe in Jesus belong to the same family and should be eating at the same table. That is what Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith is all about.”2 Even Peter, who was taught this lesson in Acts 10, failed to practice it later in the church at Antioch and Paul had to rebuke him publicly for his discriminatory actions (Gal. 2:11ff). Lawlessness Is Excluded
The third thing that justification by grace through faith excludes is lawlessness (or antinomianism). Today the vast majority of evangelicals consider law and grace to be antithetical. In fact, they proudly assert that they are living by grace because they do not obey God’s law.
Paul deals with this in the last verse of our text: “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law” (Rom. 3:31). The argument goes like this: If justification is not by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, then what is the use of the law? Is the law worthless? Does the faith principle nullify the law? The answer is, “By no means!” We do not annul the law; instead, we uphold the law. The law is never antithetical to grace. Let us look at certain reasons:
- The law reveals the character of God, that God is holy. The law was given by God; therefore, it is holy, righteous, good, and spiritual.
- The law reveals our character. Like a mirror, it shows our moral filth (Rom. 3:20; 7:7).
- The law itself testifies to salvation by grace (Rom. 3:21).
- The goal of the law is Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:4).
- Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law in behalf of us (Matt. 3:15, 5:17-18; Gal. 4:6; Heb. 5:8). Salvation is by the works of Christ’s obedience to God’s law, so salvation for us can be found through faith in Christ who obeyed the law. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says, “What the Apostle maintains here is that God’s way of declaring those who believe in Christ to be righteous honours and establishes the Law.”3
- God did not give the law to impart life to us (Gal. 3:21).
- The law condemns us, yet it also points us to Jesus Christ for salvation. It acts like John the Baptist, who said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The law leads us to Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:23-25).
- Grace enables us to keep the moral law of God. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). Paul writes, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:8-10). Jesus said the first commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself . . . All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Mark 12:30-31; Matt. 22:40). Those who are justified by faith will keep God’s commandments by God’s enabling grace. Antinomianism, therefore, is excluded by the doctrine of justification by faith.
- The law pronounces judgment on all violators of God’s law. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (Rom. 1:18; see also Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:20). Conclusion
If you have not trusted in Jesus Christ alone, if you have not been redeemed by Christ’s death, if Jesus is not your propitiatory sacrifice, if you are not justified by the Father on the basis of the righteousness of Christ alone, then the law of God condemns you and God’s wrath is abiding on you. Soon you shall die in your sins and enter into God’s eternal judgment. I pray that you will recognize how serious this danger is and repent of your sins, believe in Jesus Christ who fully obeyed the law for you, and be saved forever. He invites you to come to Jesus and be saved.
To those who are justified by faith, I say this: Let us be humble and not boast in anything except in Jesus Christ and his cross. Let us praise and worship God in all of life and live for his glory. Let us not discriminate but love one another, knowing that we are equally sinners, saints, and sons of God in God’s only Son. Let us lay down our lives for our brothers.
Finally, let us uphold the law of God by his grace. Away with all Christian antinomianism, autonomy, and cheap grace! God has made us who were enemies of God into lovers of God, and love fulfills God’s law. Let us prove daily that we are God’s children by obeying our heavenly Father exactly, immediately, and with great joy as the Holy Spirit enables us to do so.
1 C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Macmillan Company, 1971), 108-109.
2 Quoted by John R. W. Stott, Romans: God’s Good News for the World (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 120.
3 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans: An Exposition of Chapters 3.20-4.25: Atonement and Justification (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970), 144.
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