But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 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. 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.
This may seem random, but I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I’ll even take on a peanut butter sandwich if the jelly isn’t available (I like to live life dangerously, I know). No matter if the jelly is present or not, it seems to always be the peanut butter getting stuck in my beard. Moving on to other things…
Paul refers to righteousness as, “the process by which God acts to put people in right relationship with himself.”* Think about that for one minute. God acts to make us righteous with himself. We see here that God does all of the work! Look at all of the religions (American Christianity included) that work so hard to make things right with God. When things aren’t going our way, or even when they are going our way (for fear of that changing), we attempt to do everything right to please him. We read our Bibles “enough,” we pray “a lot,” we engage in spiritual disciplines, and we go to a church building weekly. These things are good and important, but Paul has aptly demonstrated the inability of all mankind (Jew and Gentile) of establishing righteousness on their own.*
Paul links the faith of man required to the faithfulness of Christ.* God requires mankind to put their faith in Jesus to receive His gift of salvation, but this is only possible because of the faithfulness of Christ while on earth.* Again, think about this. Had Christ not first put faith in His Father, any faith that we put in Him would have been fruitless and futile. Even so, we still would not have been able to obey the law enough to step into right standing with God.
Our inability to fully obey the law for the purpose of salvation does not negate the law. Just because God makes us righteousness by grace, apart from the law, it does not mean grace opposes the law.* The two work together to show us our sin (the law) and then to cure it (grace by faith).
Back to my sandwiches... When I get peanut butter stuck in my beard, my wife, like the law, tells me that I have peanut butter in my beard. It’s only by the grace of her outstretched hand that my peanut butter is wiped away clean, for I cannot see my own face to take care of it myself.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to ask Him if there are parts of the law that you have ignored because you “walk in grace.” Perhaps He wants you to look at areas of your life where you have trusted your ability to keep the law instead of His grace. Maybe today is a day to remember that His faith, His work, and His process are what bring you to right standing with Him. Perhaps today it’s time to allow Him to “remove the peanut butter.”
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a water break… we all get thirsty.
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*Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans (D. A. Carson, Ed.; p. 179–185). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (pp. 91–92). InterVarsity Press; Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (pp. 95).
Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 175–176). W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.
Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (p. 126). Zondervan Publishing House.