The law or God’s word is God’s standard. By knowing the law, we will realize that we cannot attain to the standard of God.
Going to Romans chapters 3 to 8, there are few things that came into my mind, and I want to make things simple.
Firstly, in Romans 3:19–20 (NLT), it says:19Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
The law or God’s word is God’s standard. By knowing the law, we will realize that we cannot attain to the standard of God.
Romans 3:21–23 (NLT)21But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Nevertheless, recognizing our inherent limitations and inability to meet God’s standard, He sent Christ to all, irrespective of whether one is Jewish or Gentile, regardless of race, gender, or age, in order for Christ to assist us in attaining God’s standard.
Romans 3:24–26 (NLT)24Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
How is this possible? Through the grace of God, He sent Jesus to redeem us from sin through His shed blood on the cross. This act serves as a remission or ransom for our past sins, encompassing not only our generation but also those before us and those yet to come. It illustrates that God’s righteousness and love are synonymous with His justice, which necessitates that sin must not go unpunished; there must be accountability. For instance, in our justice system, when a crime is committed, the police will not cease their efforts until someone is apprehended and held accountable. Similarly, prior to the arrival of Jesus, God was restless due to our sins, as His nature demands justice and cannot tolerate sin.
Romans 3:27–31 (NLT)27Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.29After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 31Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
Through this realization, we come to understand our utter dependence on God, as even for our sins, it is Christ who atones and grants us forgiveness. It’s akin to God being the aggrieved party in a crime, and us, the guilty offenders. Upon acknowledging our wrongdoing and expressing remorse, God displays His mercy and patience, offering an alternative to legal proceedings — monetary compensation or a fine. However, we lack the means to pay. Enter Jesus, as a benefactor, offering His resources to settle our debts. In this scenario, no laws are transgressed, as it is the plaintiff who determines an alternative resolution, sparing us from damnation. Our sole obligation is to settle the debt of our sins with the blood price, a debt Jesus graciously covers on our behalf, recognizing our incapacity to do so, because we remain impoverished sinners in need of salvation, unable to rescue ourselves.
Romans 4:1–5 (NLT)1Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 2If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. 3For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”4When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.
Now, continuing to the example that Jesus is the rich, compassionate guy who rescue us, his only requirement for us is to believe in Him, else, how can we accept a help from someone we lack faith and confidence?
Romans 4:9–15 (NLT)9Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. 10But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!11Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous — even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. 12And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.13Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. 14If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. 15For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)
Now, Abraham believes God before he received the promise of a son in the physical sense. Same way, we must believe the man Jesus who offer the help before we actually experience the benefit of the help being offered. Why? Because, it is offensive to the one who will help us, if he will just graciously help us freely, without us believing in Him. Then perhaps you could ask me, then we have something to boast of — and that is we first believe in Him! You are wrong my friend, because the word of God also says that even this faith is a gift (Romans 10:17). In what way it became a gift? Simply, someone shares us the good news that there is a savior. Imagine it as if, us being a prisoner and we are presented an alternative way in order to be saved, and that is to pay for our crime, instead of facing the death sentence. Since we don’t have the money, there is this missionary guy, an ex-convict who always visited the prison to help the prisoners found their way out of prison, and he happened to talk to you. In the middle of your conversation, you ask him, how did you do it? How did you able to pay your debt? And he answered you, “I didn’t pay it my brother. Someone helps me pay for it. He is a righteous and gracious guy.” Hearing this, you ask this ex-convict to help you introduce yourself to the guy. That’s how you met your benefactor. Did the belief come from you? Not at all! It is the benefactor guy who do the work. Because of his goodness, somebody was being saved out of prison and because of the thankfulness of the guy, he just shared the good news to others who suffer the same way he suffered in his past life. That is how you knew the gospel of Christ. Someone who was saved by God share to you Christ life. It didn’t come from you originally. So, hearing such news is something to be thankful for.
Romans 4:16 (NLT)16So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.
It is only through our faith in Jesus, that we might consider our salvation by grace, because if we work for it, then what we are receiving is only our wages, and there is no more reason for us to thank God, because we can in fact boast that we worked for it, we deserved it, and we are only receiving the fruit of our labor. God hates that arrogance. God wants us to humble down before Him, that is why our way to salvation is only through His grace, because if it is for works, we don’t need God ever. So, this salvation process would be all useless, as God’ purpose for salvation is for us to be reconnected back to Him, as mentioned in Acts 17:24–27 (NLT) 24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs — for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man[f] he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. 27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him — though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your[g] own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
Romans 5:1–11 (NLT)1Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.3We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.6When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Because of our faith in Him, Jesus was able to settle our debt of sins with God, our Plaintiff. As a result, our enmity with God is now resolved, and we are no longer His enemies. Through this faith, we’ve received an undeserved pardon, released from the prison cell of sin. However, we understand that life as a redeemed person isn’t easy. People may still judge or hold prejudices against us. Nevertheless, these accusations no longer define us. Because of our forgiveness from God, we’ve chosen to empathize with and forgive others. We’re no longer ashamed of our past, as gratitude fills our hearts. What was once shame is now joy and hope for a new life, a second chance, given to us.
Romans 5:12–21 (NLT)12When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14Still, everyone died — from the time of Adam to the time of Moses — even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.18Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19Because one-person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.20God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 21So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Why does Christ’s singular sacrifice extend salvation to all generations? And why does Adam’s transgression bring a curse upon all? Simply put, when Adam sinned, the judgment rendered in God’s court became a binding law, setting the precedent for all subsequent trials with God throughout generations. The law is straightforward: anyone who sins incurs the penalty of death. However, the advent of Christ introduces an amendment to this ruling. This amendment states that if someone is willing to pay the price in place of the guilty party, the guilty sinner will be acquitted, on the condition that they believe and have faith in the capability of the one who will pay.
Now, the dilemma posed to us in Romans 6 is whether we should persist in wrongdoing simply because Jesus continually comes to our aid. The answer is unequivocally no! Doing so would constitute an abuse of grace. Picture it this way: the individual who settled our debt isn’t extraordinarily wealthy; rather, he’s the son of our plaintiff (God). Out of compassion for our plight, he appeals to his Father, offering his hard-earned money on our behalf to relieve us of our obligation. He is entirely at the mercy of the true master. If we exploit such grace and provoke the true master by squandering the effort and sacrifice of his own son, what consequences might we face? Do we think he’ll permit his son to assist us again in settling our debt? My point is that Jesus saved us once; it is finished. While God is patient and merciful, one wonders for how long. Furthermore, from verse 16 to 22, it’s evident that when we were formerly debtors to God, Christ paid for our sins, thus making us indebted to him. Have we comprehended this? We haven’t truly escaped our obligation; we’ve simply shifted masters. The distinction lies in the fact that being accountable to God entails automatic judgment, whereas being accountable to Christ affords us an opportunity for a fresh start. Now that Christ has paid for us, we are obliged to work for him, as he can no longer work in the flesh after his death. Therefore, he has entrusted us with this task. Do you know what this work entails? Remember the story we discussed earlier? Surprisingly, this son of the master operates a social welfare program that assists prisoners in starting afresh. This explains your encounter with the former inmate who, like you, were saved by this remarkable son of God. This is why we engage in ministry. All he asks of his beneficiaries is to share this good news so that more lives can be transformed. Isn’t it wonderful?
As we transition to Romans 7, we soon realize that even after our liberation, the remnants of our former life in prison continue to haunt us. It becomes an ongoing struggle between our earthly desires and our spiritual aspirations. Like a released prisoner, we are accustomed to the patterns of sin and confinement. Despite our inner transformation, our actions often contradict our newfound beliefs. Hence, Romans 8 explains how our Savior never abandons us to fend for ourselves. He entrusts His twin brother, the Holy Spirit, to guide and instruct us in the ways of freedom since He cannot remain with us physically. Though the Father requires His presence elsewhere, His love and concern for us compel Him to delegate the Holy Spirit to assist us until His return. Indeed, He will come back. Now, the decision lies with us: will we choose to remain under the guardianship of His brother until His return? It’s up to us to decide whether we will continue to abide in the body of Christ. This is why the Bible asserts that nothing can sever us from the love of God unless we deliberately choose to separate ourselves. It’s imperative to choose wisely, for once we stray from God and He returns, we may never be found by Him again.
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