Romans 3:21-30
Chapter 3
Now the Righteousness of God Is Revealed
But now, apart from the law and as was already foretold in the law and the prophets, it has been revealed:God makes us righteous through faith in Jesus Christ, and this is available to everyone who believes, without distinction.
For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory;
yet, all are graciously forgiven and made righteous through the redemption in Christ Jesus.
For God has given him as the atoning sacrifice whose blood grants us forgiveness through faith.
So God shows us how he makes us righteous. Past sins are forgiven, which God has overlooked until now.
For now, he wants to reveal his way of righteousness: how he is just and how he makes us righteous through faith in Jesus.
Then, what happens to our pride? It is set aside. How? Not through the law and its rules, but through another law, which is faith.
For we believe that people are in God’s grace by faith, not because of all the things commanded by the law.
Otherwise, God would only be the God of the Jews; but isn’t he also the God of pagan nations?
Of course, he is, since there is only one God, and he will save both the circumcised Jews and the uncircumcised nations through faith.
Commentaries
Now the Righteousness of God Is Revealed.
This is a crucial and dense passage that proclaims the righteousness—salvation—of God unveiled through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the core message of all Paul’s teachings. He begins his Gospel of salvation by affirming that “now” (21), this saving purpose of God is revealed and fulfilled “through faith in Jesus Christ” (22). It is now available to everyone without distinction, based solely on belief. The wrath of God—his absence—is being transformed into the presence of saving love for those who accept Jesus by faith. No one can claim merit or demand rights because it is a gift from God, completely free. The Apostle clarifies that the “Jewish law” has been replaced by the “law of faith,” through which we see the true nature of God—an infinite love Father who loves all equally, Jews and non-Jews alike. The divisions and barriers that separate and discriminate against people have been torn down. Faith opens us to the Gospel of universal salvation revealed in Jesus, the Messiah.