21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26 KJV)
God’s Righteousness Through Faith
He argues from God’s glory to prove that justification must be expected only through faith in Christ’s righteousness. If there is no justification by the works of the law, must guilty people remain under wrath forever? No, praise God, it is not so (Romans 3:21-22). Another way has been opened for us. “The righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed now under the gospel.” Justification can be obtained without keeping Moses’s law. This is called “the righteousness of God,” meaning it is a righteousness he commands, provides, and accepts. It is a righteousness he gives to us, like the Christian armor is called “the armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11).
Concerning this righteousness of God, we should note that it is revealed. The gospel way of justification is an open and clear way. We are not left to feel our way in the dark, but it is shown to us. It is “apart from the law.” This addresses the error of Christians who tried to combine Christ and Moses, keeping the ceremonial law and imposing it on Gentile converts. The righteousness that Christ brought in is a complete righteousness. Yet, it is “witnessed by the law and the prophets” (Romans 3:21). This means there were types, prophecies, and promises in the Old Testament that pointed to this. The law is so far from justifying us that it directs us to another way of justification. “All the prophets bear witness to him” (Acts 10:43). This would make the teaching more acceptable to the Jews, who were fond of the law and the prophets. This righteousness is “by the faith of Jesus Christ” (Romans 3:22). Justifying faith has Jesus Christ as its object. It is by this faith that we become interested in the righteousness that God has ordained and Christ has brought in. It is “for all who believe” (Romans 3:22). In this expression, he emphasizes that Jews and Gentiles stand on the same level if they believe, for there is “no difference.” It is offered to all, and put upon all who believe.
This brings glory to God in two ways. First, it is for the glory of his grace (Romans 3:24). We are “justified freely by his grace.” It is by his favor to us, without any merit from us, not even foreseen. To make it more emphatic, he says it is “freely by his grace,” showing that it must be understood in the most genuine sense of grace. It comes freely to us, but Christ paid for it dearly. This does not take away from the honor of free grace, because grace provided and accepted this substitutionary payment.
Second, it is for the glory of his justice and righteousness (Romans 3:25-26). “Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation.” Jesus Christ is the great propitiation, or atoning sacrifice, foreshadowed by the mercy seat in the law. He is our throne of grace, through whom atonement is made for sin and our persons are accepted by God (1 John 2:2). God has presented him to be this sacrifice. God, the offended party, takes the first step toward reconciliation and appoints the mediator. He foreordained him for this purpose and has revealed him to a guilty world as their propitiation (Matthew 3:17). We become part of this sacrifice “by faith in his blood” (Romans 3:25). Christ is the sacrifice, and faith applies this to the wounded soul. In the matter of justification, this faith looks specifically to the blood of Christ as that which made the atonement, for without blood there is no forgiveness. All who have faith in this sacrifice receive the forgiveness of their past sins. For this purpose, Christ was presented as a propitiation, to lead to forgiveness, which the temporary reprieve of God’s patience made possible. “Through the forbearance of God,” we have been kept from hell so that we might have time to repent and get to heaven. The fact that a sinner is not immediately condemned is entirely because of Christ.
God declares his righteousness in all of this. He insists on this with great emphasis: “To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness” (Romans 3:26). He declares his righteousness in the sacrifice itself. There was never a greater display of God’s justice and holiness than in the death of Christ. It is clear that he hates sin when nothing less than the blood of Christ would pay for it. When he found sin, though only imputed, on his own Son, he did not spare him (2 Corinthians 5:21). When the iniquities of us all were laid on him, though he was the Son of his love, it pleased the Lord to crush him (Isaiah 53:10). God also declares his righteousness in the forgiveness that comes from that sacrifice, “that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). Mercy and truth have met together, and righteousness and peace have kissed each other. It is now not only an act of grace but an act of righteousness for God to forgive the sins of repentant believers, having accepted the satisfaction that Christ made to his justice for them. It would not be just for him to demand payment from the one when the guarantor has already paid the debt in full (1 John 1:9). He is just, meaning he is faithful to his word.