Romans 3:21-26

“Receive the Righteousness of Christ”

Key Sermon Points

• Romans 1:16–17 serves as the thesis statement for the entire section:

  • The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

  • The righteousness of God is revealed through faith.

• Paul’s argument from Romans 1:18–3:20 establishes the universal condemnation of humanity:

  • Gentiles are condemned through suppressing the truth revealed in creation.

  • Jews are condemned because possessing the law does not equal obedience.

  • Every person stands guilty before God.

• Romans exposes the futility of self-righteousness:

  • No one is justified by works of the law.

  • Every mouth is stopped before God.

  • All have sinned and continually fall short of God's glory.

• Recognizing our sinfulness is not meant to produce despair but humility:

  • We can stop pretending.

  • We can be honest with God, ourselves, and others.

  • We no longer need to justify ourselves.

• God alone is righteous:

  • His righteousness is revealed throughout Scripture.

  • His law reflects His holy character.

  • He is perfectly just and morally flawless.

• God demonstrates His righteousness by saving sinners:

  • Christ fulfilled all that the Law and Prophets anticipated.

  • Jesus is the redemption purchased by God.

  • Jesus is the propitiation whose blood satisfies divine justice.

• God’s love is not based on human performance:

  • God chose to love His people while they were still sinners.

  • His favor rests upon believers because of Christ, not personal merit.

• The call of the gospel is simple:

  • Receive Christ.

  • Rest in Christ.

  • Stop striving to earn what God freely gives through grace.

• True peace with God is found only in Jesus Christ.

Theme: Resting in the Righteousness of Christ

Primary Passage

Romans 3:20–26

Supporting Scriptures

• Romans 1:16–17

• Romans 3:9–26

• Ephesians 2:1–10

• Philippians 3:7–9

• Isaiah 64:6

• Matthew 11:28–30

• Titus 3:4–7

• John 4:13–14

Study Sections

1. The Universal Condemnation of Sin

Romans 3:9–20

Paul systematically demonstrates that:

• Jews are guilty.

• Gentiles are guilty.

• Every human being stands condemned before God.

Key Truth

The purpose of the Law is not to save but to reveal sin.

Practical Application

• Honest confession begins where self-justification ends.

• Christians can acknowledge failures without fear because salvation does not rest upon personal perfection.

• Humility strengthens relationships with both God and others.

2. The Righteousness of God

Romans 3:21–22

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed…”

Discussion

God’s righteousness is:

• Eternal

• Perfect

• Unchanging

• Revealed throughout Scripture

God’s holiness establishes the standard that humanity cannot attain through works.

Practical Application

• Worship grows when we see God’s perfection.

• A high view of God produces a right view of ourselves.

• Understanding God’s righteousness deepens gratitude for salvation.

3. The Gift of Christ’s Righteousness

Romans 3:22–25

Paul explains that righteousness comes:

• Through faith in Jesus Christ

• By grace alone

• Through redemption

• Through Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice

Gospel Truth

Jesus accomplished everything necessary for reconciliation with God.

Practical Application

• Christians do not earn God’s favor.

• Assurance is rooted in Christ’s work.

• Believers can rest from the exhausting burden of performance-based religion.

4. Receiving and Resting in Christ

Matthew 11:28–30

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Discussion

The sermon emphasized that many Christians continue striving to earn acceptance that Christ has already secured.

The gospel calls believers to:

• Receive Christ by faith.

• Rest in His finished work.

• Trust His righteousness instead of their own.

Practical Application

• Daily preach the gospel to yourself.

• Look away from personal performance.

• Find peace in Christ’s completed work.

Westminster Standards Connections

Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter 11 – Of Justification

God freely justifies sinners by imputing Christ’s righteousness and receiving them as righteous solely through faith.

Chapter 14 – Of Saving Faith

Saving faith receives and rests upon Christ alone for salvation.

Westminster Larger Catechism

Q. 72

What is justifying faith?

Justifying faith is a saving grace whereby a sinner receives and rests upon Christ alone for justification and eternal life.

Q. 70

What is justification?

An act of God’s free grace whereby He pardons sins and accepts sinners as righteous through Christ.

Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q. 33

What is justification?

“Justification is an act of God’s free grace…”

Q. 86

What is faith in Jesus Christ?

“Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation…”

Will you please turn in your Bibles with me to Romans, Romans chapter 3. If you're using your pew Bibles, you'll find that on page 1001. We're going to begin at verse 20 and read through verse 26. Hear now God's word. But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God has passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Thus ends this portion of the reading of God's words. Let's pray. Father, your word is perfect and true.

We pray that your spirit might work in our hearts, that we would treasure it more than all the gold in the earth. We pray that you might make us wise by it to know the way of salvation, and that you might stir up our hearts so it might let us praise you. Lord, we pray that you might please help us. We've read your word. It's true whether we like it or not. But Father, we need your spirit to apply it to our lives. So open our ears, Lord. Help our hearts. In Jesus' name, Amen.

I got a text message from a friend a couple weeks ago. He just messaged me, asked how he was doing, and I told him, well, I'm still getting there. It's kind of hard. And he sent me the message back. I'm going to read his text. He said, We tend to think we have a little bit of Superman in us, but alas, we are but human. We read through the book of Romans.

We have been in many ways looking with a long zoomed in lens. One verse looking at it, moving over a little bit, looking at it, moving over it, looking at a little, not seeing more than just a couple verses at a time. What I'd like to do this morning is to zoom out. To put on a wide angle lens to transition where we're able to see the whole scene.

And as we look at the whole scene, we see exactly what my friend text messaged me. We tend to think we have a little bit of Superman in us, but alas, we are but human. There's only one hero of the story. And his name is Jesus. And so I hope that as you go home today that the truth you'll take home with you is that God has done everything necessary for you to be at peace with Him.

I hope that you will leave knowing that God has done everything necessary for you to be at peace with Him. So as we work through The passages today to get to that point as we really overview chapter 1 verse 1 all the way through chapter 3 verse 26. I hope that you will see the universal condemnation of sins. I hope that you will see that God is righteous. I hope that you will hear the call to receive the righteousness that is in God. And that you will finally have a place where you can receive Jesus and rest for your soul. And so first as we zoom out, we've been looking at a whole bunch of bark on a few trees. Now we're going to zoom out and look at the forest. Look with me real quick, overview. I'm not going to read all of it to you.

But really you have the introduction section in Romans chapter 1. The introduction section goes from Romans chapter 1 verse 1 through Romans chapter 1 verse 17. It's an intro. Hey, I want to come see you. It's good. I'm writing this letter to you, the Romans, grace and peace to you. He says, I've been busy doing ministry to other people. It's not because I haven't wanted to come to you. Actually, I plan to come to you, but I've been busy about the gospel. Oh, and by the way, this gospel, verse 16, I'm not ashamed of this gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes.

For the Jew first, and also for the Greek, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. And he has really honed in on, okay, those are the two verses, Romans chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. If you're the type of person who likes to mark up in your Bible, you should highlight that, you should double underline it, you should write down in it, I need to memorize it and actually memorize it. This is the core of what the rest of Romans goes on to defend and explain.

And he starts off with the bad news. There's a universal condemnation of all people. Really in Romans chapter 1 verse 18, all the way through the end of Romans chapter 1 verse 32, it is a universal condemnation because of natural law. What do I mean by natural law? I mean that the world declares, creation declares, that there is a God who deserves to be worshipped.

And what do we do? We suppress that truth in unrighteousness and we serve and worship the created rather than the creator. And we take even our mortal good bodies that God has created and we twist things with it. We take the good world around us, even the people around us, and we twist relationships and we hurt one another. And it's a condemnation because we ought to know better.

And then in chapter 2, there was a law of the Jews that condemned them. From Romans chapter 2 through Romans chapter 3, verse 8. Right, in Romans chapter 2 verse 1, Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are, who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself, for you who practice such things. If you're a hypocrite, you're judging other people and you've got the law, you're under the same condemnation. It doesn't matter if you were circumcised or uncircumcised, if you're not keeping the law, even though you know the law, you're a lawbreaker and you're condemned. So he says, no. No, even Jewish people are condemned. Verse 28 of chapter 2.

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. It says it doesn't matter if you were circumcised. It doesn't matter if you're an inheritor of the promises of Abraham. If you don't actually believe, if you've not been circumcised in your heart, it doesn't matter. And so in the first part of chapter three, the question isn't, then what was the point in being a Jew? And what was the point in having the law? What demonstrated the righteousness of God, but also showed how far we fall short of that.

Paul doesn't give anyone any room to hide. Can Jewish people say they're any better than Greek people? No. Verse 9 of chapter 3. Are we any better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. It's universal condemnation. There's no one. There's no category. There's only two categories in the Jewish person's mind. You're either a Jewish person or a non-Jewish person. And Paul says, guess what? Doesn't matter. All have sinned.

Now we know, verse 19, now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the Law, no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the Law is the knowledge of sin." No works of the Law will ever make you righteous. Because every time we come to the perfect Law of God, we see that we fail.

That's what Romans chapter 3, 23 was getting at, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So this is universal condemnation of sin. Right, before God, there's not a single one of us who can stand before God and say, look, I'm righteous, or look, God, you should be okay with me because I'm a son of Abraham. Says, no, no, no, no, no, back it up. The whole world is under the wrath and curse of God because of sin.

But as I talked to you before over the last few months, there's a way that you could take that home in your soul and you might just get depressed and beat yourself up and think there's no hope at all. But I would like to propose to you that if you have the spirit working in you and you're able to accept these words, that they're true for you, it actually brings freedom in your life and before God. Because it means you can be honest with yourself. It means you can drop the act and you can actually put on humility.

It means you don't have to walk around in front of everybody thinking, oh, I need to make it look like my life is perfect and I have all the answers. Everybody knows what you smell like when you don't take a shower. You don't need to hide it. I'm not telling you don't take a shower. Please take showers. What I'm saying is you don't need to act in your moral life like you've got it all together.

And we can be honest with ourselves. And we can drop the exhausting act of our own self-righteousness, our own self-justification. We can stand before God. We can just be honest about our sin. We can also be honest with God. It also means before God.

We don't have to come with a list of excuses for why we've done everything sinful. We don't have to come before God and justify away or seem to have to explain away why we sinned. The Lord knows why you sinned. Because you're a sinner. The Lord knows that this is the natural bend of our hearts. So we don't come before him terrified because of what comes after this, but we come before him honestly. Saying, I am who you have said I am because you are the judge and you even judge the secret things of the heart. That's what chapter 2 had said. It also means that you can be honest with others.

I gotta tell you, one of the things that makes Olivia's eyes glass over really fast is when I've sinned and I try to smooth talk my way out of justifying my own sin. You know what it's like to be married or have kids or have a spouse or a co-worker. You know what it's like to be in any relationship and somebody does something wrong and they've got all the excuses in the world because they can't accept responsibility for their own sin.

I had a part to play and I hurt. I hurt you and I sinned against God. It's really hard to be in a relationship and have true reconciliation and have a sense of you're working together as a team to see one another as you truly are if you're constantly having to defend yourself. And I don't mean defend yourself when you've been wrongly accused of something. I'm saying you can't just accept the fact that you've done something wrong. It's exhausting. So accepting what Roman says here is saying, you're not Superman. You're definitely not Jesus. You're not perfect.

And the more we're willing to accept that, have a sense of self-awareness that, you know, I'm not as good as some days I think I am, the more we're able to honestly build relationships with each other as well. So Romans chapter 3 verses 1 through 20, or verses 18 through 20, Romans chapter 1 verse 18 through Romans chapter 3 verse 20 may seem like bad news. But it is a start of the good news. Because it opens up the door.

If you don't accept that you were a sinner, You will not be able to rest and receive in Jesus. Because you will have no room in your heart for Jesus. There's no need of the good news if you think you are the good news. So let down the exhausting burden and chains of self-righteousness.

And see yourself for how God knows you are. Because secondly, God is righteous. God himself is the righteous one. Romans chapter 3 verse 21. For now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God." And then verse 26, "...to demonstrate to the present time His righteousness, that He might be righteous, and the One who declares righteous." It is God who is, is that word just? That word is the exact same word as right up before it when it said, at the present time, his righteousness. Exact same word that they put as just. In the Greek, same word. Sometimes our English fails us.

He is righteous. This is the beautiful thing. He is righteous and we are not. And when we get that, when we see Him sitting high upon His throne, righteous, pure, true, magnified in every way, we're able to come to a God who knows us and is able to actually judge. He's shown His righteousness. It was testified to, witnessed to in the law and the prophets. God's righteousness is also shown in His moral perfection.

God is righteous, has always been righteous, and will always be righteous. There's no spot or stain in God. God doesn't get better and God doesn't get worse. It's not like God was somewhat righteous when He first became God because He never became God. He always was God. And part of His being God is being righteous. Why is He able to give a law? Because the law is an outflowing of a picture of who He is as righteous. but it's also His righteousness displayed in saving sinners. God is so righteous that when we people, by the way, there's a lot of people who like to criticize, this is just a rabbit trail, stick with me just for one second, we'll come right back. It's not a total off-ramp, just a little detour.

There's a lot of people who don't like Calvinism because they think, oh, you Calvinists, you just don't like free will. And we're saying, no, no, no, we absolutely do. The problem is God respects our free will. He lets us sin. Because that's what I want to do. Olivia and I have been on this diet, and I'm glad I have an accountability partner baked into it, because we have to eat the same food, and she would know if I've been gaining weight because I'm eating ice cream behind her back, she would know it. But that's what my heart wants to do. God lets us sin.

But the amazing thing is, the Lord doesn't do injustice to our own wills when He saves us. He transforms us from the inside out. He gives us a new heart. A new heart, a circumcised heart that's able to look at God's word and say, you know what, it's as bad as you say it is about me. But you're not just gonna let sin go unpunished and brush it under the rug. You're gonna still show mercy and your justice in the person of Jesus.

And that's the third point. That is this righteous God who has provided a righteousness for us. And we get to receive the righteousness of God. And that righteousness is offered in Jesus. Romans chapter 3 verse 22. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God passed over the sins that were previously committed. God's righteousness was put on display in Jesus.

Make no doubt about it, when I've been preaching the good news of Jesus to you, the gospel of Christ to you, I have with unashamedly said, I hope, I pray that you will rest and receive in Jesus. Receive in Jesus, receive Jesus and rest in Jesus, because that's the only hope that the scriptures hold out to you.

Jesus Christ was testified and shown in the Old Testament. All the Old Testament ceremonies and sacrifices were pointing to Jesus. The mercy seat was pointing to Jesus. The tabernacle was pointing to Jesus. The Sabbath day's rest was pointed towards our eternal Sabbath, resting in Jesus. Jesus is testified all over the Law and the Prophets. We read it in Isaiah chapter 1 today. We sang it in Psalm 51 today. Jesus is all over the New Testament, all over the Old Testament.

But God has demonstrated his righteousness in saving sinners by purchasing us himself from sin and death. For the wages of sin is death, but God paid that price. We were sinners enslaved to sin. And God redeemed us. He purchased us back from the marketplace of sin. At the blood of His own Son. Paid a price that we could never pay. Do you trust in the blood of Jesus? Is it enough for you? But God has shown His righteousness in Jesus.

Because He also set forth Jesus as a propitiation. God's face smiles upon you because he decided to love you. You know, I choose the order of worship for the invocation and the call to worship a year at a time. And it's always amazing to me how in the Lord's Providence as I'm planning out which sermons are gonna go where, when it just lines up that we do something like reading Ephesians chapter one before we get to Romans chapter three. Why would God redeem you? Or why would God have his face shine upon you? If you're a sinner, if your sins are like scarlet, why would God smile on you? If you like to sleep with the pigs, Why does he think you're the one he wants to pick up into his arm and hold near his chest, like a little lamb?

It's not because of anything in us, but because he predestined it. This is the beauty of it. A lot of people, again, who don't like things like the doctrine of election, but I'm telling you, it's a beautiful thing that encourages my heart. God chose to love you, his people, while you were still sinners. His face shined on you, not because you cleaned yourself up, but because he wanted to demonstrate his love and his righteousness in Jesus. And so when you sin, let's face it, talked about this in Romans chapter three, you all have sinned and fall. I fell this week, I'm gonna fall next week, I'm gonna fall later today, I'm sure.

He's still gonna love you if he's chosen you in Christ Jesus. Because see, his love was never performance driven. His love was demonstrated in the performance and in the person of Jesus. That's why we trust in the person, in the work, in the blood of Jesus.

And so when you find yourself wrestling with, I don't know if I'm good enough to be saved. I'm not sure if God's gonna be happy with me. I'm not sure if I've repented enough. This is what I was trying to encourage you with last week. You were never good enough.

But Jesus has always been good enough. So stop looking to yourself and cast your eyes on Jesus. Receive and rest on him alone. Because in Jesus we can be declared righteous. That's what justification means. Legally declared righteous. So our fourth and final point is to receive and rest in Jesus. This is really just a repetition and conclusion of the last point.

Stop striving to try to earn grace. Trying to run the treadmill of works to earn God's grace. Just imaginary numbers on a treadmill screen and you're not actually getting anywhere real. Step off the treadmill of your own works and embrace what God said.

Verse 24, being justified freely by His grace. You don't have to earn God's smile. Jesus did that. You can receive and rest in Jesus. You can give up the front of perfectionism both before God and others. There is a place with all the baggage all the weights, all the loads that you might heap upon your own shoulders or different people, whether it's from this pulpit or from other pastors or parents or whoever, who has placed on your shoulders these weights and weights and weights of, you gotta do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, and you're just exhausted. Jesus bids you come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest for your soul. Take my yoke upon you, for my burden is easy and my yoke is light, and I will give rest to your soul. If your Christianity feels nothing more than a constant weight and not a rest, it might be a diagnostic that maybe on the Lord's Day, Or maybe every day, you need to preach to yourself the gospel. You need to go and remember Jesus. You need to rest. You need to rest in His perfect work. Maybe for some of you, you've been going through a real dry season. You know what, I can't drum this up in you. I can't just rah-rah you into feeling good. That's not how it works. Not true assurance. Not true rest.

That comes from the Spirit. But maybe you've found yourself where it's a desert for your soul. God just seems so far off. You know your sin is real. Remember what Jesus said to the woman at the well. that there was a fount of living water that she could drink from and she would never thirst again. Will your soul, will your parched soul find refreshment in Jesus? Or will you keep walking through the desert wondering why it's so hard?

Run to Christ. Rest in Christ. Sinner, all of us, you, sinner, God is righteous and has done everything necessary for you to be at peace with Him. So rest in Jesus. Find rest for your soul. Let's pray. Father, You are wonderful. good, righteous, loving, merciful, and gracious. Please take these words, even my sinful lips, and I'm sure that there are things that I said that were wrong, Lord. Father, please let those things blow away like chaff in the wind. Lord, where there is the gospel, hope for your people. Father, we pray that you might give us rest for our souls, that we might have hope and peace. God, please care for us. Make your Word alive in us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

• Why does Paul spend so much time establishing humanity’s guilt before God?

• How does recognizing your sin create freedom rather than despair?

• What forms of self-righteousness are most tempting in your life?

• Why can no one be justified through works of the Law?

• How does God’s righteousness differ from human righteousness?

• What does redemption teach us about God’s love?

• How does Christ’s propitiation provide assurance?

• Why is it difficult to rest in Christ rather than striving for acceptance?

• What practical ways can believers preach the gospel to themselves daily?

• How does the doctrine of justification transform relationships with others?

Righteousness

Perfect conformity to God’s holy character and standards.

Justification

God’s legal declaration that a sinner is righteous through Christ.

Redemption

Deliverance from bondage through the payment of a price.

Propitiation

Christ’s sacrifice satisfying God’s righteous wrath against sin.

Faith

Receiving and resting upon Christ alone for salvation.

Grace

God’s undeserved favor toward sinners.

Self-Righteousness

Attempting to establish acceptance before God through personal merit or performance.