God’s Righteousness Apart From the Law

Sermon Text

Romans 3:27-31

27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

“God’s Righteousness Apart From the Law”

Key Sermon Points

• The central message of the sermon is this: Our boast is not in ourselves, but in Jesus Christ.

• Human hearts naturally seek reasons to boast:

  • Morality

  • Religious activity

  • Family heritage

  • Financial success

  • Church involvement

  • Personal righteousness

• Romans has dismantled every form of self-confidence before God:

  • Jews cannot boast in possessing the Law.

  • Gentiles cannot boast in ignorance.

  • No one is justified by works.

  • All are sinners in need of grace.

• The only thing believers can honestly claim about themselves is that they need mercy.

• The rich young ruler illustrates the danger of self-righteousness:

  • He sought eternal life through personal achievement.

  • Jesus exposed the idol of his heart.

  • He walked away sorrowful rather than surrendering everything to Christ.

• Boasting is “excluded” from the assembly of God's people:

  • Pride has no place in the church.

  • Self-glory destroys unity and redirects attention away from Christ.

  • The gospel cultivates humility.

• Paul presents two fundamentally different principles:

  • The law of works: confidence in personal merit.

  • The law of faith: confidence in Christ's righteousness.

• Justification means that God legally declares sinners righteous because of Jesus Christ.

• The gospel is for everyone:

  • Jews and Gentiles alike.

  • Every ethnicity and nation.

  • All who come by faith alone.

• Faith does not abolish God's Law:

  • The Law reveals sin.

  • The Law points sinners to Christ.

  • The Law guides believers in grateful obedience.

• The proper response of believers is worship:

  • Like the saints in Revelation, Christians cast their crowns before Christ.

  • All glory belongs to the Lamb who was slain.

• What are you most tempted to boast in besides Christ?

• Why is self-righteousness so appealing to the human heart?

• How does the story of the rich young ruler expose hidden idols?

• What does it mean that boasting is “excluded” from God's people?

• How would you explain the difference between the law of works and the law of faith?

• Why is justification by faith alone essential to the gospel?

• How does the gospel promote humility within the church?

• What comfort comes from knowing that Christ's righteousness is credited to believers?

• How does faith establish rather than abolish God's Law?

• In what practical ways can you “boast in the Lord” this week?

Boasting

Seeking glory, confidence, or acceptance based upon personal merit rather than Christ.

Justification

God's legal declaration that sinners are righteous through faith in Christ.

Faith

Receiving and resting upon Christ alone for salvation.

Imputation

The crediting of Christ's righteousness to believers.

Sanctification

The Spirit's ongoing work of conforming believers to Christ.

Moral Law

God's enduring standard of righteousness revealed in Scripture.

Gospel

The good news that God saves sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.