But Now (Romans 3:21-26)

Big Idea: But now God has done for you what you could never do for yourself.

There is a question that every teacher hates to hear: “Will this be on the exam?” This is basically saying, “Is what you’re teaching me important enough that I should pay attention, or is it okay to go back to sleep and just ignore it?”

If I was teaching a course on Romans, and you asked me about today’s passage, I would tell you that it is absolutely on the exam. Romans is one of the most important books in the Bible if you want to understand the Christian faith. And today’s passage is one of the most sections in the entire book of Romans. Somebody’s called it “a Bible within the Bible.” Martin Luther called it “the chief point, and the very central place of the Epistle, and of the whole Bible.” Dr. Leon Morris calls it “possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.”

It’s hard to overstate the importance of today’s passage. It deserves our careful study and careful meditation. It gets to the very heart of Christianity, and if you get it, it will change your life.

Four Questions

We’re looking at just 7 verses today, just one, long sentence in the original Greek, just under 100 words. Yet it’s also one of the densest and most important sections of the Bible you will ever read.

There are a lot of ways to approach this passage, but I think the best way to understand it is to ask four questions of it. Here’s the first:

What Has God Done? (3:21-22)

Verse 21 and the first part of verse 22 describes what God has done:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

Notice the first two words: but now. These two words mark one of the greatest moments of relief in all of Scripture. This is the hinge point on which everything hangs. For sixty-two verses—from Romans 1:18 to 3:20—Paul has hammered away at a single, devastating point: every person stands under God's wrath. He's been relentless, showing that no one escapes this reality. We spent five sermons unpacking this section because Paul wanted us to feel the full weight of our problem before he unveiled God's solution.

Imagine you're drowning. Your lungs are burning, your arms are failing, the water is closing over your head. Then a hand breaks through the surface and pulls you up. That first gasp of air, that desperate breath—that's "but now." For sixty-two verses, we've been underwater. These two words are the lifeguard.

That’s why these first two words are such a relief. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “There are no more wonderful words in the whole of Scripture than just these two words ‘But now.’” These words signify a turning point, a change in our situation, and it’s all because God has done something. He’s done something that the Old Testament (the Law and the Prophets) anticipated, and it changes everything.

What has God done? Remember what Paul wrote in Romans 1:18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men...” That’s the before picture. That was our predicament before the good news that Paul is about to talk about. We were under the wrath of God because of our sin and suppression of the truth. That’s before.

“But now the righteousness of God has been revealed.” This is what God has done. Everything changes. Why? Because instead of revealing his wrath, God now reveals his righteousness.

Here’s what Paul is saying to us. What we deserved from God is his wrath. What he has given us instead is his righteousness. It’s a righteousness that has been manifested apart from the law. In other words, it doesn’t come from us keeping God’s law, because nobody has been able to keep God’s law. It is not acquired based on our obedience. Nobody is good enough. It doesn’t come from anything we do at all. There’s nothing we can do to get it. In every other religion, there’s something you have to do to convince God to save you. Only Christianity tells us there’s nothing we can do for God to save us. Help has to come from somewhere else.

So how do we get God’s righteousness instead of his wrath? The answer is simple: it comes “through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

This is the greatest “but now” in all of history. We deserved God’s wrath, but what he gave us instead is his righteousness. We don’t earn it. We can’t earn it. We simply receive it through faith in Jesus. Anybody who believes receives what they could never obtain for themselves.

What has God done? He’s changed everything by giving us his righteousness instead of his wrath.

Why Was It Needed? (3:22-23)

The last part of verse 22 to verse 23 describe why he needed to do this: “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

This is one of the most famous verses in the book of Romans. I learned this as a child. It speaks to why God needed to give us his righteousness instead of his wrath. It is because the need for God’s righteousness is universal. As James Montgomery Boice puts it:

Spiritually “there is no difference” between us and even the most destitute of persons. As far as God’s requirements are concerned, there is no difference between us and the most desperate or disreputable character in history.

There are no distinctions. There is no partiality. There is no exception. It’s not like some of us were close to obtaining our salvation on our own efforts and just needed a little boost. We’re all in the same situation. Nobody has lived up to God’s standard. The worst sinner falls short of God’s glory, and so do you. Everyone is unrighteous. Everyone stands guilty before a holy God. We’re all in the same predicament.

What has God done? He’s changed everything by giving us his righteousness instead of his wrath. Why did he have to do it? Because we all needed the help. We all stood guilty before a holy God. We all needed the help.

Here’s the third question:

How Did He Do It? (3:24-25)

God gave us his righteousness instead of his wrath. But how? Verses 24-25 tell us how God did this:

…and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

How did God give us his righteousness? Paul packs so much truth in just a few words. He gives us a salvation triangle with three key words that describe God’s salvation through the work of Jesus:

• Justification — This is a legal term. The opposite of justified is condemned. Justified means that we are declared righteous by God. It says “are justified.” Not “being justified” or “will be justified.” You are justified. Done deal. If you're in Christ, God isn't waiting for you to get better before he declares you righteous. He's already declared it. How? As a gift, without any merit or performance on our part. It’s purely by God’s grace, his unmerited favour and kindness to those of us who don’t deserve it. If you are in Jesus, you stand justified and innocent before God.
• Redemption — Justification was a legal term; redemption is a commercial term. It means to secure the release of someone or something by paying a price. So Paul says that not only have we been declared innocent in court, but our freedom has been purchased. The price has been paid to set us free. We have been purchased at the cost of Jesus’ own life from the bondage and condemnation of sin.
• Propitiation — Justification is a legal term; redemption is a commercial term; propitiation is a religious term. It’s hard to understand, and it’s controversial. Romans 1:18 told us that the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness. God is justly angry at our sin. God cannot simply show mercy at the expense of his justice; something must be done to satisfy his just wrath. And so Jesus gave his life as a propitiation, a sacrifice that turned away God’s wrath and appeased his just indignation. Don’t miss the cost. It was enormous: “by his blood.” Christ took our place and absorbed God’s wrath against our sin.

This passage opens our eyes to the richness and scope of what God has accomplished. You were guilty; God declared you innocent. You were enslaved; God purchased your freedom. You were under his wrath; Jesus absorbed it. Everything that needed to be done has been done for you. All that remains is to receive it by faith.

This isn't abstract doctrine; it's the reality we need every single day. We are "justified by his grace as a gift." We don't earn it. We don't contribute to it. It's pure grace. This is the gospel I preach to myself daily.

• What has God done? He's reversed everything, giving us his righteousness instead of his wrath.
• Why did he have to do it? Because every one of us stood guilty before a holy God. We all needed rescue.
• How did he do it? He declared you innocent. He set you free. He satisfied his own wrath.

One more question:

How Does God Justify Sinners Without Violating His Own Justice? (3:25-26)

Read verses 25 and 26 with me:

This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Here’s what this passage says. All of this is to show God’s righteousness. Here he’s anticipating what someone might be thinking. Doesn’t all of this compromise God’s justice? How can God let us off the hook? Isn’t it a violation of his holy standards to pardon sinners rather than to judge them?

Paul replies by explaining that, in the past, he passed over sins because of his forbearance. Until the death of Jesus on the cross, God gave his people signs of what he would do to save them, but none of these signs, none of these sacrifices, actually took away our sins. God simply delayed judgment, allowing people to live despite their rebellion against him.

But this does not mean that God is the kind of God who will just overlook sin. He could not do this without compromising his justice. God found a way to uphold his justice and to pardon our sins at the same time through the perfect work of Jesus at the cross. God is both merciful and just at the same time because our sins have been paid for in full by the work of Jesus at the cross.

This is the heart of the gospel. 7 verses. One sentence. No more than 100 words. And yet it contains the central truth of the Bible. It is perhaps the most important paragraph in history, and it will change your life if you really take it in.

We deserved God’s wrath. All of us needed God’s righteousness because we’re all in the same predicament because of our sin. But if you come to Christ, Instead of his wrath, God gives you his righteousness as a gift. He declares you innocent. He sets you free. He satisfies God’s wrath.

How do we get all of this? We don’t earn it. We don’t get it by our good deeds, baptism, or obedience, but through faith in Jesus.

Friends, do you see what this means for you? Not someday, not in theory. Right now, this morning. If you're in Christ, you stand justified. You are free. God's wrath has been satisfied. This isn't something you need to achieve tomorrow; it's something to receive today.

If you're here and you've never trusted Christ: This is for you. You don't need to clean up your life first. You don't need to understand everything. Romans 3:22 says it comes 'to all who believe.' That's it. Just believe.

If you've been walking with Jesus for years but you're exhausted from trying to perform: You're fighting a battle that was already won. Stop trying to earn what Jesus already purchased.

Here's what this passage is telling us: God has done for you what you could never do for yourself. You couldn't make yourself righteous. You couldn't pay the price for your freedom. You couldn't satisfy God's wrath. But Jesus did it all.

This isn't just ancient history or theological theory. This is the most practical truth you'll ever hear. When you wake up tomorrow morning and the guilt over yesterday's failures starts creeping in, remember Romans 3:24. You are justified by grace as a gift. When you're tempted to try harder to earn God's approval through your performance—remember Romans 3:22. The righteousness of God comes through faith, not through your efforts. When you wonder if God could really love someone like you, remember Romans 3:25. Jesus became the propitiation for your sins. His blood was enough.

The question is never "Have I done enough?" The question is "Have I trusted in the One who has done all of this for me?"