Romans 3:27-31

Martin Luther

The Righteousness of God Through Faith Continued

²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. [Faith alone saves us, not our works.]  ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹ Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. [Paul anticipates being charged with antinomianism, meaning “against the law.” If justification comes by faith alone, then is not the law rejected? He gives a more complete answer in chapters 6-7 and reasserts the validity of the law in 13:8-10.]

[Paul uses the verb “justified” 22 times in Romans. The term describes what happens when someone believes in Jesus as Savior. From the negative viewpoint, God declares the person not guilty; and from the positive viewpoint he declares him to be righteous. He cancels the guilt of a person’s sin and credits righteousness to him. Paul emphasizes two points in this regard. First, no one lives a perfectly good, holy, righteous life. On the contrary, “none is righteous.” “All have sinned.” Second, however, God will declare everyone who believes not guilty and righteous. This legal declaration is valid because Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins and lived a life of perfect righteousness that can in turn be imputed (credited) to us. This is the central theme of Romans.

Martin Luther writes in his Romans commentary regarding “for all sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23):

God from eternity has ordained and set forth Christ as the propitiation for our sins, but that only for those who believe in Him. Christ wanted to become a propitiation for us only through His blood, that is, He first had to make amends for us through the shedding of His blood. And all this God did ‘to declare his righteousness,’ that is, to make it known that all men are sinners and in need of His righteousness. The very fact that Christ suffered for us, and through His suffering became a propitiation for us, proves that we are (by nature) unrighteous, and that we for whom He became a propitiation, must obtain our righteousness solely from God, now that forgiveness for our sins has been secured by Christ’s atonement. By the fact that God forgives our sins (only) through Christ’s propitiation and so justifieth us by faith, He shows how necessary is His righteousness (for all). There is no one whose sins are not forgiven (in Christ).]