Comprehensive Doctrine of Justification (6)
[Romans 3:21-26]
We have already meditated four times on the first subtopic, "The Necessity of Righteousness," under the overarching theme of "Comprehensive Doctrine of Justification." Last week, during Wednesday prayer meeting, we reflected on the second subtopic, "The Subject of Justification." Today, we continue to delve into "The Subject of Justification."
The subject of justification is none other than God the Father! However, many people, unaware of this fact, attempt to establish their own righteousness. Since everyone has sinned, they cannot attain to the glory of God, ultimately leading to destruction. Romans 10:3 states, "For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness." As an example, we see a Pharisee trying to establish his own righteousness in Luke 18:11-12: "The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.'" This Pharisee prayed, trying to establish his own righteousness before God. Rabbis went to the extent of creating a list of 39 major categories of actions to distinguish and uphold their righteousness (Hendrikson). For instance, in an effort to establish their own righteousness, the religious leaders created numerous regulations regarding the Sabbath. Exodus 20:8-11 states: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it, you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." Referring to the Fourth Commandment, which emphasizes the observance of the Sabbath, the religious leaders went to great lengths to define and delineate various actions, even compiling a list of 39 primary activities. This is Matthew 12:1-8: “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, ‘Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.’ He answered, ‘Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’” On the Sabbath, the disciples cut heads of grain, and here, eating the heads of grain was a violation of the command not to harvest on the Sabbath. Additionally, it was a transgression of the prohibition against threshing. Moreover, consuming kernels of grain was contrary to the command not to glean crops. Furthermore, eating it constituted a violation of the injunction against preparing food on the Sabbath. In this manner, they crafted regulations and diligently observed them, attempting to establish their own righteousness.
The is John 5:1-10: "After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, 'Do you want to be healed?' The sick man answered him, 'Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.' Jesus said to him, 'Get up, take up your bed, and walk.' And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, 'It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.' But he answered them, 'The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.'" Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda. From the Jewish perspective, if a person's condition worsened, they couldn't receive healing even on the Sabbath. However, Jesus healed the man who had been suffering for 38 years, and this action was perceived as improper by the Jewish leaders. Furthermore, the fact that the once-invalid man carried his mat and walked was also considered inappropriate by the Jewish authorities. This illustrates how people sought salvation by establishing their own righteousness. However, this approach is not acceptable because our righteousness is like filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6 states, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away." Human righteousness is comparable to dirty clothing, making it impossible to stand before God. Salvation cannot be attained through human righteousness or good deeds.
Romans 10:5 states: "Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: 'The person who does these things will live by them.'" Those who seek righteousness through the law diligently strive to fulfill the requirements of the law. The apostle Paul, for instance, was blameless concerning the righteousness of the law (Phil. 3:6). He rigorously adhered to the law. However, no matter how blameless Paul might have been in terms of the righteousness of the law, he couldn't stand before the Lord. James 2:10 says: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." Even if someone, like Paul, is blameless according to the righteousness of the law, it does not mean they have kept the entire law. Paul violated the 10th commandment: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's" (Exod. 20:17). He committed the sin of coveting. Romans 7:7-8 reveals: "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead." What about us? Are we not also committing the sin of coveting? Or are we not engaging in the sin of adultery in our hearts? Therefore, we cannot attain righteousness and salvation through keeping the law.
Therefore, we absolutely need the righteousness given by God. Salvation is attainable only through God's righteousness. Romans 3:21 states: "But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify." In the Greek Bible, the phrase "but now" follows the earlier phrase "but" in Romans 1:18 through 3:20. In other words, it is "But now..." This means that after having highlighted the need for righteousness due to sin from Romans 1:18 to 3:20, it is now revealed that "apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known." It is through this justification that we receive salvation. This justification is not based on human righteousness (human deeds) or legalistic observance but solely on the righteousness of God, unrelated to the law. Human righteousness, adherence to the law, or self-righteousness does not provide any help or deliverance. The righteousness of God, revealed apart from the law, is testified to by the Law and the Prophets, meaning the Old Testament Scriptures. The Old Testament Scriptures foretell the coming of Jesus Christ and the righteousness of God.