The Revolutionary Law of Faith: When God's Righteousness Becomes Ours

There's something powerful about standing in complete darkness long enough that even the smallest light becomes impossible to ignore. The contrast makes the light more brilliant, more precious, more necessary than it would ever seem in the daytime. 

This is precisely the journey the Apostle Paul takes us on in Romans chapters 1 through 3—walking us through the darkness of human sin, not to shame or crush us, but to help us see what we would never see on our own. He exposes the darkness of self-righteousness, the darkness of religion without transformation, and the darkness of trying to save ourselves. And just when the weight feels unbearable, just when the verdict seems undeniable, Paul does something incredibly hopeful. 

He turns on the light. 

The Inescapable Reality 

Before we can appreciate the brilliance of grace, we must first understand the depth of our need. Paul's argument in the early chapters of Romans establishes several uncomfortable but necessary truths: 

Having the Word is not the same as obeying the Word. You can possess Scripture, listen to sermons, to podcasts, read theological books and still miss God entirely if you do not obey Him. Possession is not salvation. 

God remains faithful even when we are not. Human unbelief does not cancel God's promises. We fail, but He remains faithful. We fall short, but He remains righteous. The problem is never God's character—the problem is always our sin. 

Sin cannot be justified by logic, culture, or twisted grace. Some argue that if our sin highlights God's righteousness, then sinning must be acceptable. After all, it makes God look good. This is the ancient version of modern excuses like "God understands" or "I was born this way." But God bringing glory out of brokenness does not mean He approves of the brokenness. 

God is righteous and therefore must judge sin. If God ignored sin, He would not be righteous. A judge who consistently releases dangerous criminals is not a just judge. Because God is righteous, sin must be judged—whether committed by the religious or irreligious, the moral or immoral. 

The unavoidable conclusion? We all need Jesus. 

The Critical Distinction 

Here's the misunderstanding of the ages: people don't have a "committing sin" problem. People have a "being enslaved to sin" problem. There's a massive difference. 

If the issue were simply committing sins, then the solution would be straightforward—just stop sinning. But the real issue runs deeper. We are enslaved to sin. We are in bondage to it until something happens to set us free from that enslavement. This is the difference between committing sin and being a sinner. Sin is not just something we do; it is our nature. We are enslaved to it. 

Jesus came to set us free from that nature of sin. 

Romans 3:20 makes it clear: "By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." 

The Law can diagnose you, but it cannot heal you. It can expose your sin, but it cannot remove it. It can reveal your guilt, but it cannot redeem you. 

The Shift: "But Now" 

Everything changes with two words: "But now." 

Romans 3:21-22 declares: "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction." 

This passage has been called "the glittering diamond of the gospel." It outlines what makes Christianity different from all other religions. No other religion offers the righteousness of God. All other religions insist you attain a "good enough" record to get near God. All other religions force you to develop your own righteous record. 

But Jesus makes it possible for God's righteous record to be credited to us. 

The righteousness of God is not some far-away attribute—it is the very act of God declaring a sinner righteous. The righteousness of God is righteousness from God. We have been "righteousnessed" freely by faith. This is what God has done. 

Not Just Any Faith 

To be clear, it's not faith in just anything. We can't recognize all faith and assume that faith in anything will save us. Faith itself doesn't save—it's the work of the cross, the life and resurrection of Jesus that saves. It's our faith in Jesus and what He has done that causes this redemptive righteousness to be credited to us by grace. 

I can have faith that I can fly. I could take banana leaves, tie them together, climb a tree, strap my newly fashioned wings to my arms, and take a leap of faith—but that faith would be wrong and misguided. 

Part of the Word of Faith movement that has always concerned me is the tendency some have to place their trust in the idea of faith rather than placing their faith in the finished work of Jesus. There’s a real difference. Faith can become a concept that is manipulated by selfish motivations and never even acknowledges the work of Christ. That’s not biblical faith—that’s just another religion built on misguided belief, where money or selfadvancement becomes the focus instead of the work of Jesus through the cross and His resurrection. 

The power of God for salvation is where the righteousness of God is credited to us through faith in the work of the cross, so that we are now changed and no longer slaves to sin. 

The Blood of Propitiation 

Romans 3:25 introduces a powerful word: propitiation. The blood of Jesus is the propitiation for our sins, meaning it satisfied God's justice and paid the ransom we owed for our sin. 

Jesus doesn't just wipe away our sin. Jesus satisfied the wrath of God against us because of our sin. Jesus took our place. The cross doesn't represent a compromise between God's wrath and His love, nor does it satisfy each halfway. Rather, it satisfies each fully and in the very same action. (Quoting Tim Keller) 

On the cross, the wrath and love of God were both vindicated, both demonstrated, and both expressed perfectly. The cross is a demonstration both of God's justice and of His justifying love. 

What About the Law? 

Does faith nullify the Law? Paul responds emphatically: "God forbid! On the contrary, we establish the Law." 

Faith doesn't cancel the Law—faith fulfills the Law. Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law perfectly. The Holy Spirit writes the moral law on our hearts so we can walk in obedience. As Jeremiah 31:33 promised: "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." 

The Law isn't nullified—it's now written upon our hearts. God's intent was never to make rules and laws we couldn't keep. It was to draw us into relationship with Him, where He would be our God and we would be His people. 

Nothing to Boast About 

Romans 3:27 asks: "Where then is boasting? It is excluded." 

No one gets to say, "I earned this." No one gets to say, "I was good enough." No one gets to say, "I kept the Law." 

We have nothing to boast in but Christ Jesus alone. The man who has faith is no longer looking at himself or to himself. He doesn't look at what he once was, what he is now, or what he hopes to be. He looks entirely to the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work, and he rests on that alone. (Quoting Martyn Lloyd-Jones) 

This is the law of faith—the revolutionary truth that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works, lest anyone should boast. It is solely a gift of God. 

His grace truly is amazing! If you need a law to live by, live by faith! 

In Awe of Him, 

Pastor Greg (PG)