'But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
.. being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
.... Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ
...... unto all and upon all them that believe:
for there is no difference:
.. For all have sinned,
.... and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by His grace
.. through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth
.. to be a propitiation through faith in His blood,
.... to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
...... through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness:
.. that He might be just,
.... and the justifier of Him which believeth in Jesus.'
(Rom 3:21-26)
Hello there,
The believer is justified 'freely' by God's grace (
unmerited favour) through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
David spoke of it: as Paul tells us in Romans 4:6-8:-
'For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God,
and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man,
unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying,
"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."'
(Rom 4:3)
It was necessary that sin should be righteously dealt with, and that has been done, in Christ Jesus; but it is the glory of the gospel that the same love that prompted our redemption and our deliverance can provide gratuitously, freely and without cause (
except in the great love of God Himself) '
a righteousness of God apart from law.'
Praise God for His wondrous grace!
In Christ Jesus
Chris
Paul's teaching on sin and the Law of Moses was 8 chapters long. Taking any of the chapters from the middle and making doctrines out of them and separating them from the conclusion - chapter 8 - will definitely lead to incomprehensible false doctrines. For anyone to think God shuts His eyes to sin and darkness doesn't know anything about the nature of God. I've seen it done with chapters 3, 4, 5 and 7. Oy vey! Chapter 8 is Jesus took away our sin; therefore no need for the law. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ has freed us from the law of sin and death. Grace is NOT unmerited favor and all the covered up practice of sin that goes with that erroneous definition. Grace is the power of God to partake of the devine nature! 2 Peter 1:2-4
Reading some of the posts here makes me shudder!
Listen to Jesus, NOT the the Reformationists!
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide
is the gate and broad
is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow
is the gate and difficult
is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor
can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
