What do you make of this?
Romans 3:21 NIV
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known,
to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
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"But now" Paul is contrasting the Old Covenant with the New Covenant, the old age of rebellion with the new age of righteousness. This would then parallel "at the present time" (cf. Rom. 3:26; "but now" of Rom. 6:22; 7:6).
"now apart from the Law"
It is often hard to be certain whether Paul is referring to the Mosaic Law (NASB) or law in general (NRSV, TEV, NJB, NIV) in these opening chapters. In this context the Jewish Law fits Paul's argument best. All humans have violated every set of moral, societal guidelines whether internal or external. Our problems as fallen mankind is that we want no guidelines at all except our own selfish, self-centered desires (cf. Genesis 3) which so characterizes modern western individualism.
NASB"the righteousness of God"
NKJV, NRSV"the righteousness of God"
TEV"God's way of putting people right with himself"
NJB"God's saving justice"
There is no definite article with "righteousness." This does not refer to God's character, but God's way of imparting forgiveness and acceptance to sinful people. This very phrase was used in the theological theme of Rom. 1:16-17. The clearly revealed mechanism is faith in the crucified Jesus Christ (cf. Rom. 3:22,24-26).
The fact that this term (dikaiosonē) and its derivatives (see note at Rom. 2:13) are used so often in this context shows its significance (cf. Rom. 1:17; 3:5,21,22,25,26; 4:3,5,6,9,11,13,22; 5:17,21; 6:13,16,18,19,20; 8:10; 9:28,30,31; 10:3,4,5,6,10,17). This Greek term is from an OT construction metaphor (tsadak) of "a standard" or "a measuring reed" (see Special Topic at Rom. 1:17). The standard is God Himself. This term reflects God's character which is freely given to fallen mankind through Christ (cf. chap. 4; 2 Cor. 5:21). Admitting their need and accepting God's gift was, and is, so humiliating to prideful, self-centered mankind-especially legalistic, religious mankind.
"has been manifested"
This phrase is very similar to 1:17. However, the verb tense is different. The verb here can be translated, "has been and continues to be clearly revealed." It is a perfect passive indicative, while the synonym in Rom. 1:17 is present passive indicative. God has clearly revealed the gospel both in the OT (cf. Romans 4) and in Jesus.
"being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets"
This referred to two of the three divisions of the Hebrew canon (Law, Prophets, and Writings). These first two were used to refer to the whole (see note at Rom. 3:19; Matt. 5:17). This clearly showed that the gospel was contained in preliminary form in the OT (cf. Luke 24:27,44; Acts 10:43). It was not an afterthought, "Plan B," or a last minute crash program (cf. Rom. 1:2).
3:22 "through faith in Jesus Christ" This is literally "through faith of Jesus Christ." This is a genitive construction. It is repeated in Gal. 2:16 and Phil. 3:9 as well as a similar form in Rom. 3:26; Gal. 2:16,20; 3:22. It could mean
1. the faith or faithfulness of Jesus (subjective genitive)
2. Jesus as the object of our faith (objective genitive)
The same grammatical construction in Gal. 2:16 makes #2 the best choice.
This shows the main aspect of God's justification. It is the righteousness of God made operative in one's life by God's free gift through Christ (cf. Rom. 4:5; 6:23), which must be accepted by faith/belief/trust (cf. Eph. 2:8-9) and lived out in daily life (cf. Eph. 1:4; 2:10).
J.