God Is Just and the Justifier

In one paragraph

This message was the continuation of a series through Romans, picking up mid-sentence in chapter three and running through chapter four, verse thirteen. The preacher walked through Paul's defense of justification by faith, showing how God demonstrates His own righteousness by being both the just judge and the one who justifies. The whole argument was built on the claim that no one, Jew or Gentile,...

Read together

1. Romans 3:21-26 the central text of the sermon, a long sentence on the righteousness of God, justification, redemption, and propitiation
2. Romans 3:27-31 Paul's argument that boasting is excluded and that God is God of both Jews and Gentiles, and that faith establishes rather than nullifies the law
3. Romans 4:1-8 Abraham justified by faith not works, and David's words on blessing credited apart from works
4. Romans 4:9-13 faith credited to Abraham while uncircumcised, and the promise coming through righteousness of faith not the law
5. Genesis 12:1-6 God's promise to Abraham to make him a great nation and bless the world through him
6. Genesis 15 God's promise of a son to Abraham, where his belief was credited as righteousness, three chapters before circumcision
7. Psalm 51 quoted in Romans 4:6-8, blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sin the Lord will not take into account
8. Luke 23:39-43 the thief on the cross who believed Jesus and was told he would be in paradise that day, used as the classic example of faith credited as righteousness
9. Isaiah 43 quoted after the offering prayer: when you pass through the waters I will be with you and the waves will not overcome you

Talk about it

1. The pastor walked through the idea that God demonstrates his righteousness both by condemning those who don't believe and by mercifully saving those who do. What does it do to your understanding of God's character to hold both of those things together at the same time?
2. Paul says boasting is completely excluded, whether you're boasting about your good works or even about how much God's grace has covered your sin. Where do you find yourself most tempted to take some credit before God, and what does this passage say to that?
3. The accounting word 'credited' or 'reckoned' comes up repeatedly. Abraham believed God in Genesis 12, and that belief was credited to him as righteousness before circumcision ever entered the picture. What does the timing of that tell us about what God is actually looking for from us?
4. The pastor used the thief on the cross as the clearest illustration of the man 'who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly.' What makes that story either comforting or unsettling to you personally, and why?
5. In the closing prayer, the pastor admitted that things he heard during the week made him angry, and he asked God to strip away self and pride and give him love even for people standing against what he believes is true. How do you personally navigate the tension between conviction about what is right and genuine love for people who see it differently?