Romans Chapter 3God's Righteousness SuppliedThe Character of God's Salvation - Part 2

Through faith alone

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Romans 3:21-25a But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith.


Having given us the good news, Paul reminds us immediately that we human beings are all of the same lump and there is no difference whatsoever between the Jews and the rest of us, because we are all guilty of sin and worthy of condemnation. However, he now uses the fact of our common corruption to point to our common hope. But the “all” who have fallen short are not all justified, because they do not all receive Christ by faith. The free offer of salvation is there for all, to be received through faith – and the sacrifice of Christ is sufficient for all mankind, would they but believe. That is why we are to preach the gospel to every creature under heaven – to extend God’s general call in the offer of salvation to all men. If they believe, God will save them.

Christ never casts out any that come to Him. Men are not saved by belief in their election, but by belief in Jesus Christ, crucified for sin and risen from the dead. We do not preach to them, “If you are one of the elect God will enable you to come.” We preach, “Repent and believe the gospel – come to Christ and He will freely accept you as you are.” After they have come to Him and received Him, He will reveal to them how it was He alone who brought them. Wasn’t this true for you? Can you not sing with a true heart W. Spencer Walton’s words…

"O the love that sought me, O the blood that bought me, O the grace that brought me in the fold, wondrous grace that brought me to the fold".

The gospel, therefore, is good news for the whole world. Our calling is to preach it accurately and fully – and God will make our preaching and witness effective, according to His will. And the gospel announces a salvation that can only be received by faith.

I do not believe that the Bible teaches a view that this mental assent called “faith” is something that originates in fallen man. I reject the idea that believing is not only what we must do, but is also what we are capable of doing before we are born again. If unbelief is a sin (and it is, because whatever is not of faith is sin) and I was an unbeliever before I received Christ, then that unbelief must have been paid for and my belief purchased by Christ on my behalf. As John Piper has said…

“...when you believe as you ought to believe, you will discover that your belief – like all other spiritual blessings – was purchased by the death of Christ. The sin of unbelief was covered by the blood in your case, and therefore the power of God's mercy was released through the cross to subdue your rebellion and bring you to the Son. You did not make the cross effective in your life by faith. The cross became effective in your life by purchasing your faith.” - John Piper article "For Whom Did Christ Die?"

Whatever you believe its source to be, faith is the common means through which God justifies both Jews and Gentiles. It is the same God, the same salvation, the same means for all men. From the earliest days after Eden to the church age, men are justified through faith in the Messiah according to whatever degree of revelation they have concerning Him. It was always a looking to God for Him to provide the solution to the problem of sin as opposed to a trying to justify ourselves. Cain and Abel are the archetypes of these two lines of humanity – the line of faith and the line of works.