A Biblical Orthodoxy: A Theology of the Cross (pt 3)...sin and grace (Romans 3:23-24)

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;" (Romans 3:23-24). 3. The Cross Demands the Glory of Godsoli Deo gloria (glory to God alone)All glory belongs to God and man may not share in that glory. All that we have in life and salvation if from His sovereign hand; He has accomplished all through Jesus Christ our Lord - not only the atonement on the Cross, but even granting the faith which allows sinful men to be saved. Every aspect of salvation is a grace-gift from God, and thus all praise belongs to Him alone and not to any man.The Sinfulness of Sin and the SinnerRomans 3:23a "for all have sinned..."Man by his very nature is corrupt-totally depraved, conceived in sin, dead in his trespasses and sins. By nature a child of wrath; depraved in his mind and deprived of the truth. He is a sinner not because he commits acts of sin, but because he is born sinful-with a sin nature.

"Sin strikes at God and says, 'I don't care what You said, I'll do what I want.' It is God's would be murderer. Sin would un-God God if it could. Sin defiles the conscience. Sin is irrational and forfeits blessing. Sin is painful-it hurts. Sin is damning. Sin is degrading it mares the image of God and man. Like Samson, it cuts the locks of purity and leaves men morally weak. Sin poisons the springs of love and turns beauty in leprosy. Sin defeats the mind, the heart, the will, the affections and it has made a whole world of people-all of mankind-children wrath by nature; objects of God's wrath. Sin brings man under the domination of Satan and his sick sin system, which he controls. Man and the world is a slave to sin, open rebellion and defiance to God and a slave to Satan." (author unknown).

That great puritan preacher, Jonathan Edwards, brings us to the crossroads of this issue when saying:

"Sin is naturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to plucking out our right eyes. Men may refrain from wonted ways of sin for a little while, and may deny their lusts in a partial degree, with less difficulty; but it is heart-rending work, finally to part with all sin, and to give our dearest lusts a bill of divorce, utterly to send them away. But this we must do, if we would follow those that are truly turning to God: yea, we must not only forsake sin, but must, in a sense, forsake all the world, Luke 14:33 'Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.'"

Thomas Watson emphasizes this as well by the aphorism:

"Another subtlety is to draw men to evil, sub specie boni, under a pretence of good. -- The pirate doeth mischief by hanging out false colors; so does Satan by hanging out the colors of religion. He puts some men upon sinful actions, and persuades them much good will come of it. He tells them in some cases that they may dispense with the rule of the Word, and stretch their conscience beyond that line, that they may be in a capacity of doing more service. As if God needed our sin to raise his glory."

And because our nature is totally corrupt, the only thing that we are deserving of, if God was only just, holy and righteous, is to be sentenced to perditions flames for all eternity. On my best day, doing my best good works, clothed in the rags of my own righteousness reward me the hottest fires of hell. Absent of God's grace through Jesus Christ and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit – I am deserving and worthy of eternal judgment.John MacArthur profoundly says,

"Most unsaved people do not think of themselves as enemies of God. Because they have no conscious feelings of hatred for Him and do not actively oppose His work or contradict His Word, they consider themselves, at worst, to be "neutral" about God. But no such neutrality is possible. The mind of every unsaved person is at peace only with the things of the flesh, and therefore by definition is "hostile toward God" and cannot be otherwise (Rom. 8:7)."

Not only are all unbelieversenemies of God,but God is also the enemyof all unbelievers.The Psalmist says that God is "angry with the wicked every day" (cf. Ps. 7:11). God is the enemy of the sinner, and that enmity cannot end unless and until the sinner places his trust in Jesus Christ. As Paul declared near the opening of this letter of Romans, "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18).No man is without excuse.To those who foolishly think God is too loving to send anyone to hell, Paul declared, "Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things [the sins listed in v. 5] the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience" (Eph. 5:6); "and the Lord does hate all who do iniquity" (Psalm 5:5). You see, Hell is not the absence of God, but the wrathful presence of God poured out for eternity upon Satan and all his minions, and all who have rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ, who do not confess Him as Lord and Savior of their lives in unmitigated fury and gall forever.But on the cross, Christ took upon Himself all the fury of God's wrath on behalf of the elect that sinful mankind deserves. And those who trust in Christ are no longer God's enemies and no longer under His wrath, but are at peace with Him (Roms. 5:1).What is the glory that Paul is speaking of here? Romans 3:23b - "and fall short of the glory of God,"This glory is not the "doing of all things for God's glory." Roms. 3:10-18 settles that issue plainly. It is not the future glory of glorification (Jude 24-25) that all true believers will receive one day in eternity; i.e., the believers future reward as found in 1 Cor. 15:43; 2 Cor. 3:18, 4:17; Col. 1:27, 3:4; and 2 Tim. 2:10.IT IS the entrance of sin that causes all to fall short of God's glory. The term glory of God means here "glory imparted by God": IOW, in the sense of approval, approbation and praise. Following this line of thinking you could translate this verse as saying, "All have sinned and continually are unworthy of God's praise and appraisal" (present tense). All continually fall short of God's holy approbationl of our lives.There is nothing we can to please God, satisfy God, merit His favor; to be in right relationship with Him apart from His grace. We are completely depraved, conceived in sin, by nature children of wrath, sons of disobedience, no seeking after God, no one doing what is right, no fear of God before our eyes, etc. (cp, Roms. 3:10-18; Eph. 2:1-3; Psalm 51:5).So what Paul is meaning in verse 23 is this:

"all continually sin and constantly fall short of conformity to God's image."William Hendrickson translates this way:"All have sinned and as a result are now in a state in which they are falling short of (or lacking) what they possessed before the fall, namely, the inestimable blessing of having the approval of God resting upon them."

That is why Spurgeon clearly states:

"Consider this, believer. You have no right to heaven in yourself: your right lies in Christ. If you are pardoned, it is through His blood; if you are justified, it is through His righteousness; if you are sanctified, it is because He is made of God unto you sanctification; if you shall be kept from falling, it will be because you are preserved in Christ Jesus; and if you are perfected at the last, it will be because you are complete in Him. Thus Jesus is magnified-for all is in Him and by Him; thus the inheritance is made certain to us-for it is obtained in Him; thus each blessing is the sweeter, and even heaven itself the brighter, because it is Jesus our Beloved "in whom" we have obtained all."

4. The Cross Distinguishes the Grace of God-sola gratia (grace alone)Romans 3:24 "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;" Salvation comes by grace alone, not through any merits intrensic of the sinner. Thus salvation is an unearned gift. This is a response to the Catholic doctrine of merit.This is the first time Paul uses the verb to justify in a positive sense to set forth the doctrine of justification by faith. Justify here means to declare righteous. Justification then may be defined as:

"the gracious act of God, whereby, on the basis solely of Christ's accomplished mediatorial work on the cross, He declares the sinner just, and later accepts this benefit with a believing heart."

Justification stands over and against condemnation.Justification is also a matter of imputation: the sinner's sin, guilt and penalty of sin is imputed to Christ; the Savior's complete righteousness (His active and passive obedience) is imputed to the sinner (2 Cor. 5:21)."freely"We are justified Paul says "as a gift" or freely; in other words, absent of any human merit. Man cannot earn the great and awesome blessing of justification-being made right with God. We can only receive it as a gift and that receiving is even an act of grace."By His grace"And this was all accomplished by grace.