WHEN WE BELIEVE

Romans 3:21-31
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

Christ Took Our Punishment

21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30 There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 31 Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.


It is important to understand, in totality, what God’s Word says to us about our sinful condition. There is some faulty theology out there which I would classify as ‘feel good’ theology. We want to feel good about God and feel good about ourselves. We feel good about God when we say God is love. We feel good about ourselves when we say our loving Father has forgiven our sin.

God’s love and forgiveness is universally available but the Apostle Paul makes it crystal clear that it is not universally applied. The one God … the God of Jews and Gentiles … makes people right with himself only by faith; only when they believe in Jesus Christ. A theology which focuses only on the saving work done at Calvary without a personal confession of faith in the One who did the work, falls short. To say that we are all saved dilutes the truth of the scriptures. Salvation is only sure for those who have confessed the Savior, Jesus Christ, as God’s only Son and placed your eternity in His hands.