Unlimited: Apart from the Law
Jun 14, 2022 1074
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known (Romans 3:21(a)).
Paul is insistent in his efforts to point out how the righteousness of the God cannot be obtained on the basis of obedience to the law. Here he makes one of the most striking statements in the entire epistle to the Romans.
Until the coming of Christ into the world, the righteousness of God was revealed through the law. It was through the law that God had revealed the standard he required: the kind of life that he wished people to live.
I love the “buts” of the Bible. Paul has been writing about a world under sin and condemnation. Here, with the words “But now” Paul introduces a radical change that has come into the world.
Justification is apart from the law.
This is because God has revealed the righteousness of God through an entirely different means. This is a means “apart from the law.” In other words, it has nothing to do with the law. It is even a superior revelation, revealing the righteousness of God, not in a legal code, but through a person: Jesus Christ.
Justification is “apart from the law.” If you’re going to talk about how we are made right with God, don’t talk about the law.
This is a central pillar of the Gospel. It is the crux of the entire letter to the church in Rome.
Spiritual Application
Have you ever tried to keep God’s law fully? How successful were you? Read the story of the rich, young ruler in Mark 10:17–22. Where do you fit into this story?
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