I want to begin by asking you guys a question. I want you to tell me whether or not you believe this statement to be true. “God helps those who help themselves.” Is it Scriptural? Is it found in Scripture?
The saying itself is often cited as being something that was said by Ben Franklin, though it probably originated from Algeron Sydney in 1698. And research from the early 2000’s showed that “52% of practicing Christians strongly agree that the Bible teaches “God helps those who help themselves.”
And, I can say that over half of all Christians polled in this study had the answer wrong. God is depicted throughout Scripture as the helper of the helpless (Isaiah 25:4; Romans 5:6), not the one who helps their self. And we need to get this right. We desperately need to get this right, our very souls depend upon it.
We are saved from God, by God, to God, for God, and receive this salvation by faith.
We Are Saved From God (Vv. 3:19-20 -23)
We have a tendency to parrot what we’ve heard for years and not really apply it to our lives. One of those things that we parrot without applying to ourselves is our own unworthiness for salvation.
Paul has just quoted Old Testament text after Old Testament text that discusses the universal sinfulness of mankind. And now in Verse 19 we read,
“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.”-Romans 3:19 ESV
The Law exists to stop our self-justification. It reveals to us our sinfulness. The picture is clear. We are standing before God’s courtroom and all our sins are thrown up before us for us to see. No one will be there declaring their own righteousness. Why? Because our mouths are all stopped. All of us are show to be accountable to God. Paul takes this idea a bit further when he says,
“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”-Romans 3:20 ESV
To be justified is to be declared righteous. God will not look at anyone’s life and declare them to be righteous on the basis of their own works and law keeping. The Law does, however, accomplish something. It gives the “knowledge of sin”.
To put this into its proper context you must understand that Jews, as a general rule, applied these Old Testament texts to Gentiles as though it did not apply to them. They had read these passages and even sung part of them from their childhood and thought that they were about everyone else. Now, Paul is saying to them that these passages condemn them as well. There is no self-justification before God. No one is declared righteous before God on the basis of their own works.
There is a free promise given to us in the Law. It is “do this and live”. The problem is that no one can “do this”. No one can keep the Law and that wasn’t really the purpose of the Law. The Law’s purpose is to stop our self-justification. The Law’s purpose is to reveal to us our sinfulness. The Law’s purpose is to drive us to Christ.
Donald Barnhouse stated that the Law was like a mirror. It reveals to us the dirt on our face and drives us to the water so that it can be cleaned. The Law reveals to us our sinfulness so that it will drive us to Jesus. We have broken God’s Law and deserve His wrath and justice. The Law is the mirror that helps us to see this.
You may not be old enough to realize the depths of your own sinfulness as well as others in the room. But with very little contemplation and gazing upon God’s Law it becomes evident that you are a wretched sinners who has earned God’s wrath and justice.
I live in a generation that sees people as being inherently good and that the answers can be found deep within them. What Scripture reveals to us is that when you look for answers within you will find your own condemnation and it’s only as you look outward to the righteousness of Christ that you find redemption.
There is a tendency among others to have the same attitude as the Jews whom Paul wrote to in this passage. They somehow read and say the right things, they probably have sung about being a wretch in the song “Amazing Grace” but still see themselves as somehow being inherently good…or at least better than another group of people. The groups of people are endless. The truth that we find from Paul is that there is nothing within you that makes you better or more savable than others. You’re not better than the guy down the street that you compare yourself to. You’re not in better standing than the drunk in the bar or the homosexual in the pride parade, or the drug addict that can’t stay out of prison. It may make you a better citizen. It may make other people think more highly of you. It may make you a better parent. But God, who sees the heart and the wretchedness of your sin doesn’t see it that way. To think other than God thinks is to think too little of your own sin and not understand the gospel.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”-Romans 3:23 ESV
As a church we have to understand sin and its effect on us. We have to understand how unworthy we are. Think about it. What differentiates me from anyone else? It’s certainly not my works or any other achievement of my own. It’s only Christ that differentiates me from the lost person. We have to understand that lost people are going to act lost because they are not yet part of God’s Kingdom. And we have to desire that they would one day be a part of God’s Kingdom.
We are saved from God’s wrath and justice. And we long for this to be the case for others.
We Are Saved By God Alone (Romans 3:21-22 & 24-25)
The Law reveals to us our sinfulness and drives us to the Savior. And as we would expect, Paul discussed our great salvation as He was discussing our horrible state.
After stating that no one would be declared righteous in the sight of God he declared the glorious grace of God given to us in His Son.
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the 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: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…”-Romans 3:21-24 ESV
Now, rather than earning righteousness before God on the basis of law keeping or works, a righteousness has been revealed to us that that is not about law keeping but given to us by faith.
This righteousness comes to us in two parts. The first is the righteousness of Christ that is credited to us. That is what Paul means when he says talks about a righteousness that is “manifested” or revealed apart from the Law. It is a righteousness that we get “through faith in Jesus Christ”.
It is not accurate to say that no one has ever kept God’s Law perfectly. Because one person has and that one person was Jesus. The one person in all of history that acutally lived totally righteously and earned His own righteousness is Jesus. That positive righteousness is credited to my account. As Paul will say elsewhere, it is righteousness that is not my own (Philippians 3:9). Martin Luther and the other Reformers were fond of calling it an “Alien Righteousness” because it is a righteousness that comes from outside of us and is made ours through Christ. And, not only are we given this positive righteousness but we are also given the forgiveness of sins.
Paul continues and says,
whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith….(Romans 3:25 ESV)
Not only does Jesus give us the righteousness that He earned through His perfect life, but He also negates all of our sin through His sacrificial death. God put Jesus put His Son forward, the word has the connotation of “plackarded”. When God put Jesus forward, He was hung on the cross for all to see. He was there hanging on the cross as the “proptiation” for our sins. A propitiation is a wrath bearing sacrifice. God’s wrath, anger, and justice that is poured out on sinners was poured out on Jesus, and again it is “received by faith”.
When we put the two ideas together, we have my unrighteousness being placed upon Christ on the cross. There He bears God’s wrath in my place. But Jesus didn’t just take away our unrighteousness. He also earned righteousness that He gives to us. So that we are no longer guilty but righteous instead.
To a group of people who believed themselves to be saved by keeping the Law Paul says that it is simply not the case. Salvation is only found in what God accomplished outside of us and without us through the finished work of His Son. And get this, Paul states that all this is done by God’s grace as a gift.
Grace is unmerited favor. It is God giving you what you don’t deserve, that is eternal life. And this is done as a gift. This could almost be translated as Paul yelling, “GOD GIVES THIS TO YOU AS A GIFT WHEN YOU TRUST IN CHRIST!”
Good works will not save you. You can’t be that good. You can’t measure up to that standard. And the good news is that God has made a way for you to be declared righteous before Him and be saved from His wrath. That way is Jesus Christ. It is the only way that God has provided. Jesus is our wrath bearing sacrifice and He is also our righteousness. He has made a way.
Our society seeks salvaiton in a number of other areas. Number one, it seems, among them is education. I don’t think conservatives have wrestled mentally with the actual reason why many people in our day actually want to give free college to everyone. Education is seen as the great Savior by a large portion of our society. It is believed that with enough educated people crime will go down, poverty will be erased, and the society that we live in will be saved. The problem is that the great problem is not lack of education, but sin. And the remedy to that is not education but Jesus Christ.
You can’t educate yourself and avoid the wrath of God. You can’t do enough things to make God pleased with you. He will never be pleased with you until your sins are washed away and you are credited with the righteousness of Christ. You “fall short of the glory of God”.
You can’t work hard enough. You can’t provide enough for your family. You can’t be a good enough parent, teacher, public servant, you can’t do enough. You will always “fall short of the glory of God”.
You cannot have lived a good enough life, you cannot have prayed enough, you cannot have read your bible enough, you cannot have given enough money to the poor, you cannot have spent enough time in church, given enough money to the church, or done enough for the church. You will always “fall short of the glory of God”.
Salvation is found in Christ and Christ alone. He has achieved a perfect righteousness that He gives to us. He has also paid the full punishment for all of our sins. Salvation is found in Him alone.
These things are so important that God has given us visual signs for us to see the promises of His grace. We witnessed a baptism on Sunday. It should call us to remember our own baptism along with the one we are seeing at that moment. We remember our own rescue from sin and death on the basis of the work of Christ. We partake of the Lord’s Supper. In it God gives us pictures of the grace that He gives us in His Word. Christ’s body was broken for the forgiveness of our sins. Christ’s blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sins. This idea was not a one time thing that we made a decision to be a part of. It permeats our entire lives.
Christian, I have a question for you to think long and hard about…mostly because I that I fail in this way over and over. How do you respond when you have sinned?
Do you feel that you cannot possibly read your Bible, pray, or struggle to go to church until you’ve done enough good to counterbalance the bad thing you’ve done? You need to understand that you cannot possibly make things right enough to go into God’s presence by your working. Atonement for your sin has been made by Christ on the Cross. You have been clothed in a righteousness that is not your own. Go to God. Repent of your sin. Ask for His forgiveness and for the closeness of your relationship with God to be repaired. And trust that God has forgiven you on the basis of His Son’s perfect already-accomplished salvation.
How do you respond to past sins being brought to mind? Do you fall into a deep depression? Or do you rest in the finished work of Christ? Remember that Christ has paid for your sin. Remember that you are now righteous in Christ. And praise God for His glorious salvation.
We are saved from God by God alone and there is nothing else in the Universe that can wash away our sin or make us righteous.
We Are Saved To God (V. 24)
God saves us and brings us to Himself. We are no longer strangers to the saving eternal covenant that God has made. We are adopted. We are brought near to God. We are redeemed.
and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
To be redeemed is to be released. It has been stated many times before that slaves would at times be redeemed. They would be purchased by wealthy folks and immediately handed papers that stated that they were free. They had been redeemed.
Christ has come and released us from the penalty of our sin. What is it that separates us from God? It is our unholiness. It is our sin. We deserve God’s wrath and justice, but Christ has redeemed His people. He has taken away all that stood between us and God. My sins are now forgiven because of the sacrifice of Christ. I am clothed in the righteousness of Christ. And now, I am accepted by God and not condemned. I am no longer God’s enemy but His friend. I am now His child.
If you are not a believer here today then God’s wrath is currently hanging over your head. You are not a friend of God’s, but an enemy. You should know, however, that full forgiveness…redemption is found in Christ. When you trust in Christ then you are united with Him and receive all the benefits of being His. Your sins are forgiven. You are given the righteousness of Christ. And you will be with God, in the New Heavens and New Earth where He will personally be in your presence for all eternity as your loving God.It is only through Christ that we can be united to God in the here and now, and perfectly united to Him in the New Heavens and New Earth for Eternity.
The demands of the Law have now been met in Christ. We are righteous. The Lawbreaking has been punished in Christ. We are sinless. And we are now part of God’s family. We have received all of the benefits of Christ’s work, one of which is uniting us to God as His adopted children.
Your home life might really stink. And that may be putting it lightly. Through the work of Christ there is one who has made you one of His own children and loves you with a self-sacrificiing, everlasting love.
You may feel like your friends and family no longer care for you. Know that if you are a believer then you have been united to Christ through the work of Christ and are part of His family. He loves you. He cares for you. This great work of salvation has brought you to Him in His love and mercy. And He proved this to you on Calvary’s Hill one day over 2,000 years ago.
We are not saved so that we can take part in a political ideology. We are not saved to a social group. We are redeemed to be a part of something greater. We were rescued out of this life, we have been rescued out of this world order and those things are a part of this world order. We have been brought into the family of God as those whom His love is poured out on lavishly.
We Are Saved For God’s Glory (Vv. 25-28)
From eternity past God had decided that He would save, and He was going to do so in a righteous way. He would both save a people for Himself and glorify the exhibition of grace and justice in the process.
Paul goes on to give the reason why things were done this way.
This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His rightoeusness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.-Romans 3:25b
For many years God had been passing over the sins of His people. The sacrifices of bulls and goats were not salvific, it pictured something greater… the coming of one who would actually atone for sins (Hebrews 10:3-4). And now that Christ has come, the sins that God has forgiven…all of them…past, present, and future are paid for by the sacrifice of Christ. God was now able to save righteously.
He had every right to allow the whole world to fall into condemnation and leave it be. He would have been perfectly just to do so. But He had set His love on people and would save them. How would He do so righteously. How could He be both just and justifier of the wicked? It is through the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Here grace comes down on us as God’s justice came down on Christ. At the cross God’s justice and mercy met. And God is glorified through it all.
Sin has consequences and God is a just judge. And through Christ’s work on the cross God glorifies Himself through an exhibition of both His justice and mercy.
We have a tendency to be very self-centered people. We think highly of ourselves and so think little of our sin and then when we come to faith in Christ we begin to think that we are teh only reason Christ went to the cross. Why did Jesus die on the cross? He died to save us, but ultimately it is sot hat God could save us righteously. So that God could be both just and the justifier of the one who trusts in Jesus.
This should move us to glory in the salvation given to us. and stand in awe of His holiness that came together at Calvary. And this should lead us to live lives that are devoted to God’s glory. If it was this important for God to glorify Himself then it should cause us to see that even our salvation is not all about us. It is about Him.
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law ofworks? No, but by the law of faith.-Romans 3:27 ESV
Do we boast that we are better than others? No, where is our boasting. It is in the fact that God saved me through the perfect work of Christ. What makes me different than the guy down the street? God has saved me through the perfect work of Christ.
If I am allowed to see the fate of those who are condemned to an eternity in Hell, what will have made me different than them? God has saved me through the perfect work of Christ. That is all.
So, we are saved from God, by God, to God, for His glory. How do we receive this salvation we have been discussing.
We Receive This Salvation By Faith Alone (Vv. 22, 25, 26, 28)
We are “justified”, that is declared right with God. But how is it that we become partakers of this glorious salvation.
For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”-Romans 3:28 ESV
Good works offers to you eternal happiness, but in reality it’s a false hope for you can never keep it. Therefore, how is a person declared righteous before God? It is by faith.
So, what is faith? Faith includes a knowledge of what Christ has done for us. A knowledge that this is true. And it is also trusting in what Christ has done for us. The Heidelberg Catechism has a good summary statement of what faith is.
“True faith is not only a certain knowledge whereby I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word; but also a hearty trust, which the Holy Spirit works in my by the Gospel, that not only to others, but to me also, forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace, only for the sake of Christ’s merits.”–from Heidelberg Catechism Question 21
Faith is a gift (Ephesians 2:8). And this gift causes us to respond with trust in the finished work of Christ.
We began with a question and I’d like to end with a different one. What is your answer to this question if asked it by God? “What right have you to enter My Heaven?”
If you’re trusting in Christ you’ll answer that question far differently than the person who has not. If you’re trusting in Jesus then you’ll plead the righteousness of Christ and His sacrifice for you alone. Faith is the instrument through which we take hold of this great and glorious salvation.
Salvation completely of God. We are saved from God, by God, to God, for God and we receive it by faith.
R. Dwain Minor
