The Gift of His Grace

[Christsfreeservant]

“Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.​

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“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 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 3:19-24 NASB’95)​

Now this is definitely one of these passages of Scripture which we must read in the entire context of the book of Romans so that we get the correct biblical interpretation of what this is teaching us. For “the Law” is generally a reference to the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, dietary, and circumcision laws which we, who believe in Jesus Christ, are not under. We are not required to obey all those Old Covenant laws. And Paul spoke of this much in his writings, particularly in the book of Galatians.

But this is speaking of how, when we are born into this world, we are born in sin with sin natures, in the image of Adam, the first man God created, and the first man to sin against God. Not one of us is righteous in our own merit, and not one of us is able, of our own flesh, to be acceptable to God, to be approved of God, and to attain to the righteousness of God. Just keeping a set of rules will not get anyone saved from his sins, no matter how good you think that you are. For all of us are born into sin, separate from God.

So not one of us will ever be good enough to earn our way to heaven or to be deserving of heaven based in our own merit. No amount of “good works” will get anyone into heaven. It is only by the grace of God in him sending his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross to die for our sins that any of us can be saved from our sins and have the hope of eternal life with God. But Jesus put our sins to death with him on that cross so that we will die with him to sin and so we will now walk in his righteousness. Therefore…

By God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands. Thus, sin is to no longer be granted by us to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience is what we obey, it results in sanctification and its end is eternal life with God.

The above paragraph is a summary of Romans 6, and we are taught the same in Romans 2:6-8 and Romans 8:1-14 and Romans 12:1-2, etc. For Jesus Christ did not die on that cross merely to forgive us our sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven. He died to free us from our slavery to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives in walks of surrender and in obedience to his New Covenant commands. And if we do not obey his commands, and we obey sin, instead, we do not have eternal life with God.

So, faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, which is authored of Jesus Christ, and which is not of our own doing, is gifted to us by God, and it persuaded of God as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with Christ to sin and to walk in obedience to his commands. And his grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return.

So, please read all of Romans before you try to interpret Romans 3. And please read Ephesians 2:10 along with Ephesians 2:8-9 before you draw the wrong conclusion that works are not involved in our Christian walks of faith at all. They are! And we will all stand before the Lord on the day of judgment and we will be judged according to our works. If we denied self, died with Christ to sin, in practice, and we followed our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, by faith, then we have salvation and eternal life with God.

But if sin is our practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, we will not inherit eternal life with God. And I know this can be a confusing subject, for in some sense this all appears contradictory, but it isn’t. One has to do with people trying to earn their salvation by keeping the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws but without their hearts surrendered to Jesus Christ under his rule and command following him in his ways as led daily by the Spirit of God.

In other words, you can be a “good deed doer” and still end up in hell. And you can profess faith in Jesus Christ with your lips and go through the motions of religious practice, and still end up in hell. But when we have a biblical understanding of faith and grace, it helps us to understand better what this all means. For faith is persuasion of God as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to surrender all to him and forsake our sins and walk in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit.

And grace is what sent Jesus Christ to that cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will now die with him to sin and walk with him in obedience to his commands, empowered by God and not by the flesh. And the righteous who are righteous in the sight of God are those who are making righteousness their practice, their lifestyle, in the power of God, by the grace of God, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ. And faith in Jesus has to do with us being surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

For Our Nation

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

The Gift of His Grace
An Original Work / April 13, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love