But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; 23 all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. 24 They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed, 26 through the forbearance of God—to prove his righteousness in the present time, that he might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 What occasion is there then for boasting? It is ruled out. On what principle, that of works? No, rather on the principle of faith. 28 For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Does God belong to Jews alone? Does he not belong to Gentiles, too? Yes, also to Gentiles, 30 for God is one and will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Are we then annulling the law by this faith? Of course not! On the contrary, we are supporting the law.
The new era of the presence of the kingdom of God on earth has been inaugurated and the righteousness of God, which was attested to by the Law and the prophets, has been made manifest in Jesus Christ. Human beings can share in the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
All human beings commit individual acts of sin (Rom. 5:12) and therefore cannot share in God’s glory, the external manifestation of his presence, for which they were destined (2 Cor. 3:18). However, even though before the coming of Christ sinful humanity was subject to God’s wrath and deprived of God’s intimate presence, humanity was redeemed by God’s free and gratuitous gift of grace, through the blood of Jesus Christ, who through his righteousness (Rom. 5:19), the guilt of all of our past sins was wiped away; "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8).”
The sacrifice Jesus made on the cross had an effect in the past as well as the present. God is Holy and did not always punish us as we deserved but allowed us to be reconciled to him through faith in Christ which made us holy. We cannot boast of achieving our own salvation because we did nothing to achieve reconciliation with God and are justified only through the principle of faith (v. 27). Jews can boast of their deeds through observing the law, but observing the law cannot lead to their salvation (Gal. 2:16).
The Jews agree that Yahweh is God of all human beings (Rom. 10:12) and the Jews who are circumcised under the law are justified by faith in the law. The Gentiles who are uncircumcised are justified by faith in Jesus Christ.
Almighty God, grant us
the grace to have faith in your Son. Strengthen
us that we may avoid the spiritual perils of sin and seek your kingdom and its
righteousness. This we ask through
Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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