“Boasting Excluded”
A Sermon on Romans 3:27-31
March 7,2004
by Rev. Stephen C. Magee
REVIEW
1. Propitiation: The force of God’s righteous wrath was coming against us because of our sin. Only the blood of Christ could turn away that wrath and save us from eternal destruction. Christ did this for us on the cross where He was our propitiation. The demands of God’s righteousness were satisfied, and we were able to live, rather than die.
2. Just and Justifier: How did God do righteousness for us? He did it without sacrificing His Law. He met all the demands of His law. Our sin deserved punishment, and it got what it deserved in the punishment of Christ for us. He also did righteousness without sacrificing His plan for mercy. The love of God was poured out upon the elect. Because of their own righteousness? No way! Because of an alien righteousness – a righteousness outside themselves – because of the righteousness of His Son, who was not only our propitiation, but also our obedience to all of God’s commandments. Through this good news, God was both just in punishing sin, and a merciful Justifier in granting all who believe eternal life as a part of His family.
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
27 Where is boasting then?
It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles?
Yes, of the Gentiles also,
30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith?
Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
1. Where is boasting then?
Paul literally tells us in this passage that boasting is “shut out.” It is excluded. There is no place for it in God’s family.
The apostle says that boasting is excluded by something he calls the “law of faith.” A system of righteousness by works could never exclude boasting. But because of this “law of faith” we cannot boast. What is this law of faith? Some have contended that Paul here means the “principle” of faith. If we take Paul’s words in that way, then the contrast between the law “of works” and the “law of faith” would be this: The principle of works says, “Do this, and live.” The principle of faith says, “Truly hear and receive this, and live.” But what is the “this” that we hear when we have faith? It is certainly the message of mercy that comes to us through Christ alone, without which there is no Christianity. But what is the content of that mercy? Is there any place for law in it? Paul normally uses the Greek word for “law” no,moj (nomos) to refer to the Old Testament Law, the Law of Moses. Could Paul be saying something here about the Law of God that is connected to our faith? How would the Law of God, as it pertains to faith, exclude boasting? We need to think about the connection between faith and law.
Think of this. Some unworthy man comes in to town and tells us that he has worked out a way that all of our sins are forgiven. Would we have faith in that man? He speaks to us of mercy, but does he have God’s mercy to give? Has he been deemed worthy himself, that he might make such a pronouncement? It would seem clear that the One who works out our mercy must have whatever worthiness that task requires. If the task requires obedience, he must have that obedience. Obedience means obedience to something. That something is the Law.
Christ is worthy according to the Law, that He might credibly announce to all who trust in Him that the Law has been satisfied for us by Him. Mercy comes to us because of this. This is the connection between Law and faith. A man is mercifully justified by this faith, Paul says, apart from the deeds of the Law. Your own deeds cannot win you mercy. The righteous deeds of Jesus and His atoning death are the necessary foundation for our merciful acceptance by God. We hear this and live. This is the gospel content that can be rightly thought of as the “law” component of our faith, and it makes self-centered boasting silly.
2. Is He the God of the Jews only?
If salvation were by our own works of obedience to all the Old Testament Law then one would certainly need to be a Jew in order to have it. But there is only one God, and all nations are called to worship Him (Psalm 100). And there is only one way to be right with Him, and that is through faith, for the just shall live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4). Paul’s point in today’s passage is not just for Jews. It is for anyone who would have faith in Christ. God’s plan is to gather the elect from Jews and Gentiles.
Jewish listeners would have readily agreed that God was the God of the entire world. But why is Paul bringing this up in a discussion of works and faith? This is only the second of Paul’s three questions here, but the key to making sense of these three points as a coherent whole is realizing that faith is faith in Someone who did something. Faith has content, and Christian faith has reference to the works of Someone who kept the Law of God for us. Now back to point two. The Someone who did something did it not only for Jews who would believe. He did it for Gentiles who would believe as well.
3. Do we then make void the Law through faith?
Was the Law somehow wrong, so that it needed to be made void? The doctrine of justification by faith is built upon the ‘rightness’ of the Law. Only one who has obeyed the Law can be the object of our faith. Death, the righteous penalty of the Law, must be taken by that Substitute. The worthiness of the Law is not a debatable point in God’s saving plan. The God of the entire world sent His Son to keep the Law, so that those who would be granted faith in Him would be given the benefits of His keeping the Law. No room for boasting. No difference between Jew and Gentile. No denigration of His own Law or His perfect holiness.
The problem with the Law is not primarily that it was only given to one nation. The problem with the Law is that we violate it every day in thought, word, and action; in what we do, and in what we fail to do; and there is no health within us. But at just the right time, Christ – the Law-Keeper died for us. The Law did not need to be made void. It needed to be kept by Someone. Christ has done that for us.
APPLICATION:
I call you to embrace this gospel in the fullest way this morning. The gospel of the Law-Keeper who brings mercy through his atoning blood is inconsistent with boasting. A person who is full of boasting is full of himself. Your behavior may not look like boasting, but do not be fooled by that. This kind of arrogance often wears a costume of false humility. You may be full of self-pity, or full of self-defense, or full of self-righteous anger at someone else’s sins. If so, then like the man who insists on boasting, you are full of yourself. There is a sense in which it is uncomfortable to be full of yourself. Self-pity, self-defense, self-centered anger, and self-promotion are not really very much fun in the long wrong. But there is a problem. To stop these anti-gospel behaviors you have to get off the pretend throne that has become so comfortable to you. If you are full of yourself, then you are still on the pretend throne, as if you ought to have sovereign rule over your life and over every other person, place, or thing that touches your life in some way. We can’t stop the self-pity, self-defense, self-righteous anger, or self-promotion of boasting unless we get off of that pretend throne. I say pretend throne, since we know that you are not really sovereign over even one molecule of this universe. But a pretend throne can seem to be a comfortable place to sit. How can you get off of that throne?
I’ve been talking about something I call a pro-choice idol in recent weeks. I use that word to mean something more than the abortion debate. I contend that even many of you who consider yourselves strong Christians are living your lives with too much of a pro-choice worldview. I want you to see the difference between biblical Christianity and a Christian-lite pro-choice religion. In the pro-choice mind, God may have his place in your life, and you may have even invited Jesus into your personal space, but though you may think that you have already done this, you will not truly give your life to Him today.
There is a fundamental choice that you must make. I am not talking about the choice to approve of a god who meets your standards for what a god ought to be, but the choice to surrender to God. I am asking you to obey a truly higher authority, and to make the choice to engage your will in the service of one who you will now and forever submit to, that His choices would rule all your other choices. I am talking about getting off of that pretend throne.
We will see as we proceed through Romans, that this can only be done by God the Holy Spirit. But you need to see your condition rightly if you are to reject this pro-choice idolatry which is all around us. Let me ask you something for today’s small step of self-diagnosis. How do you make decisions every day? Moment by moment, which of these two questions is most likely to be in your mind? Question 1: “What do I want to do?” Question 2: “What have I been told to do?” Do you even like the second question? If you don’t like the second question, then in what sense have you surrendered your life to the God who is above you?
Your first step today is to see the problem. It may take many doses of the antibiotic of hearing God’s Word in this letter to get rid of this ugly bacteria. But let me give you a sneak preview of the health that will come from this regimen if the Lord will bless us with His presence. By the end of the treatments you will be able to see that your redeemed heart can truly want to do what you have been told to do by God in His written Word. The two questions come together as we see the wonder of Christ for us. We will be so captivated by Him that we will want to ask, “What is your good command for me?” May God work such a thirst for holiness in us! May we desire Him, His command, His Spirit, more than gold, more than food, more than every pleasure! Amen.