Well if they're not, and they're not...is anyone Righteous?

Read Romans 3

The answer to the title question is a simple one.

No.

From verse 1 of chapter 3 we can see that the Jews believe that they had an advantage over the Gentiles in having righteousness, but Paul turns that around on them and says "No you don't." They were entrusted with a message from God, yet many were unfaithful to God. Now does that make God completely drop us? No, that's the opposite of grace. I'm pretty sure I've said this in my blog before and I'll say it again, grace, if preached properly, sounds like heresy. And this is exactly the case here in the first few verses of chapter 3.

Now I don't really hold stock to once saved always saved, but I do hold stock in God's faithfulness.
2 Timothy 2.13 Paul writes that if we are faithless, God remains faithful. That's exactly what he writes here in verses 3 and 4, if we are faithless God is still faithful to us. This, for me, does not mean once saved always saved, but it instead gives a full look into what grace looks like. Even when we mess up, even when we decide to try and take things into our own hands and lose faith in God, he still remains faithful to us. Though we forsake him he does not forsake us. Instead he lets us try it our way, and we see that we can't save ourselves or properly run our own life. We fall, we get hurt, life gets tough and we can't handle it, but he's still there with us, remaining faithful despite our arrogance and pride. He remains faithful.

As to how this is grace and sounding like heresy, what Paul is truly saying is that we're going to sin. We're going to screw up, we're going to turn our backs on God. But his grace in our lives says, "It's fine. I'm still here. I'm still faithful to you. Though you cheat on me I won't cheat on you."

Verse 5 then speaks about our unrighteousness and God's righteousness. If our unrighteousness shows God's righteousness, or we're the bad example God is the only good example, would it then be unrighteous of God to punish us for being a bad example? No! Would it be unrighteous for a parent to punish their child for doing something wrong? Is it wrong to imprison a convicted murderer? Is it wrong for me to spray my cat when he climbs a lamp shade? No! (Though nowadays the parents issue is being disputed which is why people probably have such a big problem with God and his judgement thinking that he's just as evil as we are.)

But because we are unrighteous God's righteousness is indeed shown. By our lies God's truth is made known. He makes good come out of bad situations. I got screwed over by a church which was a bad situation because of hypocrisy and lies, yet if that didn't happen I wouldn't have been able to meet the people I have back at home, nor come into the new ministry that God has called me to. I wouldn't be placed in a position where my faith is tested and my relationship grows. Out of a bad situation comes a good one and God's glory is shared.

Paul then poses an interesting question in verse 8: Why don't we sin more so that good can happen? He poses a similar question in chapter 6 which we'll look at later. Then right after that he shows that he was being ridiculed by those in the Church with saying heresy, or preaching true grace. Yes, he says, it does sound wrong, it does sound like I'm saying that there's no point to stop sinning, because one we have grace and two by our unrighteousness God's righteousness is shown. But, as he has said before and will say again, this does not mean that we should continue in sin.

So then are the Jews better off because they hold to the Law? Nope, Chuck Testa

(Sorry I think in memes. If you don't know what that means just look up Chuck Testa on Youtube Or Follow this link and enjoy!)

Paul writes that he's already established that both Jew and Gentile (or Christian and non-Christian in our case) are condemned and under sin. He then, with his vast knowledge of the OT from being a Pharisee shows with scripture that the Jews would know that they are indeed under sin.

Then in verses 19 and 20 Paul makes things a bit confusing, which he will increase even more in chapter 7 which will be so much fun! But what he writes is that the Law applies to those who are under it to have them act accordingly and so they will be held accountable to God. But the Jews believed that by following the Law they were saving themselves, but that's not what the Law was for. Much like the Sermon on the Mount the Law was there to instruct them how to live as though they were saved, not to justify them by their actions. This is because that by being under the Law you then come into sin.

This here is confusing. God gave us the Law and by doing so we sin? So we sin because of what God gave us? Well we're under sin either way, it's just by having the Law that we recognize sin and (should) understand that without God's grace in our lives we stand condemned. And because we are condemned and under sin we cannot be justified or righteous by our own works. We're hanging from a cliff and lack the strength to climb ourselves up to safety.

As for the righteousness of God, it is completed even without the Law because, having been the distributor of the Law he then is righteous even without it. And we (unrighteous humans) receive his righteousness as our own by having faith in Jesus.

Verses 23 and 24 blow be away: 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. Boom.

All of us have sinned! All of us fall short of deserving God's glory daily. Yet we are justified despite our shortcomings because of HIS grace which is a free gift made available to us because of the redemption that can only be found in Jesus! And he is God's grace for us, given to us as a gift to truly show God's righteousness, because only because of Jesus God is able to pass over our previous sins.

This is some great stuff. God knows that we're condemned in our sin and completely unrighteous. Yet he sends his son down out of his own grace and righteousness and because of/in response to our unrighteousness so that we can receive his grace in full, take on his righteousness as our own, be justified despite our sin, and have all our sins forgotten and passed over all by having faith in his son. So much to gain with such little effort. All because God did all the work for us.

So what then, as unrighteous people by our own actions, and only righteous by God's actions and his gifts, do we have to boast about? Nothing but the works of God. God is the God of all, he is the King and Lord of all despite our admitting it or not. But those who do admit it receive his free gifts and claim him as their own King and Savior. And because of our faith in him as our King and Savior, we then uphold the Law, not for our own righteousness, but because of his righteousness that he has given to us.

To God be the glory now and forever. Amen.