The Two Words That Changed Everything: Romans Series #24

Some years ago I preached a sermon entitled “Ten Good Things in Hell.” I realize when you read that title you are no doubt saying to yourself, I have never heard of good things in hell. Even though I will not list them now, good intentions will be in hell. 

Millions of people have good intentions to someday come to Christ or have good intentions to live a peaceful life. Yet good intentions alone have never saved a person or helped that person to become born-again in Christ.

In my early years, when I was fortunate to preach almost 90 youth camps across the United States, I did hear some young people say they were planning to go to hell because all of their friends will be there. However, I have never met a person who down deep inside their heart wanted to miss heaven and spend eternity in hell.

I think all of us realize we are not going to be here forever. I think most of us understand we are going to die. The latest statistic on death is one out of one. Any sane, reasonable person wants to know how to go to heaven when they die. I believe the greatest question in the world is, “How can I get to know God personally?” The second greatest question is, “How can I go to heaven when I die?

With this in mind, all of the religions of the world really can be gathered around two concepts about how a person can go to heaven. There is man’s way to get to heaven, and there is God’s way to get to heaven. Either we have to get to heaven by something we do because we worked for it, or we can get to heaven because of what God has done for us.

We’ve seen in the opening chapters in our study from the book of Romans that it is totally impossible for us to go to heaven because of what we have done. The record of the Bible is very clear. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

We now come to Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.” In fact, the first part of the book of Romans has as its main subject, sin. Beginning in chapter 1 verse 19 and moving all the way into chapter 3 verse 20, the great subject is sin. 

For a while now we have been descending on the slide of slime. We have come to understand the depths of human depravity—the depths of human sin. Mankind is stained by sin in every area of his life Therefore, there is no possibility in the human personality to get to heaven on the basis of what we do. Yet there is incredible hope!

We now come to verse 21. Look at the way it begins, “But now.” Those are two of the greatest words in all of the Bible. Those two words totally changed the course of humanity. Two simple words can change our lives forever. For example, when a would-be married couple stands before a preacher and says, “I do,” their lives are different forever.

We have learned the bad news, but now we are getting to the good news. We have laid the backdrop of sin. We have shown the total inability of man to get to heaven by his own deeds. But now God has devised a way whereby we can get to heaven. We should notice in verse 21, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.” In other words, God’s way to heaven is made evident.

There are four statements I want you to write down somewhere, in the margin of your Bible, in the back of your Bible, or in your notes. If you understand these four statements, then you will understand what salvation is all about.

1. Statement number 1 – God is righteous.
2. Statement number 2 – We are unrighteous.
3. Statement number 3 – God demands righteousness.
4. Statement number 4 – God provides righteousness in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you understand those four statements, you know what salvation is and how you can go to heaven when you die. You know the whole message of the Bible. I want us to look at God’s way to heaven.

I. Our Salvation Was Predicted (Romans 3:21–23)

We read in Romans 3:21, “being witnessed by the law and the prophets.” He is saying the way of salvation is not something new. It’s not something that Paul just thought up. He is saying that God’s way to heaven has been anticipated through the law and the prophets in the Old Testament.

We are familiar with the Old Testament law. We know that Moses, the great lawgiver, went up Mt. Sinai and God gave him ten commandments on two tablets of stone; the way salvation was first shown through the law or the pronouncements.

We know that the law teaches us that we are sinners and we desperately need a Saviour. But God gave Moses not only the tablets of the law, but God also gave Moses the design for a building called a tabernacle. In the Old Testament God gave the tabernacle where lambs were to be put on the altar and sacrificed.

God gave Moses the law, but He also gave Moses the lamb. God gave Moses the burden, but He also gave him the blood. God taught him about sin, but also gave him the sacrifice. God made it clear to Moses that we are sinners, but He also made it clear that He has provided a way whereby sinners can be made right with God. So it was manifested by the law.

The way salvation was also manifested was by the prophets. When you read the message of the Old Testament prophets you will find that they are very clear that we are sinners and need a Savior. But you will also find it is very clear that God has provided a way of salvation for us.

Let me use one verse from the Old Testament prophets that illustrates this quite well. Isaiah 53:6,  “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one unto his own way (that’s sin—all of us are sinners—all of us like sheep are astray); But the Lord hath laid on him (Jesus Christ) the iniquity of us all.” We are sinners and need a Savior.

The prophets also said God’s going to send a Savior—His own Son. Every prediction of the prophets in the Old Testament was a finger pointing to the coming of Jesus Christ in this world. God’s way to heaven is not something new. It is something that was anticipated by the promises of God in the Old Testament.

The way to heaven was anticipated in a person, the Lord Jesus Himself. In Romans 3:22, we read, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.” In other words, through faith in Jesus Christ. What God is saying here is, “I’ve taken my way to heaven and I have wrapped it up in a person, Jesus Christ.”

Have you placed your trust in Jesus Christ? Imagine you are out in the Atlantic Ocean and you are sinking. Somebody throws a rope to rescue you. You reach out your hand and your hand takes hold of the rope. Faith is the hand of the heart that reaches out to the Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s way of salvation was anticipated with a purpose. The apostle Paul writes, “unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” (Romans 3:22).

You might conclude that we see differences in people. Some are tall; some are short; some are wide; some are thin; some are black; some are white. However, when it comes to this matter of getting to heaven when you die and when it comes to this matter of being saved and going to heaven, God says there is no difference.

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We are all spiritually in the same boat. None of us has any claim upon God that is superior than anyone else. We are all sinners and we are all in desperate need of a Savior. There is no difference.

In verse 23 we read, “all have sinned.” The tense of the verb there is a reference to something that took place in the past. You could translate it as “all have a sin nature.”

Have you ever wondered why it is that we just know how to do wrong? If you have children you didn’t have to teach them to tell little white lies. They came into the world knowing how to do that. You didn’t have to teach your children to lose their temper. They came into the world knowing how to lose their temper. Do you wonder why that is that we all know how to do wrong? It takes us all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. We all have a sin nature. We are born with it.

Then Paul says, “and come short of the glory of God.” This picture takes place every day. We all have a sin nature; we all know how to sin. We all choose to sin on a daily basis. So there is no difference. All of us need God’s way to heaven. We are all sinners by nature. We are all sinners by choice, so we need God to do something for us that we can’t do for ourselves. Paul gives us the answer in verse 22 with “unto all and upon all them that believe.”

In order for us to better understand, I have separated those two phrases. I want to discuss the second one first, “upon all.” Salvation is like putting on a garment. Salvation is compared to a garment. When you study the Garden of Eden, at least three garments clothed Adam and Eve. The first one was the garment of light. 

I believe as they were created by God in the Garden of Eden that the first man and woman were clothed in glory light. They were clothed in the glory of God—the Shekinah light of God. When sin came they lost that garment of glory. Thus, Adam and Eve made themselves garments out of fig leaves. 

Can you imagine a garment made out of fig leaves? Can you imagine trying to wear fig leaves? The fig leaves represent our efforts to save ourselves and make us acceptable to God. So that wouldn’t do. God took an innocent animal, killed it, took the skin, and covered Adam and Eve with a garment provided by God Himself on the basis of a sacrifice. When we are saved, God clothes us with His own righteousness. It means we have a brand-new garment.

In the New Testament, Jesus told about the wedding supper. In the culture in those days, as you came to a wedding supper there was a garment provided for you right there at the door. If you didn’t have on a wedding garment it was because you refused the one that had been provided for you at the door. The king came to the wedding supper and looked around and there was a man who didn’t have on the garment. The man was escorted out because he didn’t have the garment. 

When we come to the door of heaven the question that’s going to be asked is, “Do you have on the garment that has been provided by God Himself?” God’s way to heaven is upon all that believe.

The first phrase says, “unto all.” The good news is that anybody who wants to be saved can be saved. At the time of the writing of this book, more than 140,000 people per day were coming to Christ and putting on the wedding garment. Have you put on the wedding garment of salvation? When you understand and undertake, “but now,”  you realize these two words changed not only yourself, but also billions more around the world.

II. Our Salvation Is Pictured (Romans 3:24)

In these verses there are a series of word pictures which illustrate what it means to be saved God’s way. If you really want to understand salvation, if you really want to get the whole picture of what God does when He saves us, you need to master these words. They are the key words in the whole Bible.

The first word, justification, comes from the legal world. In verse 24 we read, “being justified freely by His grace.” The word “justification” means to declare righteous. In other words, here is a person who is guilty and yet they are declared not guilty.

We stand before God absolutely guilty and helpless to do anything about our guilt. Yet God, in one great legal act, acquits of us our sin and makes us acceptable in the presence of God. Justification is better than forgiveness. 

Forgiveness is wonderful, but justification goes even deeper than forgiveness. You may have done something you shouldn’t have done, and you can be forgiven of it, but justification goes further than forgiveness. Justification removes the guilt. You are acquitted of your guilt as a sinner as though you have never sinned, and you are made acceptable to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Then Paul goes a step further. He says we are justified freely. The word “freely” means without cause. When Jesus was betrayed, He said in John 15:25, “They hated me without a cause.” Freely is the same word used in John 15:25. There was nothing in Jesus to cause people to hate Him. Yet they hated Him. 

When Scripture says we are justified freely, it means without a cause. There was nothing in us to cause God to declare us righteous, and yet God has done it by His grace without a cause, freely.

Now we come to the word, grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. Grace is receiving something we do not deserve but desperately need. Grace is getting two more days on the term paper that you haven’t finished yet. Adults, grace is getting a warning instead of a speeding ticket. Something that we do not deserve, but we desperately need. It is not because of any good in us, but it is because of the grace in Him that we can be declared righteous in His presence, just as if we had never sinned.

The second word is redemption. While justification is taken from the legal world, redemption is taken from the social world of that day. In the social world, the word “redemption” meant to set free by the payment of a price. The picture is of a slave market. 

We are as sinners in the slave market of sin. We are bound by the chains of our sins. Onto the slave block of sin, the Lord Jesus Christ steps into Calvary’s slave market with the price of His own blood, pays the price to redeem us from our bondage, and He sets us free.

Jesus accomplished our redemption when He died on the cross. He paid with His own precious blood the sin debt, and He set us free. We are redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s salvation!

The third word comes from the ceremonial world of that day, propitiation. The word “propitiation” means “to make satisfaction.” When Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, He made satisfaction.

In 1 John 2:1–2, it talks about Jesus when it says, “and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.” He is the satisfaction for our sins.

In 1 John 4:10, we read, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son (the Lord Jesus) to be the propitiation (the satisfaction) for our sins.” When God saw the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus, and the blood of His Son, God said, “I’m satisfied; the price for sin has been paid.”

When we are saved, it means we are justified; we are declared righteous. It means we have been redeemed; we’ve been set free by the payment of a price. It means He is our propitiation—satisfaction has been made. God’s wrath has been poured out on His Son Jesus, and now God is satisfied.

It’s possible to go to heaven because of what Jesus did on the cross. God’s way to heaven has been predicted and pictured.

III. Our Salvation Is Proven (Romans 3:2–31)

The apostle Paul is now going to prove God’s way to heaven and show why there is one way to get to heaven. God’s way glorifies the character of God. God had a dilemma. (I know God didn’t have a dilemma—I’m using it in our terms so we can understand it. There are no problems—no dilemmas for God.)

All through the Old Testament there was the problem of sin. The great tragedy of the human race is the problem of sin. All through the Old Testament God covered sin. In verse 25 we read, “for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” The word “remission” is not the word that means to put away; it’s the word that means to pass over. All through the Old Testament God was passing over.

Acts 15:30 says that God winked at the sins of the Old Testament. It appeared that God’s character was questionable because if He were holy, how could God overlook those sins of the Old Testament?

God was looking toward the future. The eternal dilemma is in verse 26—how can God be just, be a holy, righteous God, and be justifier of those who believe in Jesus? God hates sin, and yet God is love toward the sinner. So how do you reconcile that? How can God remain hatred toward sin and at the same time be love toward the sinner? God solved His dilemma. 

The answer is when His Son the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, His holy hatred, sin, was poured out on His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He maintains His love for the sinner on the basis of what Jesus did, dying for our sins on the cross. In other words, it glorifies God’s character. God is just; God is holy; but God is also love. God is the justifier. God has made a way whereby we can go to heaven when we die.

Furthermore, Paul guards God’s commandments in Romans 3:28. We conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. The question comes in verse 31 with these words, “Do we then make void the law through faith?” Is the law no good? He says, “God forbid.” All the law was ever intended to do was show that we are sinners and need a Saviour.

We have now come to the point that God’s commandments have been proven; God’s promises have been proven; God’s character has been proven. God has provided a way so you can go to heaven on your own.

Is there anything to brag about when you get to heaven? No! Let’s go out to the ocean. You are drowning and a lifeguard rushes into the water. You are going under for the third time, and the lifeguard rescues you and brings you out.

What are you going to do? Gather folks around and say, “Let me tell you what I did. I was out there in the water and I was going under and here came this average lifeguard. In my strength I reached out to this average lifeguard, and I helped him and we worked my way back in. I am so proud of what I’ve done with a little assistance from a puny lifeguard.” If the lifeguard rescues you, you don’t have a thing in the world to brag about yourself. All you can brag about is what the lifeguard did for you.

When we get to heaven it won’t be because of anything we have done, but because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. There’s not a thing in the world or in heaven you are doing to be able to brag about. All you can testify about is what God did through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Feast of Mercy is happening in heaven now. Mrs. Grace is standing at the door, admitting those who are there on the basis of mercy. Those who are admitted put on the wedding garment of redemption. Mr. Boasting, in high hat and fine suit, comes to the door. Mrs. Grace says, “No one can be admitted here except those who have come by the mercy of God.” Mr. Boasting is turned away.

There are only two possible ways for you to get to heaven: your way, or God’s way. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to try my way. I’m going to go God’s way.