Righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ

"...For there is no distinction: 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, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." Romans 3:22-26

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

You and I were made by God to give glory to Him. We were made to glorify Him for all the good He has given us. We were made in His image so that we may reflect His glory by everything we do, say and think. We were made to glorify Him by loving Him above anything in the world, with all our mind, heart and strength. We were made to glorify Him by loving our neighbours as our own selves. We were made to praise Him for His creation and His works, and wonder at how amazing God is. We were made to offer thanks to Him for giving us life and breath and everything we have. We were made that every time we are happy, we would give glory to Him who gave us such wonderful joy in our hearts.

But the problem is that we have not glorified God as He ought to be glorified. This is SIN. And the bible tells us this bad news that ALL, every human being, every person standing on earth, have failed to glorify God without distinction. It doesn't matter where you were born, whether in Asia, in America, in Africa or in Europe, you have failed at perfectly glorifying God. It doesn't matter if you were born in a Christian family or a Buddhist family or an Islamic family, you have failed at loving God perfectly. It doesn't matter if you have never committed crimes or always give your alms to the poor, you have not perfectly reflected the image of the perfectly and eternally loving and righteous God. There is no distinction. It doesn't matter if you have gone to church all your life, were baptized, never skipped church or even memorize scriptures - You have failed at keeping all the commandments of God perfectly all the time.

Everyone has sinned, and fallen short of God's perfect standard. And God's standard is not like ours. Many times we compromise our perspective of good and evil to suit our needs. For example, when we know something is wrong, we do it anyway because other people do the same. But God is not like us. God has never done, thought or said anything that is evil. He is so holy and perfectly good that He has absolutely no tolerance for sin. The bible says God is of "purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong". He hates evil. And because He is also completely just, He will not compromise or lower His standards for any one in favoritism, for if He relaxes the law for one, He would need to do it for every one else. God is not a respecter of persons. This is the High and Holy God we have and continue to sin against. We have fallen far, far below reaching even close to satisfying His standards. That is why the bible says that "our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" before His holy eyes.

justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith

The only way we, who have fallen so far short of reaching anywhere near the perfect righteousness of God, was that God provide a way for us to meet that standard. This is the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ, though He was God the Son, became a man, and came down to earth. Why did Jesus Christ become a man? He came to be put forward as a propitiation. This means that God put Jesus on display on the cross to be a Satisfaction for God's justice. You see, there is no way that God can be satisfied by your efforts to be good. You fall hopelessly short of His glory, and God's anger is increasing against your sins every day. The only way you can satisfy this just wrath of God is either God strikes you down and send you to an eternity in Hell for your sins; or someone else satisfy this divine wrath for you. There is no other way. Either you must die, or someone else die. God cannot simply overlook your sins, because He is perfectly Just. God is your Judge. He is not like a human judge who is going to bend the law for you to show you compassion. Jesus said not even a dot or an iota will pass from the Law of God, by which you will be judged on the Judgment Day. How will you escape this perfect judgment of God?

The only way you will escape the condemnation of God is by faith in the redemption which is in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one who died for your sins. Jesus Christ is the one who shed His blood for the satisfaction of God's justice which was against you. God did this because He loved you, even though you hadn't done anything that pleased Him. He sent His own Son into the world to live a perfect life for you, and not only that, made Him to be crushed under the Law of God for your lawlessness. This is the redemption, the payment that Jesus Christ made to His own Father for your sins.

And the verse says this is a gift to be received by faith. Faith is not works. In fact, bible says it is a gift that is from God. What is faith? Faith is the assurance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1a). There is a voice within you that says "I hope I go to heaven when I die". But when you receive the salvation that is in Jesus Christ by faith, you have the confidence that you will go to heaven, not on the basis of your works, but by what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross. Faith is also the conviction of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1b). You have never seen Jesus Christ, nor His crucifixion, nor His resurrection. But you have heard the Gospel being preached forth from the Word of God that were written by those who were eyewitnesses to Jesus Christ's ministry, crucifixion and His resurrection. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. This Good News is being preached to you now, that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose again from the dead so He could forgive all your sins. Are you going to believe this Good News? Or will you disbelieve, and take God to be a liar?

If you believe, as this verse says, you will receive this redemption that is in Christ Jesus. You will be justified, which means God will consider you right before Him, because what Jesus Christ has done on earth, to meet His perfect standard and satisfy God's wrath, will be counted to be your works. God now sees you as though you have perfectly pleased Him all your life, even though you have not. This is because of what Jesus Christ has done. This is Grace. Grace is getting something good that you didn't work for. Grace is getting something good you don't deserve. God's salvation is a gift. When you received a gift from your friends on your birthday, you didn't work for it to buy it with your money. Your friends gave it to you out of their own expenses. It cost Jesus Christ's blood to buy you eternal life in heaven, but He gave it to you free of charge. All that is left for you to is to receive it by faith, and keep it until you meet Him again in heaven. This is the Good News of God.

This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

This verse says that not only did Jesus Christ die for you, but He died to show God's righteousness. This means Jesus Christ died on the cross to show that God never left sin unpunished. For thousands of years God overlooked the sins of Earth's inhabitants. He forgave Jacob even though he was a liar and a fraud. He forgave Moses even though he killed a man. He forgave Israel's many sins in the desert when they came out of Egypt. He forgave David when he murdered a man and committed adultery with her wife. He forgave Israel, and did not destroy them completely, though they continuously made idols and bowed down to other gods. He passed over these former sins, but He laid them upon the shoulders of His Son Jesus Christ. And when God Himself crucified His own Son, He was showing the whole world that God is righteous, that although He is forgiving, He never, ever compromised His own perfect standard of righteousness.

It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

But what about future sins? The bible says the cross of Jesus Christ still continues to display God's perfect standard of righteousness. The cross of Jesus Christ is now what enables God to be Just while being forgiving at the same time. God never has to compromise on His perfect standard to forgive our sins. This is why the bible says: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" 1 John 1:9. Because His perfect standard has been fulfilled by the righteous acts and the death of His Son, God is now free to show infinite mercy and forgiveness to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

This God continues to justify sinners on the account of what His Son has graciously done. If you are reading this, and you haven't yet put your faith in Jesus Christ, do not miss this chance. God is now able to make you right before Him because His perfect and holy Son has lived the perfect life and died for your sins. Confess all your sins to God, and ask Him to blot out the record of your sins by the blood of His Son. If you put your trust in Jesus, God will change Jesus Christ's account with yours, and His death will be come your death, and His eternal life will be your life. God's Holy Spirit will come and dwell within you, and you will become a son of God, like Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit will change you and mould you to become like the image of Jesus Christ, so that your actions will also be pleasing to Him. Do this today. Stop loving your sins more than God, and gaze by faith at the Beloved Son of God who was hung on the cross just so that God may open the gates to heaven for you and everyone who believes in Jesus. Put your trust in Jesus Christ today!