Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Romans.  Tonight is study #38 of Romans 3,  and we are reading Romans 3:20-24:

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

I will stop reading there.  We discussed the Bible’s teaching concerning justification by faith in our last study.  Also, we discussed how faith is a work, and the Bible says no man is justified by the works of the Law.  That means that no one can become justified through their faith because their faith is a work of the Law. 

Again, it says in Romans 3:20:

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

That is what the Law does; it shows us our sin.  It shows we cannot keep the Law, and we are sinners and lawbreakers.

Then it says in Romans 3:21-22:

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe…

God is saying that by the works of the Law no one is justified, but now the Gospel is declaring that “the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,” and this righteousness that comes without the Law is by the faith of Jesus Christ.  A little further down it says in Romans 3:27-28:

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

This is where some people get very confused, and the churches have developed the idea through their confusion that “believing,” or keeping the commandment to believe, which is faith, is not a work of the Law because God speaks of “the righteousness of God without the law,” and then it is spoken of as “the law of faith,” so there God says it is a Law, and a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law.  So on one hand, it is “the law of faith,” but on the other hand, a man is justified without the deeds of the Law.  If it is a “law of faith,” and you exercise faith, that would be a deed of the Law, so you can see the apparent contradiction.  And it helps explain the “mass confusion” of the churches during the church age and in our day, as those in the churches get all mixed up. 

You see, we have to understand what is the “law of faith.”  We see that boasting is excluded.  It says, “It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.”  The law of faith excludes work, but since it is a law, it must be work.  Verse 28 reveals it is not a work of men because it says, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”  Again, you could just “pull out your hair,” if it were not for the Lord opening up your eyes to see and understand.  It is no wonder there is so much confusion, even among the elect children of God that were in the churches over the course of the church age.  They did not have a good grasp on this doctrine.  And the solution to the problem is that the “law of faith” is the Bible’s teaching that Christ’s faith is what justifies, makes righteous, and saves.  It is not man’s faith, which is a work.  There is a distinction.  When the Bible speaks of salvation and justification by faith, it is always the faith of Christ.  As we read, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight,” it is referring to man, and by the deeds of the Law, as far as man is concerned, none can be justified, which includes the work of faith: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested…Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ.”  You see, this is the “law of faith,” and it is called a Law because it is found in the Bible, and it is part of God’s Law book.  It is His Word, and the truth that He has declared that we are “justified by faith.”  It is the “law of faith,” and in His declaration, it solely points to the faith of Christ.  Again, that harmonizes with all the Scriptures perfectly, and now we have an explanation for all these various statements.

We read in Romans 3:22

… Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe…

The righteousness of God is imputed to them and counted to them on behalf of Christ’s faith.  This reference to the faith of Jesus Christ is in the Greek “genitive,” which indicates possession, or that which belongs to Christ.  It is the faith of Christ, not of man, and it is not only stated here, but let us go to Galatians 2:16:

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ…

That is the “law of faith,” and it is stated plainly and directly.  This is God’s “law of faith” for justification.  It is not by the faith of man.  Man is not justified by the works of the Law, which includes faith, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.  Yes, Christ performed the work of the Law, and He was able to do so because He kept the Law perfectly, and He fulfilled all righteousness.  He bore the sins of His people, but He Himself was the spotless Lamb.  He had no sin.  He never transgressed the Law on any point, so He fulfilled the “law of faith,” which is a work, and that is the work that was finished at the foundation of the world, according to Hebrews 4:3: “…although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

Again, it says in Galatians 2:16:

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

If we go to the next chapter, it says in Galatians 3:22:

But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Then it says in Ephesians 3:12:

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

It is His faith, Christ’s faith.

It also says in Philippians 3:9:

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

We also know that in the Old Testament, God refers to this wonderful truth in Habakkuk 2:4:

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

That is how the just live.  That is how God’s elect people live.  It is only by the faith of Christ, the faith belonging to Him.

It says in Acts 13:39:

And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

By Him, all that believe are justified.  No – it is not our belief.  It is by His faith.  In order for our belief to be proper biblical belief, it would include confession with the mouth and belief in the heart.  Therefore, it would be necessary to have already become saved (by God) in order to believe.  But again, God is emphasizing that it is by Him that all that believe are justified.  We are justified by Christ, and not by anything we do in any action, thought, or deed.

Going back to Galatians 3, it says in Galatians 3:6-11:

Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Whose faith?  His faith, as Habakkuk 2:4 declared.  So here it gets into the whole matter of Abraham’s faith.  And that is what the Lord will address in the next chapter in Romans 4.  Again, it says here in Galatians 3:6: “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”  That is, it was not Abraham’s belief, but Christ’s faith.  The Greek word translated as “righteousness” is Strong’s #1343, and it is very close to the word “justified,” which we saw in Romans 3:20.  That word for “justified” is Strong’s #1344, so they are closely related words. 

The word “justified” in Romans 3:20 is the same word that is translated as “righteous” one time in Revelation 22:1l. regarding the statement, “…and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still…”  We could properly read that as: “…and he that is righteous, let him be justified still,” pointing to the justification by faith that is counted to the elect through the Lord Jesus. 

The phrase “it was accounted” found in Galatians 3:6 is Strong’s #3049, and it is found forty-one times in the New Testament.  It is found only nine times in the identical form as we see in Galatians 3:6.  What I mean is that here in Galatians 3:6, it is a verb, and it is “indicative passive, third person singular.”  Greek words can change their form according to tense, and so forth, but this particular form of the word in the “third person singular” is found only nine times, and of those nine times  we read, for example, in Romans 4:3:

For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

So that is very similar.  Then it says in Romans 4:10:

How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

Then it says in Romans 4:23-24:

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

It was reckoned, counted, or imputed, which all have the same meaning, and we see that the translators consistently translated it as “it” in Romans 4, as well as in Galatians 3:6. 

One other place we find this is in James 2:23:

And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

So that is now six of the nine times.  In two other places, we find this word translated in the same “third person singular,” but it is not translated “it,” but “he.”  It says in Mark 15:28:

And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.

And it says in Luke 22:37:

For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.

In both of these verses, it does not say “it was reckoned,” but it says, “He was numbered,” or reckoned.  Again, that is the identical form of the word that I read in all the other verses.  So this form of the word can be translated with the pronoun “he.”  It can be translated that way, and of course the context would determine which way it would be translated.  In Mark 15 and Luke 22, it was obvious it was referring to the Lord Jesus, the God-man, and therefore they translated it as “he.”  In the other places where it appears to be referring to Abraham’s faith, they translated it as “it,” referring back to faith – that “it” was reckoned, meaning Abraham’s faith that was reckoned or counted to him for righteousness.  And yet, it could properly be translated as “He” (Christ) being imputed.  He was counted, or reckoned, to Abraham for righteousness.  If you take the context of the whole Bible and not just a passage, then it should be translated that way.  And that is how it must be translated because the Bible will not allow for Abraham’s faith to be reckoned to himself for righteousness because that is a work of the Law. 

It also says in Romans 4:1-2:

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

This is very clear.  God is certainly implying that if Abraham were justified by works, he would not be able to glory before God, and that means that he was not justified by his own works.  Lord willing, when we get together in our next study, we will look at this again.  It really is very interesting because it is so essential to salvation.  It is the most essential thing: How did we become saved?