“God has a way to make people right, and it has nothing to do with the law. He has now shown us that new way, which the law and the prophets told us about. God makes people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. He does this for all who believe in Christ. Everyone is the same. All have sinned and are not good enough to share God’s divine greatness. They are made right with God by his grace. This is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ. God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people’s sins through their faith in him. God can forgive them because the blood sacrifice of Jesus pays for their sins. God gave Jesus to show that he always does what is right and fair. He was right in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. And in our own time he still does what is right. God worked all this out in a way that allows him to judge people fairly and still make right any person who has faith in Jesus. (Rom 3:21-26, ERV)
Rom 3:26
Romans chapter three stands as one of the clearest revelations of the plan of salvation in all Scripture. It begins in darkness and ends in light. It starts with man’s hopeless condition and ends with God’s glorious remedy. Paul takes away every human excuse, strips away every claim of self-righteousness, and then points us to Jesus Christ as the only hope for a lost world. The chapter can be summarized in four simple truths. 1. All are guilty. 2. The law cannot save. 3. Christ has paid the price. 4. Salvation is received by faith.
The Universal Problem: All Have Sinned
Paul’s argument reaches its climax in Romans 3:10:
“There is none righteous, no, not one.”
The verdict is universal. It does not matter whether one is Jew or Gentile, religious or irreligious, educated or uneducated. Heaven’s courtroom reaches the same conclusion concerning every human being: all have sinned.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
The problem is not merely that we occasionally commit wrong actions. Sin has affected the entire human family. We have fallen short of God’s glory, His character, and His perfect standard of righteousness. This truth is difficult for our human pride to accept. We naturally compare ourselves with other people. Yet God does not compare us with one another. He compares us with His own holiness. Measured against that standard, every person stands condemned.
The plan of salvation cannot be appreciated until we first understand the seriousness of our condition. A physician cannot heal someone who refuses to admit he is sick. Likewise, Christ cannot save those who feel no need of salvation.
The Purpose of the Law
Paul then explains the role of God’s law:
“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” (Romans 3:20).
The law was never given as a ladder by which sinners could climb into heaven. The law functions as a mirror. A mirror reveals dirt on the face, but it cannot remove it. God’s law reveals His character and exposes our sinfulness. Our need. It points out the disease but cannot provide the cure.
Many people spend their lives trying to earn acceptance with God through good works, religious ceremonies, moral improvement, or sincere effort. Yet Romans 3 declares that no one can be justified through law-keeping. The law can diagnose the problem, but only Christ can provide the remedy.
The law says, “You are guilty.” The gospel says, “Jesus has paid your debt.” The law points us to our need. The gospel points us to our Savior.
The Great Turning Point: “But Now”
One of the most beautiful phrases in Scripture appears in Romans 3:21:
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.”
Those two words, “But now,” change everything. After exposing the guilt of the entire world, Paul suddenly directs our attention away from ourselves and toward God. Humanity has no solution. Heaven provides one. The righteousness that sinners need is not something they produce. It is something God provides. The gospel is not primarily about what we do for God. It is about what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. This righteousness was foretold throughout the Old Testament. The sacrifices, the sanctuary, the priesthood, and the prophecies all pointed forward to Christ. What the law and the prophets anticipated, Jesus fulfilled.
Righteousness Through Faith
“Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe” (Romans 3:22).
Notice that salvation comes through faith. Faith is not merely agreeing with certain facts. Biblical faith is trusting ourselves entirely to Christ. It is accepting His righteousness instead of presenting our own. The sinner stands before God with empty hands. Faith says: “I cannot save myself.” “I cannot earn forgiveness.” “I cannot manufacture righteousness.” “But I believe Jesus can save me completely.”
This is why boasting is excluded. No one will stand in heaven praising himself. Every redeemed soul will praise Christ alone. The plan of salvation leaves no room for pride because salvation is entirely a gift of grace.
The Cost of Redemption
Romans 3:24 says: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Free to us did not mean cheap to God. Our redemption required the sacrifice of heaven’s greatest treasure. Jesus entered our world, lived the life we should have lived, and died the death we deserved to die. Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. It was at Calvary, where mercy and justice met together.
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood” (Romans 3:25).
The cross demonstrates two great truths simultaneously. First, it reveals how serious sin really is. Sin is so terrible that nothing less than the death of the Son of God could atone for it. Second, it reveals how much God loves sinners. He was willing to pay the infinite cost necessary to save them. At the cross we see God’s justice and God’s love embracing one another.
The Just and the Justifier
One of the most profound statements in Romans appears in Rom 3:26:
“That he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
God did not save sinners by ignoring His law. He did not set aside justice. He did not lower His standard. Instead, Christ satisfied the claims of justice on behalf of humanity. Because Jesus bore the penalty of sin, God can remain perfectly just while extending mercy to those who believe. The cross solved the greatest problem in the universe: How can a holy God save guilty sinners without compromising His righteousness? The answer is Jesus.
Romans 3:26 is one of the greatest summaries of the gospel ever written because it answers a question that has echoed throughout the great controversy between Christ and Satan: How can God forgive sinners and still remain perfectly righteous? If God simply excused sin, His law would lose its authority and justice would be compromised. Yet if justice alone were allowed to operate, the entire human race would perish. At the cross, God demonstrated that His law is unchangeable and that His love is immeasurable.
Jesus bore the penalty that justice demanded so that mercy could be extended to all who believe. In Christ’s sacrifice, God proved Himself to be both “just”—faithful to His holy character and law—and “the justifier”—the One who declares repentant sinners righteous. The cross therefore reveals not a conflict between justice and mercy, but their perfect harmony. Satan had charged that God could not be both loving and just.
Calvary forever answered that accusation. There, before the watching universe, God showed that He would rather bear the penalty of sin Himself than abandon those He came to save.
This paragraph also provides a natural bridge into the Great Controversy theme by showing that Romans 3:26 is not merely about individual salvation, but about God’s vindication before the universe as well.
The plan of salvation is not merely a doctrine to admire. It is an invitation to receive. A personal lived experience to be a part of. Every believer must come to the place where Paul brings us in Romans 3:
No confidence in self. No dependence upon works. No trust in personal merit. Complete dependence upon Christ. When we accept Jesus by faith, His righteousness becomes ours. His victory becomes our victory. His standing before the Father becomes our standing before the Father. The believer does not work in order to be saved. The believer works because he has been saved. Obedience becomes the fruit of salvation, not the root or means of salvation.
Romans 3 reveals the entire gospel in just a few verses: We are sinners. The law reveals our guilt. Christ paid our debt. God offers righteousness as a gift. Faith receives what grace provides. The sinner who trusts Christ stands forgiven, justified, and accepted before God.
“The thought that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, not because of any merit on our part, but as a free gift from God, is a precious thought.” (Faith and Works 18)
“The moment a sinner accepts Christ by faith, that moment they are pardoned. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to them, and they are no more to doubt God’s forgiving grace.” (1 SM 392)
These statements capture the central message of Romans 3. Salvation is not earned. It is received. Righteousness is not achieved. It is given. Forgiveness is not purchased by human effort. It is granted through faith in Jesus Christ.
Today the same invitation still stands. The cross remains sufficient. The blood of Christ still cleanses. The righteousness of Christ is still available. The grace of God is still extended to every repentant sinner.
The question is not whether Christ has provided salvation. The question is whether we will receive it.
“The Experience of Salvation
In infinite love and mercy God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might be made the righteousness of God. Led by the Holy Spirit we sense our need, acknowledge our sinfulness, repent of our transgressions, and exercise faith in Jesus as Saviour and Lord, Substitute and Example. This saving faith comes through the divine power of the Word and is the gift of God’s grace. Through Christ we are justified, adopted as God’s sons and daughters, and delivered from the lordship of sin. Through the Spirit we are born again and sanctified; the Spirit renews our minds, writes God’s law of love in our hearts, and we are given the power to live a holy life. Abiding in Him we become partakers of the divine nature and have the assurance of salvation now and in the judgment.”
Gen 3:15; Isa 45:22; Isa 53:1-12; Jer 31:31-34; Eze 33:11; Eze 36:25-27; Hab 2:4; Mar 9:23-24; Joh 3:3-8; Joh 3:16; Joh 16:8; Rom 3:21-26; Rom 8:1-4; Rom 8:14-17; Rom 5:6-10; Rom 10:17; Rom 12:2; 2 Co 5:17-21; Gal 1:4; Gal 3:13-14; Gal 3:26; Gal 4:4-7; Eph 2:4-10; Col 1:13-14; Tit 3:3-7; Heb 8:7-12; 1 Pe 1:23; 1 Pe 2:21-22; 2 Pe 1:3-4; Rev 13:8.) [Adventist Fundamental Belief #10]
We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 5:1, ERV)
Faith is not the ground of our salvation, but it is the great blessing–the eye that sees, the ear that hears, the feet that run, the hand that grasps. It is the means, not the end. If Christ gave His life to save sinners, why shall I not take that blessing? My faith grasps it, and thus my faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. Thus resting and believing, I have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. {6BC 1073.9}
“We live by what we believe will happen, not by what we can see.”(2 Cor 5:7, ERV)
The story of three men illustrates the nature of faith nicely:
“Three men were walking on a wall. Feeling. Faith and Fact. When Feeling had an awful fall, and Faith was taken back. Fact remained and brought Faith back. And Faith brought Feeling too.”
Faith and feeling are as distinct as the east is from the west. Faith is not dependent on feeling. We must earnestly cry to God in faith, feeling or no feeling, and then live our prayers. Our assurance and evidence is God’s word, and after we have asked we must believe without doubting. I praise Thee, O God, I praise Thee. Thou hast not failed me in the performance of Thy word. Thou has revealed Thyself unto me, and I am Thine to do Thy will {6BC 1073.10}
May we come to Jesus with nothing in our hands, trusting wholly in His merits, and discover for ourselves the glorious truth revealed in Romans chapter three: that God is both “just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
