Paul Gospel Summary

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One of the best summaries of the Gospel in the whole Bible is found in Romans 3:19-26:

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished– 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (NIV)

In his book The Discipline of Grace, Jerry Bridges lists “seven truths” that this passage conveys:

1) No one is declared righteous before God by observing the Law (vs. 19-21);

The only way to be right with God before Christ’s sacrifice was through observing the Law. No one can be counted as a righteous person because all have fallen short (cp. v 23). The standard of the Law is the highest religious standard for the Human Race because it properly reflects the character of God, Who is the ultimate standard. This means that no other standard, even one devised by Christians, can function as God’s law or as a law by which one can be considered righteous before God. Some Christians point to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as the new Law for Christians. Actually, it was Jesus’ further explication of the Law, taking it from outward observance to the spirit of the Law observed within one’s heart. This Sermon was not a new, better Law. It is simply the Law clarified by Jesus. No one can be made right with God by merely adhering to the Sermon on the Mount. No one is considered, by God, to be right by Law observance.

Because we cannot obtain right standing with God by our own observance, we must have a righteousness provided for us by another. The sacrifice under the Law was a substitute for those who failed to keep the Law. But, even those sacrifices were not sufficient. God knew this and intervened in Jesus to give us a righteousness that is not our own. It is the righteousness of our Substitute, the Lamb, Christ Jesus. He is the righteousness from God. It is apart from the Law, because we do not receive it from keeping the Law. Jesus was the Perfect Son, and therefore is able to keep all the Law. This righteousness is imputed to us who believe in him. This is the greatness of the Gospel and the glory of God’s graciousness. Jesus is our righteousness. He is the righteousness that is provided apart from our Law-keeping. Jerry Bridges calls up the excellent words of Robert Haldane:

To that righteousness is the eye of the believer ever to be directed; on that righteousness must he rest; on that righteousness must he live; on that righteousness must he die; in that righteousness must he appear before the judgment-seat; in that righteousness must he stand for ever in the presence of a righteous God.¹

3) This righteousness from God is received through faith in Jesus Christ (v 22);

How do we obtain this righteousness from Jesus? Some say, while Jesus purchased our salvation on the Cross, we still have to access or appropriate it by observances or obeying some unique set of commands. This passage makes it emphatic that the righteousness of Jesus is imputed to us through faith. By trusting in what Jesus has done for us, God counts us as righteous. Do we merit this righteous because we believe? No! We are saved or considered righteous by God because of God’s grace. It is God’s gracious act of giving us Jesus, and imputing to us his righteousness, that does the work. We merely receive it through faith. Faith is placing all the glory and merit in God and nothing in ourselves. It is in Christ alone.

4) This righteousness is available to everyone on the same basis, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (vs 22-23);

There are no different dispensations of salvation. All sinners must come to God on the same basis. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me.” All are sinners; therefore all must come to God the same way.

5) All who put their faith in Jesus Christ are justified freely by God’s grace (v 24)

All means all. Just as everyone is a sinner and falls short of God’s glory, so are all justified freely by God’s grace. Justified is the word that means to declare or consider right. God declares us right with him freely. He counts us righteous by His grace. Not because of something in us, but because of something in Jesus.

We must keep in mind that our justification by God is based solely on the meritorious work of Christ and our union with Him. That is, God sees us legally as so connected with Christ that what He did, we did. When He lived a life of perfect obedience, it is as if we had lived a life of perfect obedience. When He died on the cross to satisfy the just demands of God’s law, it is just as if we had died on that cross. Christ stood in our place as our representative, both in His sinless life and His sin-bearing death. This is what Paul referred to when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20).²

It is because of Jesus bearing our sins in himself on the tree that we are freed from guilt. It is because of Jesus’ perfect righteousness offered to us freely that we are able to stand in God’s presence without shame. It is all of grace to those who trust in Jesus.

6) This justification is “through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ” (v 24)

Our justification, or being freed from guilt and counted righteous, is paid for by the redemption that Jesus provided. The word redeem comes from the field of economics. It means to make a payment in order for one to be given freedom from debt or slavery. Our justification was paid for by Jesus’ blood. Some find the Gospel too easy. They say that to receive all this from God by simple faith is cheap grace. This is said when the price for our salvation is forgotten. Jesus paid the price for our justification. It was not cheap grace. While it would be wonderful to be able to pay him for what he has done for us, the truth is we cannot. That is what got us into the problem we are in. We are sinners. We are under God’s wrath because we can’t merit God’s grace. Jesus has give us the gift of his righteousness because we cannot pay for it as bankrupt sinners.

7) “God presented [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood (v 25).

A sacrifice of atonement means that God’s righteous anger was against us. Are most immediate and urgent need is to deal with the wrath of God against us because of our offensive sin against him. The sacrifice in the Old Testament was to obtain mercy or a propitiation from God’s wrath. Hebrews tells us clearly that all those sacrifices were not eternally effective. Romans also tells us that God “in his forbearance . . . had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished . . .” Since the world’s sins remain under that wrath of God a greater sacrifice of atonement was necessary. Jesus became that sacrifice – the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world.

Paul’s announces that the Father presents Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice or place of atonement – the mercy seat. John tells us, the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” God initiates our salvation and provides us a Lamb. (1 John 4:14) He is the covering over the Ark of God’s presence. He takes the wrath for our offense and cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” Jesus was the only effective and sufficient atonement for the sins of Mankind:

But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26 NIV)

This atonement comes through faith in Jesus’ blood. It is the blood of Jesus that is the proof of His death. It is His death on the Cross that paid for our sin. Therefore by our trusting in Jesus’ death on the Cross we are no longer under God’s judgment. We are under His favor or grace. Through Jesus there is peace with God forever.

¹Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of the Grace (Colorado Spring: NavPress, 1994), p. 49.

²Bridges, p. 53.