The Righteousness of God and the Right Standing of Man

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Rome. He introduced himself and the Gospel of salvation that he preached to the churches everywhere (Rom 1:1–17). Next, he presented the plight of man (Rom 1:18–32). Simply put, humanity is under the wrath of God, in judgment for sins exposed by the Law of God.

God is holy; while people are criminal Law-breakers. According to the Bible, there is none righteous, none good in the ranks of men throughout history (Rom 3:10–12). Every inclination of the human heart is only evil, all the time (Gen 6:5). Our works are filthy rags (Is 64:6); and men are already in the state of condemnation (Jn 3:18).

Adam, the first man, sinned against God (Gen 3); and he polluted his progeny in what we call “original sin” because we were all “in Adam” the first man (Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:22). Thus, our human nature is broken. It is a sin nature, which naturally produces sinful thoughts, sinful words, and the practice of sin (Eph 2:3). Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4); and all people have sinned (Rom 3:23).

The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23); and it is appointed once for a man to die and then comes the judgment (Heb 9:27). God’s judgment is just (Rom 3:26); for He is the righteous Judge of all the earth (Gen 18:25). In fact, all judgment has been turned over to Jesus Christ (Jn 5:22), the righteous (1 Jn 2:1) because He is the God-man, having fully experienced every temptation, yet without sin (Heb 4:15).

Paul wrote, “For there is no partiality with God” (Rom 2:11). Every sin of every sinner must be brought into account; otherwise, the righteousness of God could be called into question. It is God who is found true; and every man is a liar (Rom 3:4). Thus, we learn truth from God’s Word, revealed to us by the Holy Spirit giving us the Bible (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20–21).

The truth is that God is morally perfect. In this, He is perfectly holy, set apart from sinners. It is the revelation of God’s Law (Ex 20; Dt 5), given to Moses at Mount Sinai, by which we understand the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.

Sinners do not make very good judges of other sinners (Mt 7:1; Rom 2:1–3); and everyone who judges others should also be scrutinized because the human heart is wicked and deceitful above all else (Jer 17:9). Rather, it behooves every man to judge himself to be the guilty chief of sinners. No other conclusion can be drawn because one breach of the Law is to break the whole (Jas 2:10).

It is for this reason that God is calling all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30), to turn from sin’s dominion and one’s wicked ways, leading to destruction (Mt 7:13). Some do turn from their sins; but most people do not repent unto Christ the Savior for mercy and forgiveness. Sin hardens the human heart (Ex 9:34; Heb 3:13); and unless God removes the heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of flesh (Ezek 36:26), that one remains dead in sin and dead to God (Eph 2:1).

The good news of the Gospel of God is that it is a Gospel of grace. This means that the salvation of God’s chosen people is all a work of God Himself (Rom 4:5; 2 Tim 1:9). Most people believe they have to do something in order to earn God’s grace unto salvation; but then grace would not be grace. Grace, by definition, is the work of God for the benefit of those who are being saved by God. Grace saves; or it is not grace.

Salvation is a gift of God (Eph 2:8–9); granted to certain people (Phil 1:29), according to His good pleasure (Phil 2:12–13). Salvation is received by a soul, according to the will of God (Jn 1:12–13). If God wills for one to be saved from the wrath of God against rebellious sinners, then it is God who will work out that salvation from beginning to end (Rom 8:30).

The proof of one’s salvation is actually manifest by the Person and work of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11), who causes each elect soul to be born again of God (Jn 3:1–8; 1 Pet 1:3). The Spirit of God makes alive the dead soul of the sinner (Eph 2:5). This regeneration is the beginning of new life that becomes abundant because it is eternal (Jn 10:10; 17:3). The life of the eternal God now occupies the soul of the one chosen, redeemed, and transferred into Christ and His kingdom (Rom 14:17; Col 1:13).

God is saving both elect Jews and Gentiles by applying the merits of Jesus Messiah to the chosen few, the remnant from among the many who are called (Mt 22:14; Rom 11:5–6). This very notion is what humbles the saint before God and man. There is absolutely no room for boasting in one’s “good” performance (1 Cor 1:31; 3:21; Gal 6:14; Eph 2:9). Our singular boast is Jesus Christ and His perfect work of redemption.

It is the Christian’s task to bear witness of the plight of humanity and to bear witness of the only way of salvation (Jn 14:6; Acts 4:12), fully executed by God the Father in election (2 Thess 2:13), God the Son in redemption (Rom 5:8), and God the Holy Spirit in regeneration.

It is futile to preach the Law without the Gospel of grace; or to judge others based on their performance in relationship to the Law. All fall short. Man has no hope without Christ (Eph 2:12), the one way to God the Father and eternal life for both body and soul (Jn 14:6). Because men are condemned already, it is redundant, for anyone other than God to serve as their judge. Instead, Christians must believe the Bible and tell others that sins and sinners will be sentenced to the fiery hell in the lake of fire on the Day of Judgment to come (Mt 25:41, 46; Jude 7; Rev 20:11, 14–15). All are guilty and deserving eternal punishment.

Once the bad news is established, the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be proclaimed to all people (Mt 24:14). Through the Gospel call, all people have the truth of God’s Word presented, with the expectation of a response. It is, however, God alone who opens the human heart to respond to the Gospel call to repentance (Acts 16:14; 17:30).

Those who respond have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, who now lives in their hearts. It is the regenerate, remnant souls who alone have right standing before the righteous God. These are justified sinners, whose justification is by the shed blood of Christ, the glorious grace and mercy of God, and by the faith given to them by the permanent indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

December 6, 2024

Romans 2:1–14