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“Everyone has sinned; all of us fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in His kindness, freely makes us right with Him. He does this through Christ Jesus, who set us free by offering His life. God presented Jesus as the sacrifice that takes away our sins, and we receive this by trusting in Him. God did this to show that He is truly righteous—for in His patience He had been holding back and not punishing sins committed in the past. And now, at this time, He shows His righteousness so that He remains just, even while He makes right anyone who puts their faith in Jesus.”
— Romans 3:23–26 (paraphrased from your lyrics; cf. NKJV/ESV)
Let us look at what the Word of God says. These verses form the heart of Paul’s teaching on the gospel. If you understand Romans 3:23–26, you understand the legal basis of your salvation. You understand how a holy God can forgive sinful people without compromising His justice.
The central theme of your song and of this passage is: grace through faith in Christ Jesus, on the basis of His atoning sacrifice, satisfying the righteousness of God.
This is not sentiment. It is not vague mercy. It is a legal transaction in the court of heaven. God remains absolutely just, and yet He justifies the one who believes in Jesus. Everything else in the Christian life stands on this foundation.
These verses stand in the middle of Paul’s argument in Romans 1–3.
### The situation
Paul is writing to believers in Rome—both Jews and Gentiles. There was tension between these groups. Jewish believers might think, “We have the Law, we are circumcised, we have Abraham as our father—surely we stand on better ground.” Gentiles might feel inferior or confused about their place.
Paul dismantles all human boasting.
“What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.”
Then, in Romans 3:10–18, he gives a series of quotations from the Old Testament to show universal depravity. No one is righteous in himself. No flesh will be justified by the works of the Law (3:20).
Only after establishing universal guilt does Paul introduce the righteousness of God revealed apart from the Law:
> “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.”
> — Romans 3:21–22
It is at this point that our verses (3:23–26) come in. They are the core explanation of how this righteousness is made available.
So we must stand where Paul stands:
Into this hopelessness comes the good news: grace through faith in Christ Jesus.
To understand this passage, we need to look carefully at a few key Greek terms. These words define the structure of our salvation.
### 1. “Justified” – δικαιόω (dikaioō)
Romans 3:24:
“Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
The verb *dikaioō* is a legal term. It means “to declare righteous,” “to acquit,” “to pronounce someone in right standing with the law.”
It is very important to see:
Think of a courtroom. The judge does not make the accused into a different sort of person. He pronounces a verdict. “Guilty” or “not guilty.” In justification, God, the Judge of all the earth, pronounces the believer “righteous” on the basis of Christ’s finished work.
So when your lyric says, “He freely makes us right with Him,” that is exactly the idea of *dikaioō*. It is a legal declaration in heaven’s highest court. This is the foundation of our peace with God (Romans 5:1).
### 2. “Propitiation/Sacrifice” – ἱλαστήριον (hilastērion)
Romans 3:25:
“Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith…” (NKJV)
The word *hilastērion* is rich. It is used in the Greek Old Testament (LXX) for the “mercy seat”—the lid of the ark of the covenant where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement. It carries two main ideas:
1. Place of atonement – the mercy seat, where God met with His people on the basis of shed blood.
2. Propitiation – an atoning sacrifice that satisfies the demands of God’s holiness and turns away His righteous wrath.
So when Paul says God presented Jesus as *hilastērion*, he is saying:
Your lyric:
“God presented Jesus as the sacrifice that takes away our sins”
accurately conveys this. But we must keep the legal and judicial element in view: Christ bore the penalty that the Law demanded, so that God could be both just and merciful.
### How this deepens our understanding of the lyrics
“Everyone has sinned; all of us fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
“Yet God, in His kindness, freely makes us right with Him.”
“He does this through Christ Jesus, who set us free by offering His life.”
“God presented Jesus as the sacrifice that takes away our sins, and we receive this by trusting in Him.”
Let us now walk through the themes of the lyrics, using Scripture to interpret Scripture.
### 4.1 “Everyone has sinned; all of us fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
This echoes Romans 3:23:
> “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Two facts here:
1. All have sinned – The verb indicates an accomplished fact. We have *missed the mark* of God’s perfect law and character.
2. We fall short of the glory of God – We lack the capacity to reflect His glory as we were created to do.
The “glory of God” is not just brilliance or majesty. It is His moral perfection, His holiness, His nature. We were created in His image to display His glory. Through sin, that image has been marred. Humanity is morally bankrupt and spiritually disfigured.
Scriptural witnesses:
Spiritually, this levels the ground. There is no superior race, no superior religious group, no superior moralist. All stand condemned. This destroys pride and prepares the heart for grace.
### 4.2 “Yet God, in His kindness, freely makes us right with Him.”
Romans 3:24 (ESV):
“and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
There are three key elements here:
1. Grace – unmerited favor, God’s free initiative toward the undeserving.
2. As a gift – literally “freely” (*dorean*), without cost to us; not earned, not merited.
3. Through the redemption – *apolutrōsis*, the price paid to release a slave.
So the lyric “in His kindness” captures the motive: God’s goodness. But we must add: it is legal kindness. He makes us right with Him on a righteous basis: the redemption price of Jesus’ blood.
Other scriptures:
Grace does not excuse sin. Grace provides a righteous way out of sin’s guilt and power.
### 4.3 “He does this through Christ Jesus, who set us free by offering His life.”
Here we touch the heart of redemption. The word “redemption” means a ransom price paid to set captives free.
Romans 3:24:
“Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus Himself said:
We were slaves of sin, legally held under its dominion through the broken Law. The Law demanded death as the penalty:
To set us free, Jesus offered His life as the ransom. He died the death that the Law demanded for our sin. This is substitution. He took our place. We are set free from the claims of the Law.
Colossians 2:13–14 explains this transaction:
> “…having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us… And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
The “handwriting of requirements” is the legal record of our guilt. Through His death, Jesus cancelled the charge sheet and satisfied the debt.
So your lyric is exactly right: He set us free by offering His life. Freedom is not cheap sentiment. It is purchased freedom.
### 4.4 “God presented Jesus as the sacrifice that takes away our sins, and we receive this by trusting in Him.”
Romans 3:25:
“Whom God set forth as a propitiation [*hilastērion*] by His blood, through faith…”
Several crucial truths:
1. God presented Jesus – The initiative is God’s. The cross was God’s plan, not merely human tragedy. Acts 2:23: Christ was “delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God.”
2. As a propitiation / mercy seat – Jesus’ blood satisfies the justice of God and opens a way of mercy.
3. By His blood – The actual, physical blood of Jesus shed on the cross is the price of our atonement.
4. Through faith – The benefits of the cross do not apply automatically to all. They must be received by personal faith.
Faith is not mere mental agreement. It is personal trust, dependence, commitment. You lean your whole weight on Christ. You abandon every other hope. You say, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.”
Scriptural reinforcement:
### 4.5 “God did this to show that He is truly righteous—for in His patience He had been holding back and not punishing sins committed in the past.”
Romans 3:25 (NKJV):
“…to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed…”
Here Paul addresses a serious question: How could God forgive sins in the Old Testament era before the cross, and still be just?
God, in His forbearance, “passed over” those sins—not because they were ignored, but because the full payment would be made in the future by Christ.
So the cross is retroactive. It reaches backward to cover the sins of all who trusted in God’s promise, and forward to all who trust in Christ. Only in the light of Calvary can we understand how God could forgive Abraham, David, and every Old Testament saint, and remain righteous.
### 4.6 “And now, at this time, He shows His righteousness so that He remains just, even while He makes right anyone who puts their faith in Jesus.”
Romans 3:26 (NKJV):
“…to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Here is the climax of Paul’s argument:
The cross is the only place in the universe where absolute righteousness and perfect mercy meet. God does not lower His standard. He meets it in His Son. He does not excuse sin. He punishes it fully in Christ.
For us, this destroys two errors:
1. Self-righteousness – No one can boast. Our righteousness is entirely derived, imputed, God-given, on the basis of Christ.
2. Presumption – Grace is not God closing His eyes to sin. Grace is God pouring out His wrath on His Son instead of us.
Your lyric is therefore deeply accurate: “He remains just, even while He makes right anyone who puts their faith in Jesus.” There is only one door: faith in Jesus. But through that door, any person may come.
This truth must not remain abstract. It must be applied. The whole Christian life depends on understanding and acting on “grace through faith.”
### 1. First, we must renounce all confidence in our own righteousness
Philippians 3:9 expresses Paul’s attitude:
> “…and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ…”
We must deliberately abandon every claim to stand before God on the basis of:
We must say, like the tax collector in Luke 18:13, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” That man went home justified. The Pharisee, with his religious boasting, did not.
A practical step: Say aloud to God, “Lord, I renounce my own righteousness as filthy rags. My only hope is the righteousness You give through faith in Jesus.”
### 2. Second, we must actively receive justification as a finished, legal act
Many believers live in constant uncertainty, because they do not see justification as a legal declaration already made.
Romans 5:1:
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Note the tense: “having been justified”—a completed act with ongoing results.
You must accept, on the authority of God’s Word, that if you have truly put your faith in Jesus:
This does not mean you never sin in practice. It means your legal standing before God is settled, and from that secure position God now works in you to transform your character.
A practical step: Thank God daily: “Father, I thank You that I have been justified by faith. I have peace with You through my Lord Jesus Christ.”
### 3. Third, we must use our justification as a weapon in spiritual warfare
Satan’s primary weapon against believers is accusation. Revelation 12:10 calls him “the accuser of our brethren.” He will accuse you:
If you do not understand justification, you will live under constant condemnation, unable to stand in victory.
Romans 8:33–34:
> “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died…”
When Satan accuses, you must answer:
You do not argue your own goodness. You plead the blood and the Word.
A practical step: When under accusation, respond out loud with Scripture: “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. I am justified by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
### 4. Fourth, we must live a life that honors the price that was paid
Grace is not a license to sin. It is the power to live righteously.
Titus 2:11–12:
> “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.”
Because we are justified freely, we are now obligated to live as those who have been bought with a price. We do not belong to ourselves.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20:
> “…you are not your own. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
A practical step: Regularly present yourself to God (Romans 12:1): “Lord, I belong to You. I was bought with the blood of Jesus. Use my life to display Your righteousness.”
### Proclamation
Speak this aloud, slowly and deliberately, as an act of faith:
> I proclaim that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and that includes me.
> But I also proclaim that God has justified me freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
> God presented Jesus as the mercy seat and the atoning sacrifice for my sins.
> By His blood, the claims of God’s justice against me have been fully satisfied.
> I do not trust in my own righteousness, but in the righteousness of God that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.
> God is just, and the justifier of me, because I have faith in Jesus.
> Therefore, I have been justified by faith, and I have peace with God through my Lord Jesus Christ.
> No accusation against me can stand, because it is God who justifies and Christ who died.
> I am redeemed, I am forgiven, I am declared righteous, by grace through faith in Christ alone.
### Prayer
Lord God, righteous Judge of all the earth,
I acknowledge that I have sinned and fallen short of Your glory. I confess that in myself I have no righteousness and no defense. But I thank You that You, in Your grace, have provided a righteousness apart from the Law, through faith in Jesus Christ.
Thank You that You presented Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for my sins, that His blood has satisfied Your justice, and that on this basis You can justify me without compromising Your holiness. I choose now to renounce every form of self-righteousness. I put my whole trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
Father, I ask that by Your Holy Spirit You will write this truth deeply in my heart: that I am justified freely by Your grace, that I am accepted in Christ, and that no accusation of Satan can stand against the blood of Jesus and the verdict of Your Word.
Teach me to live in a way that honors the price that was paid for me. Let my life display Your righteousness, not my own. Strengthen me to walk in obedience, holiness, and gratitude, all the days of my life.
I receive, by faith, Your gift of righteousness. I declare that Jesus is Lord, and that He is my righteousness, my redemption, and my peace with You.
In His mighty name I pray, Amen.
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