21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—

22a the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe…

24 and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

— Romans 3:21-22a, 24

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.

19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

— Romans 5:1-2, 9, 19

and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

— Philippians 3:9

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

The only way to be saved from God’s wrath is to receive righteousness from God’s own nature alien to sin-corrupted humanity. Those who receive salvation in Christ through faith receive the right standing with God that they could never earn. The heart of the good news is God’s gift of righteousness. Unless God willingly gives this righteousness, the mere existence of His perfect righteousness would not be good news at all. On the contrary, the truth about God’s perfection would only increase our sense of condemnation.

God revealed His free gift in Christ so those who come to know Christ might stop fruitlessly striving and simply trust Him. We find rest when we believe that God gives Christ’s righteousness to all who trust in Him. Believers stand before God, not in their own self-righteousness, which is actually not righteous at all, but stand before God in the life-giving righteousness of Christ. (Inspired by BSF’s Study of Romans)