The Righteousness We Need – Romans 3:21-22

Bethel Baptist Church – David Rising

Romans 3:21-22; June 14, 2026 Sunday AM

The Righteousness We Need

The picture that has emerged from our study in Romans thus far has been pretty bleak.

We humans have not fared too well in Paul’s discussion. We do not have a very glowing report. Sin dominates and reaps consequences in our lives, and apart from some help we are in trouble.

The trouble we have with sin is everyone’s problem – every ethnic group, every person.

Romans 3:10 sums it up well: there is none righteous, no not one.

Because that is true, then Paul points out the obvious conclusion: we are all guilty before God (3:19). This judicial guilt bears consequences – the judgment of God. That judgment ultimately is eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire as Revelation 20 makes clear.

We saw in the final verse of our study last week, verse 20, that the Law is not the means by which we are saved.

Romans 3:20 (NKJV) 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

The law does not disable sin, but rather it points out our sin. Whenever we think we are keeping the law, we might be tempted to confess our righteousness. However, the whole of scripture is clear that none of us can keep the law entirely.

Jesus kept pointing this out during His earthly ministry in so many words as He highlighted the issue of the heart behind anything we do.

Jesus’ coming to earth was an offense to so many, but His coming was to provide the answer to everyone’s problem.

And that is the gospel.

Jesus came to give His life a random, and we’ll see those details as we progress in chapter three.

The great hope for all humanity is Jesus.

In our study today, we will address (1) the righteousness of God, (2) Faith, (3) Jesus as the object of our faith, and (4) the universality of the message. Pray.

Listen to verses 21-24, though we’ll only cover the first two verses today:

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

21Νυνὶ δὲ χωρὶς νόμου δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ πεφανέρωται μαρτυρουμένη ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν, 22δικαιοσύνη δὲ θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας. οὐ γάρ ἐστιν διαστολή, 23πάντες γὰρ ἥμαρτον καὶ ὑστεροῦνται τῆς δόξης τοῦ θεοῦ 24δικαιούμενοι δωρεὰν τῇ αὐτοῦ χάριτι διὰ τῆς ἀπολυτρώσεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ·

I love the conjunction and adverb that start verse 21: “but now” (Νυνὶ δὲ). If the scripture only painted for us a bleak picture, we would be most miserable.

If we are all sinners and incapable of fixing ourselves, then indeed we need outside help. If our unrighteousness renders us all guilty, then what we need is a great intervention.

These verses discuss the major components of our salvation and emphasize that the solution is in a person – Jesus Christ.

1. The Righteousness of God (3:21)

The first topics Paul brings up in verse 21 is this phrase the righteousness of God (δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ).

We were introduced to this phrase back in 1:16-17:

Romans 1:16–17 (NKJV) 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. Back when we studied these verses we discussed this phrase. We noted that initially Martin Luther understood this phrase to refer to God’s characteristic of justice. That troubled him because it sounded like the gospel was preaching about our shortcomings.

Later he came to understand it as it has traditionally been understood: the righteousness that God credits to us the unrighteous sinner.

In other words, what we most need in our lives is a new status before God. Since we can’t keep the law and get our act together to gain His merit, we need God to intervene and grant to us something that we can’t produce, even on our best days.

Paul tells us in 1:17 and here in 3:21 that the righteousness of God that we need is available to us in the gospel message.

Both here and in 1:17 this righteousness is revealed; it is made fully known to us.

The word righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) refers to that which is right, what is morally acceptable, what is just, what is required by God.

God is holy and perfect, and those who stand in His presence must first be consecrated and prepared. The OT Law prescribed the steps one had to take in order to come into God’s presence. Priests had to go through rituals to show their compliance with God’s requirements of cleansing and purification.

Because everyone sinned, there was a process to cleanse and prepare oneself because of one’s status as being unclean and impure.

The fact that this is the righteousness of God indicates that is perfect and what God requires.

There has been plenty of debate in the last several decades on this and I am not prepared to get into all that here, but I think the context of this chapter makes the strong case that it is something that we lack and it is something that only God can provide.

We see in 3:5 that our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God. That is, that God responds to our sin with perfect justice and truth. That response means He will judge sin with His wrath … unless there is an intervention.

And that intervention is the great story of the gospel centering on Jesus.

And so the first thing we see here in verse 21 is the righteousness of God – the very thing that we need.

Notice how Paul describes it:

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

Just as with 1:17, so it is here: the righteousness of God is revealed. It is made known.

Paul says that it is revealed and then he says where it is not revealed: apart from the law.

What we need is not found in the law, as important as it was and is.

That almost doesn’t sound right, but as we will see, Paul is not kicking the law to the curb and saying it was worthless.

In the flow of thought and his argument, Paul is saying that what we need for our sin problem is not something we find in the law.

Practically speaking, we do not preach the Law to ourselves or others so that we might urge obedience simply as the solution.

If we try really, really hard to keep the 10 Commandments, for instance, we will soon find that we will fail and are hopeless – guilty.

This righteousness we need is revealed apart from the law as verse 21 says, but notice at the end of verse 21, it is also something that is seen in the Law and the Prophets.

The Scriptures, summarized here as the Law and the Prophets, do reveal God’s perfect standards of holiness. But the problem is that we just can’t keep it and because of that, we are guilty of breaking the law. This is the problem.

How then do we obtain God’s righteousness?

2. By Faith (3:22a)

22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.

This is the message that Paul preached everywhere he went.

Salvation is by faith alone, by faith in Jesus Christ.

This is not something new as we will see when we come to chapter 4. Abraham was the prime example in the OT of faith in what God said. He is described as the father of faith and his life illustrates this very point.

Gaining God’s righteousness, His righteous standing, was never obtained by obedience, but rather by faith.

As this book unfolds and addresses the life of the Christian, we see that the life of faith is not a lawless life full of disobedience. Rather, it is a life of faith that leans upon the work of Christ, leans upon the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we might obey God’s Word as he orders us.

But our obedience is not the basis of our eternal standing before God.

Recall again verse 17 of chapter 1:

Romans 1:17 (NKJV) 17 For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Gaining God’s righteousness is by faith: from faith to faith, from first to last, by faith alone. However you want to understand that double-usage of the terms, we see the emphasis upon faith.

What does it mean to have faith?

The phrase by faith (διὰ πίστεως) or the word faith is often translated as ‘believe’ when it is a verb. To have faith is to believe. We see that in the middle of verse 22: “…on all who believe” (εἰς πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας).

Then what does it mean to believe?

It means we hear what God says in His Word we trust that it is true. We accept God’s words as truth. We consider the words trustworthy, reliable, and we act upon them. We lean upon those words just as we lean upon a wall when we need a reliable source to hold us up.

We believe a chair will hold us up, and so we sit down and lean upon it.

At the end of Romans 4, verse 21, we will see one of the best verses I think that describes faith – to be fully convinced that what God said is true. That God will keep His word and perform His Word in His way and in His time.

We all exercise faith on a continual basis and may not really think about it much. We usually think about it when we heard a word, relied upon it, but then discovered that the word we heard and relied upon was false. Those moments cause us to be careful about what we believe.

But God’s word is not like that. We don’t have to test it first before we believe it is true. His Word is true.

Faith is believing what God says is true and then living our lives in light of that.

Faith is our response to the gospel of Jesus Christ that shows that we believe it is true.

Our faith has an object, and that leads us to the third point of emphasis this morning:

3. The object of our faith is Jesus Christ (3:22)

22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.

The righteousness of God that we need is revealed through faith in Jesus Christ.

The object of our faith is Jesus Christ.

Our faith is not faith in faith or faith in some religious belief system that does not mention Jesus.

The righteousness of God that we need is not obtained by obeying the law. Rather it is obtained through faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul began this letter by identifying himself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ. He was appointed by God as an apostle for the work of the gospel of God which is focused upon God’s Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord (1:3).

This Jesus was the Son of Man as He came to earth through the seed of David (1:4). He was a human being just like you and I are human beings.

John 1:14 (NKJV) 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus was also the Son of God and His resurrection showed this great truth as the power of God was on full display (1:4).

Paul was careful to identify the readers of this Roman letter as those who were the called of Jesus Christ (1:5).

Paul recognized the mediatorial role of Jesus when he acknowledged in 1:8 his thanksgiving for the Roman saints – a thanks that was directed to God through Jesus Christ.

It is only through Jesus Christ that we can come to the Father.

Paul described the gospel in 1:9 as the gospel of His Son, God’s Son. His message centered upon Jesus.

In 1:16 it is the gospel of Christ.

Jesus is not only the redeemer who gave His life on the cross, but He is also noted in 2:16 as the One Who will one day judge the secrets of men. Jesus is the Judge.

We see in verse 26, which we will cover in a subsequent sermon, that our justification is tied to our faith in Jesus.

I refer to Galatians from time to time, but I think of it often when we consider the fake gospels that we sometimes here.

Notice what Paul says in

Galatians 1:6–10 (NKJV)

6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

Paul is concerned in this early NT book that some were teaching and believing a ‘different’ gospel which he says is not really even worthy to be considered a gospel. It is a perversion.

What is the perversion? It is adding or including in the gospel message the imperative also to keep the law. In particular, we see Paul emphasize some who were either teaching with their mouth or demonstrating with their actions that Gentiles would be required to live as Jews (Galatians 2:14).

This might include some dietary practices, but in particular as we see in Galatians 6:13 some were insisting that Gentiles be circumcised.

In other words, this perverted gospel is Jesus plus something else. In this case, keeping the Jewish law.

In our day, it might be some other perversion, which may seriously downplay the person and work of Jesus.

We do not insist that Gentiles become Jewish. We do not insist that a disciple of Jesus must become circumcised.

We also do not insist that people become Baptists and come to our church. Sure, it is a great blessing if people do come here and share our theology as a whole, but that is not a requirement for responding to the gospel.

We do not preach a gospel that says “believe in Jesus and stop smoking or drinking.” Or “believe in Jesus and vote this way or that way.”

The gospel must have as its focus and object of trust the Lord Jesus. Period.

Yes, when we are truly born-again and become a child of God, the Holy Spirit begins clearing out the junk in our life. That process begins and does not conclude in the first few weeks. Some things may instantly change, but long-lasting change in our lives will come over time.

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

The cleaning up process does come in our life, and repentance is closely tied to faith as God begins a work in our hearts turning us from sin unto righteousness.

If the object of our faith is not Jesus, His cross, His righteousness – all which we receive by faith – then our faith is misplaced and we are believing a perverted gospel.

If the gospel message we are proclaiming includes these other things, then we are speaking in error.

Our message next week will explain why Jesus must be the object of our faith as we hear the nuts & bolds of redemption.

But as we wind down, notice one final point as we see at the end of verse 22:

22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.

4. The gospel is a universal message (3:22)

Paul emphasizes that this gospel message is a universal message. Gaining the righteousness of God which we need is available to all – all who believe.

This point is a repeat of the same point he gave us back in 1:16 – ‘for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.’

I certainly believe in my comprehensive theology that God is the author of salvation and as our doctrinal statement makes clear, “the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace.” There is nothing that you or I can do to merit our salvation, and there is nothing we can accomplish to gain access to the Tree of Life which is in the Paradise of God (Revelation 2:7).

It is God who foreknew, predestined, and called. It is God who justifies and it is God who glorifies (Romans 8:30).

We are not privy to so much of what God has done and does behind the veil, but in the scriptures our gospel message emphasizes the need to believe.

Acts 16:31 (NKJV) 31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Paul and Silas told that Philippian jailer how to be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

That message was for him. It was a message for his household. It was a message for all who heard Paul preach.

It is a message for all whom we encounter.

It is a universal message.

This is why we support missionaries all across the world.

The gospel is not the white man’s religion. It is not the message from the UK or the USA.

It is a message that is for all the world.

Matthew 28:19–20 (NKJV) 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations (every ethnic group), baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

God saves any and all who trust in His Son for eternal life. God works in us in a miraculous way to grant to us faith, to give to us life, to make us new, and it is all to His glory.

Paul will further drive home this point at the end of verse 22 and into the following verses, but we’ll pick up that study next time.

Application

1. Let us not confuse the Law and the Gospel

The Law shows that we are sinners. The Law demonstrates God’s perfect standards. The Law condemns.

Now I realize we could be more sophisticated when we talk about these things, as some theologians do with their books, but I try to live in the real world and explains things that make sense.

The Law is a weight that points out our sin and shows our need of God’s help.

That is the gospel. The gospel says that Jesus gained for us what we could never do, and that we can receive that help by faith alone.

The gospel says that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. As God’s Son, He bore in His body on that cross our sin and guilt, and grants to us by faith the righteousness of God that we need.

2. Thank God for His marvelous grace and mercy!