The “going to work” Pistons of the early 2000s were my favorite sports team in my childhood. I feel like I never missed watching a game. Ben Wallace was one of the players that I modeled my middle school and high school basketball career after. I will never forget one Christmas morning grabbing the first present, which was a Ben Wallace Jersey along with Pistons playoff tickets. Receiving a gift like that when you are a child is so meaningful because there was absolutely no way I could have paid for those tickets on my own. I could not earn them, and there was no way for me to get them outside of it being a free gift.
1. What is the most meaningful or unexpected gift that you have ever received?
In the same way, righteousness is something we cannot earn, only something that can be received from Christ. In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul presents a comprehensive explanation of the doctrine of righteousness. Righteousness is the idea of being in “right standing with God.” Romans 3:21-31 is a foundational passage that addresses the core of the Gospel message, explaining how righteousness is received and applied through faith in Jesus Christ. The Jewish understanding of righteousness was that it was something that could be achieved through strict adherence to the Law. In simple terms, the thought was that as long as we follow these rules closely enough, we will be righteous in the eyes of God. However, earlier in the book of Romans, we just learned that the purpose of the Law is to reveal our sin and our need for a Savior. It was not to give us a way to earn anything. Righteousness through the Law was not, and still is not, possible.
2. Do you often find yourself doing good works in the hope of achieving righteousness?
Romans 3:21-26 says, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
3. What does Paul mean by “the righteousness of God” being revealed apart from the Law (Romans 3:21)?
In traditional Jewish thought, righteousness was often seen as something to be earned through obedience to the Law. However, Paul challenges this notion by introducing a righteousness that comes directly from God; it is independent of human effort. This righteousness, Paul explains, was always testified to by the Law and the Prophets, but now it is fully revealed through Jesus Christ. Jesus had made a way for sinful humanity to be made right in His sight without keeping the requirements of the Law. The shift here is from Law-based righteousness to faith-based righteousness.
Philippians 3:8-9 says, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 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.”
4. Is it easy for you to accept righteousness as a free gift realizing it is something that we cannot earn?
5. How does understanding that righteousness cannot come from our works change your perspective on your faith and Christian life?
We see in Philippians 3:8-9 that when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, His righteousness is now counted as our righteousness. This righteousness is what we call “imputed righteousness.” It is not something that we can do on our own; it is Jesus’ righteousness counted as our own when we put our faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please notice that earlier in this passage in Romans 3:10, Paul reminds us that there is none righteous, “no, not one.” Only Jesus Christ lived a righteous life, and He imparts that righteousness to us when we put our faith in Him. This stands in stark contrast to the belief that you can achieve righteousness through works. Works-based righteousness depends on human effort and obedience to the Law. However, because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), no one can attain righteousness by their own works. Faith in Christ, then, shifts the focus from human striving to divine grace, allowing believers to receive God’s righteousness as a gift.
6. How does Paul’s teaching that there is no one righteous apart from Christ (Romans 3:10) shape our understanding of human effort and striving for perfection?
7. What does it mean to be “justified freely by his grace” in Romans 3:24 (NKJV)? How does grace play a role in righteousness?
In this verse, Paul says that believers are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” To be justified means to be declared righteous in God’s sight. This justification is not something we can earn; it is given “freely” by God’s grace. We are justified in an instant when we believe in the Gospel and receive the righteousness of Christ. When we truly understand the sinful nature that we are born in, how we are truly enemies of God from birth, the grace that God extends to us is absolutely staggering. We did not deserve any of this, yet God still sent His son as a sacrifice so that we could be declared righteous through Christ.
Titus 3:5-6 records, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
8. What should your response be to Christ in light of this gift that He has given you?
Just like the 2004 Pistons, it is time to go to work. There is this imputed righteousness that we are given when we believe in Jesus, but then there is a second type of righteousness, which is imparted righteousness. Imparted righteousness is practical, lived-out righteousness that we can only do through the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Prior to faith in Christ, we were incapable of pleasing God, as Hebrews 11:6 teaches us, but once we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we then have the ability to strive for righteousness in our day-to-day lives. Our only proper response to being made righteous through our faith in Christ is to then press on to actually live righteously each and every day. I want to do good works for Christ out of my love for Christ and what He has done for me.
Philippians 3:12 says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”
Romans 6:13 adds, “Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”
9. What does it look like to present yourself as an instrument of righteousness in your daily life? How can you live out this calling in practical ways?
Paul says in Philippians that we are not perfect, but we press on to be more like Christ each and every day. We can present ourselves as instruments of righteousness in many different ways. We can serve Christ by being a light for Him in sharing the truth of His Gospel with other people. We should actively be looking to Scripture to see how we can better follow God’s commands. When we follow Christ, obeying His Law, we know that our works are flowing out of our relationship with Him, not out of a belief that the Law makes us righteous. We all should be evaluating our own lives, seeing how we can better serve Christ.
Romans 3:27-28 says, “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
John Piper wraps this up so clearly, “So, here’s the glory and the mystery of the Christian life. We are already righteous in Christ, and so we have peace with God. And in the peace of that acceptance with God, we strive for righteousness in our daily lives not only because we know that this confirms that we are God’s people, but also because this is the most deeply satisfying way to glorify Christ.”
10. John Piper says, “We are already righteous in Christ, and so we have peace with God.” How does having peace with God motivate you to strive for righteousness in your daily life?