I'm continuing my thoughts on some incredibly important texts of Scripture on the matter of justification. At a fear of "moving backward" I am in fact going to slide a couple verses up from where I was in my previous post.
Romans 3:26
This verse and the verses that follow it are some of the most important verses in the Bible on justification. They are the crucial lens by which the fourth chapter of Romans has to be read.
I have commented on this passage in my TOBC101 class on God's righteousness. This post won't contain many new things. The basic premise of this beautiful verse is the tri-fold perspective of the righteousness of God.
God displays His righteousness by being righteous through making man righteous. And in this the glory of God is supremely confirmed. The complete fullness of the gospel is in fact held within this verse. God is most certainly righteous. But we must also affirm that His behavior only seeks to confirm His righteousness. And this is done most principally (and controversially) in declaring righteous the sinners within His creation.
When the truth of this hits the heart our reaction will either be one of immense praise or mockery at the "deceit" of the theology. With genuine abhorrence the Roman Catholic Church claimed this will decretal mockery. But it cannot be shaken that God has in fact made the unrighteous truly righteous as to magnify His righteousness.
