“…who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”
(Romans 4:25)
Notice how your ears perk up when you hear someone say, “I’ve got some good news!” But do you have the same response when the gospel – or “good news” – of God is shared?
In his first letter to the Corinthian believers, Paul clearly defines the gospel of God to them: “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you… that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Paul makes it clear that the essential components of the gospel of God are Christ’s death on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection from the dead.
The most widely cherished symbol in Christendom is the cross of Christ. Rightly so, because we have all sinned (Rom. 3:23) and the wages of our sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Christ had to be “delivered up” as a sacrifice to God on the cross in our place… in order to pay for our sins. Without the shedding of His blood, we could never be justified and freed from eternal damnation. Without the death of Christ on the cross, we are hopelessly and eternally separated from God.
But Christ’s death is only one of the elements of the gospel message. Paul also adds in 1 Corinthians 15:17, “…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” The resurrection of Christ is also an essential element of the gospel, as it leaves no doubt as to the power of God over death, Satan, and hell. As Romans 4:25 says, He was raised for our justification.
How can we be justified in the sight of God and freed from sin and damnation? It is only by the righteousness of Christ and His work of redemption (Rom. 3:20, 24, 28). And the only way we can be cleansed from sin and made just in the eyes of God is by faith in Christ (Rom. 3:28). This faith is graciously given to us from God, allowing those He chooses to believe and trust Him for salvation to everlasting life. As promise of His gospel says, “he that believes shall be saved, and he that does not believe shall be damned,” (Mark 16:16; John 3:16).
What is God’s good news to us? That Christ suffered death to satisfy God’s righteous judgment for our sins and perfectly fulfill the law of God for all those who believe in Him (Rom. 4:25, 8:3; Matt. 5:17). In other words, God in His mercy sent His Son to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. This is the righteousness that justifies us and presents us righteous at God’s judgment seat.
Romans 4:6 adds, “Blessed is the man, to whom the Lord imputes righteousness.” In other words, when the Lord “imputes” the righteousness of Christ to one of His own, He sees them as He sees Christ. That is the only way we can be “accepted in the Beloved,” (Eph. 1:6). It is not an inherent righteousness in the believer but an objective righteousness in the person of Christ given to us.
So the only plea the arraigned, accused sinner can make for himself at God’s judgment seat is this, as Michael Harrison points out, “O Lord, I readily confess I have sinned, and by sin deserve to be eternally damned; yet in love to lost sinners, you have given Christ, who by His active obedience has fulfilled the Law, and by His sufferings has purchased eternal redemption for all them that believe in Him, obey and receive Him as offered in the Gospel. I see myself lost and undone by sin, I lean by faith to Him, and rest on Him alone for pardon, justification and eternal life. He is the Lord my righteousness. I resolve that I will not trust in anything in myself, but to the merits and righteousness of Christ alone.”
- Lord, thank You for Your righteousness that is imputed to me. What works can I do to justify myself in Your sight? My works only show that I am justified; they do not justify me before You, only in the sight of men. That is, anything I do that reflects Your righteousness only proves my faith to others. I believe by faith alone that Christ saves, but unless that faith is backed up by my life, it is not true faith (James 2:14-26). Whoever opposes this doctrine, opposes Christ and the Gospel way of salvation.
- What a miserable state we are all in by nature, Lord. We are not capable of doing anything to justify ourselves before Your holiness. And no one apart from Christ can present us righteous at Your judgement. No one else will do us any good. Without Christ and His righteousness, we perish forever.
- I see here the infinite mercy and kindness You show to undone sinners, Father, to provide me such a righteousness when I have none of my own. You “so loved the world,” as to give Your Son for me. Help me admire such magnificent grace! “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits,” (Psalm 103:1-2).
- I see now, Father, that justification has two parts. You remove the curse of the Law and the guilt of sin from me when I trust in You for salvation. But I also understand that You must transfer the righteousness of Christ to my account, in order that I may be made righteous at Your judgment seat. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,” (2 Cor. 5:21). This Gospel of Jesus Christ is, indeed, good news!
Further References for Romans 4:25
Romans 8:32; 1 Cor. 15:17; Romans 5:6, 8; Isa. 53:5-6; Matt. 20:28
