The gift

“Justified freely in His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Rom 3:24

We receive God’s grace for free, that is, without anything in return. If we are “justified for nothing,” it is not self-earned. It’s about the giver, not the receiver. The giver is God. That is the statement here.

Furthermore, we are “justified”. This corresponds to a status change. Although it is obvious that no man is righteous (Rom 3:10) and all men suffer from a deficiency (Rom 3:23), God does not use this fact against us. Rather, He provides the solution. The difference between God and man is serious, Paul had explained in the verses before. This is not because we are fundamentally bad, but it is a sober stocktaking, especially in comparison with God’s glory. There is a difference between God and us. The imagery leans towards that of a court of law. The difference is so serious that it precludes a meeting of the essence. This is something like an indictment, if we want to put it in a figurative comparison. This is how Paul does it. Those who are accused, however, are acquitted here. He who is justified is acquitted by a lack of accusation. There will be no sentencing. If you and I are declared righteous, it is because the charge has already been applied to someone else (to Christ).

This justification is given to us. However, it is not free. Someone else paid for it. God Himself bridges this gap. The promise is here: God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:14-21). God’s justice was achieved on the cross. There lies the origin and power of these statements.

If we build on His work, we can come to rest in Him. God’s grace can become an inexhaustible source that nourishes and sustains us.

What’s next?

When we respond to God’s grace, we enter a new space, so to speak. In this space of God’s grace we may move as liberated people. But what happens next? If everything is grace, can I do whatever I want?

Paul has already written about this. Grace is not a license to sin (cf. Rom 3:8). On the contrary, we have been bought at a high price, and therefore should by all means glorify God in our bodies (1Cor 6:20, 1Cor 7:23). Grace is quite different from what we ourselves think. Grace is not cheap, but arises because of God’s justice. This was fulfilled in Christ. This is “accomplished” (John 19:30). Because we are

“Justified freely in His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Rom 3:24

The essence of God’s grace is bestowal. It is free. As the recipients, we can respond to this gift with gratitude. In the fifth chapter of Romans we come back to this, because Paul writes there:

“However, the gift of grace is not like the grievance. For if by the mortification of the one, the many died, how much more does the grace of God and the gift in grace (which is of the one man Jesus Christ) flow over into the many [Versöhnten] “
Rom 5:15-16

Here, too, we see the link between grace and gift. Many other passages could be cited that say the same thing.

Free solution

Our justification has a basis. It came through the free redemption that is in Christ Jesus. At this point, the Greek apolutrosis (from-solve) is used. It is a different word from the regular lutrosis (salvation). With the free solution, the emphasis is entirely on God’s action. It is a release from bondage through a ransom paid. Release is the release due to a payment made by someone else.

The same word apolutrosis we read in different contexts:

“But not they alone, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we ourselves also groan within ourselves, awaiting the state of sonship, the release of our bodies.”
Rom 8:23 – This redemption is yet to come!

“But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; that it might be as it is written: He who boasts, boasts in the Lord!”
1Cor 1,30-31

“In love He predestined us for Himself to the state of sonship through Christ Jesus, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which graces us in the Beloved. In Him we have the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses according to the riches of His grace, which He makes overflow in us.”
Eph 1:5-8, cf. Col 1:14

Christ central

Christ is at the center of Paul. It is the foundation of God’s work. Through Him, God restores the community. We receive the free solution through Him for free. Some things apply now, others are still pending.

On the one hand, we are already children of God (Rom 8:16), but on the other hand, we are still awaiting the state of sonship, the redemption of our bodies (Rom 8:23). We are already one, the other is still ahead of us. We are children, but we will receive the status of sons, which is equated with the liberation of our body. The word “son” in Hebrew is related to the term for “building.” Behind this is the idea that through the sons the house is built. Sonship for all believers is the investiture in responsibility. We are no longer children, but sons. There will be a special kind of kick-off for this. It is on this expectation that we were saved (Rom 8:24). Paul writes similarly in Ephesians:

“In Him also are you who hear the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation – in Him also are you who believe, sealed with the Spirit of promise, the holy one (which is a deposit of our lot until the redemption of the one assigned to us) to the praise of His glory.”
Eph 1:13-14

It is still a promise. We don’t really have it yet. However, we have a spiritual down payment and are waiting for the implementation. Today is spiritual what will once become reality. The outlook determines that. Paul describes it this way:

“And grieve not the Spirit of God, the Holy One, with whom ye are sealed for the day of redemption.”
Eph 4:30

According to Romans 3, the “redemption which is in Christ Jesus” concerns our justification and thus deliverance from condemnation and judgment, that is, from all the challenges of our failure to reach our goal. This is true today and we are loved, liberated and wanted by God. This is a foundation for liberated living in the here and now. Free solution goes one step further because it also points to a future day of free solution. No one can change this outlook, because God Himself has sealed us to it with His Spirit.

We can look forward to that day, but not without already celebrating the here and now in God’s grace. Then, when that future day comes, things really get going.

“He raises us up together and sets us down together in the midst of the superheavenly in Christ Jesus, to display the all-surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus in the eons to come.”
Eph 2:6-7

Deepening

1. Statements about justification, justice and the like are problematic. Why? People have often imagined that God looks down on our deeds with a suspicious eye, constantly judging our every move. We live in a courtroom, so to speak, where God is the judge. However: this idea finds no justification in Scripture. There is no court date today, but it is a visual language. Here, something of God’s and of our reality is depicted. How can the difference between God and man be bridged? This is what Paul is trying to clarify here with this imagery.
   How do you interpret this?
2. Original sin, judgment of God seem to be much more “comprehensible” to many people than the references to God’s own righteousness given to us. Where is the focus for you? What do you understand, what do you not?