October 31, 2026 - Romans 3(cont.)-4
Paul pronounces a terrible judgment against all: “We have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one’” (3:9-12). He concludes, “By works of the law no human being will be justified in [God’s] sight” (3:20). I remember the young man of the Brahmin caste, there in the park in Delhi, upon hearing these truths, exclaiming, “Oh, what hope is there!?” Of course, there is a great hope, and Paul does not leave his reader despairing. “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” (3:23-25). Paul goes on to give Abraham as an example of one who is justified not by his works but by faith and, quoting David, he makes application to all who believe: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (4:7-8). Our sins forgiven. Our sins covered. No sin counted against us. Blessed, indeed!
How blest is He whose trespass
hath freely been forgiv’n,
whose sin is wholly covered
before the sight of heav’n.
to whom the LORD in mercy
imputeth not his sin,
who hath a guileless spirit,
whose heart is true within.. – Anonymous (19th century)
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