My God and My Country

The Only Way to Be Right With God 

By Pastor Ray Pritchard

(Part One as Edited by RPW Sr.)

This morning we are considering the greatest question in the world—How can a man be right with God? It is the supreme problem of life. No more important question could ever be asked.

Every sincere person asks this question. Every sincere Methodist asks, “How can a man be right with God?” Every sincere Presbyterian asks, “How can a man be right with God?” Every sincere Catholic asks, “How can a man be right with God?” Every sincere Lutheran asks, “How can a man be right with God?

The answer is always the same. The men and women who do these things desperately want to be right with God. They do what they do because they hope to appease God or to please God or to pacify God or to somehow manipulate God into favoring their cause. It is a totally sincere question, is it not? We all want to stand before God someday and have him declare us righteous in his sight.

What is the answer to this great question? How can a man be right with God? To that all-important question, no answer is more satisfying than the answer given in Romans 3:21-26. It is the essence of the gospel and the heart of the Christian message. 

I have been preaching on the doctrine of sin from Romans 1-3. With all my strength I have tried to show the universal sinfulness of mankind. My goal has not been to depress you, but to paint a realistic picture of the human condition. As we have seen, the “human condition” is utterly hopeless apart from Jesus Christ. For all our talk of human progress, we haven’t advanced one whit beyond Romans 3:23—"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Those who doubt that verdict are invited to read the Chicago Sun-Times and see for themselves. On every page there is a story that testifies to man’s repeated failure to live up to God’s high standards. In this case, the newspaper doesn’t “prove” the Bible, but it does convincingly demonstrate that Paul knew exactly what he was talking about. Last Sunday we came to a major climax when we looked at Romans 3:9-20, which lays out the ultimate truth about you and me. We are all infected with the virus of sin. Not only are we infected, but the virus has entered every part of our being. We are totally infected with a terminal disease called sin. Without a miracle, there is no hope for any of us.

The righteousness we need is from God

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known.” What great truth is contained in that little phrase “but now.” The difference between heaven and hell hangs on the meaning of those tiny words. One writer called this “One of the biggest ’buts’ in all world literature.” What is God’s answer to the depravity of the human race? Does he turn his back and damn us all to hell? No! Thank God for those two little words—"But now.” They guarantee that God has an answer for the worst that man can do. His grace is greater than our sin, his mercy infinitely more than our iniquity. Somewhere I read that Martin Luther said that you should never introduce God into a plot unless the plot is so tangled up that only God would untangle it. That’s the state of the human drama. It’s so tangled by sin that only God could untangle it.

Why do we need a righteousness “from God?” Simply put, because we have no righteousness of our own. “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.” But what of the good works that I do? They are but filthy rags in his sight.

To some people, this is tragic news. They think that because of some inherited goodness that God will accept them. Wrong! Goodness isn’t inherited like blue eyes and brown hair. In fact, what you inherited from your parents is a sin nature that causes you to turn away from God almost from the moment of your birth. You were born with an inbred tendency to disobedience. No one had to teach you to say “No!” You figured that out all by yourself.

You weren’t born righteous. No amount of moral reformation can change that fact. Since there is no righteousness within you, the only kind of righteousness that will save you is a righteousness that comes from outside yourself. That’s what Paul means when he says a righteousness from God has been revealed.

That’s where the Good News begins. The righteousness we need comes down from God himself!

It is apart from the law

Notice the second fact about this righteousness. Paul says it comes “apart from the law.” To the observant Jew, this would be a shocking and troubling statement. In Paul’s day, as in our day, many religious people sincerely believed that their religious devotion would win God’s approval. They hoped that by following the Ten Commandments, by observing the rabbinical ordinances, by offering the proper sacrifices, by attending to the moral precepts of the Torah, that God would be satisfied and their sins forgiven. Paul says it doesn’t work that way.
Does this mean the law was of no use? Not at all. The law revealed the righteousness of God—that is, it showed mankind God’s righteous standard for human behavior. Unfortunately, that’s all the law could do. It showed what God wanted; it couldn’t compel obedience neither could it provide the inner “want to” that would actually change human behavior.

When Paul says that righteousness comes “apart from the law,” he is really saying that it comes apart from religious observance, good works,  baptism, giving money,  devoted prayer, ritual of any kind. In fact, he is really saying that righteousness comes to those who haven’t even kept the law at all. Since lawkeeping isn’t a requirement for salvation, those who have broken the law can be saved!

Let’s suppose that American Express offers a one million dollar prize to anyone who can swim nonstop to Hawaii. On the appointed day, six carefully-screened swimmers line up on the beach at San Diego. At the crack of the gun, the six contestants plunge into the surf, heading for Honolulu. After a few minutes all six are out of sight. Six hours into the race the first contestant quits because of cramps in his side. Four hours later a second swimmer stops because of sheer exhaustion. The other four redouble their efforts. Twelve hours pass, then 15, then 18. At the 20 hour mark, 3 others finally give up. Meanwhile, one determined man swims on. Eventually he too must quit, but only after an amazing 48 hours in the water.

Will he win the million dollars? No, because he didn’t swim to Hawaii. The prize was not offered to the one who swam the farthest, but only to the one who made it all the way to Honolulu. Since no one made it, no one wins the prize. All six swimmers tried valiantly, and some did better than others, but all of them ultimately failed.

It’s the same way when it comes to keeping the law of God. Some do better than others, but all ultimately fail because no one ever keeps it perfectly. But since God demands perfection, no one can be saved by keeping the law. Which is why the righteousness we need must come apart from the law. If righteousness came by keeping the law, no one would ever be saved.