Law, Grace, and Faith

PREACHING POINTS FROM ROMANS #2
Romans 3 -- Dr. Ronnie Wolfe

I.  Condemnation By The Law

Romans 3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Romans 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Galatians 3:10  For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

The Mosaic Law can only condemn; it cannot save (redeem). The law has no pretense toward salvation, but its whole duty is to condemn those who cannot keep the entirety of the law.

James 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

II.  Consequence Of Grace

Only God is truly gracious. Grace comes only from God without any ingenuity or effort from man. Man knows nothing about true grace. He must receive it from God before he can have any comprehension at all about it.

Grace is God’s extension of mercy to us by his act of atonement in Jesus Christ. Grace brings redemption, that is, the payment for our sins through the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, on the cross suffering and dying for our sins.  We have been purchased with a price–Jesus’ precious blood. God did that by grace. He extended to us that of which we are not worthy.

Grace is extended to us only through faith.

Romans 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:


III. Complement Of Faith

We are all condemned (Romans 3:23; John 3:18).

Jesus came to save his people from their sins by grace.

The only way in God’s plan that grace may and can be influential in our lives is through faith. Notice again:

Romans 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Romans 3:26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

We are not complete by grace until that grace has gone through the channel of faith. Faith is the channel through which God comes to a sinner and justifies him before God.

Condemnation is overcome by grace through faith. Redemption and justification have come to us to complement the work of God in us and make us to be accepted in the beloved. So, then, God is both just and justifier. He is just and justifier to those who believe in Jesus.

God is just in his sovereignty.
God is justifier in his mercy.

Romans 3:26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Let us all be sure in our theology that grace does no damage to faith and faith does no damage to grace, for they work together to justify those who believe by grace, and they are both from God.