Session 4.9: January 30, 2026

Study session scripture: Romans 3:21-26

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for 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. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Study session topics:

• The saving righteousness of God

• "But now," a huge turning point in Paul's presentation of the Gospel message

• Paul has exhaustively argued since stating his thesis for the letter that sin is a pernicious, persistent, and pressing problem that affects everyone without exception

• No one is righteous, Jew or Gentile

• The unrighteous will suffer wrath and fury when they are inevitably judged by God

• Now Paul begins to discuss the ultimate solution to sin

• Paul describes a new covenant that God has recently established through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

• Apart from the Law -Without distinction between Jew and Gentile

• Received by faith as a gift, rather than by human efforts at obedience

• Upholds God's justice and wrath against sin (orge) while allowing Him to justify, or declare righteous, the one who trusts in Jesus

• Jesus as propitiation

• Propitiation: to appease or turn aside wrath, an atoning sacrifice to a deity

• Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of God's wrath needing to be satisfied

• God's wrath is not a fit of pique, but principled opposition to something that goes against His very nature

• God's wrath is well established in the Scriptures

• Paul uses severe terms to describe the unrighteousness of all men, and the Scriptures he references include wrathful responses to man's wickedness

• Propitiation in the Christian sense is distinct from other religions in that it is not man who appeases God, but God appeases Himself by providing sacrifices for sins

• Propitiation and reconciliation are two sides of the same coin

• God's provision of Christ's sacrifice shows His righteousness and justice, so that no one can accuse Him of being unjust in His forbearance toward sin

Study session audio: