First - We all need God’s righteousness because we are all sinners (1:18-3:20)
Second - Faith alone in Jesus is how God will justify us - that is, declare us righteous (3:21-4:25)
Definition: “Justification is an instantaneous act of God in which He
1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and
2) declares us to be righteous in His sight.” — Grudem (723)
1. Justification in Four Parts (3:21-26)
a) The righteousness of God has been revealed at this point in salvation history apart from the now obsolete law-covenant. (3:21)
b) The righteousness of God is universally available without ethnic distinction (3:22-23).
c) The righteousness of God is free and expensive (3:24). 4.The righteous God presented Jesus as a propitiation (3:25-26)
2. Justification’s Three Inferences (3:27-31)
a) There is no boasting because God justifies by faith alone (3:27-28)
b) God justifies both Jews and Gentiles by faith (3:29-30)
c) God’s people fulfill the law by this faith - they do not nullify it (3:31)
