BOOK OF ROMANS
Lesson No. 18 SIN, RIGHTEOUSNESS, JUSTIFICATION AND THE BLOOD OF CHRIST CHAPTER 3

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…seeing it is one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith.” Romans 3:23-24, 30

B. The Definite State of our Life (Rom. 3:9). We are all under “sin.” In our lives as believers of Christ, the most serious problem that we have is our sin. Hebrews 12:1 tells us, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.‖ Romans chapters 1 to 8 speak of sin (singular) and sins (plural). Chapters 1 to 5 present sin in plural form. The second part discusses sin in its singular form. Why is this so? The first five chapters of the book of Romans clearly point out the many sins that a believer commits while chapters 5:12– to 8:39, show the power of sin in his life. Our personal sins which are many affect our conscience while the power of sin touches our very life. As believers, we must be aware of these two things: (1) the presence of sin in our lives; and (2) the power that comes with it. We still have in us the nature of sin—meaning, an inward inclination to sin and a power that draws us to sin. This is the reason why God gave us the blood of Christ for cure and remedy. Romans 3:25 and 5:9 thoroughly present to us the presence and power of the blood of Christ in us that makes us acceptable before God now and forever.

1. The horrible ingredients of sin (Rom. 3:10-17). From “no one is righteous” to “there is no fear of God before their eyes.” The understanding is ―blinded, depraved and perverted.‖ No one seeks after God, all are lost in their way and have become unprofitable. No one does anything good and if ever they think they are good, it is their own selfrighteousness which God hates because it means His righteousness is rejected. All parts of our being are corrupted by sin (vv.13-16). No peace dwells within (v.17).

2. The unhappy results of sin (Rom. 3:18-19). We have become guilty before God and the law cannot help us because it can only bring us to the knowledge of sin. Sin always brings guilt and doubt.

3. The heavy problem of our sin (Rom. 3:23). Sin first appeared as an act of disobedience which resulted to the separation of man from his God and Creator. That is why God has said in the book of Romans 3 verse 9, “They are all under sin.” This sin gives man a sense of guilt and a sense of estrangement from his God. Thus, he cries out, “I have sinned…” (Luke 15:18). This also provides Satan the opportunity and ground to accuse every believer before a holy God.

C. The Divine Design of Cure: The Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24-26; 5:8-9). While our sense of guilt gives Satan the right and reason to accuse us as clearly found in Revelation 12:10, the BLOOD OF CHRIST works in three ways—God-ward, man-ward and Satan-ward.

1. The Blood of Christ is for our ATONEMENT (covering) and has to do with our standing before God. We need to be forgiven from all And surely, they are all forgiven not because God overlooked them but because of the Blood of Christ that atones and covers us. Believers need to see that the blood of Christ is greater than any kind of sin in his life for Christ’s blood covers him and that makes him acceptable before God.

2. The Blood of Christ satisfied God and it must satisfy us also. This is what we call man-ward impact—the cleansing of our evil conscience (Heb. 10:19-22). Christ’s blood cleansed our hearts and consciences completely and once cleansed, we can approach God freely. However, some believers do not understand this but still wallow in their guilt feelings, thus keeping their distance from God. They fail to realize that the only basis to approach God is the sprinkled blood of Christ. Our boldness is in Christ’s blood alone (Eph. 2:12-19). Good works or good feelings have nothing to do with our fellowship with God. We can grow in faith, overcome ourselves and doubts and deepen our relationship with God through the precious blood of Christ alone.

3. The Blood of Christ has overcome the accuser once and for all. Satan’s strategy to defeat believers and turn them away from God is to accuse them through their sense of guilt. He tries to steal the very truth from their hearts and sometimes, he wins over them. Sadly, many believers lead crippled lives because they find themselves not fit to live for God. And this should serve as a warning to us—if we allow Satan’s voice to make us feel unworthy before God because of sin, then defeat and destruction will come our way. The Word of God says that every sin—past, present, and future has already been overcome by the Blood of Christ and God will remember them no more. Christ’s blood cleanses us each day from all our sins, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

CONCLUSION

Satan can accuse and even curse us before God’s throne day and night but the Bible says, “If God be for us, who can be against us? And who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yes rather, had risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Romans 8:31-33). For every accusation and condemnation that Satan hurls at every believer, God points him to the shed blood of Christ, the finished work of Christ (Heb. 9:11-14). What then should be our attitude toward our active accuser in heaven? We cannot answer him based on our strength and power for we are in no match with him. Our focus should not be ourselves, neither the works and words of our accuser but to the value and power of the blood of Christ in us. He is our Righteousness alone and His Blood is our power over sin alone. Yes, sin is still here in our corrupt bodies but praise God we have forever the Blood of Christ that washes and cleanses us from the power and presence of sin and that enables us daily to live for Him.

—BMA’s Messages, 05.15.16