In Romans 1:18-3:20, God proved two things: 1) There is “none righteous, no, not one” before God (see especially 3:10-18), and 2) All men are guilty before God and there is nothing the sinner can do to become righteous before God. We that clearly in 3:19-20, “now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight. This is solemn truth but in verses 21-26 we come to the GOOD NEWS that “God has provided a RIGHTEOUS WAY for the SINNER TO BE RIGHTEOUS in His sight.” Let’s look at this passage “verse by verse.”

Verse 21: “But now the righteousness of God apart from law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.” The word BUT always introduces a contrast and here we see that what MEN COULD NOT DO GOD HAS DONE. He can, as one has said, “righteously save unrighteous sinners.” God is holy and righteous and must judge sin and He has DONE THIS “apart from the Law” yet it was
“witnessed by the Law and the Prophets.” In other words, the way for sinners to become righteous was FORETOLD in the Old Testament. In the Law, God provided “types and shadows” in the sacrifices that were offered to Him, for they all pictured the sacrifice Christ would make to “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (see Hebrews 9:26). In the Prophets, God gave direct prophecies about Christ’s death and the shedding of His blood for the remission of sins. In Psalm 22:1-21 we read about His Crucifixion and God having to forsake Him in order make us righteous and thus the Psalm ends with the words, “They will come and DECLARE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS to a people who will be born, that HE HAS DONE THIS.” In Isaiah 53:5-6, 10 we of Christ being “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities” and thus God making “His soul an offering for sin.” Then in verse 11 we read, “My RIGHTEOUS servant shall JUSTIFY MANY, for He shall bear their iniquities.”

Verses 22-23: “even the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD, through FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, to all, and on all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We saw what Christ did to make us righteous and here we see “what sinners must do”: they must BELIEVE in Jesus Christ as their Savior. In short, they must believe He has indeed “paid for their sins through His death and the shedding of His blood” (see 1 Peter 1:18-19; 2:24; 3:18; Hebrews 9:22-28; 10:11-18; 1 John 1:7).

Verse 24: “being JUSTIFIED freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” The very moment a sinner believes in Jesus Christ as their Savior God JUSTIFIES them, which means He declares “you are NOT GUILTY BUT RIGHTEOUS in my sight.” Because Christ took our place on the cross, God sees the believing sinner in all the value of Christ’s finished work. 2 Corinthians 5:21 declares this truth, “For He (God the Father) made Him (the Lord Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.”

Verses 25-26: “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, that He might be JUST and the JUSTIFIER of the one who has faith in Jesus.” God’s JUSTICE was satisfied by Christ’s sacrifice for sin (PROPITIATION means a “satisfying sacrifice” … see 1 John 4:9-10) and thus He is able to JUSTIFY anyone who puts their faith in Christ’s atoning blood. Those who believed in the promise of a coming Savior in Old Testament times had their sins forgiven “on credit” (the payment had not yet been made but God knew it would and he JUSTIFIED them based on that… see Romans 4:1-7). Those who have believed after Christ finished the work on the cross are JUSTIFIED on the same principle, through “faith in Jesus.”  (DO)  (719.3)