Week 3 | Day 1 – BUT NOW… GRACE – Romans 3:21–26

After proving in Romans 1:16-3:20 that no one is righteous or deserving of God’s forgiveness—and that the Law can save no one but only expose one’s sin, Paul announced the good news that the righteousness of God has been revealed apart from the Law. This righteousness was fully testified by the Law and the Prophets. This righteousness is imputed or bestowed upon (and never earned) through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There’s no distinction—Jew or Gentile—because all have sinned and all are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption accomplished by Jesus.

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement (propitiation) by His blood, to be received by faith, demonstrating that He is both just (He doesn’t ignore sin) and the justifier (He saves the sinner) of the one who trusts Jesus. Where the Law set a standard none could meet, Jesus fulfilled it and finished the work. Grace doesn’t add to our effort; grace replaces it—the cross and resurrection are God’s single, sufficient remedy. It is finished means nothing more is needed to save or to keep those who are His (Ephesians 2:8–9).

APPLICATION

1 - Receive—and Rest in It

Stop trying to earn God’s favor and choose to wallow in grace. Rest in the reality that His love is sufficient to forgive and cleanse all our unrighteousness.

2 - Live by Grace the Way You were Saved

Choose today to live by faith instead of in self-reliance—confessing quickly, trusting deeply, obeying gladly.

3 - Remember the Price that Jesus Paid

It cost God everything to provide us with forgiveness. It required the shedding of Jesus’ blood to satisfy God’s holy justice. Allow this give to humble our pride and soften our heart toward others.

4 - Point to the Only Door

There is no other way to the Father; let our words and works make Jesus unmistakable to those around me.
 
PRAYER

Father, I confess I fall short and cannot make myself right. Thank You for revealing Your righteousness in Jesus and giving it to me by grace through faith. Thank You for Your blood—my atonement, my redemption, my peace. Holy Spirit, teach me to rest in what is finished and to live today by the same grace that saved me. Let my life point others to the only Savior, and keep me humble, grateful, and eager to obey. In Jesus’ name, Amen.