Gold Tried in the Fire - Robert J. Wieland

Imagine that you are in Paul's audience. In
Romans 3:19 he has shown that all the world is
guilty of sin that crucified the Son of God and that
no one can be justified by any attempted obedience
to the law of God for the simple reason that "all
have sinned" by breaking it, and hence they cannot
put themselves right. But "all" are "justified ['put
right', verse 24, TEV] freely" by the grace of Christ
when He shed "his blood" for us. Something about
this sacrifice enables God to "declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past." Verse 25. People have often criticized this as
illegal, unfair, even immoral. How can a fair God
permit a good person's righteousness to be credited
to a bad person? Isn't this a legal shenanigan? The
kind of trick clever lawyers pull off behind the
scenes?
Paul is aware of this charge. He goes on to say
that God is just (has a right) to do this for the one
who has faith—the one who believes in Jesus.
Romans 3:26. Faith becomes the all-important key
in this strange but wonderful transaction. The "law
... of works" (Romans 3:27) is useless; what counts
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