The Christian Defined - Romans 3:19-24
August 7, 2011

Our text today comes from a letter written by the Apostle Paul sometime in 57 A.D. during a mission trip to a city called Corinth. From this city, Paul wrote a letter to the church in the epicenter of the time's modern world and empire: Rome. And in this lengthy and somewhat difficult letter, Paul addresses several issues and struggles the church was dealing with during that time. As a cultural, philosophical, and religious melting pot, one of the key issues the church was struggling with was how to define a Christian. Some believed that a Christian was a hard-working and mild-tempered man or woman whose actions and effort determined whether he or she was more righteous or less righteous. Others believed that a Christian was someone who sacrificed everything he or she had to serve the church and only the church. Still others believed that a Christian was someone who was born Jewish and in some ways, grew up "into" Christianity, suggesting that they were "Christians from birth."

Interestingly, if we were head outside and interview a handful of random people, I'm sure many of them would have the same definitions of a Christian: Some people might believe that Christians are people whose hard work makes them holier than others; other people might believe that Christians are people who only associate with other Christians and do things only Christians do; and still other people might believe that a Christian is someone who was raised as a Christian and born into a Christianity family.

But despite all of these beliefs about what exactly a Christian is, Paul, in His letter to the Romans, thoroughly clarifies what exactly defines a Christian. And this definition is what I'd like to take a deeper look at today.

In verses 19 and 20, Paul begins his description of a Christian by saying that all people, Christians included, are accountable to God through the law. What Paul is alluding to here are a series of laws given to the country of Israel throughout the Old Testament. In total, there are 613 laws that all Israelite men, women, and children had to abide by and obey. And like a constitution, these laws determined whether someone was guilty or innocent and they governed the country of Israel throughout the Old Testament. Sometimes, we see these laws written on public or government buildings and we hear of these laws when people talk about the "right" thing to do in a moral situation; however, these laws, as Paul suggests specifically in verse 20, weren't given to simply be obeyed, although the Israelites tried very hard to do so; instead, these laws were given so that the view God had and still has for everyone in the world is made clear: "through the law we become conscious of sin." In other words, these hundreds of laws were not only given to help govern a country or encourage peaceful living; but they were given to reveal an incapacity and fault that everyone in the world possessed: sin.

So if we put verses 19 and 20 together, what Paul is telling us is that Christians are first and foremost sinners before God -- they might seem like good people to each other but to God, Christians (and non-Christians) are all sinners.

Last year, I returned from a trip to California visiting my brother and he told me that the pastor of his church (which had over 2,500 members) had resigned because he was having an affair. Some years before that, while my brother was still in Colorado, his pastor at that time also resigned, admitting he had been struggling with homosexuality for many years. When we hear stories like this, it's our tendency to judge them and think badly of them; however, what Paul is trying to say here is that every Christian, whether it's a pastor, priest, deacon, elder, or member, is a sinner.

But thankfully, Paul goes on and expands on his definition of what a Christian is in verses 21 to 22a. In verse 21, Paul says there is something or someone greater and more righteous than the law of Moses and the prophecies of the Old Testament. And interestingly, in Matthew 17, Matthew tells the story of Jesus' transfiguration before His disciples and the voice of God telling them not to listen to Moses and his laws or Elijah and his prophecies but to listen to Jesus Christ and to Christ alone. In Luke 24, Jesus is walking with two disciples and Luke says that, "…beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."

Paul therefore is introducing the only hope Christians (and non-Christians) have in light of their sin: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who perfectly fulfilled the laws of Moses and who ultimately fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. And in verse 22a, Paul says that the only way for a Christian to have any righteousness and to be free from any sin is to believe in Jesus Christ by faith.

Therefore, if we put verses 21 and 22a together, Paul is telling us that Christians are first and foremost sinners but Christians are not just sinners; Christians are righteous through their faith in Jesus Christ. This means that the pastor who had an affair -- if he was truly a Christian, he is still righteous because of his faith in Jesus Christ. This means that the pastor who struggled with homosexuality -- if he was truly a Christian, he is still righteous because of his faith in Jesus Christ. And this means that any of us who have ever sinned (no matter how horrible or hurtful that sin was) -- if we are truly Christians, then we are righteous because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

I once read a story about a prostitute who entered a church after the pastor of the church begged her to come for several months. That day, the pastor gave a sermon about communion and how the bread symbolizes the broken body of Christ and how the wine represents the shed blood of Christ on the cross -- both of which were given to save sinners. Afterward the sermon, the pastor invited his small congregation to come forward and take part in communion, eating the bread and drinking the wine (or juice). And the pastor specifically motioned for the prostitute to come forward and not knowing why, she did. And as she stood in line with maybe four or five other people, the pastor broke a piece of bread and gave it to the first person in line, saying "This is the body of Christ, broken for you" and proceeded to give them a drink of juice saying, "This is the blood of Christ, shed for you." And as he went down the line, giving bread and juice, the pastor came to the woman and with a big, friendly smile, he said "This is the body of Christ, broken for you and this is the blood of Christ, shed for you." And he gave her a piece of bread and a drink of juice -- and upon receiving the bread and the juice, she fell to her knees and wept. And in this story, she confesses that what made her weep was the truth that no matter how much she had sinned in her life and no matter how many people told her and treated her like she was filth, by placing her faith in Jesus Christ, she felt something she never felt before in her life: righteous.

Paul describes a Christian as someone who isn't perfect or well-mannered but sinful and guilty of much sin; however, Paul continues to describe a Christian as someone who by faith in Jesus Christ, is righteous. And lastly, in verses 22b to 24, Paul describes a Christian as someone who places their faith in Jesus Christ and someone who is considered righteous -- all through the grace of God "that came by Christ Jesus."

A famous scholar who greatly spread Christianity throughout America and one of my favorite pastors is a man named Jonathan Edwards -- and this is how he explains such an amazing grace: "[God] gave [Jesus] to us in a low and afflicted state; and not only so, but as slain, that he might be a feast for our souls. The grace of God in bestowing this gift is most free…He might have rejected fallen man, as he did the fallen angels…[however,] It was from the love of God who saw no excellence in us to attract it; and it was without expectation of ever being requited for it. And it is from mere grace that the benefits of Christ are applied to such and such particular persons" (Sermons of Jonathan Edwards, 7).

A Christian is a sinner. But a Christian has faith in Jesus Christ. So a Christian is righteous. Because a Christian is given God's eternal, loving, and amazing grace through Christ Jesus.

Are you a Christian today? If so, where are you in your defining journey? Are you still a sinner? Because there is hope -- no matter how much you've sinned and regardless of what kinds of sin, if you place your faith in Jesus Christ, you are righteous because the righteousness of Christ, God's only Son, is graciously and freely given to you.

If you are a Christian who currently struggles with righteousness, then your continuous challenge and mission is to continuously remember, reflect, and receive the grace of God through our relationship with Jesus Christ: like He is in the Bible and like He should be in a church, Jesus Christ must be the center, origin, and target for all our thoughts, our desires, and our actions.

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