Romans 3:22

My Notes

What Does Romans 3:22 Mean?

Paul reveals the alternative to law-based righteousness: even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.

Even the righteousness of God (dikaiosune theou — the righteousness that belongs to God and that God provides) — the righteousness is God's. Not human-generated. Not earned by deeds of law. God's own righteousness — the moral perfection that characterizes his nature — is now available to human beings. The righteousness is both God's possession (it belongs to him) and God's gift (he provides it to others).

Which is by faith of Jesus Christ (dia pisteos Iesou Christou) — the means of access: faith. The preposition dia (through) identifies faith as the channel. The genitive of Jesus Christ can be read as faith in Jesus Christ (objective genitive: your faith directed toward Christ) or the faithfulness of Jesus Christ (subjective genitive: Christ's own faithful obedience). Both readings yield truth: God's righteousness reaches you through your faith in Christ and through Christ's faithfulness on your behalf.

Unto all (eis pantas — toward everyone, directed at all) and upon all (epi pantas — resting on all, applied to all) them that believe — the righteousness is directed toward (eis) and rests upon (epi) every believer. The double preposition emphasizes universality and application: the righteousness moves toward every person who believes and settles upon every person who believes. The reaching and the resting are both comprehensive: all who believe receive and are covered.

Them that believe (tous pisteuontas — the ones believing, present participle: those who are in the state of believing) — the condition: faith. Not works. Not law. Not ethnicity. Faith — the trust in Christ that receives what God provides. The present participle describes an ongoing state: not a one-time decision but a continuous believing.

For there is no difference (ou gar estin diastole — for there is no distinction) — the universality is grounded in equality. No difference — between Jew and Gentile (the argument of Romans 1-3), between moral and immoral, between religious and irreligious. Before the righteousness of God, every human being stands in the same position: guilty (3:23: all have sinned) and eligible for the same righteousness (by faith). The no difference eliminates every category of spiritual privilege: the ground is level at the cross.

The verse answers the question raised by 3:20 (no flesh justified by law): if the law cannot justify, what can? Answer: the righteousness of God, received through faith in Christ, available to all who believe, without distinction. The diagnosis (v.20: the law reveals sin) is followed by the cure (v.22: the righteousness of God through faith).

Reflection Questions

• 1.What does the 'righteousness of God' being provided (not earned) reveal about the source of right standing before God?
• 2.How does 'by faith of Jesus Christ' function as the channel — and what does the double reading (your faith in Christ / Christ's faithfulness) contribute?
• 3.What does 'no difference' eliminate about every category of spiritual privilege — and why is the leveling essential?
• 4.How does this verse answer the diagnosis of v.20 (no flesh justified by law) — and what does the cure look like practically?

Devotional

The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ. The righteousness the law could not produce (v.20) is now available — and it comes from a different source entirely. Not from your performance. From God. The righteousness is God's — it belongs to him, it flows from his character, and he gives it to people who could never produce it themselves. The gift is God's righteousness. The channel is faith in Christ.

Unto all and upon all them that believe. Unto — reaching toward. Upon — resting on. The righteousness moves toward every believer and settles on every believer. It is not rationed. It is not partial. It reaches all and rests on all. The coverage is total: if you believe, the righteousness of God reaches you and covers you. No gap. No uncovered area. All.

For there is no difference. No difference. The most leveling statement in the New Testament. Jew and Gentile — no difference. Moral and immoral — no difference. Religious and irreligious — no difference. Before the righteousness of God, every human being stands in the same place: guilty (v.23) and eligible for the same gift (v.24). The distinctions that the world lives by — ethnicity, morality, religious achievement — are irrelevant at the point of justification. The ground is level. The need is universal. The gift is the same.

By faith. Not by law. Not by effort. Not by qualifying behavior. Faith — the trust that receives what God provides through Christ. The faith does not generate the righteousness. It receives the righteousness. The hand that takes the gift is not the source of the gift. Faith is the hand. God's righteousness is the gift. Christ is the channel. And the result is that the person who could never be justified by the deeds of the law is now justified by the faith that receives God's own righteousness.

The law showed you the sin (v.20). The righteousness of God covers the sin (v.22). The diagnosis and the cure. The mirror and the soap. The knowledge that revealed your guilt and the faith that accesses your acquittal. Both are necessary. Both are from God. And the result — for all who believe, without difference — is the righteousness of God resting on you.

Commentary

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Cross References

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