Sermon or Lesson:  Romans 3:24-25a (NIV based)
[Lesson Questions included]

TITLE:  Jesus Christ Paid The Full Punishment Ransom For Those Who Believe

[Note: This sermon-or-lesson may be too long to present in just one session.  Also, the phrases in these verses are being addressed in reverse order because this makes them easier to explain in a logical flowing manner, while fitting together as an interrelated whole.]

INTRO:  Have you ever gone to pay a large bill you owe at some business, and found out that someone already paid your bill in full?  At that moment, were you simultaneously extremely surprised, and delighted, and in wonderment as to why someone would do this for you?
     From this study today, we are going to see that God has provided a way for the full payment to be applied to your huge spiritual terminal debt that you cannot ever repay.
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TRANSITION:
- - Previously, we had learned that due to our having committed sins, every person fails to meet God's requirements that we be perfect in righteousness to get into heaven.  (vv.23, 9d-12)
- - But now God has revealed that faith in Jesus Christ is the only means by which we can acquire His perfect righteousness we need to be accepted by Him.  (v.22)
- - Today, let's look at the major dynamics of this only way that God has made to escape the sin predicament we all face.
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READ:  Romans 3:24-25a, with verses 20-23 for context

[Theological Definition:  'RIGHTEOUS' - conforming to God's moral standard]

[Lesson Question:  For each of the phrases in Romans 3:24-25a and following the order listed in this sermon-or-lesson, identify and describe its major dynamics, along with how those dynamics fit into the whole of what God is doing to provide this way for us corrupt humans to escape the sin predicament we all face.]

SECTION POINT:  Through His sacrificial torture and death on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself the punishment for the sins of us humans.

v.25a - "God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement"
- - Jesus Christ voluntarily took physical actions to remedy our sin predicament - to provide a way for us sin-corrupted humans to acquire the perfect righteousness from God that we each need to be accepted by God.  (cf. Hebrews 10:5-10)
- - Jesus provided a remedy for our sin predicament by becoming a "sacrifice of atonement", which is the public killing of a pure and innocent substitute victim to repair, compensate, or make amends for wrong that has been done by someone else.  (from Strong's #2435 - "an expiation"; and with AHD - 'expiate', 'reparation')
- - Jesus was offered as a blood sacrifice - He was brutally tortured, His blood was shed or spilled forth, and His life was terminated as a sacrifice to pay for the wrongs or sins of us humans.
- - In essence, Jesus became our substitute and took the punishment we humans deserve for our sins when He was crucified on the cross, which was specifically designed to inflict the maximum amount of excruciating pain and suffering over the longest period of time until eventually ending in death.  (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21)
- - God "presented" Jesus as this sacrifice, being "set forth, placed before, exhibited", or "displayed publicly", which occurred at the place of public crucifixions in Jerusalem at that time about 2,000 years ago.  (Strong's #4388; NAS; see Matthew 27:27-50)
- - God intentionally and purposefully offered Jesus as this sacrifice of atonement - this was all pre-planned and pre-arranged, even being foretold centuries prior in the writings of "the Law and the Prophets" and the Old Testament Scriptures.  (v.21; cf. Acts 2:23)
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SECTION POINT:  Through His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus paid the ransom in full that is sufficient to secure our release from the eternal consequences of our sins.

v.24 - "through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus"
- - In being presented as a sacrifice of atonement, Jesus accomplished "redemption" or paying the "ransom in full" - the payment of the demanded punishment price in order to secure our release from the bondage of our sin predicament.  (from Strong's #0629; and with AHD - 'ransom')
- - By giving His blood and His life in a torturous crucifixion, Jesus took upon Himself and endured the full punishment for the sins of us humans, thus satisfying God's righteous demands for justice.  (see vv.25b-26)
- - Jesus redeemed us, paying the full ransom price and buying us humans back into being accepted by God.  (vv.20-22)
- - Through this redemptive work, Jesus also bought the opportunity for us humans to acquire His perfect righteousness, which we need to be declared righteous in God's sight.  (vv.22,20)
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SECTION POINT:  While available to everyone, the benefit results of Jesus' sacrifice work on the cross only apply to those humans who have faith in Jesus and this redemptive sacrifice work He did.

v.25a - "through faith in his blood"
- - This redemption that Jesus accomplished is sufficient to pay in full the punishments for the sins of all humans that ever live, HOWEVER this redemption ONLY APPLIES to those humans who have "faith in His blood" - i.e. that believe Jesus paid with His life and blood the price for their sins personally.  (vv.25,22)
- - Therefore, the only people who benefit from this redemption Jesus accomplished are those persons who individually believe in Jesus that He died on the cross to pay the punishment for their own personal sins.
- - Every person who does not believe that Jesus died for his/her own personal sins remains condemned to suffer the punishment consequences for his/her sins eternally.  (cf. John 3:18)
- - Personally believing that Jesus paid with His lifeblood the price for one's own sins is an uncompromisable requirement by God, because this redemption comes "through" faith in His blood.
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SECTION POINT:  Through His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus alone bought for us humans the opportunity to have right-standing before God, which we pay nothing for nor deserve.

v.24 - "and are justified freely by his grace"
- - Even though our own sin causes us to fail to meet God's requirements that we be perfect in righteousness to get into heaven (v.23), the redemption that Jesus accomplished is a correction for that problem, providing a way to be "justified" or in right-standing with God.
- - This redemption through Jesus carries with it a crediting to each believing person the required perfect righteousness from God, because Jesus Christ is God.  (cf. Romans 3:31-4:8)
- - Thereby, each believing person thereafter is regarded by God as having perfect righteousness even though each believing person continues to commit sins in this life.
- - To illustrate, this regard by God is like God looking through eyeglasses tinted with Jesus' blood to see those persons who believe in Jesus as "being made right" and 'justified' in "right-standing with God" in "innocence" of sins.  (Strong's #1344 - "justified"; AMP)
- - In essence, the righteousness of Christ is applied to the account of each believing person, achieving justification or right-standing with God, acceptance by God, and qualification for entry into the glory of God in heaven to live forever.
- - This achieved justification is permanent - believers "are justified" - are determined, and classified, and established to be justified the moment they each properly believe.  (cf. John 10:27-30)
- - The redemption that was accomplished by Jesus Christ irrevocably purchased each person who believes, resulting in a permanent change in ownership characterized by each believing person being justified before God for eternity, and thus buying eternal acceptance by God and relationship with Him living forever in heaven.  (cf. John 10:25-28)

- - Each believing person no longer "falls short" of the required perfect righteousness (v.23) because he/she now has judicially been granted the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ (vv.20-21,22).
- - The granting of this righteousness comes to the receiving human believer for "free", costing the person nothing, being unearned, and being unwarranted.  (from Strong's #1432, with AHD - 'gratuitous')
- - Notice that in contrast, the granting of this free righteousness came at great cost to the one doing the giving, Jesus Christ, suffering gruesome excruciating physical torture, unfathomable mental and spiritual torture, and culminating in physical death.

- - The accomplishing of this way to grant free righteousness is being done by the graciousness and love that God lavishes on us undeserving corrupted humans.  (Strong's #5485; cf. Ephesians 1:7-8)
- - We corrupted humans have no merit of our own nor any quality that deserves the granting of this free perfect righteousness.  (vv.10-12)
- - Matter of fact, to the contrary, we corrupted and totally depraved humans all deserve severe eternal punishment for our sins, and for every single one of our sins.  (vv.13-19)
- - But now God has made a way to give us grace, unmerited and undeserved favor, through the redemptive work that Jesus Christ did for us on the cross out of love.  (cf. John 3:16)
- - This redemptive work has bought the gracious undeserved forgiveness of all sins of each believing person, applying to all of the various kinds of sins and the quantity of sins committed during one's entire life.  (Ephesians 1:7-8; Colossians 2:13-14)
- - Therefore, to believe in the redemptive work that Jesus Christ accomplished should naturally involve changing one's mind, regard, direction, and orientation about one's sinfulness - away from pursuing sinfulness and towards pursuing righteousness.
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QUESTION: [and Lesson Question:]  All of the dynamics and results of this redemptive sacrifice work begs the question, "How can Jesus be the one qualified to accomplish this redemption or payment for sins?"

SECTION POINT:  Because Jesus is God, He has all of the divine attributes necessary to successfully accomplish this redemptive sacrifice work.

- - Jesus is deity - He is God Himself.  (John 1:1; 10:30)
- - Because Jesus is deity, He is perfect to the extreme - perfect in righteousness and complete sinlessness, which He needs to be otherwise He would have His own sins to worry about.  (2 Corinthians 5:21)
- - Because Jesus is deity, He is infinite and eternal, meaning the redemption He paid traverses or pays for sins over all of time - past, present, and future, which it needs to do in order for this redemption to be eternal and not temporal like the Old Testament sacrifices were.  (Hebrews 10:10-14)
- - Jesus is transcendent - He is above and over all that exists, which includes the entire race of humans, thereby enabling Him to pay the punishment for all humans that this redemption is applied to.  (Colossians 1:13-18)
- - Furthermore, Jesus is a member of the human race (Matthew 1:18) - qualified and able to represent the entire human race in this redemptive sacrifice work on the cross, thereby making this redemption matched for and available to all humans, regardless of their ethnicity, culture, gender, and etc.  (Romans 5:18-19; v.3:9 - "Jews and Gentiles alike", with v.3:22 - "there is no difference")
- - There is eyewitness-ed evidence subsequent to His death that Jesus was qualified and successful in the accomplishing of this redemption through His sacrifice work on the cross - He was raised from the dead on the third day.  (Romans 4:22-25; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8,17)
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BIG IDEA:  Through His redemptive sacrificial work on the cross, Jesus Christ paid the full punishment ransom for the sins of those persons who believe, so that they can undeservedly receive His perfect righteousness and permanent right-standing with God.

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APPLICATIONS:

- - Are you ready to place your faith in Jesus Christ, that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins and rose from the dead on the third day?
- - Do you acknowledge that you do not deserve forgiveness of your sins, but God loves you and is herein offering you His perfect sinless righteousness from Jesus Christ, free of charge?
- - Why not place your faith in Jesus Christ right now?
You can express this in prayer to God - and really mean it:
     Dear God, I know that I am a sinner, that I deserve eternal punishment, and that I need forgiveness and perfect righteousness from you through Jesus Christ to be eternally accepted by you.  Therefore, I believe in Jesus, that He died on the cross to take the punishment for my sins, and that He rose from the dead.  Right now I place my faith in Jesus Christ and I want His redemptive sacrifice work to apply to me, buying for me forgiveness of my sins and right-standing with you for eternal life.  Thank you.  Amen.
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[Quick-reference list of definitions of words used in this passage of Romans 3:20-25a:
- - 'righteous' - conforming to God's moral standard
- - "justified" = Strong's #1344 "being made right; to render (i.e. show or regard as) just or innocent"; i.e. regarded as righteous and "made in right standing with God" (AMP).
- - 'justification' = the judicial act of God declaring a person to be righteous by imputation or crediting of righteousness to him/her.
- - "freely" = Strong's #1432 "freely; gratuitously"; 'gratuitous' - (AHD) "1. Given or granted without return or recompense; unearned. 2. Given or received without cost or obligation; free. 3. Unnecessary or unwarranted; unjustified".
- - 'grace' = unmerited and undeserved favor given from God.
- - "redemption" = Strong's #0629 "to ransom in full"; 'ransom' - (AHD) "1.a. The release of property or a person in return for payment of a demanded price. b. The price or payment demanded or paid for such release."
- - "sacrifice of atonement" = Strong's #2435 "an expiation"; 'expiate' - (AHD) "To make amends or reparation for".

NOTE that these theological words have different shades of meanings, which correspond to the context of each passage they are used in throughout Scriptures.]
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Works Cited:
The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed., ver. 3.6a (CD-ROM). Cambridge, MA: SoftKey International Inc., 1994.

Bible. The Comparative Study Bible: A Parallel Bible Presenting New International Version, New American Standard Bible,
     Amplified Bible, King James Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984.

Bible. “The Holy Bible: New International Version.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.

“Strong's Greek Dictionary.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.
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Updated: August 27, 2016