Note: sermon audio delayed due to technical problems
Peter Barnes | Romans 3:24-25a
SERMON NOTES
THE COURT, THE SLAVE MARKET, AND THE TEMPLE
(Romans 3:24-25a)
– Romans 3:21-26 is the heart of the epistle to the Romans, and in many ways the heart of the Bible.
1. Justified in the court of law.
– 3:24; the opposite of ‘to justify’ is not ‘to make unholy’ but ‘to condemn’ (see Rom.5:18; 8:34)
– it is a legal word, meaning ‘to acquit’, ‘to declare righteous’
– ‘freely’ means ‘without cause’ in John 15:25 or ‘for nothing’ in Gal.2:21
2. Redeemed in the slave market.
– 3:24; we are sinners who are enslaved (John 8:34)
– we are only redeemed through Christ’s death to pay the ransom price to the Father (Matt.20:28; Eph.1:7; 1Pet.1:18-19)
3. God propitiated in the temple.
– 3:25a; not expiation or a sacrifice of atonement
– same as mercy seat in Heb.9:5
– Letter to Diognetus, 9.