Others who offered animal sacrifices in genuineness mark you.
They offered it. Or the Gentile who didn’t have sacrifices, who offered his heart and thought, I’m sorry about this, whoever it is I’m talking to, I don’t know, but I’m sorry about this. They were genuine, but they didn’t know what it was, the depth, all the horror and the ugliness and the whole cosmic connection of it all. They didn’t understand it all.
And therefore they didn’t understand the love of God, the depth of God, the size of God, the greatness of God, the mercy of God, the richness of His mercy and His grace. None of that was ever known until God set forth Jesus.
And he explains that Jesus being set forth by God, that explains ⁓ why Christ’s death, and part of it anyway, why Christ’s death is necessary. He alone shows God to be God, and therefore life to be life, grace to be grace, and sin to be sin. Sin was dealt with, and people got forgiveness, but it wasn’t fully
identified wasn’t fully exposed. Though for these people, forgiveness was there. Christ comes, says, you want to know what forgiveness is? You know, you want to know what you’re forgiven of? You want to know what kind of a God is that forgives? You want know about the height and the depth and the length and the breadth of His love?
Only in Him, only in Christ.
You want to know who we love?
Only in Christ do you know.
You who sit glaring or sneering see the other?
the one you’re glaring at.
All of this only in Christ. And then he says, because that’s true.
God set Christ forth and expanding all of that to demonstrate at the present time his faithfulness, his righteousness, his righteousness, he might be just, that he might be righteous. The word just, it’s the same word. It’s the same word.
It’s a nice discussion or a long discussion how we ended up with the word just, justified, the justifier, and righteous, righteousness, and the like.
but it’s not worth our time right now. But he did all of that in Jesus Christ that he might demonstrate at the present time his faithfulness, that he might be indeed righteous and the justifier. We don’t have an English word, a righteous-er, so we use the word justifier, you see, of the one who has
faith in Christ. And then he says, Where’s the boasting then? It’s excluded. By what manner of law then? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Well, ⁓ nobody can boast then. That’s true. Well, how come they can’t boast? What is it that excluded? Well, there is only one answer.
There isn’t any law that says you can’t boast. Well, you know, I’ve done what is right. I’ve lived up to my, as best I could, lived up to my, none of that kind, says.
The only thing that excludes boasting is Jesus Christ. You know what will happen? The Jews will continue to look and brag. The Gentiles will continue to look, sneer and brag. Both of them depend on Jesus. He’s the one. He alone is the one that says the Jews and Gentiles alike, it’s not about you.
It’s about me.