The Life and Theology of Paul

In this lesson and the next, we will explore the doctrine of justification, which Dr. Waters calls "the crown jewel of the gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul preached." Likewise, Calvin labeled it "the main hinge on which religion turns," while Luther claimed, "if the article of justification is lost, all Christian doctrine is lost at the same time." We will begin at Romans 3:21, which reads, "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law." Once sinners see the need for the righteousness of God, that gift can be presented to them. As Martyn Lloyd Jones has said of the beginning of this verse, "there are no more wonderful words in the whole of Scripture than these two words—'but now.'"