God Loves You Because of Jesus' Righteousness

Paul begins with the question underneath so much fear and striving: Why does God love a person, and why is He pleased with them? The answer is not that obedience secures God’s love. What a person does is evidence that they know God loves them, but it does not earn His love in Jesus.

God’s justice forces the question of what “good” really means. Scripture says that no one does good, not even one, not because people never perform kind or helpful acts, but because God’s standard is more than good deeds. Isaiah calls even righteous acts filthy rags, Jesus says that apart from Him people can do nothing, and Hebrews says that without faith it is impossible to please God. God is holy, with no darkness at all, and He cannot fellowship with moral impurity.

Paul spends Romans 1 through 3 showing that every person has the same problem. Sin does not merely put some people farther back in the race than others. Sin leaves every person dead at the starting blocks, unable to get moving toward God. The bad news matters because the good news only becomes precious when the danger is understood.

Christ answers the problem by doing two things. The cross takes every sinful thought, word, and deed and places it on Jesus. The cross also gives believers something they do not possess on their own: Christ’s perfect righteousness. God looks at the person who trusts in Christ and sees the righteousness of His Son. Jesus has been righteous for them.

Paul’s distinction between temporal and eternal consequences helps make sense of God’s justice. Sin still brings consequences in this world, whether natural consequences or God’s specific discipline. Yet God’s eternal wrath for sin was held back until Christ came, when that wrath was poured out at the cross. Abraham himself was justified this way, believing God, and having righteousness credited to him.

Christ’s righteousness is not a borrowed possession that gets taken back after failure. God gives it like a signed-over title. Sanctification continues, and daily obedience still matters, but a believer’s standing before God does not rise and fall with performance. God may not be pleased with everything His children do, but He is always pleased that they are His. The table visibly remembers both forgiveness of sin and the gift of Christ’s righteousness.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Obedience reveals love, not earns it [58:32] Obedience grows out of knowing that God’s love has already been given in Christ. Performance cannot become the condition for acceptance without turning grace into a wage. Christ frees obedience from panic and makes it a response of trust. [58:32]
• 2. God’s standard is perfect holiness [01:06:51] Good deeds can benefit neighbors, but they cannot erase moral impurity before a holy God. God does not grade righteousness on a curve or compare one sinner with another. Faith matters because only Christ supplies what human effort cannot produce. [66:51]
• 3. Sin leaves every runner dead [01:11:45] Sin does not merely slow people down on the way to God. Sin leaves them unable even to leave the starting blocks. Grace is therefore not a little boost for decent people, but God giving life where there was none. [71:45]
• 4. Christ takes sin and gives righteousness [01:13:33] Christ bears the full record of sin at the cross, not merely a portion of it. Christ then gives His own perfect record to the one who trusts Him. God’s smile rests on Christ’s righteousness, and that righteousness belongs to the believer. [73:33]
• 5. God’s pleasure outlasts daily failure [01:20:18] Sanctification remains a real process, and God is not indifferent to sin. Yet a believer’s belonging does not disappear whenever obedience falters. God may be displeased with an action while remaining delighted that His child is His.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [57:53] - Why Does God Love You?
• [58:32] - Obedience Does Not Secure Love
• [59:17] - God’s Justice and Human Goodness
• [61:40] - No One Does Good
• [66:51] - God Requires Perfect Holiness
• [68:15] - Why the Bad News Matters
• [71:05] - Dead at the Starting Blocks
• [72:44] - Christ Takes Sin and Gives Righteousness
• [74:42] - Temporal Consequences and Eternal Judgment
• [78:10] - Christ’s Righteousness Belongs Forever
• [80:18] - God Is Pleased That You Are His
• [81:03] - The Table Remembers Righteousness

Bible Reading

Romans 3:21-26
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Observation questions

1. In Romans 3:21–26, what different ways does Paul describe God’s righteousness being made known apart from the law?
2. What does Paul say all people have in common when it comes to sin and falling short of God’s glory?
3. According to the passage, what did God put forward Christ to accomplish through His blood, and what does this show about God’s justice? [01:15:54]
4. What two gifts are pictured in the gospel: what happens to a believer’s sin, and what does the believer receive from Christ? [01:12:44]

Interpretation questions

1. Paul says that people are justified freely by God’s grace rather than by their works. Why does this mean that obedience cannot be the condition for earning God’s love? [58:23]
2. Romans 3 holds together God’s justice and God’s grace. How does Christ’s death allow God to forgive sinners without ignoring the seriousness of sin? [01:16:18]
3. Paul says that righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ. What is the difference between trusting Christ’s righteousness and trying to establish a personal record of righteousness before God? [01:19:22]
4. If God sees Christ’s righteousness in those who trust Him, how should believers understand the difference between God’s displeasure with sinful actions and His unchanging acceptance of His children? [01:20:27]

Application questions

1. When you ask, “Why does God love me?” what answer do you tend to give yourself? In what ways are you tempted to point to your effort, obedience, or spiritual performance instead of Jesus? [58:23]
2. Is there an area where you have been comparing yourself with other people—either feeling proud because you seem to be doing better, or hopeless because you seem to be doing worse? How does the truth that everyone falls short level the ground before God? [01:11:13]
3. Think about a recent failure, sin, or season of spiritual weakness. Did it make you feel as though God had withdrawn His love from you? How can Christ’s finished work reshape the way you respond with confession and faith? [01:18:41]
4. God’s grace does not remove every earthly consequence of sin. Is there a consequence, pattern, or relationship in your life that calls for repentance, wise action, or seeking help, even while you rest in Christ’s forgiveness? [01:15:21]
5. Where does obedience currently feel more like panic or pressure than a response to being loved by God? What might change this week if you began from the confidence that Christ has already secured your standing before God? [58:34]
6. When you picture God looking at you today, do you imagine disappointment, distance, or welcome? How would remembering that God is pleased that His children are His change the way you pray, serve, or face temptation this week? [01:20:27]