The Most Important Passage in the Bible – by Des Ford

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Jun 8, 2015 1985

Paul was a lawyer and he writes the book of Romans like a lawyer’s brief. In chapter 1 he says, “The heathen, they’re all lost, because they don’t know God”. In chapter 2 he says, “You religious people, you people who have the law and testimonies, you’re lost too!” In chapter 3 he says, “What have we said so far? We have said that both Jew and Gentile are alike unto sin, and all are lost. ‘What things soever the law says, it says to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. And, therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh ever be justified in His sight” (vv. 18–29).

Which one is your salvation based on?

This word “justified,” what it means is righteous before God. It never means to make righteous inside. never, Never, NEVER, NEVER! It always means to declare righteous before God. You only have to take a concordance to trace the word through the Bible and see how it fits to find out.

And so Paul said, “by the deeds of the law shall no flesh ever be justified before God”; in other words, no flesh will ever be declared righteous, perfect, before God. Romans 3:20 in the Living Bible says, “Now, do you see it. No one can ever be made right by doinq what the law commands, for the more we see of God’s law, the more we realize we aren’t obeying it. The law only serves to show we are sinners. But now God has shown us a different way. This is the way not of trying to be good enough, but by trusting in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.” ”

It is not “different” way really, for the Old Testament told about it.

Now here is the most important passage in the Bible, in Romans 3:20–28:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 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. 26 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. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

– Des Ford. Rom 8:27–32. Adapted from “Perfect in a Moment”