Romans 4:24b-25 - Raised for our Justification

Romans 4:24b-25 - 24b as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

Message: Jesus Delivered and Raised

Time: The date of the book is probably 60 A.D. written from Corinth on Paul's third missionary journey. The church in Rome seems to be established and Romans does not speak of any one error in the church that he is addressing. The church had a large Jewish element, but also filled with Gentile converts from paganism, both free as well as slaves. 

What the Lord is Saying:

Chapter 4 concludes the message of righteousness by faith. Chapter 4 has been the faith chapter and what faith really means in the life of a believer. The patriarchs of our faith, Abraham and David, had this faith and every person can later have it as well. Our faith doesn't make us righteous, but our faith brings the righteousness of Christ to us. 

Faith gets personal here. Faith has been descriptive and faith has been a story thus far, but now faith gets descriptive. 

And how is this done?

Verse 24b - Believe in God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead
Faith is centered on God and his work of raising Jesus from the dead. Jesus is our sacrifice. His sacrifice is possible because of his perfect life. His perfect life is necessary because man is sinner and never does good. Death had to be conquered and my believing in God then allows the righteousness of Jesus to be transferred to me; and all the sin I commit is transferred to Christ. But, it begins with belief.

Belief is not a work. It is analogous to a drowning man holding up his hand to be saved by someone pulling him to safety. And yet belief is not just in a story, but it is placing faith, in accordance with Grace. Belief transforms a person. It is intellectual consent followed by a surrendered life that then transforms a person.

Thus, Jesus is our Savior. We recognize what Jesus had done on the cross to save us. But, Jesus is also our Lord. What he has done transforms us. 

Raised is to awaken from sleep.

Verse 25a - Our lawlessness delivered Christ over to death
Delivered up means, in the Greek, to give alongside. It is to give up and hand over to another person. From the Amplified, he was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised from the dead to make us right with God. 

And he was delivered because of my transgressions. To transgress is to depart from the intended path.  God delivered Christ over because of my lawlessness. Jesus accepted his lot, but he did not choose his lot. As fully man, he accepted it, but it was God who delivered over Jesus.

So what is a Christian? A Christian is a person who personally believes in God who delivered over Jesus to pay for our sins and raised Him from the dead to confirm our justification.


Verse 25b - His resurrection justified us
This verse states it all. Our lawlessness or our sin Delivered Christ to Death. Our justification or being made right with God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus was not merely a good prophet that lived a good life. The resurrection culminates it all. The resurrection must be real otherwise Jesus is a lunatic. If his life is only perfect as a standard then that standard can never be met.  

Faith is complete. It is all done. Once and for all.  

Promise:  I can be confident that my sin has been fully and finally atoned for because of the resurrection of Christ. There is nothing left to be done to pay for sin. If I trust in Jesus, I am covered by His blood forever.