"None is righteous, no, not one.”

"None is righteous, no, not one.” Paul quoted this phrase from Psalm
14 and Psalm 53 to describe the sins of human beings. In this section
of Romans 3-4. He wrote about the unrighteous and in order to explaine
the righteousness. Than what is the righteousness that Paul preached?
And what is the unrighteousness? How did the redemption of Christ on
the cross changed the fact of "None is righteous, no, not one.”?

Righteousness of God in Romans 3 and 4

In chapter 3 verse 21, Paul wrote what the righteousness is very
clearly in very few words. That it is something that was witness by
Law and the Prophets. Righteousness of God  comes from the faith and
He promised that it will be manifested to all people who believes in
Him. The reason that Paul emphasised the fact that “everyone” who
believes in Christ will be shown His righteousness is because in
Paul’s days, “Jews and Gentiles” was one of the issues among the
Christians. So Paul clearly said that righteousness of God will be
given to all people who believes in God.

Why Did God Showed His Righteousness to Sinners?

But why did God showed his righteousness to the sinners? Like Paul
said in 3:10, aren’t we all sinners? No matter if you are Jew or
Gentile, all people were under the power of sins. And by the Law we
were all convicted guilty. Than why did God revealed His righteousness
to such people? All people were under the power of sins since Adam
sinned. But by God’s grace and the redemption by Christ’s blood we
were saved and He revealed His righteousness to those who believe Him.

What is the Righteousness of God?

Righteousness is Christ himself. Which means that Christ saved us in
order to reveal Himself who is righteousness. It also means that
Christ justified the believers through His death and resurrection. If
people believe in Christ the righteous, they will be justified. We
were sinners but by grace of God and redemption, we were freed from
the power of sins. It means that we who used to be sinners and
unrighteouss became “righteous”.

Justification and the Faith

The sin entered the world by Adam’s sin that he disobeyed God’s order
and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But by God’s
grace, He gave us the promise that He will justified those who
believes in Him. Not by keeping the law but by faith alone we will be
justified. So Christ’s righteousness was revealed to both Jews and
Gentiles, circumcised and uncircumcised. Because as Paul wrote in
3:29, God is not God of Jews only but also God of Gentiles.

What is Unrighteousness?

As Paul wrote in this section, Laws and Circumcision was not the
complete redemption. But God promised us that we will be justified
only by believing in Christ. This is the Grace of God that was given
to us by death and resurrection of Christ. Christ was put to death for
our sins and resurrected so that we might have righteousness (4:25).
Before His redemption, we were under the power of sins, like the sins
that Paul listed in 3:10-18. The list included, false witness and
cursing, the feet that are quick in running after blood. These were
the sins that existed since Adam’s days. And they all comes from the
heart that does not fear the Lord The false witness by Satan who
seduced Adam and Eve, And the false witness by Adam, Eve and Satan
after they sinned and Cain’s feet that wee quick in running after
blood of his brother Abel. They sinned because they did not fear the
Lord.

The Perfect Redemption

By death and resurrection of Christ on the cross, all the sins were
forgiven and those who were unrighteous were justified by faith. It is
the unconditional grace of God that changed the situation of “None is
righteous, no, not one.”