“Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
To be “justified” means to be declared righteous or free from guilt. “Grace” is God’s unmerited favor—mankind could never “earn” nor bring about his own righteousness; so, it took a “redeemer.” To “redeem” means to purchase back that which was lost. “Redemption” means deliverance from the guilt of our sins.
Paul explains in this verse the process by which a person may approach God freely—God had to extend His grace, a Christian must be declared free from his past sins (justified by the redeemer), and he or she must be “in Christ” for the redemption to happen.
Paul here succinctly reminds the Romans that being justified by the grace of God in no way detracts from the redemptive plan that He put into effect by the sacrifice of Jesus. To say it another way: We are under a system of grace that contains the “redemptive” law of Christ. By submitting to that law, we then have redemption.
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