Romans 3:27-31

Romans 3:27-31 - Daily Devotion - 23 June 2026 St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of works? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.REFLECTIONSWritten by Paul BoggWhere I work, we have what are basically half yearly performance reviews. In those reviews, we need to give an account of what we’ve done and all our accomplishments, and the resulting judgement by management determines the course of our ongoing employment – at best, we get a pay rise, or at worst, we get fired. In those reviews I’m tempted to boast, because there’s an opportunity that the boss might see my good works and reward me.  But the danger with that is: with extra rewards comes extra responsibilities and burdens, and I don’t want my boss to expect more from me than he already does!Today’s passage follows on from the big revelation of who can be right with the biggest boss of all: God. The answer revealed in verses 21 to 23 is that rightness (or righteousness) comes solely though faith in Jesus Christ, by virtue of the redemption paid for by the blood of Christ himself. And that redemption is for anyone who believes – both Jew and Gentile.So then, what of our good works? Is it that I now get a half yearly godliness review to try to prove my worth? Can I level up my prayer answer rate by proving how much more righteous I've been? Today’s passage tells me: No. There is no place for boasting. Actually, I don’t have anything to boast about, because Jesus’ perfect and complete righteousness has already been given to me freely, by grace, through faith alone in Jesus Christ. How could I possibly claim to be any more righteous in the eyes of God!?So then, where does that leave me? It frees me up. I am free to do good works without being concerned about whether they will make me more (or less!) righteous in God’s eyes. I am free to pray for lots of things and trust with conviction that God hears all of my prayers. Whether I am well and in good times, or whether I’m in sickness, or jobless, or am experiencing brokenness, or feeling low – I can trust in what Jesus has already accomplished for me, knowing full well that I am already right with God, and can rest in that assurance. Praise God together with me for that! ABOUT THE AUTHORPaul is a member of our Bossley Park morning congregation.