This passage was strategic for the concerns of the reformers over 450 years ago. How does their understanding of this text speak to us in the latter part of the 20th century?

We all would agree that our generation brings different questions to the Bible today than those brought by Luther and Calvin. There is a need always to contextualize the biblical text, but we must never allow our concern to be relevant to drown the voice of the apostles. Contemporary concerns have shifted the focus of the gospel toward the needs of women and men which is appropriate. But on this Reformation Day, let us be reminded of the theo-centric gospel of the apostle Paul and his grandchildren, that courageous and godly generation of believers in the 16th century.

The gospel message of justification by faith is uniquely set here in these verses in a manner that was thought by the Reformers to be its most clear presentation anywhere in Scripture. Luther said that if Romans is a little New Testament, then Romans 3:21-26 is a little Romans. He maintained that one had to understand these verses correctly in order to comprehend the gospel. These verses present us with words like righteousness, justification, sacrifice, atonement and redemption -- all filled with theological content.

Because of the quantity and quality of these thought-filled terms, our tendencies and those of our congregation are to ignore them. But on this day when we celebrate our heritage, it is good to focus on the reformational understanding of this package.

I.

First of all, the Reformers, with Paul, maintained that the gospel is apart from the law. With them, we must recognize that this righteousness revealed in the gospel which God gives to us is apart from law, but nevertheless it has been testified in the law. In the law and the prophets we see over and over the picture of men and women sinning and God pronouncing judgment. This is followed by a sacrifice for sins and a granting of pardon or release. Constantly this picture is presented: sin, judgment, sacrifice, release.

I remember very little about my freshman year at the University of Alabama except that in my first class, Introduction to Psychology, we were introduced to Pavlov's dog. Through the experiment involving the dog and his eating habits, Pavlov discovered the theory of conditioned response. In a similar way, God, in the Old Testament, by conditioned response was teaching us that sin brings judgment and demands sacrifice; likewise, sacrifice, offered in faith, brings release.

II.

The Reformers constantly stressed the second point of the text: this righteousness comes from God; it is a God-type of righteousness. Our problem is not only that we don't have enough righteousness but that we have the wrong kind. It is a divine righteousness, that can only be given by God, which is needed.

Recently, it was reported on our TV news that the world Monopoly championship was won by an eleven-year-old boy. He collected all sorts of money, bought real estate, houses and hotels, and owned the significant places on the playing board like Boardwalk and Park Place.