Romans 3:21-24 “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Each year Chapman University publishes a survey of America’s greatest fears. Any idea what more Americans fear than anything else? Almost two out of three of us are afraid of corrupt government officials. Other fears in the top ten include running out of money, terrorism, identity theft, and healthcare. Most of the remaining 70 fears involve things like natural or manmade disasters, crimes, or personal phobias. You might be surprised to learn that one out of ten of your fellow citizens is afraid of zombies. (And yes, these are adults who take the poll).

When we celebrate the Reformation, it is worth mentioning one fear that is notable by its absence. No one seems to mention fear of God’s judgment. If people are afraid of what will happen when life is over and they face God, they aren’t saying so. This was the fear that haunted Martin Luther’s early life, that drove his search for peace, and eventually led to his discovery in the Bible that we can face God’s judgment with confidence.

Luther’s solution for the problem of God’s judgment still needs to be discovered today. It is not by keeping his laws. God gave us his law to be our accuser. He gave us his law to make us conscious of our sins. He gave us his law to tell us, “My friend, you are a damned sinner, and you are going to hell.” I’m sorry, but there is not a nicer way to put that. God’s law can only make us guilty. And I am just as guilty as you are.

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

Righteousness is not something we do. It is something we receive through faith. In the Bible such a faith is not a strongly held opinion about whether or not something exists. There are those who claim there never was a Jesus of Nazareth. He was just a legend like King Arthur, or Robin Hood, or Paul Bunyan.

They say this in spite of the fact that First and Second Century rabbis didn’t deny his existence. They criticized his teachings and questioned heritage. Second Century Roman writers like Tacitus and Pliny don’t question his existence. They complain about the ideas he has inspired in his followers. If his strongest enemies didn’t question his existence, why should we?

We have every reason to believe there was a Jesus, then, but this is not the faith through which we receive the righteousness from God. Bible faith, saving faith, is essentially trust. If Jesus speaks, we know it must be so. His ideas, his words count for more than all our own opinions, even the things we have seen with our own eyes.

Such trust does not receive God’s righteousness because he is rewarding us for making the right choice. It is not some small, inner, moral act that makes him happy and leads him to respond by giving us something. “Good job, guys! You get Jesus right. Here, let me take away your sins and give you heaven for doing so.”

That would put righteousness back on us. Because righteousness comes from God, faith can only receive God’s gifts. How does God justify us? He does it “freely.” There is no charge to us at all. There is no “if” involved, “if you do this for me,” or “if you make this sacrifice.”  It’s not, “You can have this one free if you buy three more at regular price.” There is no, “This is free if you sign up for our premium plan.” Free means free.

How does God justify us? He does so “by his grace.” God gives us a righteous, sin-free status as the working out of his love for us, love that we have not earned or deserved. The Lord looked at sinful me and said, “You know, I have decided I like you. I am going to treasure you and treat you as though you have never committed any sins at all, just because that’s what I want to do.”

The one thing in the world that is truly, absolutely free, then, is the one thing that is more important than anything else there is: to be regarded as holy and sinless by God himself, loved by him as his very own, and promised a place with him in heaven forever and ever. We don’t have to fear God’s judgment, because righteousness is a gift he gives through faith.