“But now…” – Romans 3:21
Paul drops the curtain on human effort and unveils the divine gift—“the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” After exposing the depth of human sin, Paul now points to the solution, not found in laws, rituals, or self-righteous striving, but in a Person. The entire setup—from the darkness of depravity to the silence of condemned mouths—leads to these two words: “But now.” That turning point is critical. It’s God’s answer to every soul who, like Job or the prophet Micah, asks: How can I be right with God? The answer is not in what we bring, but in whom we trust.
Paul reminds us that God’s righteousness was revealed apart from the law—not because the law failed, but because we failed to meet it. From the beginning, righteousness has been by faith, just as Romans 1:17 proclaimed: “The just shall live by faith.” Faith isn’t just a concept—it’s the doorway to life. Like the captive Athenians who found freedom through the strains of their favorite poet, we find ours through the poetry of grace written across the cross. We couldn’t earn the way, but Christ became the way. No sacrifice, no moral ladder, no ritual—only Jesus.
And what does that faith look like? It isn’t adding Jesus to a to-do list—it’s surrendering to Him entirely. The changed heart isn’t mechanical; it’s relational. Like Ezekiel, who tasted the scroll and found it sweet despite its sorrowful words, we take in the truth of sin only to experience the sweetness of grace. Repentance, confession, and submission to the lordship of Christ aren’t additives—they’re essentials. They spring from a heart that knows it’s been pardoned and wants to please its Father.
So today, if you’ve ever wondered, Am I good enough? Is God distant?—take heart. He didn’t leave the answer in ambiguity. He gave us Jesus. And through Him, by faith alone, we are declared righteous. Not because our record is clean, but because His is. That’s the simplicity of grace and the majesty of justification. Receive it. Rest in it. Let those words—“But now”—be your turning point.
“These two words, ‘But now,’ mark the most important turning point in the whole of Scripture. They signal the end of man’s hopeless condition and the beginning of God’s gracious intervention.” – Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones
surrendered devotions 