Let me introduce you to seven men who will give us a guided tour of Romans 3v19-31.

Mr Goodness
Mr Goodness hardly needs an introduction. We are all born hand in hand with him, know him well, and like him. After all, he tells us how good we are. And if we have any doubts, he helps us to find excuses, blame others, or find others that we can still look good beside.

As Mr Goodness is extremely experienced, persuasive, and skillful, Paul spends the first few chapters of Romans attacking him with the sharp sword of Scripture. And in Romans 3:9-18 he “goes for the jugular” with thrust after thrust of multiple verses proving universal human sinfulness: “None righteous, no not one…none who understands…none who seeks after God…they have all turned aside…etc.”

Mr Guilty
With Mr Goodness slumped on the floor, Mr Guilty enters the room. And when Mr Guilty enters the room, every mouth is stopped (3:19). Without defense, alibi, or excuse, we stop arguing with God.

Mr Guilty drags us again and again to Mr Law (we’ll look at him a bit later), who presents us with two documents: precepts to be obeyed and penalties to be suffered. And what can we say there but ,“Guilty, guilty, guilty.” The precepts I have not obeyed. The penalties I cannot suffer.

Mr Righteousness
Into this dark and gloomy room walks Mr Righteousness. “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed” (v. 21). Mr Righteousness has a nickname – Mr Law Satisfier. He comes to law, looks at the precepts to be obeyed and the penalties to be suffered, and says, “I can do both. I can obey these precepts and suffer these penalties until there is nothing left to be paid.”

But how come Mr Righteousness has a righteousness “apart from the law”? How can he be a law-satisfier apart from the law? It’s like saying red tomatoes are not red. This cannot mean what it seems to mean – a law satisfaction without satisfying the law. Rather it is a law satisfaction without any regard to our attempted law-satisfying.

Imagine if Mr Righteousness walked into your yard with a wheelbarrow. Instead of admiring his perfection you start trying to put some of your own imagined law-keeping into his wheelbarrow. But he says “NO! I don’t want any contribution from you. I’m not interested in your law-satisfaction. I offer a law-satisfaction that is completely separate and independent from your attempted law-satisfying.”

It is also a “righteousness of God” (v. 21, 22). This is not a mere human righteousness but a divine righteousness. This is not a mere man that has obeyed the precepts and suffered the penalties. It is God himself.  Can you imagine the value of that law-satisfaction!

We might conceive of a man who obeyed the precepts, suffered the penalties, and survived. That’s conceivable; but what good is that for anyone else? How can his righteousness extend beyond himself to any other human being. It might be enough for himself; he might be able to hand it over to someone else; but as it is only one human righteousness, it can only cover one human being. But divine righteousness is infinitely valuable and can extend to a multitude greater than any man can number.

Mr Righteousness was witnessed to by the law and the prophets and has now been revealed even more clearly. Both Old and New Testaments point towards Mr Righteousness. Who is Mr Righteousness? It’s Mr Jesus Christ. He can obey the precepts and suffer the penalties until they are exhausted. He is “the righteousness of God.”

Mr Faith
So, here’s this soul chained to Mr Guilty. And there’s Mr Righteousness who can meet this soul’s deepest needs. But how to get rid Mr Guilty and connect with Mr Righteousness? That’s where Mr Faith comes in. The righteousness of God is “through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe” (v. 22).

Mr Faith comes to the soul, severs it from its guilt and connects it with Mr Righteousness. As soon as this soul believes, faith smashes the chain of guilt and connects the soul with perfect righteousness (v. 25). All my guilt gone. His whole righteousness mine.

And this is not just for special believers, for those with special faith, or even strong faith. It’s “to all and on all who believe.” Instead of hearing, “Guilty, guilty, guilty!” the believing soul now hears not just, “Innocent, innocent, innocent!” but “Perfect, perfect, perfect!” All precepts obeyed, all penalties met.

Mr Boasting
The light has gone on, the dust is settling, and the soul is enjoying this salvation. Paul looks around and says, “Now, where is Mr Boasting?” (v. 27). Mr Boasting and Mr Goodness were great allies. But with Mr Goodness gone, Mr Boasting is friendless. In fact, he’s very angry, especially with Mr Faith. Because faith looks away from self to Christ. Faith turns the spotlight from self to Christ. Boasting is now evicted and runs away, cursing Mr Faith. O, to be sure, he sometimes gets back together with Mr Goodness and they stick their heads in the window  again from time to time. But with the help of chapters like Romans 3 they are kept outside and at a safe distance.

Mr Law
So faith has chased away Mr Goodness, Mr Guilt, and Mr Boasting. What about Mr Law? Does Mr Faith chase him away too. Let Paul answer: “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (v. 31).

Every other pretended way of salvation diminishes the law in one way or another: it’s requirements, it’s penalties, or it’s inner-penetration. In one way or another it makes void and diminishes the law. It helps people be saved by lowering the barrier, or by compromising justice. But this way of salvation strengthens and confirms the law. Mr Righteousness reached the standard perfectly, and suffered the penalties fully. That’s why Paul says God is both “just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (v. 26). He is “a just God and a Savior.”

Mr Joy
Mr Goodness has gone. Mr Guilt has gone. Mr Boasting has gone. Who do we have left? Mr Righteousness, Mr Faith and Mr Law. And then walks in our seventh man, Mr Joy.

Mr Joy says to Mr Law “Are you happy?” “I’m happy,” he replies, “my demands have been met, my penalties satisfied. Rejoice!”

“Mr Righteousness, you happy?” “Of course! I still have a perfect complete righteousness.”

“Mr Faith, you happy?” “Sure, I’ve severed another soul from sin and united it with perfect righteousness!”

“And what about you, Soul?” asks Mr Joy.

“Me?” says the soul, “Who could be happier! The law is satisfied. Guilt has gone. Righteousness is mine. And all by faith, without any contribution from me.” What a happy scene. What a happy soul!

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.”

Today Head Heart Hand Media are shooting the first ten episodes of CrossReference, a series of short teaching films on Christ in the Old Testament. Here’s a little idea of what was involved in yesterday’s set-up. You can see more photos on our Facebook page.

Is working with your hands better than working with your head? More and more depressed office workers are answering yes, reversing the decades-long trend away from manual labor.

Columnist and broadcaster Giles Coren recently swapped his PC and keyboard for working on a small farm with vegetables and chickens – and found it “immensely satisfying.” In a BBC report he complains that “modern life has been blighted by a series of alienating processes, often carried out on mobile phone, laptop and e-mail. In this way, his chosen career – journalism – has been stripped of its sense of adventure and human contact.” He says:

“Even 15 years ago when I started as a reporter, you left the office to do a story. You went to investigate, visited people and used the cuttings library. Now I just sit… and Google. It’s terrible, I wish I was a fireman.”

Despite his columnist’s salary, he is jealous of those whose jobs have a clear purpose like the gardener and cleaner.

“My gardener Brian comes in to do the garden every two weeks. He takes his shirt off in the summer and smokes a rollie. I can see him through the window, but I’m sitting indoors, staring at the screen to pay for this guy – it’s the classic middle-class paradox.”

Pastors often feel something similar, especially those who have entered pastoral ministry after working in industry, or engineering, or such like. “So many hours, and so much effort, for so little evident return. Think I’ll go back to laying bricks, mending engines, or sweeping floors. At least I would have a wall, or a car, or a pile of dust to point to at the end of the day!”

But whether we work with our heads or our hands we will never find full satisfaction in our work – even ministry work. The divine curse on our labor affects both head-workers and hand-workers (Gen. 3:17-19). We will encounter thorns and thistles in our offices as well as on our farms, in our cubicles as well as in our yards.

And in a way we should be thankful for that. God cursed the labor he provided for us so that we would not make it a god and find our satisfaction in it rather than in Him.

However, I think it’s still a great idea for knowledge workers, like pastors, to have a hands-on project, something involving manual labor, on the side. It does give the mind a break, and it does give a sense of accomplishment in the midst of often discouraging circumstances. So why not plant a vegetable garden, take woodwork classes, paint a room, or make tents (Acts 18:3).

I even knew a pastor (who shall remain nameless) who took flower-arranging classes…and showed his handiwork to visitors! Hmmm…I think I’ll stick with Tae Kwon Do. I prefer breaking boards to plucking petals.

Yesterday I asked for your recommendations on popular up-to-date books and booklets for (1) helping couples who have  suffered miscarriages, and (2) helping a mother who suddenly lost her young daughter.

Thank you so much to all who responded – I was really humbled by your helpfulness. I also thought it was a great example of Christians using the Internet for good – helping each other to minister to the needy. Below you’ll find the resources you found helpful arranged in three sections: miscarriage, death of a child, suffering in general. If you have any other recommendations, put them in the comments and I’ll add them to the list.

And I’ll try this “crowd-sourcing” again with other similar issues and see if we can build up a list of resources that will be of wider use.

Miscarriage
Help my baby has died by Reggie Weems (booklet by Dayone).
Miscarriage: A death in the family by Dan Doriani (pdf)
Gone but not lost by David Wiersbe (book)
Walking through the valley of miscarriage by Sue Nicewander (audio). And here’s a CCEF article of the same name.
Caleb Ministries have a number of resources. Click on the “Loss of Baby” tab to see index. Here’s a Bible Study from them called Learning through loss.
Jacob Young wrote a series of blog posts journaling his experience with a miscarried baby.
Malachi’s short story. Henk Kleyn’s meditation on the miscarriage of a grandchild
Sermon preached by Matt Kingswood when he and his wife had a later term stillborn son.

Death of a child
On the death of a daughter by Samuel Rutherford (full letter from Rutherford to Lady Kenmure).
Trusting God through tears by Jehu Burton who lost his 12 year old daughter (book).
From grief to glory by James Bruce who lost his infant son (book)
Safe in the arms of God by John Macarthur (book). For parents who are “grieving the death of an infant, small child, or mentally disabled adult child incapable of exercising faith in the Lord Jesus.” Review by Tim Challies.
Behind a frowning providence by John J Murray (small booklet by my brother in the ministry John J Murray, who lost his young daughter)
Grieving: your path back to peace by Dr James White (book).
From grief to glory by James Bruce who lost his infant son (book). Author’s website.
Empty Arms by Keren Baker. Lots of recommendations here. Author’s website.
Beyond the valley by Dave Branon who lost his daughter in an car crash (devotional book).
Death in the home by Benjamin Palmer (book)
Angie’s goodbye letter to her daughter.

Suffering
Suffering and the sovereignty of God by John Piper and Justin Taylor (editors). Free pdf and study guide here.  Review by Tim Challies here.
Why do I suffer? by John Currid (book).
Trusting God even when life hurts by Jerry Bridges (book).