Looking at the information presented in this section, what is man’s problem before God, what is the overall problem man finds about himself in regard to his standing before God? The problem, this may sound odd at first glance, is that God is a holy God. God is holy and just, all He does is righteous for He is righteous.
Psalms 145:17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
We see that God is a righteous God. That means everything that He does is just and good. He has wrath toward ungodliness and unrighteousness. He has wrath toward sin.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
God has wrath toward sin. All have been charged with the sin of Adam, and all sin in their daily lives.
Romans 10:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
None stand righteous before God. That is the problem man finds himself facing. Our God is a consuming fire and He will punish iniquity. How can he be found right before God? How can man be just before a holy God? That is Paul’s theme in Romans. How are we justified before God? It cannot be by anything of man for none are righteous. All have sinned. All have been touched in every member by sin. The will has been tainted. All men are blind. Jesus asks this to the pharisees in Matthew 23:33:
Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
How can we escape the wrath of God? God cannot simply decree salvation to be just, He must justly punish sin. Man needs grace and mercy. Mercy to not give us what we deserve, and grace to give us something we do not deserve. That was the plan of salvation. Grace to come by God. Grace to come by the cross of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
As Romans 3:25 states, Christ was set for to be the propitiation which would satisfy the justice and wrath of God for us. That was the plan of God. Purposed in eternity by God the Father, carried out to completion by God the Son, and revealed by the God Holy Spirit. Let us see how Christ, our savior, our substitute, redeemed us from the curse of the law by His blood.