[Sidenote: Ver. 21.] =But now, apart from Law, God's righteousness stands displayed, attested by the Law and the Prophets; but (δὲ)=--though attested by them, in the Scriptures which all along, in word and in type, promise better things to come, and above all a Blessed One to come--[Sidenote: Ver. 22.] =(it is) God's righteousness, through faith in Jesus Christ,= prepared =for all= and bestowed upon all =who believe= in Him. =For there is no distinction;= [Sidenote: Ver. 23.] =for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God,= [Sidenote: Ver. 24.] =being justified[37] gift-wise,= gratuitously, =by His grace, through the redemption,= the ransom-rescue, =which is in Christ Jesus.= Yes, it resides always in Him, the Lord of saving Merit, and so is to be found in Him alone; [Sidenote: Ver. 25.] =whom God presented[38],= put forward, =as Propitiation,[39] through faith in His blood,[40]= His blood of death, of sacrifice, of the altar; =so as to demonstrate,= to explain, to clear up, =His righteousness,= His way of acceptance and its method. The Father "presented" the Son so as to shew that His grace meant no real connivance, no indulgence without a lawful reason. He "presented" Him =because of His passing-by of sins done before;= because the fact _asked explanation_ that, while He proclaimed His Law, and had not yet revealed His Gospel, He did nevertheless bear with sinners, reprieving them, condoning them, in the forbearance of God, in the ages when He was seen to "hold back"[41] His wrath, but did not yet disclose the reason why. [Sidenote: Ver. 26.] It was =with a view,= he says again, =to this demonstration (τὴν ἔνδειξιν) of His righteousness in the present period,= the season, the καιρός, of the manifested Gospel; =that He may be,= in our view, as well as in divine fact, at once =just,= true to His eternal Law, =and Justifier of him who belongs to (τὸν ἐκ) faith in Jesus.= This is the voice from heaven, audible when the sinner's mouth is shut, while his ears are opened by the touch of God. Without that spiritual introduction to them, very likely they will seem either a fact in the history of religious thought, interesting in the study of development, but no more; or a series of assertions corresponding to unreal needs, and in themselves full of disputable points. Read them in the hour of conviction of sin; in other words, bring to them your whole being, stirred from above to its moral depths, and you will not take them either indifferently, or with opposition. As the key meets the lock they will meet your exceeding need. Every sentence, every link of reasoning, every affirmation of fact, will be precious to you beyond all words. And you will never _fully_ understand them except in such hours, or in the life which has such hours amongst its indelible memories. Listen over again, in this sacred silence, thus broken by "the pleasant voice of the Mighty One."