25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

 

Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers "the Little Flower" because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids.

 

One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving, but the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor," the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson."

 

LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions--ten dollars or ten days in jail." 

 

As he pronounced the sentence, the mayor reached into his pocket. He took out a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten-dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore, I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."

 

The following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen. Those in the courtroom gave the mayor a standing ovation.

 

God not only proves we are guilty. He shows that we have no excuse. He declares judgment on you and me, then from His place from the throne of heaven, takes on the garb of man, enters into our world and takes upon Himself our sin in the person of Jesus Christ. He pays our fine with the shedding of blood that declares us free to go. That means we are justified. Things are made right.

 

Would that lady accept the fine paid by the mayor? Would you accept the payment given freely by God himself? Accept that gift is done by devoting yourself to Him by His act of grace. He also lives within you by the power of the Holy Spirit, and you are made righteous. That takes away all boasting rights. Likewise, the church is not made up of righteous people, but people who have been made right by Jesus Christ and have humbly received the free gift of God. 

 

In Acts 2, when the people understood that their sin had caused Jesus to die for them, they asked, "What shall we do to be saved?" Peter said, in Acts 2:38 "Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins."

 

Further, the Scripture points out that those who place their faith in Jesus should confess with their mouths that they have been saved. Romans 10:9 says that is called confessing your faith in Christ. All through the N.T. when people surrendered their lives to Christ, they repented of their sins, confessed Jesus as God’s Son and were baptized into Him. That was the pattern then and God hasn’t changed it. It’s important to realize that none of those things: repentance, confession, or  baptism, earn your salvation. Jesus paid our fine.

 

Dale