Two Unimpeachable Witnesses To the Truth—Rom 3:21d

Major Concepts between 3:21-26

But Now, Righteousness
Law, Law and Prophets
Faith, All
Sin, Glory of God
Justified Freely ,
Grace, Redemption
Propitiation, Blood
Demonstrate ,
Justified, Justifier
Faith in Jesus

The Ledger Illustration—put this sheet in your Bibles and keep it

One of the great misunderstandings among professing Christians is with how to interpret the Old Testament, discern between the different covenants in the OT, and how this all applies to believers in Christ today.

There are two great witnesses to the eternal unfolding of the plan of salvation, the Law and the Prophets.

1. What does the Bible mean when it talks about “The Law and the Prophets?”

a. First, it refers to the written Law and Prophets

(1) Not conscience
(2) Not Nature

b. The Old Testament (by our understanding) consists of either two or three parts, sometimes called “The Law, The Prophets, and the Writings,” “Moses and the Psalms and Prophets, “but the New Testament usually refers to it as “The Law and the Prophets.”

c. The Law—the five books of Moses

(1) A History of creation—Gen 1:1-25

(2) A History of the human race—Gen 1:26-11:8

(3) A history of one family—Gen 11:10-Gen 50:22

(4) The history of the founding of a nation and the laws of that nation—Exodus

(5) The worship of the nation—Leviticus

(6) The two censuses of the nation—Numbers

(7) The second giving of the Law of the nation, and future prophesies about that nation— Deuteronomy

d. The Prophets—all of the rest of the OT

(1) The Historical books—Joshua—Esther
(2) The Poetic books—Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon
(3) The Prophetic Books—Isaiah to Malachi

(Luke 24:25-27) "Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself

2. The First Witness—“…being witnessed by the Law …”

a. How did the Law testify before hand to God’s Righteousness apart from works? Answer: The books of Moses were full of shadows, prophecies, and promises that pointed forward to God’s plan of salvation

b. The promises and shadows of the Law teach us of God’s salvation

(1) The Promise of the Seed, the animal skins provided— (Gen 3:15) "And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.""

(2) The Promise of Blood Sacrifice—(Gen 3:21) "Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them."

(a) A point often missed—where did God get the animal skins?

(b) By the shedding of blood. Heb 9:22 "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."

(3) Abel’s righteousness (which cannot be of his own design, but just be imputed by God!): (Heb 11:4) "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks."

(4) Noah’s Righteousness—(Heb 11:7) "By faith Noah, … became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."

(2 Pet 2:5) "…Noah… a preacher of righteousness”

(5) Abraham:

(a) God’s Covenant with Abraham—a universal message (Gen 12:3) "I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.""

(b) The Imputed Righteousness of Abraham

(Gen 15:6) "And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness."

(6) The Sacrifice on Mt. Moriah (Gen 22

(a) The location: probably the future temple

(b) The Sacrifice—“…your only son…”

(i) The Faith of Abraham—“God will provide Himself a sacrifice…”(Heb 11:17-19) "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead…”

(ii) The helpless sinner ready to be executed

(iii) The voice of God calling out

(iv) The Substitute with his horns caught in the thicket (held there by his strength)

(7) The Passover Lamb showed not only that the blood of the acceptable sacrifice would turn aside death, but the application of the blood formed a Cross in every Hebrew doorway.

(8) Moses spoke of the Prophet “like him” that was to come. (Deu 18:15) ""The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,"


3. The Second Witness—“…being witnessed …by… the Prophets…”

a. The Prophets, sometimes referred to as the writings and the prophets, takes in the whole OT except the five books of Moses.

b. The Doctrine of God’s righteousness, produced by Him alone, is taught in the books of the Prophets. Here are a few references from the Psalms and Isaiah.

(1) The Psalms are full of praise for God’s Own Righteousness—(Psa 51:14) "Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness."

(Psa 71:15) "My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits."

(Psa 71:16) "I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only."

(Psa 71:19) "Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?"

(Psa 71:24) "My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; For they are confounded, For they are brought to shame Who seek my hurt."
(Psa 89:16) "In Your name they rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted."

(Psa 119:142) "Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth."

(Psa 145:7) "They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, And shall sing of Your righteousness."

(Psa 145:17) "The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works."

(2) The righteousness of the Messiah, as connected with salvation, is the constant theme of the Prophets, especially of Isaiah

(3) (Isa 45:8) ""Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring up together. I, the LORD, have created it."

(4) (Isa 45:25) "In the LORD all the descendants of Israel Shall be justified, and shall glory.'""

(5) (Isa 46:13) "I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; My salvation shall not linger. And I will place salvation in Zion, For Israel My glory."

(6) (Isa 51:7) ""Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, You people in whose heart is My law..."

(7) (Isa 61:11) "… the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations."

c. But it is in the prophesies about God’s salvation plan that Truth burns the brightest.

d. A Few Selected and specific Prophecies of Messiah

(1) Messiah’s eternality —(Micah 5:2) ""But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.""

(2) The Messiah—The Son of God—Ps 2:7 "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'" 10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."

(3) Messiah’s Deity—(Isa 9:6) "For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

(4) Messiah’s virgin birth—(Isa 7:14) ""Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel."

(5) Messiah’s Forerunner, John—(Mal 3:1) ""Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts

(6) The character of Messiah’s ministry— (Isa 9:2) "The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined." (Isa 61:1) ""The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;"

(7) His entry on Palm Sunday—(Zec 9:9) ""Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey."

(8) The Suffering servant—(Isa 53) "… 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. …”

(9) His disciples were initially scattered after His death—(Zec 13:7) ""Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion," Says the LORD of hosts. "Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones."


(10) He was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver—(Zec 11:12) "Then I said to them, "If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain." So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver."

(11) They pierced his hands and feet—Ps 22:16 “…The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;…”

(12) Not a bone of his was broken, because He was the Real Passover Lamb—(Exo 12:43-46) "And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. 44 "But every man's servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. 45 "A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. 46 "In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones." (John 19:36) "For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken.""

(13) They stared at His emaciated state, and they gambled for His clothing—Ps 22:17 ff “…17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. 18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots…”

(14) They gave Him Gall mixed with vinegar to drink—(Psa 69:21) "They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink…” (Mat 27:34) "they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink."

(15) He was mocked while on the Cross—Ps 22: 7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 "He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!"

(16) He was forsaken for us on the Cross as He cried out this opening verse—(Psa 22) "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

(17) He was buried in a rich man’s tomb—Is 53:9 “…His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth…”

(18) He did not stay in the grave long enough to decay—Psa 16:10) "For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption."

(19) He is Seated at the right Hand of the Father—(Psa 110:1) "The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.""

4. But Some Prophesies Are Still Pending

a. The Day of the LORD, as Joel said, has yet to begin (Joel 1:15)

b. The Time of Jacob’s Trouble has not come Jer 30:7

c. Much of Daniel’s prophecy has yet to be fulfilled

d. The Lions and the Lambs have not yet laid down together (Is 11)

e. The small child has yet to play with cobras unharmed (Is 11)

f. God has not yet taken revenge on His enemies—Is 61:2

g. The Messiah coming back to rule and reign

(Psa 24:7-10) "Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory…"


(Zec 14:3) "Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle."

(Zec 14:4) "And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south."

(Zec 14:9) "And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be; "The LORD is one," And His name one."