God’s Divine Dilemma: How the Cross Glorifies God

God’s Divine Dilemma: How the Cross Glorifies God

Romans 3:25–31

Paul spends the first two and a half chapters of Romans building a devastating case: all humanity suffers from a condition called sin. It has affected every part of us—our minds, our wills, our emotions, even our bodies. Everything has been corrupted.

As a result, we stand before God as unrighteous, and the penalty for that unrighteousness is death. If we are ever to be restored to a right relationship with God, we need righteousness. Yet Paul tells us this righteousness is not something we earn by climbing a ladder of obedience. It is something given to us by faith in Jesus Christ—more like resting in the chair of someone else’s accomplishments.

But in Romans 3:25–31 Paul answers a deeper question: Why did God do it this way?

Most people assume the cross primarily answers the question, “How much does God love me?” And it certainly does reveal God’s love. But Paul emphasizes something else. The cross answers the question: “Is God righteous?” Or in other words, “Is God just?”

For centuries God had been forgiving sinners. Abraham. David. Israel. But that raises a problem. How can God simply forgive wrongdoing? Isn’t justice required?

Imagine a murderer standing before a judge who says, “Thank you for your remorse. I forgive you. You may go free.” We would call that judge corrupt. Laws demand consequences.

The same question could be asked of God. If sinners confess and God simply forgives them, doesn’t that make Him an unjust judge?

Paul’s answer is clear: that is exactly what the cross solves.

The cross resolves the divine dilemma of how God can forgive sinners while remaining perfectly just. It shifts the focus away from us and places it squarely on God. The cross glorifies God in a way nothing else can.

This is especially important today because many churches—often without realizing it—have shifted from a God-centered ministry to a man-centered ministry.

You can usually recognize the difference.

In a man-centered ministry, the gospel becomes about improving your life: “Jesus came so you can live your best life.” But a God-centered gospel says something different: God is reconciling sinners to Himself and displaying His righteousness and mercy.

A man-centered view of the cross says, “You were worth dying for.” But Scripture emphasizes something deeper: Christ bore the wrath of God so that God could remain just while justifying sinners.

Even the goal of the Christian life changes depending on the perspective. Man-centered teaching speaks of discovering your potential or stepping into your destiny. But a God-centered vision says the goal is to know God, glorify Him, and become like Christ.

Paul’s point in Romans 3 brings us back to the center: the cross ultimately exists to glorify God.

He writes that God presented Christ as a propitiation—meaning Jesus satisfied the demands of divine justice by His blood. And why did God do this?

“To show God’s righteousness.”

Think back to the Garden of Eden. God warned Adam and Eve that disobedience would bring death. Yet when they sinned, they did not die immediately in the physical sense. God showed mercy.

Or consider King David. Under the law, both adultery and murder were punishable by death. David committed both. Yet God spared him.

Was God ignoring His own law?

Paul says no. In His “divine forbearance,” God passed over former sins because He knew the cross was coming. The punishment was not ignored—it was delayed until Christ.

At the cross, the full weight of God’s justice fell upon Jesus. Every ounce of righteous wrath against sin was poured out on the Son. God demonstrated publicly that He does not overlook sin.

And at the same time, something remarkable happened.

The perfect righteousness of Jesus—the only man who ever perfectly obeyed God’s law—can now be credited to anyone who believes in Him. God becomes both “just and the justifier” of the one who has faith in Jesus.

A God of love desires to forgive sinners. A God of holiness must punish sin. The cross is where both truths meet.

Or as we might say it: The cross saves sinners, but it glorifies God.

And because salvation comes entirely by faith, it removes every possible reason for boasting. If righteousness is given, not earned, then no one can claim credit.

You did not earn salvation. You did not deserve it. You simply came with empty hands and trusted Christ.

The gospel always says the same thing: grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Finally, Paul reminds us that the cross does not abolish God’s law—it upholds it. The law demanded justice, and the cross satisfies that justice. The law exposes our sin and drives us to Christ. And through the Spirit, believers now begin to walk in obedience to God.

So far from tearing the law out of our Bibles, the cross shows us its true purpose.

When we look at Calvary, we see the perfect justice of God, the boundless mercy of God, and the glory of God shining together.

Friend, the cross truly does save sinners.

But above all, it glorifies God.