To appreciate the teaching of free justification revealed in Romans

3:24 we should read verses 23 and 24, together, taking no breath at the

junction of the verses, thus: 'For all have sinned, and are coming short of

the glory of God, being justified freely', etc.  'Coming short' and 'being

justified' are both in the present tense.  There is no interval between the

two states.  The same truth is found in Romans 4:5, 'Him that justifieth the

ungodly'.  If such be the fact, then justification by faith can never be

merited.  This is the truth suggested in the tenses of the verbs,

and definitely revealed in the words 'freely' and by His 'grace'.

The word translated 'freely' is dorean and like dorea, dorema and doron

is derived from didomi, 'to give'.  We cannot stress too strongly the blessed

fact that justification is an act of grace, is a gift undeserved and

unmerited.  Let us not pass this feature by too easily.  Let us allow the

'freeness' of this rich gift to make itself felt.  The word 'freely' occurs

in the Gospels, the Epistles and the Revelation:

'Freely ye have received, freely give' (Matt. 10:8).

'They hated Me without a cause' (John 15:25).

'I have preached to you the gospel of God freely' (2 Cor. 11:7).

'If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain' (Gal.

'Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought' (2 Thess. 3:8).

'The water of life freely' (Rev. 21:6; 22:17).

The English idiom will not allow John 15:25 to be translated, 'They

hated Me freely', but we can say: 'They hated Me gratuitously'.  So in

Galatians 2:21, 'Christ died in vain' (or gratuitously).  Romans chapter 5

places great emphasis on this gratuitous act of God:

'But not as the offence, so also is the free gift.  For if through the

offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift

by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment

was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto

justification' (15,16).

Here we not only have dorea in verse 15, and dorema

in verse 16, but also charisma, a gift in grace (or gracious gift),

translated in both verses 'free gift'.  We doubt whether any definition of

grace is complete that does not include this element of a gift, a gift that

is the antithesis of 'wages' (Rom. 6:23), a gift that is without repentance

on the part of God (Rom. 11:29).  The 'grace -by -faith -salvation' of

Ephesians (2:8) is not of works, but is the gift of God.  It is the very

essence of love to give.  Even unregenerate men and women manifest their

mutual love by the exchange of gifts.  Children, parents and friends seize

upon birthdays, weddings and festive seasons as opportunities of manifesting

their love by gifts.  The love of God has been shown for all time in the gift

of His Son (John 3:16), and it is a repeated characteristic of the love of

Christ that it gives, and gives all, even to life itself (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 5:2

and 25).

We have been 'justified freely', gratuitously, without a cause, 'by His

grace'.  Here we need to pause again that we may receive the double emphasis