As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
27Therefore, where [is] the boasting? It is excluded. Through what sort of law? Of the works? By no means, but through a law of faith, 28for we are concluding [that] a man is being justified by faith without works of law. 29Or [is] God of Jews only? Not also of Gentiles? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since [there is] one God who will justify circumcision out of faith and uncircumcision through that [same] faith. 31Are we therefore nullifying law through that faith? May it never be! Rather, we are establishing law.
As I said in the last post, I find in these five verses some serious pondering fodder. Just a few more thoughts on the business of “boasting” – Although I think the problem here is specifically Jewish, it is another one of those problems “common to man.” I would suggest one of the pitfalls of any law/justification system is that it stirs in people this sense of being “better” than everyone else. With every “religion” in the world, its adherents are unanimously confident their “religion” makes them better than everyone else. It has been my observation that churches do the same thing. They are invariably sure they are the “best” church in town. As we are seeing in Romans, grace salvation very specifically suppresses this evil propensity. A true understanding of justification by faith alone says, in the words of Albert Barnes, “…all are alike dependent on the mere mercy of God in Christ.”
In the well-known Eph. 2:8,9 we’re told, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” In I Cor. 1:28-31 it says “He chose the lowly things of this world…to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him…Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’” Any law system begs comparison and tends to this boasting. Only a salvation based totally on faith can strip away from us humans any opportunity for this arrogance. As I said above, people who call themselves Christians can be just as bad as any other “religious” group, but, in our case, it is absolutely inexcusable. Arrogance on our part reveals we have either forgotten that we ourselves are wholly dependent on grace or that our own understanding of it is faulty, or, worse yet, that someone has never truly embraced grace at all. I would suggest that, to whatever extent our “religion” tends to make us feel “better” than others, we may be quite sure we are having a deficient view of grace. A sincere apprehension of grace leaves us saying, “Where then is boasting? It is excluded.”
I suppose I should comment on Paul’s statement in verse 28, “…we are concluding [that] a man is being justified by faith without works of law.” Once again, barrels of ink have been spilt addressing the apparent contradiction between this verse and what James says in his 2:24: “You see that a man is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” People for centuries have thought they find in these words a contradiction. Of course there is no contradiction at all. In Romans, Paul is addressing people who think their works will save them. James is addressing people who think they can say they have faith but there is no fruit. Suffice it to say that a faith that saves is a faith that will change the person’s life. Real faith ushers us into the presence (or should I say lap) of our wonderful heavenly Father, opens our eyes to see Jesus in His beauty, and places His Spirit in our hearts. Paul himself will address this same matter of changed lives in chapter 6, but, as it is with every single human being, we must first come to the Lord with empty hands. As Barnes said, “…all are alike dependent on the mere mercy of God in Christ.” Notice the “mere.” Real faith saves totally by grace but that same real faith will bear the fruit of a changed life.
This all leads into what I want to say about verse 31. As I tried to literally translate it, it says, “Are we therefore nullifying law through that faith? May it never be! Rather, we are establishing law.” The NIV attempts to smooth it out and translates it, “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” Paul is clearly addressing the age old objection that grace salvation, a salvation entirely by faith alone from beginning to end, leads to lawlessness.
I would like to record my response to this accusation, as maybe I take a little different twist than usual. I believe the person who even makes this accusation actually is proving that they themselves have never repented of their legalism. What do I mean? I will suggest that, ever since the Garden of Eden, we fallen human beings have been incorrigibly legalistic. It is somehow deeply ingrained in our hearts to believe everything comes down to law. If we don’t like something, it means we need new laws, different laws, better laws, fewer laws, even no laws – but it always comes down to laws. The accusation in verse 31 is protesting, “If you propose a salvation totally by faith, then you’re saying law doesn’t matter!” First of all, why are they so concerned to begin with? Because “law” is the crutch their souls lean on. They cannot bear the thought of standing totally naked before God – not only admitting I have nothing to bring, but also admitting I never will. True grace means the love relationship I enjoy with my God is based entirely on His grace – with absolutely not even the slightest contribution of my merit – not now or ever.
In order to enjoy that kind of relationship, the first thing we all must do is actually repent of our legalism. It is NOT about law. God’s love for you and me is NOT performance based. To even accuse grace of somehow minimizing law only reveals our hearts’ unwillingness to let go of law at all. Now let me go to the other extreme – even to say that grace means no law, even for a person to go around saying, because of grace, now there is no law and I can do as I please – that person has not repented of their legalism either, precisely because they’re still talking about law. Whether it’s more rules or no rules, they’re still thinking it has something to do with the rules.
NO, NO, NO. It is only on the basis of His grace that you and I will or will not enjoy a relationship with God. To stand before Him, you must stand naked. “Nothing in my hand I bring; Only to Thy Cross I cling.” If you or I would crawl into His lap, we crawl there in all our filth and stench. The face we burrow into His big strong chest is a very dirty, emaciated face. But this is precisely the wonder of grace: that’s okay. It’s okay because His name is Jesus. He didn’t die on the Cross to help us toward God. He died to save us. He died to make us children of God, not just to make us so we could be children of God if we somehow do a good job of keeping the rules.
At this point, I’d like to include a quote from P. Hutchinson:
“It is worthy of observation on this subject, that all the good works performed by believers in Christ Jesus are as much excluded from being the ground of justification as the works of sinners previous to conversion. All works really and instrumentally good are performed in a state of justification, are the proper and natural effects of it, and therefore cannot be the cause of it… Believers neither need to turn inward to their graces and frames, nor outward to their duties, to find the matter of their justification. This is abundantly provided for them by the grace of God in the merit of Jesus Christ, whose spotless obedience and unequalled sufferings are, by the wise and benign appointment of Jehovah, the alone ground of pardon and life to guilty men…This Divine plan of acceptance affords support, comfort, and tranquility to true Christians under the pressures of life, the revolutions of the world, and the challenges of conscience…The doctrine of justification by faith in the merit of Christ affords the most powerful motivations to love, gratitude, and obedience. Does not love naturally beget love? And shall not a display of the love of God in justifying the ungodly through the mediation of His Son beget love in the justified sinner? And if he love God, will not love constrain him to keep His commandments?”
Yes, Hutchinson “gets it.” Here is precisely where “law” re-enters the discussion – as you and I sit in the lap of our wonderful Father, totally accepted, totally loved and all of that not because we have or have not (or ever will have) done a good job of “keeping the rules”—but rather because Jesus paid it all. As I sit there so loved, what does the “Law” mean to me? I find in it the expressions of my Father’s heart. I do want to please Him. I don’t want to be doing things that break His heart. “Fear” becomes a matter of knowing He loves me too much to let me do wrong! Is all of this not true of any real love relationship? When you love someone, of course you care what they think, what they like and don’t like, what they want you to do or not do. Of course they have expectations – And that’s okay – because you love them. You don’t “comply” in order to somehow gain their favor. You do it precisely because you love them.
And so, at this point, what have we done with God’s law? We have NOT nullified it. Rather, in the very greatest way possible, we have actually established it. If all the world had such a relationship with God, if they each one deeply loved the Lord and cared very much what He thinks, if they wanted to do right precisely because they love Him…it would be a place called Heaven.
Grace doesn’t create people who are really good rule-keepers, it does something far, far better. It wins their hearts. The Law would create people who get their list of rules from the far-away God and then spend their time trying to “keep” them. Grace invites people into the loving arms of a Heavenly Father and so fills their heart with the love of Jesus, they can’t help but be changed.
Law-keeping is man’s way of approaching God.
Grace is Jesus’ way.
I like Jesus’ way better.
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