Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Faith Establishes Law
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Romans 3:20-22
The book of Romans contains some of nominal Christianity's favorite lines. Nominal Christianity really belts out those parts of the book. During other parts, though, where the lyrics are not as familiar, it hums and does a little head-nodding to get through those lines until it returns to familiar lyrics, at which point it sings with gusto once again. Yet, if nominal Christianity really grasped the song's meaning, it would sing a different tune. Like a song by a skilled musician, some lines are memorable, but their full meaning comes from their place in the overall work. One stanza does not make a song. While Peter's caution extends to all of Paul's writings (II Peter 3:14-18), it is common within nominal Christianity to use select verses in Romans to support the idea that God's law has been “done away”—or at least certain parts. Indeed, hardly anyone argues that idolatry, adultery, or murder are acceptable since Christ died for our sins. Charges of legalism are rarely laid when considering most of the Ten Commandments. For example, when men and women consistently uphold their marriage vows, we call them “faithful” or “committed.” When a man is careful about honesty, we consider him “trustworthy”—and wish there were more like him! However, when the fourth commandment is under discussion, the tune changes. The seventh-day Sabbath—which Jesus and the apostles clearly kept—quickly brings out the hostility to God's law in the carnal mind (Romans 8:7), which often uses various verses in Romans to defend breaking it. Further, the carnal-minded frequently call those who keep the fourth commandment “legalistic” or “Pharisaical” or accuse them of trying to earn salvation. These allegations are never made about the other nine commandments. Why the double standard? Due to how Paul arranges the material in Romans, he sometimes appears to contradict himself. Yet, such is not the case because God's Word cannot be broken (John 10:35). What he does is explore one side of the issue in one passage, then in the following passage, he switches to another side of the issue and explains it before returning to the first side. But what commonly happens with the untaught and unstable (II Peter 3:16) mirrors what we experience when singing a song we do not know well. Nominal Christianity will jubilantly belt out those sections that sound as if Paul says the law is done away (Romans 3:28; 4:2-3; 5:1-2), but when the apostle changes keys and upholds God's law, it hums and mumbles and looks around uncomfortably. Later, when the lyrics sound like they might indicate it can ignore the fourth commandment, nominal Christianity cranks up the volume and resumes singing. It lasts until Paul again upholds God's law (Romans 2:12-13; 6:1-2; 7:12), at which point worldly Christianity gets quiet and fidgety, waiting for the next line that sounds like he asserts that God's law no longer applies. Peter was right to say some things Paul wrote are hard to understand! Despite some considering it to be so, the apostle who wrote so much New Testament theology is not contradicting himself. On the contrary, all he writes is true; otherwise, God would not have included it in His Word. However, such things as timing, context, and purpose, among others, are critical factors in properly understanding Paul's arguments and explanations, aspects that many misunderstand or miss altogether.
David C. Grabbe
How Does Faith Establish the Law? (Part One)
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Romans 3:31
In his writings, Paul uses these terms—faith, grace, and justification—interchangeably. He uses one word here, another there, depending on which nuance he wants to bring to the fore, so that we get a complete picture of what is happening. Here, he is talking about faith, and within the subject of justification, he says, "No, faith in the blood of Jesus Christ establishes the law!" not "does away with" it. Faith in no way invalidates God's law. None of it! Notice that your Bible very likely reads "the law." However, it does not say that in the Greek; the definite article does not precede "law" either time it appears in this verse. The Interlinear Bible, which is a literal translation, reads: "Law then do we nullify through faith? Not let it be! But law do we establish." Establish means "cause to stand, confirm." One might argue, "What difference does the lack of an article make?" In this case, if it read "the law," Paul would have been referring to either the entire Pentateuch or to a specific law. But writing it as he did, he means law in general as a legal argument. Any law! Man's law, God's law, the Ten Commandments, the sacrifices—everything is included under that blanket statement. He says, "Faith establishes law." It remains for other passages to tell us about a specific law or body of laws that might be set aside. So, then, faith—used here in connection with grace and justification—establishes law. It does NOT do away with it; such an interpretation is the exact opposite of what is written! When a person is justified, it is for the very reason that he is out of alignment with what he is being measured against. So after justification, the standard is not just thrown away! Indeed, the standard becomes more important than ever because we do not want to get out of alignment ever again. We need the law's guidance to help us in what we must do and to warn us when we are veering from the way.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Four)
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Romans 3:31
Some translations, such as the English Standard Version and the New International Version, render this as, “Do we then overthrow [or nullify] the law by this faith?” (Emphasis ours throughout). Paul is writing about a particular application of faith, not simply belief or trust in God. He discusses the specific application in verses 21-26, which are about faith in Christ's sacrifice as the means of atonement. Putting this together, the apostle asks if trusting in Christ's sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins nullifies God's law. Then he answers his question quite firmly: Not only does this faith not overthrow the law, it actually upholds or confirms it! Before explaining this line of thought, we must step back to consider Paul's whole song. The overriding theme of Romans 1—8 is the doctrine of justification by faith and how it applies to the Jew-Gentile divide that the early church struggled with. Chapters 9—11 then discuss the grafting of Gentiles into the Body of Christ and the current standing of physical Israelites. The final chapters discuss Christian conduct in light of the preceding doctrinal explanation. Justification by faith simply means that we are aligned with God—justified—based on our belief in Christ's sacrifice rather than any personal worthiness. At the time, many questioned this teaching because Gentiles were entering the church with little exposure to God's instructions. The church needed to understand that justification comes from believing in Christ's sacrifice, not from obeying God's commands, which Jewish believers had traditionally emphasized. So, the question was, “How is someone accepted by God?” which leads to, “How does that relationship start?” As a simple example, say a man tells a lie one day. The next day, though, the man does not lie or sin in any other way. In addition, he sells all he owns and gives the proceeds to charity. Yet the good he did the second day cannot pay for the whopper he told on the first. The wages for yesterday's work of the flesh must still be paid, and those wages are death (Romans 6:23). Neither perfect obedience nor charitable deeds after the fact can pay those wages. The account can only be settled with a life. So, either the sinner pays with his life, or he has faith in Christ's sacrifice as payment. Whether Jew or Gentile, we cannot approach the Father on the basis of our works because everyone falls critically and fatally short of His standard. Yet this truth does not abolish God's standards—it only means that our diligent efforts to live up to them will not justify us. In the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, the man who acknowledged his sinfulness and sought mercy was justified, not the one who held up his fasting and tithing to God as a self-serving offering (Luke 18:9-14). As necessary elements of God's instruction, fasting and tithing are good things, and Christ commands them in other places (for example, Matthew 6:16-18; 9:14-15; 23:23). But they cannot pay the debt that a person owes because of his sins. Whether in terms of obedience to the law or in charity, our works are simply our duty (see Luke 17:10), not the means of our justification. Being faithful to our spouse and honest with our neighbor will not justify or save us, yet we understand we are still obligated to keep those divine commands. They tell us the right way to live, and we see the significant benefit of keeping them and the tremendous harm from breaking them. Likewise, God never intended the fourth commandment to justify us, yet keeping the seventh-day Sabbath is still part of God's commandments. God has blessed, sanctified, and hallowed the seventh day since Creation, not merely from the giving of the law on Mount Sinai (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:11). The Sabbath is a necessary weekly reminder of God as Creator and Redeemer (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:15), both physically and spiritually and past and present/future. Exodus 31:13 shows it to be the sign of sanctification that is foundational to knowing God, as well as a day for being refreshed. The Sabbath is so vital to a relationship with God that He scattered ancient Israel primarily for breaking it (Ezekiel 20:12-13, 16, 20-21, 24; 22:8, 26). Jesus Christ's teaching and example clearly upheld the Sabbath. Aside from the first commandment, the fourth arose as a subject more often during His ministry than any other. He and the Jews never disagreed over whether the seventh-day Sabbath was holy; they only sparred over what was appropriate activity on it. The book of Acts shows the apostles and early church continued to keep the seventh day. Yet today's nominal Christianity largely disparages the Sabbath because the Roman Catholic Church presumed to sanctify Sunday to placate sun-worshipers within the Empire. Though Protestantism rejected many Catholic practices during the Reformation, it weakly nodded to papal authority to continue this pagan tradition of men. Its later theologians twisted the Scripture to justify retaining Sunday as its day of worship.
David C. Grabbe
How Does Faith Establish the Law? (Part Two)
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