Romans – A Treatise
Chapter Three
FAITH, NOT WORKS
Scripture Reading: verses 27-31
WHERE IS BOOSTING THEN? IT IS EXCLUDED. BY WHAT LAW? OF WORKS? NAY: BUT BY THE LAW OF FAITH. THEREFORE WE CONCLUDE THAT A MAN IS JUSTIFIED BY FAITH WITHOUT THE DEEDS OF THE LAW. IS HE THE GOD OF THE JEWS ONLY? IS HE NOT ALSO OF THE GENTILES? YES, OF THE GENTILES ALSO: SEEING IT IS ONE GOD, WHICH SHALL JUSTIFY THE CIRCUMCISION BY FAITH, AND UNCIRCUMCISION THROUGH FAITH. DO WE THEN MAKE VOID THE LAW THROUGH FAITH? GOD FORBID: YEA, WE ESTABLISH THE LAW.
Here the argument is rather intricate, but it is exceedingly important to the person who wants to make sure he is on a platform of righteousness before God. The apostle’s conclusion in the previous verses was that Jew and Gentile are brought in before God guilty and without excuse. But the same God who has condemned them unequivocally has devised a means whereby He can meet with them in righteousness through the propitiation of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The conclusion: God is just and the Justifier of true believers in Jesus. In other words, God Himself is just by forgiving and receiving the sinner, clearing him from all charges standing against him. Why is God on righteous ground? Because the Lord Jesus has borne the sinner’s penalty due as a result of his offenses. Thus the challenging question is sent out: “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.” As true believers on the Lord Jesus Christ we are justified, not by means of anything that we have done or can do, but simply on the principle of faith. We must accept the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as our covering and we do this by obeying the Gospel of Christ. His blood is our atonement by which our sins are blotted out from before the eye of God. We must accept this as God’s provision, knowing that our good works add nothing to it.
Many today face the difficulty of hearing a “gospel” that seeks to mix faith and works. Many “professional preachers” are today teaching that after becoming a Christian we must work in order to show we are worthy of salvation, attempting to make sure we will not come into judgment. But we believe this to be contrary to New Testament teaching. Actually, accepting such a theory destroys the peace of heart and conscience that comes to those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus. If by our good works, we merited the favor of God, then that would set aside the complete efficacy of the work of the Lord Jesus on the Cross, and we would have opportunity to boast. When we get to heaven we would be able to look around on one another and boast of the good works that helped to get us there. But this verse says: “Where is boasting then? It is excluded.” How is it excluded? By the gift of God coming to us by the faith of Jesus Christ. All we have to do is reach out the hand of faith and take it, accepting it from God by grace on the principle of faith. The Scripture says: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.” On the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, when the people asked what to do, the Apostle Peter told them to “repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The Scripture also says: “The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him, and whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It does not take good works to call on the Name of the Lord – simply cry out from the inner recesses of a contrite heart, expressing our need to the Lord. He hears and as we shall see in Romans 6, we are buried in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life, all our sins put away for “the blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son cleanses from all sin.” Thereafter, there is no occasion for boasting on our part, because we have been saved as a free gift from God; boasting is excluded. It is not excluded on the principle of works, but by the law of faith. In other words, the law of faith is the regulation, the way, the means God has arranged whereby one might accept His gift.
Verse 28 goes on to say: “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Here the Spirit of God makes sure that we do not get law and grace mixed up. We are living in an age of confusion. But we will never get to heaven by our own work, nor can any works of our own add one iota to the perfect finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some believe that we are saved by grace but are kept saved by works. While there is no such teaching in the New Testament, still, we should never forget the passages warning us against the danger of slipping away from the truth. Continuance in the faith is a demonstration of the fact that our faith is real, that we are one of His children. No child of His will ever become anything else except His child; no one shall pluck any of His own out of His hand.
Others assert that somehow salvation depends on keeping the requirements of the Law of Moses, by observing the Sabbath (Saturday) according to the Jewish economy. God instituted the Sabbath day so men might have a rest, and taking a rest is not a virtue on our part. It was God’s provision so the body and mind could be rested. However, we should remember that God’s rest, God’s Sabbath, is broken. It was broken by sin, failure, and rebellion against God and now that the Lord Jesus has come, according to the Epistle of Colossians, we no longer observe days, months, and years. How glad we are to be at liberty to meet on the first day of the week, as the early Christians did in Acts 20 – the day when the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. But let us not attach holiness to any particular day. It is the Person who is holy and not the day or time. At all events there is a clear-cut difference between works and grace. Salvation comes to us as a gift from God by grace. There is a difference between works and faith. Good works make us entitled to wages or recompense, but to accept something by faith is to receive it as unmerited. So a person is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. If we can keep this clear in our minds it will save us from much confusion.
The last of the chapter indicates God is the God of both Jews and Gentiles, and He justifies both on the principle of faith, not works. Thereby He establishes the law, upholding its condemnation of the one who broke it, yet setting him free from con-demnation through the work of Christ on the Cross.
