27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 30 There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 31Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
Faith Alone
Do you think Paul’s readers are getting the point yet? It’s not by anything we’ve done, but by faith in Jesus Christ that we are free from our sin. It seems like it’s the recurring theme of the first three chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans. They must be grasping this truth by now.
Yet, history has shown us that we still struggle with the concept of faith alone. From the time of Paul, through the early church, the middle ages, to the present, we seem to be more comfortable with adding to the concept of faith. We have such a difficult time with the idea of grace.
But do you get what Paul’s driving at here? Faith does not mean the absence of Law. Grace is not the opposite of Law. It’s the fulfilment of the Law. Grace doesn’t mean that God just shrugs his shoulders and says, “Oh well” to the sin of the world. The Law demands justice. A price must be paid for sin. That price was the death of God’s Son on the cross.
And faith is the avenue through which we apply that payment to our own sin. And in that way, faith is the fulfillment of the Law.
As a result, we can’t boast. We can’t brag about how good we are. We can’t look in the mirror and smile at how perfect we behaved. We didn’t do squat. Our acquittal isn’t based on our actions, but on Christ.
So, let’s be careful when we want to point a finger at someone else and declare ourselves better than them. That’s what Paul is saying to the Jews and Gentiles. Stop seeing your behaviour as something to brag about. None of us can brag. We didn’t do it. God did.
My prayer: Lord, I am guilty of this. Far too often I look at others with a sense of self-righteousness. I am better than they are. I am “more good.” And yet, this passage reminds me again of the foolishness of such thinking. I am not better than any one. You are. My past sin is wiped away because of you, not me. As I go through my day today, may I not lose sight of that incredible truth. May I see others through the lens of grace. Amen.
Until tomorrow.
