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Romans 3.31- 4.3
February 7th 2021
Put your fingers in James chapter 2 as we are going to reference it a bit today in our initial coverage of the last verse of Romans 3 verse 31.
Okay, so two weeks ago we ended our study through Romans thus far on verse 31 – the last verse – of chapter three.
Having established beyond the shadow of a doubt that anyone who will be saved will be saved by and through God’s means and not man’s (as Paul says)
By Grace, through faith, in the shed blood of His Son.
Of course, prior to revealing God’s means of saving Man, he went to some great lengths to show that salvation does not come by obedience to the Law – written in stone or on the Gentile heart – because all have failed to keep it.
But he ends chapter three with a statement that brings us, the reader, the seeker of truth from God, all the way back around full circle when he says:
Romans 3:31 Do we then make “void the law through faith?” God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
Let’s talk about this passage a bit more before moving on into chapter four.
What Paul is rhetorically asking is, “Now that we have come to faith, do we render the Law vain and useless; do we destroy its moral obligation; and do we prevent obedience to it in and through the doctrine of justification by faith?”
This was an objection which would naturally be made by the Jews based on Paul’s teaching thus far but it is also something many people, not having experienced His saving grace in their own lives, think. That the doctrine of salvation by Grace alone lends to people who claim it living licentious lives. Paul’s response to this charge is “God forbid.”
And then he adds that “by and through the fact, doctrine and knowledge of justification by faith the LAW (meaning the moral law) (in the life of a believer) is actually established or “made sure” in the heart of the believer!
Now relative to this point that in justification by faith the law is established TWO significant ideas need to be understood from what I can tell.
The first is by what means, methods or ways does the justification of someone by faith establish the Law within them?
And secondly, what version of the Law is being established in them?
Let’s talk a minute about the first idea, which is
“How does the justification of someone by faith in the shed blood of Jesus establish the Law?”
To those with unregenerated hearts or who have not experience Christ in them, the answer is incomprehensible and frequently beyond their grasp.
Their thinking is:
“Why would anyone choose to do good before God if everything they do is forgiven of them?”
That is a cheap easy approach.
The question is always asked by those who have not experienced His forgiveness.
See, when the heart thinks it stands in continual jeopardy before God, such a heart will forever seek to establish itself (as right) before God by Law.
And freedom is lost.
And works / righteousness remains.
And goodness by the power of the flesh, in the do’s and don’ts, will reign.
There is a great saying I came to understand years ago that says:
“It is grace that teaches us to say no to sin.”
I love that quote.
“Grace teaches us to say no to sin.”
Where the law reveals and exposes each of us as sinners, His endless grace teaches a sinner to actually turn from sin.
Paul puts it another way here, saying:
Do we then make “void the law through faith?” God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
By the FACT of our justification by grace through faith, by the FACT that God sees those justified AS righteous, His moral law, then, is actually embraced, sought after, and confirmed in the believer where this response would not and could not be produced in any other way.
Victor Hugo, in his epic tale, Les Miserables, make this fact so clear in an exchange between his characters Jean Val Jean and a priest early in the narrative.
Val Jean stole a loaf of bread and was sentenced to prison under the law.
Once there his sentence was extended repeatedly and by the time he got out he had served 17 years hard time. Again, under the Law.
Val Jean was bitter. Angry. And full of contempt for the world – because of the letter of the Law.
One night wandering as an ex-con he comes to the home of a priest. This priest treats Val Jean as if he was good not an ex- criminal, though he was identified as one.
This was too much for the Val Jean to handle. And while it intrigued him, it also angered him -at least initially.
While staying the night, Val Jean faces a war between his hardened self, created under the heavy impossible hand of the law, and the fact that has experienced unconditional love and grace at the hand of the priest.
His hardened self-wins out and he steals one of the only things of value in the priests house – silver candlesticks – then runs out into the night.
The police catch up with Val Jean on a road, and seeing he is a convict, inspect his goods, finding the candlesticks.
Val Jean is once again convicted by the Law, and is now facing a much longer time in prison.
The police drag Him back to the priests home and bang on the door.
When the priest opens the door, he says “Where have you been, Val Jean? I’m so pleased you returned!”
The police and Val Jean are both surprised and they police ask the priest if he was aware that Val Jean had his silver candlesticks in his possession.
It is here, at this moment, that Val Jean, for the first time in his existence, receives unconditional love and kindness in the face of his crime – in other words, “grace” when he did not in any way deserve it . . . and the priest, representing Jesus, tells the police not only that the candlesticks were given freely to Val Jean to take, but that there was more Val Jean forgot to take with him,” and he runs and gets the remaining silverware, placing in in Val Jean’s hands.
The law departs, and Hugo has the priest, representing Christ, draw near to Val Jean and say:
“Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you; I withdraw it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.”
The rest of the book describes the life Val Jean lives – a life dedicated to love, virtue, and justice – the Laws written on his heart – because he first experienced the amazing grace God gives sinners.
This is the “how” grace brings God’s law to us.
The second question we must consider in this is “what” law is established in those saved by grace through faith and faith alone.
Is it the “thou shalt and thou shalt nots?”
Paul explains perfectly what aspect of the Law is established in those saved by grace through faith in Romans chapter 13 when he writes in verse 8-10:
Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” “Thou shalt not covet;” and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
When Jesus was on earth he was approached by a lawyer, as recorded in Matthew 22 beginning at verse 36.
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
To love – God and neighbors as self – is the absolute by-product in those who have received God’s grace in their lives.
It is by and through this action – love – that the LAW is fully established in the lives of those who’ve experienced God’s mercy.
It’s not just the law written in stone, it is all the law and the prophets which all pointed ultimately to the two great commandments, to –
Love the Lord thy God with ALL thine heart being the first and greatest AND, AND, AND to love our neighbor as ourselves.
This love, both expressed and applied, successfully results in tacti obedience to any and all of the laws written in stone.
As a mind-blowing proof text for this premise we turn to the Epistle of James chapter two.
Now, this chapter is traditionally used by groups who love to say, “Faith without works is dead, faith without works is dead,” like some formulaic mantra that many of a religious ilk will embrace because they cannot understand the power of God’s grace.
Upon hearing this, I suggest that the Christians response should be, “Amen. So true,” while recalling what Paul affirms here in the last verse of Romans chapter 3 when he wrote:
Romans 3:31 Do we then make “void the law through faith?” God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
But read with me James chapter two beginning in verse 14. Prior to this verse, James has been teaching that believers ought never treat other people with partiality but always equanally. To never be a respecter of persons. In other words, to treat all people the same.
Then he gets talking about this very point that Paul makes here in Romans 3:31
So, let’s read from James and take what he is written and prove it is actually consistent, not in opposition to, Paul.
Beginning at verse 14 in chapter two, James writes:
James 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Can faith alone save Him? Is what James is asking. A problem with comprehending the question is amplified when we fail to understand the genuine faith is NEVER EVER alone.
How do we know this? By what Paul says in the last verse of Romans 3!
That the works of the Law are established in people by faith!
I’ve used the coin example before, but it is so fitting here. What both Paul and James are saying is that when you hold the single coin that says FAITH in Jesus Christ on one side, the other side reads, the Law of God established.
Genuine faith ALWAYS comes with the law of God established in the heart of the faithful on the other side of the same coin. They cannot be separated any more than you can separate the head side from the tails side!
So again, when someone has genuine faith, someone has the law of God established in their heart and minds.
He writes these laws on their inward parts. But the question becomes, what are those laws? In the case of James here, what are those WORKS?
The two great commandments – to Love God and Man.
And this is the point James is making here.
He’s saying, “what good is it,” “what profit is there” if a man says SAYS SAYS SAYS he has faith, BUT . . . has not (LISTEN) the Works of Love?
Now James writes “works” here, but we will see what he means are the “works” of the two great commandments (being love) in a moment.
But for now he goes on and gives us some illustrations of what he means and says (verse 15-16)
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled;” notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
He makes a great point. What is faith but a catalyst to love? God so LOVED the world . . . he ???( GAVE ) us His Son!
Jesus so LOVED us, He (GAVE) us His very life. So, it is with real faith! Real Faith establishes the Law of Love in every recipient (listen) through the VERB called agape love, through action, through giving of self and time and life for the betterment of others.
After giving this illustration, James continues, verse 17, saying
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Paul asks:
Romans 3:31 Do we then make “void the law through faith?” God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
And James says:
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works of the Law of God, is dead, being alone.
And they are both saying the exact same thing. But notice.
Paul established the fact that we are saved ONLY by grace through faith and establishes faith as the premise first and foremost AND
James does the same thing, saying “Even so faith, (he mentions it first) if it hath not works of the law established in our hearts, is dead, being alone.”
Just as “love without action is dead,” so is “faith without the action.” There is no difference. And this is all that James is saying.
And James adds
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Remember, James is talking all about and describing genuine faith here – that is the subject. And his point is what genuine faith looks like, his point is not to lift works up above genuine faith.
Then he brings in two examples of works from the Old Testament. And what he says (or writes) at first glance sounds contradictory to what Paul says in our next chapter of Romans. So, he says at verse 21:
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Now, if you go back to Romans 4 – our text for the day, what does Paul say about Abraham? Listen:
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
So, James here literally wrote:
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
And Paul wrote in Romans 4:2-3
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
How could this be?
Is it a contradiction?
Is James wrong or Paul?
Neither. Because they are saying the exact same thing. Let me explain.
Paul speaks plainly that righteousness was imputed to Abraham (put into his account by God) when he, trusting God in His promise that Abraham would have endless offspring, took his only Son Isaac up and was willing to sacrifice Him on the altar.
You got that? And it was by this faith that Abraham was deemed righteous.
But what proved the existence of Abrahams faith and trust in God’s promises to Him?
His actions.
This is what James is speaking to.
Listen again to what James writes:
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
James is speaking of faith (first and foremost) and he is saying what proves faith’s existence – actions, works.
But what works or works of what?
LOVE.
Think about this, who does James use in this first example of works of love?
Abraham.
And what works did Abraham offer?
Was it building the altar? Nope.
Taking his son Isaac up? Nope.
What was the works James is speaking of using Abraham as the example?
The works of Love – specifically, LOVING the LORD THY GOD more than his own son. The first great Commandment!
And here Abraham fulfilled the first great commandment – the one Jesus said fulfilled the Law and the Prophets – to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, by doing what he told him to do.
Got it?
And James wraps up the Abraham example with this (verse 23)
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Then James summarizes the two commandments all Christians face:
24 Ye see then how that by works (or love) a man is justified, and not by faith only.
So, as to be clear – All who are saved are saved by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
And this faith “establishes” as Paul wrote, “the Law” in true believers.
What Law?
The Two Great Commandments which is first, the Law to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, as James points out that Abraham does.
Now catch this, “What is the second Law that God establishes in those who have faith? The law of loving neighbor as ourselves, right?
Now listen to the next example James uses to prove his point about faith and love (at verse 25 he says)
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Of all the examples James could have picked of a person who “worked” from the Old Testament, he picked a woman who was a harlot?
And what “works” did Rahab the harlot do?
The COI were looking to overtake Jericho under the direction of Joshua and Joshua sent to spies to the place to check it out.
The people of Jericho were in high alert and these two spies were in danger of being caught.
They went to the home of a harlot named Rahab and she risked her own safety by housing them and hiding them under a bunch of stalks to the risk of her own safety.
What are the works that James highlights here in this illustration?
That Rahab loved her “neighbor” as herself, illustrating the second great commandment.
In Abraham, James illustrates the first great command to love the Lord with all thine heart, and in the secondJames illustrates the great command to love thy neighbor as thyself through Rahab the Harlot.
Jesus said upon these two commandments hang “all the law and the prophets” and so Paul, when in the last verse of chapter three asks:
Romans 3:31 Do we then make “void the law through faith?”
He replies:
“God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
Our faith establishes the Two Great Commandments upon which hang all the Law and the Prophets – which are both about LOVE. (beat)
Alright. So let’s read our text for the day – Romans chapter 4 verses 1-3, where Paul too, speaks of Abraham and his faith, saying
4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Paul introduces us to the father of all monotheist faiths – Judaism, Islam and Christianity – Father Abraham, and asks, looking all the way back to him:
What shall we say Abraham the father of our faith has found pertaining to the flesh?
It seems that the main object of chapter four (as it was broken down by men other than Paul) is to show that the doctrine of “justification by faith,” which Paul has both presented and was defending, was present in the Old Testament.
I think he was doing this to show the Jew – his brothers – that this wasn’t anything new and here in chapter four Paul uses two examples – that of Abraham and that of King David.
The question still sort of lingered as to whether this “justification by faith” was not in consequence of their being circumcised and therefore grew out of their conformity first to the law.
We will see that Paul proves that Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised; and that even his circumcision was in consequence of his being justified by faith, and served as the “seal” or attestation of that fact.
So, in verse one Paul asks (the Jews, really) “What shall we then say?”
In other words, “How does this doctrine of justification by faith agree with what the scriptures say of Abraham?” And I think that the object of Paul was to try and answer this inquiry.
“What shall we say regarding Abraham,” he writes then adds, “as pertaining to the flesh?”
In other words, “What shall we say that Abraham our father discovered relative to the flesh?”
or
“What did father Abraham himself discover about circumcision of the flesh?”
The idea is, “If men are justified by faith; if works are to have no place; if, therefore, all rites and ceremonies, all legal observances, are useless in justification, what is the advantage of circumcision? “
What benefit did Abraham derive from it? Why was it appointed? And why is such an importance attached to it in the history of his life?
We’ll recall that a similar question was asked (and answered) in Romans 3:1.
What did Abraham find is the advantage has he derived from it?
Paul answers the question with a premise in verse 2:
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath of to glory; but not before God.
If Abraham was justified before God on the grounds of his own merits, he would have reason to boast.
He might regard this justification as the result of him being the author of it and to therefore assign the praise to himself.
In the response Paul is asking:
“In the account of the justification of Abraham is there any statement that supports him being self-confident and/or boastful?”
Paul adds:
For if Abraham was justified by works (of the Law) he could glory, (boast) and adds, “But not before God.”
All Paul is saying here is if Abraham was justified by his own works then we would have scriptural reference to it (before God) but there was no such record showing Abraham boasting that he was justified by his works-righteousness.
The logic works like this, and I am quoting Calvin (believe it or not):
“If Abraham was justified by his works, he might boast of his own merits. But he has no ground of boasting before God. Therefore he was not justified by works.”
Then using the scripture as the source of evidence Paul asks:
3 For what saith the scripture?
Paul tells us. Ready:
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”
What did Abraham believe from the mouth of God? Go to Genesis 15:5 where it reads
“And God brought Abraham forth abroad, and said, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars,” if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, “So shall thy seed be.”
This was the promise God made to Abraham.
Verse 6 of Genesis
“And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
Abraham believed God.
In the Hebrew, “Abraham believed Jehovah.”
See, Jehovah told Abraham, whose body was old, who had no child at that time and whose wife’s womb was dead, that He would give him posterity like the stars of the heaven in terms of number.
(beat)
And Abraham believed Him. And for this belief, Abraham was seen as righteous before God.
Then, in the face of this promise Abraham took (GAVE) his only son through whom this promise was to be fulfilled! Willing to sacrifice him – believing in Jehovah and Loving Him more than anything else, proving his faith was not dead (as James points out) but he believed first, and God “counted or assigned this belief as righteousness.”
And then he illustrated that faith through an ACT of LOVE
Wow.
Paul illustrates the strength and nature of this faith later in Romans 4:16-21 but Abraham’s response so long ago perfectly echoes what the writer of Hebrews says in the New Testament when he wrote in 11:6:
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Is this faith a work?
Absolutely not.
And it is certainly not a product of obedience to the Law.
Faith is a gift of God extended to all to receive by and through the existence of His promises through His Word.
Let me say that again:
Faith is a Gift of God, extended to all, through the very existence of His Word to Man – we chose to either receive it or reject it.
Notice that God extended a promise to Abraham (by and through His Word) and Abraham chose to receive it and believe it.
Without the promise, no faith could exist.
So, receiving the promises of God (presented by and through His living Word and His Word made flesh) is an act of receiving (or rejecting) what God offers, not what we decide to create or embrace ourselves.
And in the end, there is no room to boast.
How could Abraham boast for believing that God would grant Him children beyond measure? It is God who will do the work.
And so by and through accepting God’s promises and believing them true, God is pleased. And His righteousness is then imputed to those who believe.
(beat)
Abraham believed the Lord God. Because of this he was justified – saved – seen as righteous.
He believed in God’s promise before it seemed possible.
He believed in God’s promise when the promise appeared to be put in jeopardy.
He placed his love for God ahead of anything else in his life, proving his faith was true, genuine, and real.
And so it is with every single believer who says:
I trust God’s Word when He says:
My sins are forgiven and God will remember them no more.
(that says) I am saved by faith and not by my works.
Jesus was resurrected from the grave even though I haven’t seen Him.
That says He “is with me always,” that “He will never let me go,” that “He loved me so much He shed His blood for me,” and I trust Him in commandment to love.
Let’s stop here.
Questions/Comments/Prayer
