Soap Box 39- PAUL AND THE LAW

Some people never figure out a gospel preacher. There is a tendency for many ministers to work on overtime ( and they do this without extra pay). That is, it seems that a lot of pastors are in the long-winded mode on Sunday mornings. As we have sermon pie at the dinner table, we often wonder why sermons take so long at times.

A simple answer to a hard question like that does not always cover all the bases. But it has to do with the simple gospel, that isn't as simple as many people think or assume. Take the topic of Paul and the Law. There are interpreters who have studied this and there is a rainbow of results. Some feel that the Law is still standing in the form of the Ten Commandments. A group like that winds up worshipping on Saturday, and trying to "keep the Sabbath". Others see it slightly different, their Sabbath is Sunday, and they worship on Sunday.

Everybody has a verse or two to stabilize and secure their position and make a strong case of affirmation. The greatness of our country comes into play here. Our kind of government in the constitution recognizes our God given right to worship, agree and to disagree. The God of the Bible gives all mankind the right to be wrong. The right to disagree is part of that. This is a very big risk. God has taken this risk. Many take this risk with great peril. But we all participate in this risky business of making a decision.

Romans 3:31 is a good verse to consider:

Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid:
Yea, we establish the law.

For many, this is the ending of the case. Case closed. The law, the Law of Moses, the Law of God are referring to the same thing. This law, according to this verse, verifies, certifies, affirms and confirms that the law has not been voided, made of none affect, destroyed, brought to naught, done away or abolished. This is plain and this is simple.

But for God's sake, Paul's sake and for our own sake, we need to reread the context and read on through the rest of the book of Romans. Those who see here evidence of the establishment of the Law of God for present-day observance and keeping are sincere. They have a right to be sincere. They have a right to believe it this way. They have a right
(in our eyes) to be wrong. They have the right to be sincerely wrong. But our interests should be to find out what is right for us.

In the proceeding context, Romans 3:21-30, there are several references to the word, law. There is no positive reference to this word. Law in the immediate context, of Rom. 3:28b, gives little indication that the Law has a place in matters of salvation.

…A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

3:21 states: But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

Twice in the foregoing context of 3:31, we find righteousness/justification (they are the same word in the Greek) being discussed without having an active part to play . Consider the word, 'without' in the following verses of Romans, 4:6; 7:8,9; 10:14. Chapter four discusses, not the established law and how it is established to be followed or practiced, but discusses the righteousness that can be obtained through faith apart from works and/or apart from the works of the law.

Romans 6:14 and 15 seemingly says in spite of the law, being some how and in some way established in 3:31, that the Roman believers are not under [the] law but under grace. That is, whatever Romans 3:31 may say about the law being established, that law is not a factor in living the Christian life. Romans 7:2 and 6 expands on this theme. There, Paul speaks to those who know the law. ( Those who read 3:31 as evidence that the law is established to be followed and practiced today might not qualify). But here he says a married woman, when her husband dies, that, 'she is loosed from the law of her husband.' Roman believers, along with Paul are now said to be 'delivered' from the law by the body of Christ. Both of the words 'loosed' and 'delivered' are the same word as make void as found in 3:31.

Therefore, whatever Romans 3:31 may say about the law not being destroyed but established, that establishment cannot mean that the Law of Moses plays a part in the walk of the Christian. Actually, the context in Romans 3 speaks about the law of works and the law of faith. ( 3:27 ) The next verse states that a man is justified by faith without/apart from the deeds of the law (of Moses).

Paul makes the same point in Galatians 2:19-20. Paul states, that he through the law is dead to the law that he might live unto God. He has been co-crucified with Christ, thus dying to the law through the death of Christ. The law has no further claims on him, since the law's claim was death. In a sense then, Paul states that the believer is taken out of the way, even while the law stands. The law has no claim on the believer because all claims against the believer have been met through Christ. We are dead (to the law) yet we live (but not unto the law) but unto Christ, yet not us, but Christ lives in us.

Some contend that Romans 10:4 means Christ is the end, the fulfillment, or the goal of the law and others see this passage teaching that Christ is the end, the termination of the law. In either case and either way, they must harmonize with the earlier passages which clearly show the Law ending, with the believer free from its controlling influence.

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