19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
Righteousness Through Faith
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. 29Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
As I sat down with a friend yesterday we both agreed that we grew up with the idea that we are not under the law but rather we have grace. As I studied the scriptures this year I used a translator (interlinear) to find the origial Hebrew meaning of some words. The word law in many cases throughout scripture is referring to the first 5 books of the Old Testament. What I was surprised to find was that in some chapters sometimes law would refer to the scriptures and a few verses later be referring to another law.
Just as in science we refer to the law of relativity or gravity, we have to in the scripture define the law we are referring to. There are quite a few. You could say that this is a translation glitch. Some versions of our Bible are clearer than others. I studied Romans in King James, New Century and NIV versions. I find in Romans a law of sin and death or sin = death. Romans is where we have to be very careful that each time we see the word law we get to the root of the word and define whether it is referring to scripture, sin, geneology or other law.
The reason I began to question this is because I found that Jesus refers a law in Matthew when He says in 5:17&18: "Do not thin that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroe of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
This drives me to understand what commands He is referring to. Does the sermon on the mount take the place of the scriptures and the prophets? Let's be careful in considering this because Jesus sounds pretty detailed in these verses. In fact, in all the gospels He refers to the scriptures (keep in mind the only scriptures of His day are the OT).
Matthew 23:23 Jesus corrects the Pharisees and makes it clear that obedience is more than deeds but a heart issue. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give tenth of your spices, mint, dill and cumin. But you neglected the more important matters of the law- justice, mercy and faithfulness. *You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
He goes on with a great analogy of cleaning the outside of the cup without cleaning the inside. Once again just as David writes to us about - the law has always been a heart issue. David says, write your word on my heart that I might not sin against You. He knew that the law kept Him set apart but that God wanted His heart and his deeds.
How could David love this law so much and yet we despise being under a law. This is where defining law comes in handy. What does Jesus say about the law?
In Mark Jesus says, "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on the traditions of men.He then answers the question we all have in Luke 10:25-27 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life? What is written in the Law? He replied. "How do you read it?" So, it is safe to say that the law when referring to scripture is good and necessary.
To confirm this
