Now the righteousness of God without the law is revealed,
being testified to by the law and the prophets.
Romans 3:21
Everything that the Bible says
every
law, every command, and every promise of God’s mercy relates to two
primary
doctrines: The Law, and The Gospel. Therefore, understanding the
relationship
of those two doctrines is of key importance in understanding everything
that
the Bible says. For that reason, God has not left it up to us to figure
out the
relationship of those two doctrines. On the contrary, He explicitly
tells us
the relationship of those two doctrines in the
third chapter of Romans.
In verses ten through eighteen of that
chapter the Apostle Paul quotes various passages from the Old Testament
(Law
and Prophets) which clearly teach that there are “none righteous”. He
then goes
on to say:
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it
says to those who are
under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the
world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the
law no
flesh will be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge
of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is revealed, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God
which
is by faith in Jesus Christ unto all and upon all who believe: for
there is no
difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ
Jesus:
Consider carefully what those verses
say, for they set forth two key facts
that are basic to understanding the proper relationship of Law and
Gospel.
1- the Law cannot
make anyone righteous. Verse
nineteen tells us
that whatever the Law says was written so that “all
the
world might become guilty before God,” and all who think otherwise
might be
silenced. Verse twenty then goes on to say that, for that very reason,
doing
the things that the Law requires (the deeds of the Law) can never make
anyone
righteous [i.e. just] in the sight of God.
2- in the sight of
God, only those who trust in Jesus Christ are counted as righteous.
Verse
twenty-one tells us that God has now revealed a way for us to be
righteous
“without the Law,” and that the Law and the Prophets (the Old
Testament)
testifies to this way of becoming righteous. In short, we are
exonerated of
guilt, pronounced innocent, and freed from the bondage of sin through
faith in
Christ. As it is written, “Abraham believed God,
and it was
imputed to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3).
Everything that the Bible says needs
to be understood in the light of the proper relationship of Law to
Gospel!
However, that is just where so many conscientious Christians go wrong.
They go
wrong because they continue to think that God is pleased with them, and
blesses
them, because they try to obey Him and do what is right. They may
believe that
they are saved through what Christ did on the cross, but they continue
to
believe that it is their own effort (obedience) that makes them
righteous, and
that is double-mindedness. Christ saves us by making us righteous apart
from
the law. As it is written, “Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to
every one who believes” (Romans 10:4).
It is impossible for someone who is
trusting in works to understand the Gospel correctly (2Corinthians
4:4). He may
understand enough to know that he needs to trust in Christ. However, as
long as
he believes that his works make him righteous, or even partially
righteous, he
will believe that freedom from the Law is freedom to sin, and nothing
could be
further from the truth. Christ has not freed us from the Law so that we
can
sin, but so that we can be truly righteous. And, only those who believe
that
they have no righteousness of their own (Isaiah 64:6), will be able to
understand what it really means to be free from the Law.
The
Law does not make us righteous. On the contrary, it condemns us. In
fact, the
Law is what keeps us from being righteous, because no matter how hard
we try to
be righteous the Law still condemns us (James 2:10). Because all of our
own
righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God, there is nothing
good in
us (Isaiah 64:6, Romans
Moreover,
because Christ’s sacrifice makes us perfect in the sight of God, there
is nothing
we can do to improve on it. In fact, as long as we are trusting in our
own
efforts to make ourselves righteous, we are not trusting in Him.
However, when
we place our faith in what He did (rather than what we do) the Holy
Spirit will
subdue the evil desires of the flesh (Galatians
Now, I have explained this
to some people only to have them say, “What do we do then, just stop
trying to
resist the flesh, just let go and let God”. Therefore, let me explain
that
walking by faith is not a matter of not trying, but of believing that
it is
what Christ did (not what we do) that makes us righteous in the sight
of God.
It is only as we really believe that it is what Christ did that makes
us
righteous, that we will have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Do not misunderstand me, as
long as we are in the flesh we will need to resist the flesh,
especially in
something as strong as sexual desire (Romans
It is only as we understand the
proper relationship of Law and Gospel that we can understand many of
the things
that the Bible says. Consider, for example, the words of Matthew 5:48,
“Therefore be perfect, even as your Father who is in
heaven is perfect”. As long as we think that our own effort is what
makes us
righteous, we will assume that the perfection required by this passage
is
something we must achieve by our own effort. However, because few
people are so
hardened as to claim perfection, the first reaction of most people is
to water
down what Matthew
Instead of admitting their sin and seeking
God’s
forgiveness, the Pharisees explained away any passages that condemned
them,
thus making the Word of God of no effect (Mark
At
the same time, the fact that only those who trust in Jesus Christ are
counted
as righteous in the sight of God, tells us that the only way we can
ever have
the perfection that God’s Law requires, is through faith in Jesus
Christ
(Romans 3:21). As it is written, “For by one
offering he has perfected forever those who are
sanctified” (Hebrews
Another
portion of Scripture that is often misconstrued by those who fail to
understand
the proper relationship of Law and Gospel, is the story of the rich
young ruler
(Matthew 19:16-22, Mark 10:17-22, Luke 18:18-23).
As we read what Christ said to the
rich young ruler, it is helpful to remember that the Jews saw wealth as
a sign
of God’s favor. Because of that fact, those who had wealth often
derived a
false assurance of salvation from their wealth. And, by doing so, they
placed
their faith in those riches rather than in Christ [the Messiah]. That
is why
Christ said, “how hard is it for those who
trust in
riches to enter the
When the rich young ruler came to
Christ, he greeted Him with the words, “Good Master”. However, since he
did not
believe that Christ was God, and knew that Psalm 14:3 says, “there is
no one
who does good, no, not one,” those words were nothing more than empty
flattery,
and Christ called him on it. Now, because the words, “there is none who
does good” show us our sin, they are law,
for the purpose of the
Law is to show us our sin (Romans
The young man then followed his
greeting with the question, “What good thing shall I do, that I may
have
eternal life?” And, this is where those who fail to understand the
proper
relationship of Law to Gospel totally misconstrue Christ’s answer, “if
you want
to enter life, keep the commandments”. They always assume that Christ
is
telling the man to earn salvation by his works, and nothing could be
further
from the truth. On the contrary, because the commandments were given to
show us
our sin, the only people who keep God’s commandments are those who
admit their
sin (Romans
I
am not saying that we should disobey the commandments. It is perfectly
reasonable to expect people to outwardly comply with what they say. No
Christian should ever be guilty of gross idolatry, murder, adultery,
theft etc.
However, the Law requires more than just outward compliance. The Law
requires
righteousness! And, only those who admit that they are not righteous,
that they
are full of sinful thoughts and desires, lust, anger, covetousness etc.
are
keeping God’s Commandments. Therefore, when Christ pointed the rich
young ruler
to the commandments, He was trying to show him his sin and need of
forgiveness.
Nevertheless,
because the Jews had watered down the Law with their tradition, the
rich young
ruler thought that he had kept the commandments from his youth up. In
short, he
was blind to his sin (Matthew 26:24,26).
Moreover, he
could not conceive of salvation in any terms other than works. That is
why he
was asking Jesus what he had to “do”. Therefore, Jesus answered in
language he
could understand, by asking him to do something that he could not do
without
putting his faith in Christ. First He asked him to give all his wealth
to the
poor. That would remove one stumbling block because he would no longer
be able
to trust in those riches (Mark
Once
we understand the proper relationship of Law and Gospel, and know that
works
cannot make anyone righteous, it is hard to understand how someone can
be so
blind that they actually think that Christ was telling the man that he
could
earn salvation. Especially when the Bible goes to such length to
explain that
works cannot save (Galatians 3:21, Romans 3:19-21, Isaiah 64:6). Yet
such is
the blindness of the human heart.
The Law cannot make anyone
righteous, but was intended to show us our sin. For that reason, the
Law is
God’s message to the unrepentant (1Timothy 1:9). God uses the Law to
bring us
to repentance, by showing us our sin and need for God’s mercy (Romans
All
who are truly repentant will be sorry for their sins. All who are truly
sorry
for their sins will not want to repeat them. And, all
who have felt the burden of the Law and appreciate the freedom we have
in
Christ will want their lives to honor Him.