Do we nullify the Law through faith?

Romans 3:9-31 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; ¹⁰ as it is written:

“There is no righteous person, not even one; ¹¹ There is no one who understands, There is no one who seeks out God; ¹² They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good,
There is not even one.” ¹³ “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The venom of asps is under their lips”; ¹⁴ “Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; ¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their paths, ¹⁷ And they have not known the way of peace.” ¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; ²⁰ because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.

²¹ But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; ²⁶ for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷ Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. ²⁸ For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

³¹ Do we then nullify the Law through faith? Far from it! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

There is an age old debate as to whether people are basically good or basically bad. Scriptures weighs in as today’s text says: “There is no righteous person, not even one; There is no one who understands, There is no one who seeks out God; They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, There is not even one.” Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving, The venom of asps is under their lips; Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And they have not known the way of peace. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”  This idea is supported by the fact that even in a perfect setting, without any societal influence, Adam and Eve rebelled against God. When there were just two brothers, Cain slew Able. We also see in our current society and culture that the farther we remove ourselves from God and the farther we remove God from ourselves, society becomes progressively more dark and evil.

No human institution can cause or mandate righteousness in people or for our society. Laws do not make evil people good. Laws on define what is right and wrong according to society. The text says: Through the Law comes knowledge of sin. God’s law could not make people righteous. Even with the knowledge of good and evil, people choose evil. The text says: Now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus… Do we then nullify the Law through faith? Far from it! On the contrary, we establish the Law.  Many people wrongly believe that because of grace, because Jesus died for our sins past, present and future, we can continue in sin because our sins are forgiven. Instead, by faith we establish the Law and are redeemed from sin. In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says: “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Romans 6:23 says: The wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The consequences and the cost of sin has not changed. We’ve been given a choice of how the price is paid.  Our judgment will either be fulfilled in our own lack of righteousness, or through faith, believing in God’s gracious gift, we are judged in Christ’s righteousness.

Thank You heavenly Father, that although there was no righteous people, You sent the righteous one, Jesus Your Son, to fulfill the requirements of the Law and redeem us from our unrighteousness. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may I be established in faith and walk in obedience to You. Amen.