Faith and Works in Romans chapter 3 (Paul's epistle to the Romans)
David Virgil Hobbs
You might believe that man enters heaven through faith in Christ the
Son of God alone. You might believe that man enters heaven through a
combination of his faith that Christ is the son of God, and his
behaviour. Either way, you are admitting that faith is a real power
that can impact on whether or not you enter into heaven.
If you believe that man enter into heaven on the basis of faith alone,
you are saying that faith is a real power, and the only power, that
determines whether you enter heaven. If you say that man enters into
heaven due to a combination of his faith and his conduct, you are
saying faith is a real power, an important power, and one of two
powers the other being the power of conduct, that determines whether
you enter heaven. What Paul is saying in the letter to Romans, is that
faith is a real power, an important power, in terms of influencing
whether or not you enter heaven. and that is something you would agree
with if you were a faith only man and also if you were a faith and
works man.
What Paul is saying in the letter to Romans, is that none of the jews
were able to fulfill the law of conduct that was enjoined upon them in
the Book of Deuteronomy by Moses. This law of conduct Moses enjoined
upon the jews, demanded that the jews constantly love God with all
their heart mind and soul and constantly obey every commandment given
by Moses in the book of Deuteronomy. But none of the jews was able to
fulfill the demands made by this law; all of them fell short of the
perfect adherence to the law that was demanded by the law. Therefore
all of them failed to fulfill this law handed down to them by Moses in
the Book of Deuteronomy, and in so failing all of them became cursed,
and unable to enter heaven due to their failure to fulfill the demands
of the law given by Moses.
Likewise Paul's message is that the gentiles, who had not received the
Deuteronomic law of Moses and were ignorant of its precepts, had their
own code of conduct similar to the Deuteronomic law of Moses, which
was their conscience, what they as individuals thought was right and
wrong. And likewise, all the gentiles were unable to fulfill the
demands made upon them by their gentile code of conduct their
consciences; and, likewise, all the gentiles became unable to enter
into heaven due to their failure to follow their gentile code of
conduct.
Luckily for mankind however, God sent his son Christ, so that persons
who believed that Christ is the Son of God, could have depending on
your point of view the one power needed to enter heaven (faith in
Christ) or one of the two powers needed to enter heaven (faith in
Christ and conduct). This is what is meant by Romans 3:28: "Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the
law." "Without the deeds of the law" means in the case of the jews
"despite his failure to fulfill the Deuteronomic law of Moses".
"Without the deeds of the law means in the case of the gentiles,
"despite his failure to follow the law of his conscience".
Without the deeds of the law does not mean, "regardless of what he
does". The idea that Romans 3:28 means that "man is justified by faith
regardless of what he does", is a dangerous idea that harms
individuals and society. St Peter said, "(there are in 'the beloved
brother Paul's' epistles) some things hard to be understood, which
they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other
Scriptures, unto their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16)".
The truth of the matter speaking from personal experience and
understanding of scripture, is that depending upon the individual
involved and the point in history, faith that Christ is the Son of God
can range from being overwhelmingly important compared to the
individual's conduct, to being at least equal in importance to the
individual's conduct, when it comes to determining whether the
individual in question acquires the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
What Paul is saying in his letter to these Romans who lived in Rome
during the first century AD, reflects this truth, because if the
individual is such that his conduct is of trifling importance compared
to his faith that Christ is the Son of God, and also if the individual
is such that his conduct is just as important as his faith, either
way, it is true that he is "justified by faith without the deeds of
the law", because either way without faith he would not be justified.
If someone needs both vitamin A and also vitamin B to be healthy, I
would be justified to say that he needs vitamin A to be healthy.
Likewise if someone needs both faith in Christ and good conduct to be
justified in the eyes of God, I would be justified to say that he
needs faith in Christ to be justified in the eyes of God.
Paul says in Romans 3:21-22, " But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe". This does not mean
that all persons who believe Christ is the Son of God, are righteous
and justified in the eyes of God regardless of what they do. This
means that the righteousness of God through faith in Christ is upon
the believer whose conduct is good enough to in combination with his
faith get him into heaven, and the righteousness of God through faith
in Christ is also upon the believer whose conduct is not good enough
to get him into heaven. The meaning of the passage is that since faith
that Christ is the Son of God is one of two real powers that get a man
into heaven, even the believer whose conduct is not good enough
posesses one of these two real powers namely the power of faith that
Christ is the Son of God, because if this believer's conduct did
become good enough to propel him into heaven, the righteousness of
faith that is upon him would be one of the two powers propelling him
into heaven.
The righteousness of God Paul speaks of in Romans 3:21-22 is not the
same thing as salvation. Paul says in Romans 10:10, "For with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation": that means that in this case Paul speaks of
in Romans 10:10, the kind of case one might suppose would be typical
for the poor people who usually composed at least most of Paul's
audience, the righteousness of faith is combined with the work of
confessing faith to produce salvation.
NOTE: I read some commentaries prior to writing the above, but what I
have written differs from what I read and is not a rehash of what I
read.
@2003 David Virgil Hobbs http://www.angelfire.com/ma/vincemoon