legalism – Simply True

Righteous—only by faith (Romans 4)

We’ve been following Paul’s explanation of the gospel in his letter to the Romans. He loves the gospel and knows that it’s powerful to save everyone who believes.

But he also knows the things that get added to it and prevent it from being what it is. In his day, he is speaking to Jews who can’t see that Jesus has fulfilled their Old Testament. If they hang onto this, they will miss the liberation Jesus has come to bring.

But it’s vital to know we are justified by faith. Nothing else can make us right with God, so, it’s important to know what can compromise it.

Paul has already told us that Jews have turned their privileges into something they can use for their own glory. Jews have become proud of their law, and their God[i].

And they’ve actually had to change what the Old Testament teaches to make it more palatable to the desire to get some credit for living well. Some of their literature teaches that Abraham was justified by his good behaviour[ii].

This is not just an ancient problem. A picture Bible book we read to our children when they were young, introduced the story of Abraham by saying, ‘Abraham was a good man, so God blessed him.’ That’s a heresy! He started life as an idolator.[iii] God blessed him because he believed God’s promise.

We all need to ask if we are watering down God’s good news. We know that we must come to him humbly—trusting his Son. But we’d also like God to acknowledge our righteousness. We’re not really sure about it being a gift.

So, Paul takes the Jews back to the story of Abraham and asks, ‘What grounds does Abraham have for boasting?’[iv] He’s helping us all because we all share in this desire for self-glory.

In fact, the story of Abraham shows that he has been an ungodly man. His works have not been pleasing to God. He has been like David whose lawless deeds are forgiven and his sins covered, whose sins the Lord will not count[v].

Abraham shows the way for us all. He is father of everyone who believes that God gives generously to undeserving people[vi].

Paul picks out two important markers of being a Jew—circumcision, and having the law of God. These were gifts of God—through Abraham, and then through Moses. But Israel has focused on these things as something they can do. They want to be the reason for receiving God’s favour.

But that can’t happen—not before God. Rather, God comes to Abraham. He promises him a blessing, a new land and a new future—reaching out to all his family and to the whole world[vii]. All this happens before he’s circumcised and before the law is given.

Abraham believes God. And God says, ‘I reckon you to be righteous[viii].’

That’s where our life begins too. The God of glory reveals himself to us in the face of Christ[ix]. He promises to give us eternal life. We believe in him. We don’t offer him our past or promise him our future. We see we are helpless and know this is our one chance to be right with God. And God passes his judgement on us—‘You are righteous.’

The Jewish rite of circumcision, in Abraham’s history, has no part in this blessing. It’s a sign, given later, pointing back to the day when God called him righteous, and forwards to the call to live by God’s word. But a sign doesn’t do anything but point. Without the reality it’s nothing.

But now, Israel is wanting to make much of circumcision. It’s something they can see. It’s something they can codify and control. It can be a social marker of those who are accepted and those who are not. And Paul says, ‘That’s not right’.

In our case, baptism is the sign that God gives to each Christian believer.

Our baptism is God saying, ‘You belong to me. All that my Son has achieved is yours. And I want you to live by my word.’

But us sinners have a way of forgetting the reality of unseen things. We’d rather focus on things we can see and control. We forget the joy of being forgiven, and of hearing God call us righteous. We begin again to think and act as though we must deserve what we get from God.

And then, instead of being grateful for God’s sign of baptism, we presume on it. It’s something we’ve done. We’ve arrived. And instead of our behaviour being grateful faith, seeking to be like Jesus, it’s a work of our own ego[x]. We’re looking for applause. Or we want to be proud of ourselves.

And then, just as God gave Israel his law, he has written his law on our hearts. This happens when we know we are forgiven[xi].

But what if we begin to notice how much better our life is as a Christian? What if we compare ourselves with others whose lives are falling apart?

Can we hear Paul speaking to us across the centuries? He wants his fellow Jews to understand the riches of Christ. And us Christians too. He wants us to live as humble recipients of mercy.

God has given life to us who were dead[xii]. He gives righteousness, peace and joy to people who have nothing to offer[xiii]. Nothing at all.

Because Abraham starts, and continues, to believe what God promises to him, and because he gives glory to God and doesn’t take it for himself, he grows strong in faith. He begins by believing that God justifies sinners, and he finishes the same way[xiv].

Walking by faith like this is like walking on a narrow mountain track. Our nature suggests that we wander sideways—to think about gaining favour for ourselves. But a step sideways can lead to a large fall.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is nothing less than the love of God encountering our abysmal failure. And when God justifies or vindicates Jesus[xv] by raising him from the dead, he also justifies us who are trusting in him. All that the Father gives to Jesus, Jesus now shares with us. This is the way we began our Christian life. Let’s grow strong in this faith—to the very end.

[i] Rom. 2:17, 23

[ii] You can look up the pre-Christian Jewish books 1 Maccabees 2:52 or Sirach 44:19-21 at https://biblia.com/bible/nrsv/1-maccabees/2/51-52 and https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/44 .

[iii] Josh. 24:2

[iv] Rom. 4:4

[v] Rom. 4:5, 7

[vi] Rom. 4:11-12

[vii] Gen. 12:1-3

[viii] Gen. 12:1-3; 15:6

[ix] 2 Cor. 4:6

[x] Gal. 3:1-3

[xi] Jer. 31:31-34

[xii] Rom. 4:17

[xiii] Rom. 14:17

[xiv] Rom. 4:5, 22

[xv] 1 Tim. 3:16

[i] Rom. 2:17, 23

[ii] You can look up the pre-Christian Jewish books 1 Maccabees 2:52 or Sirach 44:19-21 at https://biblia.com/bible/nrsv/1-maccabees/2/51-52 and https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/44 .

[iii] Rom. 4:4

[iv] Rom. 4:5, 7

[v] Rom. 4:11-12

[vi] Gen. 12:1-3

[vii] Gen. 12:1-3; 15:6

[viii] 2 Cor. 4:6

[ix] Gal. 3:1-3

[x] Jer. 31:31-34

[xi] Rom. 4:17

[xii] Rom. 14:17

[xiii] Rom. 4:5, 22

[xiv] 1 Tim. 3:16

‘Dead to the law’. What does this mean? (Rom. 7)

We’ve been looking at the new freedoms Christ has won for us in his death and resurrection. He’s saved us from the death we deserve, and we now have eternal life (Romans 5). And he’s saved us from the sin we were mastered by, so that we are no longer burdened with its guilt or control (Romans 6).

But what about being released from God’s law? In the seventh chapter of Romans, this is what Paul now turns to. If we are going to live for God, it’s vital that we are no longer under the power of his law.

What can this mean? It actually sounds wrong.

The answer comes in three parts. This isn’t so much because the subject is complex. It’s because we are!

Knowing what God says about right and wrong does some strange things to us. We can be proud of what we know, or depend on it, even while breaking it—as Paul has said the Jews did.[i] Or, we can resent and react to it, and even blame it—as everyone does if they are not at peace with God.[ii] And then, even when we are reconciled to God and love his law, our behaviour seems to have a will of its own so that we struggle with what God wants of us.

Each of these issues is addressed in this passage.

First, those who depend on the law should understand what Christ has done for them, and to them[iii].

Our obligation to law as a regime[iv] has needed to die—and has died, because we are included in Christ’s dying and rising. Paul’s ‘don’t you know’ highlights our tendency to miss this point.

Paul uses marriage as an illustration. It lasts as long as both parties are alive. But not after that. So, Paul argues, if we have died—with Christ—our earlier ‘marriage’ to law is finished. We can’t have Christ and still be ‘married’ to law.

Jews should have understood this—not just the illustration of marriage but what it refers to. Jesus comes among them and shows that they have not been keeping the law they are so fond of. And he is establishing a new regime. But they don’t understand this—or won’t. And they murder Jesus for standing between them and their law.

But it’s not just Jews who have this problem. All of us can elevate our culture and practices—even our Christian culture and practices—to an absolute. We become legalists who judge everything and everyone by our standard. We’re starting with what comes from God—his law—but actually living by what comes from us—our ‘flesh’.[v]

We need to see that Christ has died for our sins. Yes! But we also need to see that he has died to release us from ourselves and our proud notion that we may be able to please God by fulfilling some code of behaviour.

The tragedy of being under the law in this way is not just that it bypasses Christ’s work on the cross, but that it doesn’t yield any fruit for God. It’s sterile. It arouses our flesh, not subdues it.[vi] It imprisons us. And it ends in death, not life. In plain terms, we’re either going to accept we are dead to law because we’re trusting Christ, or, accept the death penalty ourselves!

We need to look again at what Jesus has done on the cross—to release us from this bondage! And need to see that the Spirit now conveys to us all the liberty and joy that will fulfil the law!

Second, those who blame the law, or dismiss it, don’t yet understand themselves.

Can we blame the law for our problems? Imagine arguing that God gets it wrong when he announces his requirements from Mount Sinai! It’s certainly the mindset of our present world—restrictions cause reaction, so don’t make any restrictions!

But, of course, we all have problems with law. Our problem is that we don’t get to write it! Or change it! Or avoid it! We want to be in charge.

But God’s law defines what sin is, and what righteousness is. And especially, as Paul says here, it includes not only what we are to do but what we want—‘you shall not covet what is your neighbour’s’. To covet is simply to long for all the other things prohibited by the other commands.

The law is not bad because it condemns us. It awakens us to what we really are. We all tend to think what we do is good—until forced to admit our faults. And law does this work. It reveals the worst in us.

This is personal, and, for the first time since the start of the letter, Paul refers to himself. This business of law is not an academic matter.

Does Paul have a particular crisis in mind? Of course, we don’t know. But we know that Paul feels this point personally. He’s speaking about the past, when he isn’t a Christian.

He wants the law to approve him—like the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus[vii]. But God says, ‘Don’t covet’. A law like this can’t approve him. It condemns him. Is this the crisis that Jesus refers to when he says to Saul of Tarsus outside Damascus, ‘It is hard for you…’ (Acts).

But God’s law is not the problem. It’s holy, righteous and good. Rather, the problem is our sin—sin so deep that it ends in death. This is what we need to see—that sin really is sinful. It is ‘sinful beyond measure’. When we do wrong, God is offended.

It’s hard to convey how necessary this point is. We are inclined to think well of ourselves, even while confessing our sins. And the sadness of this is, not just that we can’t see who we truly are, but that we don’t know how much we need Jesus.

Third, those who love the law will always be in a battle.

Paul speaks to us personally again, but now, in the present tense. He speaks to us as one Christian to another.

And this is how we can now think about the law. It’s ‘spiritual’—suggesting that it’s from God, that we can’t get our hands on it and that it does what God wants it to do. It’s good. And, with all our heart, it’s what we want to do.[viii]

But where has this understanding and this desire come from? It’s the new heart God has given us, as he told Jeremiah[ix]. It’s the new covenant that Jesus enacted by the spilling of his blood.[x] The law has been written on our hearts—not just on stone tablets.[xi] We know God. And love him. And in loving him, we want to do his will.

A law that’s above us—as something to reach, kills us[xii]. On the other hand, a law that’s written on our hearts and a Spirit that’s given to dwell in us produces fruit. And this fruit breaks no law.[xiii]

But then, how shall we understand our wrong desires and lapses? These suggest we are ‘sold under sin’ (v. 14), that, in fact we are still slaves and not free at all (v. 23). It makes us feel wretched (v. 24).

Notice how Paul uses ‘I’ in this passage. He says ‘I’ do what ‘I’ don’t want to do. Is he a hopelessly divided personality? Far from it. There is an ‘I’ in Christ, but also, an ‘I’ described as flesh constantly asserting itself. But he, and we, are always one person. The difference is a difference of relation—we know and respond to God, but we also know and respond to the world that has rejected God.

It’s the actions of this latter ‘I’ that are troubling. Sin is close (v. 21) but it’s not our ‘inner being’ (v. 22).

Paul feels this so strongly that he says it is not ‘I’ who do the wrong. It’s sin in me. He’s learned that the ‘I’ who is in Christ is secure. He can look on wrong done as something apart from his real person. His identity is secure. His behavior is the problem.

Anyone who thinks they have conquered their propensity to sin is deceiving themselves. On the other hand, everyone who trusts in Christ has a security more powerful than the greatest of failures. We will endure. And we will be ‘delivered from this body of death’.

This subject continues when we come to look at the next chapter. But we’ve come to some conclusions. First, God’s dos and don’ts are good. We can be thankful for them. And second, we are not good, and we need to run to Christ. And third, we can’t fudge our way through life by pretending we are innocent and harmless. We have to struggle.

[i] Rom 2:23

[ii] Rom. 7:5

[iii] Vv. 1-6

[iv] A governance that can approve or condemn us.

[v] Gal. 3:3-14

[vi] As in 2:17-24

[vii] Mark 10:17-20

[viii] Some think this section describes a pre-Christian experience, but the affirmations about the law suggest that this is a person who loves God and is part of his new covenant.

[ix] Jer. 31:31-34

[x] Luke 22:20

[xi] 2 Cor. 3:6-8

[xii] Cf. Deut. 30:11-14

[xiii] Gal. 5:22-23