Week 6, Day 4
Today’s Reading: Romans 5:1-6:23
Some thoughts from yesterday’s reading…
Romans chapter 3 and 4 are chapters that are often misused in the denominational world. The interpretation that is often attributed to these chapters is that salvation is the gift of God, and that we do not ever have to do anything to achieve that salvation. But, that is certainly not the case, nor is it the point of Paul’s writing. In fact, many who believe this is the teaching of the book of Romans will simply discount the book of James because it is so clearly contradictory to the teaching that they want to believe. The problem is that the interpretation of the book of Romans is incorrect, leading to a whole faulty belief system.
In the reading of these chapters, one must realize that Paul is not trying to make the argument that a person never has to do anything but believe to be saved. He is making the point that one cannot earn his salvation through works. There is a difference in those concepts. One cannot do enough works to be saved without the grace of God, but he also cannot be saved without doing the works that have been so clearly commanded by God.
For an example, at the end of chapter 3, Paul makes the argument that a man is justified “by faith apart from the works of the Law.” It seems, at least on the surface, that Paul could be saying that the works are unimportant, and only faith (or belief) is important. This is where the idea of “faith only” comes from! However, the point of this whole book goes back to having an obedient faith. In Romans 1:5, Paul spoke of having received grace for “the obedience to the faith,” which emphasizes the need for obedience for faith to be legitimate. That, by the way, is the very same point that James makes in his epistle. Paul’s point in these chapters is that works of the Law cannot provide salvation, because they would have to be perfect, without any failure. And, we all know that we will not live so perfectly as to never make a mistake. This is a point driven home by Paul in Romans 3:23–all have sinned! If salvation were in the works of the Law, then as soon as there was a violation, there would be an end to any hope of salvation.
Continuing with Paul’s example at the end of chapter 3 also reveals another problem if salvation is through the works of the Law. No one outside of the nation of Israel could be saved. However, if there were those who were obedient to the original commands that God had given to mankind, even before the Law was delivered, they could be saved. They acted on the faith that they had in the commands that had been given. This is why chapter 4 speaks of Abraham and his relationship with God. He was called righteous even before circumcision, before the Law. This was because he was obedient to what God told him to do. He had faith in what he was commanded, and acted on it.
Later in the Old Testament era, we see the children of Israel going through the motions of keeping the specifics of the Law, offering their sacrifices just as they were supposed to. However, they didn’t have the right attitude. They were going through the motions, but they were not being obedient from the heart. Working the works of the Law was not going to save them because they were missing the element of belief. At the same time, those who may have believed in their hearts, but failed to go through with the actions, would also not be saved.
One of the points of the book of Romans (and the whole Bible really) is that we must have belief based actions. That is what the Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews 11:6. One must intellectually believe in God, but also believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. But looking at the rest of Hebrews 11, we find that those who diligently seek God are those who will act in obedience to what they are commanded to do. Each example in this chapter reflects that the faithful listen to God’s will, and then do just what He says because they believe in Him.
We must realize that we cannot earn salvation through works. However, we also cannot be saved without obedience to what God has commanded. That demands that we do works.
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