Unlimited: Justified Apart from the Works of the Law

Jun 30, 2022 877

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For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law (Romans 3:28).

This is the apostle’s “thesis statement” of everything he is explaining in his letter to the believers in Rome. If we’ve really understood this, we’ve understood the whole letter.

When the apostle Paul refers to “the law” in his epistle to the Romans, he isn’t referring to the ten commandments, or to the ceremonial Levitical laws, or to the oral law of the Pharisees. By “the law” Paul always means any kind of law, in other words, the fulfilment of any requirement.

We are justified through faith alone.

This is what the apostle Paul maintains: that we are made right before God apart from the fulfilment of any requirement on our part. The Greek word here translated as “apart from” in this grammatical construction means “having no association with, making no use of” the works of the law. It means that we are justified through faith alone.

In how many ways does the apostle need to say this! In verse 21, Paul tells us that God has revealed his righteousness through Christ “apart from the law” for our salvation. Now he tells us that we are justified by faith “apart from the works of the law.”

That’s shockingly radical. However, if you don’t see this, you’ve missed the whole point of the epistle to the Romans; indeed, you’ve missed the whole point of the Gospel!

Spiritual Application

Can you remember the moment that you believed and were made right with God (justified)? It’s commonly known as the moment you were saved. Reflect on that moment and process in your own mind how that occurred.

Eliezer Gonzalez

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