The amount of effort required to live the Christian life is a variable affected by one’s view of what the Christian life is. If you think that being a “Christian” is a matter of following a set of mores and rules, then you will gauge your effectiveness on the basis of your compliance with and conformity to specific standards. If, on the other hand, you see the Christian life as a relationship with the divine Creator, then you will assess your spiritual standing on the basis of how close you are to Him. It is my contention that the second view is the correct one: The Christian life is an ongoing association with God, in which we will either be “drawing near”...or “pulling back”.
We will talk a little about the concept of “drawing near” in this study, but that will mostly be left for later studies. We want to understand what “pulling back” is, but that, too, will need further consideration later on. What is most disconcerting, begging our interest in this study, is the degree to which Christians so readily embrace the notion that “righteous living” is following the rules. We will make the case that following the rules is actually “unrighteous living”. This sounds backwards, but we will show that exertion of effort in rule-keeping is “bad”. This will take some time, so bear with us as we work through this seemingly-bizarre concept.
Being more specific, it is my argument that “keeping the law” (rule-keeping) is counterproductive and even harmful. The law is a system of standards that “judges” or “critically evaluates” each act or thought. Any violation of the law is a sin, and when sin occurs, the law “judges” that sin. Rom. 2:12b says that “all who sin under the law will be judged by the law”. When we sin, we are judged. Fortunately for us, our sins have been judged on the cross, so the prospect is available for us to bypass the judgment exacted by the law. This is done at salvation by faith in Christ. Then it is done within the Christian life by the confession of our sins to God the Father.
Intuitively, it seems that, once we become “believers”, we could just naturally follow the law and live righteously. But that is not so. Many scriptures tell us that we are incapable of keeping the law. Jesus confronted some of the greatest law-keepers of all time and told them, “Not one of you keeps the law” (John 7:19). If they couldn’t keep it, how can we? It is impossible for human beings to keep the law perfectly. James 2:10 informs us that breaking only one law makes us a law-breaker, even if we keep all the rest of them to the letter. Paul said he was virtually “faultless” as a Jew, saying, “...as for legalistic righteousness, faultless” (Phil. 3:6). Yet he considered all of his legal achievements to be of no value, because he saw something much more valuable, as we see here: "...and be found in him [Christ], not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Phil. 3:9).
Paul aspired to the righteousness that comes from God, and understood that this is not going to transpire by keeping the law. Trying to keep the law puts us “under it”, as does sin. So what does it mean...to be “under the law”, or “under the law’s judgment”. Gal. 4:21 says, “Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?” The Galatians apparently had a predilection for being “under the law”, even though it placed them under “judgment”. Why would the Galatians want to be “under” so much negative evaluation? It is because they valued KEEPING the law, or living by its dictates; they were convinced that they should do it...and could do it. Summarizing: Sin puts us under the law. Then there is a second condition which puts us there, which is a practice called “legalism”, or TRYING TO LIVE BY THE LAW’S STANDARDS.
There are, then, two conditions that place us under the law: one is sin; the other is legalism. Both of these represent a breakdown in our faith, in that sin expresses faith in the world for pleasure and meaning; whereas legalism shows faith in self to produce goodness, purity, and righteousness. The irony is that legalism is just as bad as “sin”, and maybe even worse. Paul went after the Corinthians because of their tendency to sin, but his most scathing excoriation was leveled against the Galatians because they wanted to live by the law, rather than by grace. Paul equated living under the law with slavery (Gal. 4:7). It is my view that “legalism”, or trying to keep the law, is actually a kind of sin, but whatever its label, it puts us under the law’s judgment.
The law and its judgment applies to those who are “under the law”. Rom. 3:19-20 says this:
"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."
No righteousness can be developed merely by doing what the law says we should do. Those who are “under the law” are those who have not confessed their most recent sins, and are therefore “pulling back” from God...they are “out of fellowship” with Him. This is a hard concept: TRYING to keep the law places us under the judgment of the law. But, as we just saw, “no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law”, which means we remain “unrighteousness” when we TRY to be righteous. What a riddle! We will unravel this from Scripture.
Gal. 2:15-16 gives the following:
"We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."
The obvious application of this verse is that keeping the law will not save us, or remove us from the condemnation we are in before we believe in Christ. But there is a second application of this principle which we will make here, and verify as we proceed. It is this: Keeping the law not only will not “save” us, or justify us for all eternity; it will also not justify us—or bring forgiveness—for the sins we commit after we are saved. Law-keeping compounds or increases our lack of forgiveness and justification, because this comes only through grace and not through perfunctory compliance.
Legal strictness and astringency does nothing for our spiritual life. Heb. 7:19a says, “...the law made nothing perfect” and “a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.” Keeping the law will not advance us toward maturity, nor will it help us get closer to God. This is done in another way. When we seek to be justified (or cleansed), so that we can become “righteous” in the eyes of God, we will confront and deal with our own inability to live up to God’s standards. When we acknowledge that we can’t meet the requirements, we will confess our inadequacy and failure, and that is where we will find justification. When we admit our own sin, we will be justified...forgiven. (1 Jn. 1:9).
When we are “cleansed”, our faith is activated. And as we mature, faith will grow and we will confess more consistently. This will keep us close to God, where we can draw on His strength. This process is one of grace, accessed by faith; trying hard plays no part in it. Gal. 2:17-21 presents the entire scope of law vs. grace/faith, saying this:
"If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
We need to analyze this passage. In verse 17, we see that Christ does not condone or promote sin, but He is the one we are looking to for “justification” of our sin. This is where grace comes in; Christ has already done the work to enable our justification. He forgives us when we come to Him “seeking to be justified”. Verse 18 uses the term “rebuild” to describe what we do when we attempt to live by the law. This term implies affirmation, which shows a kind of validation of the law. What we are actually doing is establishing the judgment of the law against us. If we seek justification through grace, we will find it, but if we try to comply with the law’s proscriptions, we will only prove our own guilt. The more I try to be guiltless and pure, the more guilty I am. Ironic, isn’t it? The more I TRY to be good, the worse I am before God. We not only CAN’T keep the law; we SHOULDN’T EVEN TRY.
Verses 19-21 tell us that righteousness does not come through the law, but through the life of Christ. This life becomes ours at salvation, and then that life is lived out through us when we are “justified” through confession, which activates the enablement of the Holy Spirit. The term “through the law” in v. 19 means “by the satisfaction of the law through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ”...He paid the penalty for sin. Because of the Savior’s sacrifice, Paul said that he himself had “died to the law”. This means he no longer owed the law any allegiance. By “dying to the law”, Paul was able to “live for God”. This “living for God” in verse 19 is seen as “Christ living in me” in verse 20. The life we get at salvation becomes the life we live when Christ (by His Spirit) is living through us. But this is not a life under the law! Verse 21 lets us know that “righteousness”, either at salvation or during the Christian life, come through grace, and not by trying to “be good” or “keep the rules”. If we could be “righteous” through our own efforts, there would have been no need for Christ to die on the cross, and we would not need the “life of Christ” living through us.
The way NOT to attain righteousness is to TRY to attain it. Rom. 9: 30-32 makes this very clear in the following:
"When then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone” [Jesus Christ]."
The Jews missed it, because they depended on works. It was EASIER for them to work than for them to believe. This is reminiscent of various Christian groups and many world religions which rely on ACTIVITY to express and honor their brand of worship. It is easier to DO than it is to BELIEVE THE TRUTH! By going the easy way, the real pathway to righteousness is rejected. Rom. 10:3 says, “Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” They wanted to DO salvation and Christian living; not RECEIVE it. The next verse (v. 4) makes it clear that Christ is the only way to righteousness, and that this righteousness can only be accessed by faith. “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” Once again, this applies to the Christian life, just as much as it does to the experience of salvation.
We’re not through. Rom. 4:13-15a adds this:
"It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath."
We receive righteousness through faith only. Once we become believers, faith will only operate when we are “cleansed” through confession (Ps. 51:2), and this faith will be in greater evidence as we mature. Faith will NOT work for those who are counting on the law for righteousness. Following the passage just quoted from Rom. 4, verse 16 adds this: The “promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace...” This tells us that we should STOP TRYING and START BELIEVING!
We were saved by believing, and we live by believing. We can TRY, or we can BELIEVE. God honors the first and rejects the second, because the second...believing...recognizes the work of His Son, with which He is very pleased. Gal. 3:1-5 sums this up very well in the following:
"You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?"
For any who think that law-keeping is a consideration only when it comes to salvation, this passage clears it up: Law-keeping is just as useless, and as deleterious, to Christian living as it is to salvation. This passage is precise in its application of anti-legalism to the Christian experience: BELIEVERS MUST NOT ATTEMPT TO FOLLOW THE LAW OR TRY TO KEEP RULES in order to be spiritual and attain worthy goals. We received the Spirit by believing, and now that we have the Spirit, “trying” is counterproductive. God works in and through us because we believe in Him, not because we try to be pure. Purity comes through grace and forgiveness, not through performance. Sorry—that’s what it says. But we are tied to the “habit” of thinking that God will only bless us if we are “good”. Incidentally, if we stay pure through confession, and grow through prayerful study and endurance of God’s training, WE WILL PERFORM, but it will not be us...it will be the Holy Spirit performing through us. Until we get this concept, we will be spinning our wheels!!
(For a good comparison of conditions “under the law”, as contrasted with those “under grace”, see the chart on page 70 of Walking in the Spirit, available at this website under “Free Book Downloads” on the “Home Page”.)
Things are so bad when we are attempting to follow the law that those who do so are considered to be under a “curse”. Gal. 3:10a says, “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse”, because those who depend on the law must keep it “perfectly” (as per the 2nd half of verse 10), or be cursed. This is because the “law is not based on faith” (Gal. 3:12), and faith is the only way that righteousness can be acquired or achieved (Gal. 3:11). So trying to keep the law brings judgment against us. By trying to be good, we are being very bad.
When we come to know God and get closer to Him...and have some understanding about grace...we are responsible for continuing on the path of grace, and not returning to the practice of law-keeping. Gal. 4:9 frames it this way: "But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?"
The “weak and miserable principles” are the law. By trying not to break any rule, a believer can be enslaved by the law, which means that the sinful nature will take over, the control of the Holy Spirit will be truncated, and either sin or legalism will put him or her into chains. TRYING to be good is a form of slavery! Gal. 5:4 goes so far as to say that trying to be good actually alienates us from Christ. This verse says, “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” Contrast this with the next verse (v. 5), which says, “But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.” We “hope” for, or look forward to, absolute righteousness in eternity, but we also “hope” for, or expect, righteousness to be demonstrated in our lives, when we learn how to use the assets of grace that produce them. “Being alienated” means “out of fellowship”. This does NOT mean loss of salvation, but it does cut off the flow of God’s power into our hearts and lives.
Gal. 5:6 adds this: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Nothing we ever initiate in the name of good will ever have any value with God. Only FAITH is recognized by God. If we want to be good and do well, we must build our faith. We have seen that justification comes through faith. This is confirmed in Rom. 3:27-28, which says this: "Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law."
Rom. 3:21-22a echoes this proclamation, saying, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to this the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith...” This is divine righteousness, which can be produced only by the Holy Spirit, and which will occur only when faith is present. Rom. 3:31 corroborates this view, saying, “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather we uphold the law.” The irony is that when we do not “try”, but instead simply “believe” (God’s Word and God’s promises), we lay claim to God’s righteousness in our lives. This divine righteousness will come THROUGH US, as though it comes FROM US, and will be seen in the exercise of the gifts each of us has been given to strengthen others.
There is another law to which we are obligated, but this law has power behind it. This is the “law of Christ”. In 1 Cor. 9:21b Paul said, “I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law.” Paul was not free from God’s law, because his sinful nature kept prompting him to scurry back under the law, where all kinds of rules can be broken (as well as practiced). But he knew another law was at work...Christ’s law...and that is the law of freedom, wherein we, like Paul, can stay clean and grow through repentance (confession), study, prayer, trust, and experiential training. This is the law of grace and mercy and forgiveness, and the way to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is where we want to live...under Christ’s law of love...not under the law of judgment.
In order to avoid the law of sin and legalism, we must LEARN the law of grace. We must “find out what pleases the Lord” (Eph. 5:10), and “understand what the Lord’s will is” (Eph. 5:17). Otherwise, we will be like the audience of the writer of Hebrews...they were “slow to learn” (Heb. 5:11), because they were reluctant to seek the truth and absorb the Word. They did not want it...remember that anyone who wants it will get it. We must not neglect an effort to understand. As Hos. 4:6 says in the following: "...my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children."
This passage, obviously meant for the Jews, has an application for us: We must learn the principles and techniques given in the Word if we are going to function in God’s system. This system is one of grace; law-keeping has been eliminated. But we must learn the new system to know how it works. Our role under the new system is to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Gal. 5:16 says, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” We are to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), and allow Him to energize us for the production of His fruit (Gal. 5:22). But nothing we do is about our ability or strength...it’s all His. Anything we TRY to do will not bring credit and favor to us...it will bring only judgment. So stop trying!
We will talk a little about the concept of “drawing near” in this study, but that will mostly be left for later studies. We want to understand what “pulling back” is, but that, too, will need further consideration later on. What is most disconcerting, begging our interest in this study, is the degree to which Christians so readily embrace the notion that “righteous living” is following the rules. We will make the case that following the rules is actually “unrighteous living”. This sounds backwards, but we will show that exertion of effort in rule-keeping is “bad”. This will take some time, so bear with us as we work through this seemingly-bizarre concept.
Being more specific, it is my argument that “keeping the law” (rule-keeping) is counterproductive and even harmful. The law is a system of standards that “judges” or “critically evaluates” each act or thought. Any violation of the law is a sin, and when sin occurs, the law “judges” that sin. Rom. 2:12b says that “all who sin under the law will be judged by the law”. When we sin, we are judged. Fortunately for us, our sins have been judged on the cross, so the prospect is available for us to bypass the judgment exacted by the law. This is done at salvation by faith in Christ. Then it is done within the Christian life by the confession of our sins to God the Father.
Intuitively, it seems that, once we become “believers”, we could just naturally follow the law and live righteously. But that is not so. Many scriptures tell us that we are incapable of keeping the law. Jesus confronted some of the greatest law-keepers of all time and told them, “Not one of you keeps the law” (John 7:19). If they couldn’t keep it, how can we? It is impossible for human beings to keep the law perfectly. James 2:10 informs us that breaking only one law makes us a law-breaker, even if we keep all the rest of them to the letter. Paul said he was virtually “faultless” as a Jew, saying, “...as for legalistic righteousness, faultless” (Phil. 3:6). Yet he considered all of his legal achievements to be of no value, because he saw something much more valuable, as we see here: "...and be found in him [Christ], not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Phil. 3:9).
Paul aspired to the righteousness that comes from God, and understood that this is not going to transpire by keeping the law. Trying to keep the law puts us “under it”, as does sin. So what does it mean...to be “under the law”, or “under the law’s judgment”. Gal. 4:21 says, “Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?” The Galatians apparently had a predilection for being “under the law”, even though it placed them under “judgment”. Why would the Galatians want to be “under” so much negative evaluation? It is because they valued KEEPING the law, or living by its dictates; they were convinced that they should do it...and could do it. Summarizing: Sin puts us under the law. Then there is a second condition which puts us there, which is a practice called “legalism”, or TRYING TO LIVE BY THE LAW’S STANDARDS.
There are, then, two conditions that place us under the law: one is sin; the other is legalism. Both of these represent a breakdown in our faith, in that sin expresses faith in the world for pleasure and meaning; whereas legalism shows faith in self to produce goodness, purity, and righteousness. The irony is that legalism is just as bad as “sin”, and maybe even worse. Paul went after the Corinthians because of their tendency to sin, but his most scathing excoriation was leveled against the Galatians because they wanted to live by the law, rather than by grace. Paul equated living under the law with slavery (Gal. 4:7). It is my view that “legalism”, or trying to keep the law, is actually a kind of sin, but whatever its label, it puts us under the law’s judgment.
The law and its judgment applies to those who are “under the law”. Rom. 3:19-20 says this:
"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."
No righteousness can be developed merely by doing what the law says we should do. Those who are “under the law” are those who have not confessed their most recent sins, and are therefore “pulling back” from God...they are “out of fellowship” with Him. This is a hard concept: TRYING to keep the law places us under the judgment of the law. But, as we just saw, “no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law”, which means we remain “unrighteousness” when we TRY to be righteous. What a riddle! We will unravel this from Scripture.
Gal. 2:15-16 gives the following:
"We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."
The obvious application of this verse is that keeping the law will not save us, or remove us from the condemnation we are in before we believe in Christ. But there is a second application of this principle which we will make here, and verify as we proceed. It is this: Keeping the law not only will not “save” us, or justify us for all eternity; it will also not justify us—or bring forgiveness—for the sins we commit after we are saved. Law-keeping compounds or increases our lack of forgiveness and justification, because this comes only through grace and not through perfunctory compliance.
Legal strictness and astringency does nothing for our spiritual life. Heb. 7:19a says, “...the law made nothing perfect” and “a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.” Keeping the law will not advance us toward maturity, nor will it help us get closer to God. This is done in another way. When we seek to be justified (or cleansed), so that we can become “righteous” in the eyes of God, we will confront and deal with our own inability to live up to God’s standards. When we acknowledge that we can’t meet the requirements, we will confess our inadequacy and failure, and that is where we will find justification. When we admit our own sin, we will be justified...forgiven. (1 Jn. 1:9).
When we are “cleansed”, our faith is activated. And as we mature, faith will grow and we will confess more consistently. This will keep us close to God, where we can draw on His strength. This process is one of grace, accessed by faith; trying hard plays no part in it. Gal. 2:17-21 presents the entire scope of law vs. grace/faith, saying this:
"If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
We need to analyze this passage. In verse 17, we see that Christ does not condone or promote sin, but He is the one we are looking to for “justification” of our sin. This is where grace comes in; Christ has already done the work to enable our justification. He forgives us when we come to Him “seeking to be justified”. Verse 18 uses the term “rebuild” to describe what we do when we attempt to live by the law. This term implies affirmation, which shows a kind of validation of the law. What we are actually doing is establishing the judgment of the law against us. If we seek justification through grace, we will find it, but if we try to comply with the law’s proscriptions, we will only prove our own guilt. The more I try to be guiltless and pure, the more guilty I am. Ironic, isn’t it? The more I TRY to be good, the worse I am before God. We not only CAN’T keep the law; we SHOULDN’T EVEN TRY.
Verses 19-21 tell us that righteousness does not come through the law, but through the life of Christ. This life becomes ours at salvation, and then that life is lived out through us when we are “justified” through confession, which activates the enablement of the Holy Spirit. The term “through the law” in v. 19 means “by the satisfaction of the law through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ”...He paid the penalty for sin. Because of the Savior’s sacrifice, Paul said that he himself had “died to the law”. This means he no longer owed the law any allegiance. By “dying to the law”, Paul was able to “live for God”. This “living for God” in verse 19 is seen as “Christ living in me” in verse 20. The life we get at salvation becomes the life we live when Christ (by His Spirit) is living through us. But this is not a life under the law! Verse 21 lets us know that “righteousness”, either at salvation or during the Christian life, come through grace, and not by trying to “be good” or “keep the rules”. If we could be “righteous” through our own efforts, there would have been no need for Christ to die on the cross, and we would not need the “life of Christ” living through us.
The way NOT to attain righteousness is to TRY to attain it. Rom. 9: 30-32 makes this very clear in the following:
"When then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone” [Jesus Christ]."
The Jews missed it, because they depended on works. It was EASIER for them to work than for them to believe. This is reminiscent of various Christian groups and many world religions which rely on ACTIVITY to express and honor their brand of worship. It is easier to DO than it is to BELIEVE THE TRUTH! By going the easy way, the real pathway to righteousness is rejected. Rom. 10:3 says, “Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” They wanted to DO salvation and Christian living; not RECEIVE it. The next verse (v. 4) makes it clear that Christ is the only way to righteousness, and that this righteousness can only be accessed by faith. “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.” Once again, this applies to the Christian life, just as much as it does to the experience of salvation.
We’re not through. Rom. 4:13-15a adds this:
"It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath."
We receive righteousness through faith only. Once we become believers, faith will only operate when we are “cleansed” through confession (Ps. 51:2), and this faith will be in greater evidence as we mature. Faith will NOT work for those who are counting on the law for righteousness. Following the passage just quoted from Rom. 4, verse 16 adds this: The “promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace...” This tells us that we should STOP TRYING and START BELIEVING!
We were saved by believing, and we live by believing. We can TRY, or we can BELIEVE. God honors the first and rejects the second, because the second...believing...recognizes the work of His Son, with which He is very pleased. Gal. 3:1-5 sums this up very well in the following:
"You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?"
For any who think that law-keeping is a consideration only when it comes to salvation, this passage clears it up: Law-keeping is just as useless, and as deleterious, to Christian living as it is to salvation. This passage is precise in its application of anti-legalism to the Christian experience: BELIEVERS MUST NOT ATTEMPT TO FOLLOW THE LAW OR TRY TO KEEP RULES in order to be spiritual and attain worthy goals. We received the Spirit by believing, and now that we have the Spirit, “trying” is counterproductive. God works in and through us because we believe in Him, not because we try to be pure. Purity comes through grace and forgiveness, not through performance. Sorry—that’s what it says. But we are tied to the “habit” of thinking that God will only bless us if we are “good”. Incidentally, if we stay pure through confession, and grow through prayerful study and endurance of God’s training, WE WILL PERFORM, but it will not be us...it will be the Holy Spirit performing through us. Until we get this concept, we will be spinning our wheels!!
(For a good comparison of conditions “under the law”, as contrasted with those “under grace”, see the chart on page 70 of Walking in the Spirit, available at this website under “Free Book Downloads” on the “Home Page”.)
Things are so bad when we are attempting to follow the law that those who do so are considered to be under a “curse”. Gal. 3:10a says, “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse”, because those who depend on the law must keep it “perfectly” (as per the 2nd half of verse 10), or be cursed. This is because the “law is not based on faith” (Gal. 3:12), and faith is the only way that righteousness can be acquired or achieved (Gal. 3:11). So trying to keep the law brings judgment against us. By trying to be good, we are being very bad.
When we come to know God and get closer to Him...and have some understanding about grace...we are responsible for continuing on the path of grace, and not returning to the practice of law-keeping. Gal. 4:9 frames it this way: "But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?"
The “weak and miserable principles” are the law. By trying not to break any rule, a believer can be enslaved by the law, which means that the sinful nature will take over, the control of the Holy Spirit will be truncated, and either sin or legalism will put him or her into chains. TRYING to be good is a form of slavery! Gal. 5:4 goes so far as to say that trying to be good actually alienates us from Christ. This verse says, “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” Contrast this with the next verse (v. 5), which says, “But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.” We “hope” for, or look forward to, absolute righteousness in eternity, but we also “hope” for, or expect, righteousness to be demonstrated in our lives, when we learn how to use the assets of grace that produce them. “Being alienated” means “out of fellowship”. This does NOT mean loss of salvation, but it does cut off the flow of God’s power into our hearts and lives.
Gal. 5:6 adds this: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Nothing we ever initiate in the name of good will ever have any value with God. Only FAITH is recognized by God. If we want to be good and do well, we must build our faith. We have seen that justification comes through faith. This is confirmed in Rom. 3:27-28, which says this: "Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law."
Rom. 3:21-22a echoes this proclamation, saying, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to this the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith...” This is divine righteousness, which can be produced only by the Holy Spirit, and which will occur only when faith is present. Rom. 3:31 corroborates this view, saying, “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather we uphold the law.” The irony is that when we do not “try”, but instead simply “believe” (God’s Word and God’s promises), we lay claim to God’s righteousness in our lives. This divine righteousness will come THROUGH US, as though it comes FROM US, and will be seen in the exercise of the gifts each of us has been given to strengthen others.
There is another law to which we are obligated, but this law has power behind it. This is the “law of Christ”. In 1 Cor. 9:21b Paul said, “I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law.” Paul was not free from God’s law, because his sinful nature kept prompting him to scurry back under the law, where all kinds of rules can be broken (as well as practiced). But he knew another law was at work...Christ’s law...and that is the law of freedom, wherein we, like Paul, can stay clean and grow through repentance (confession), study, prayer, trust, and experiential training. This is the law of grace and mercy and forgiveness, and the way to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is where we want to live...under Christ’s law of love...not under the law of judgment.
In order to avoid the law of sin and legalism, we must LEARN the law of grace. We must “find out what pleases the Lord” (Eph. 5:10), and “understand what the Lord’s will is” (Eph. 5:17). Otherwise, we will be like the audience of the writer of Hebrews...they were “slow to learn” (Heb. 5:11), because they were reluctant to seek the truth and absorb the Word. They did not want it...remember that anyone who wants it will get it. We must not neglect an effort to understand. As Hos. 4:6 says in the following: "...my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children."
This passage, obviously meant for the Jews, has an application for us: We must learn the principles and techniques given in the Word if we are going to function in God’s system. This system is one of grace; law-keeping has been eliminated. But we must learn the new system to know how it works. Our role under the new system is to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. Gal. 5:16 says, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” We are to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18), and allow Him to energize us for the production of His fruit (Gal. 5:22). But nothing we do is about our ability or strength...it’s all His. Anything we TRY to do will not bring credit and favor to us...it will bring only judgment. So stop trying!
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