Bible Studies for Life By Jeffery M. Leonard, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Religion, Samford University
One Great Problem
Romans 3:9–12, 19–20, 23
Two of the great rallying cries of the Protestant reformers were the words “sola gratia” and “sola fide” — “by grace alone” and “by faith alone.” No other book offers as detailed an explanation of the idea that we are saved by grace through faith than does Paul’s epistle to the Romans. To understand Paul’s argument clearly, though, we have to first get our heads around a key phrase for Paul: “works of the Law.”
Read in isolation, this phrase lends itself to an easy definition of “good deeds.” While this is true enough — no one could ever be declared righteous before God through good deeds — it does raise a question: Who exactly is Paul arguing against? Who exactly believed this?
One answer might be first century Jews. This was certainly Luther’s understanding, as he equated the Judaism of Jesus’ day with the Medieval Catholicism of his own.
The problem, though, is that a careful study of first century Judaism shows Jews didn’t really believe this. Much like Christians, first century Jews believed God had entered into a covenant with them by grace and following the law (doing good deeds) was just the right response of a grateful heart to a gracious God.
So what is Paul arguing about in Romans?
Key here is the idea that “works of the Law” is a technical phrase for Paul. It doesn’t mean good deeds in general — Paul would support that wholeheartedly (see Eph. 2:10). Instead, it refers to specific practices like circumcision, Sabbath and keeping Kosher that separated Jews from Gentiles. The “works of the Law” were practices that marked Jews off as separate from the Gentile nations who surrounded them.
We are all sinners. (9–12)
Paul’s argument in Romans 3 hinges on this one basic truth: Just being called by the right name (“Jew” or “Christian”) isn’t what is important. Truly placing one’s trust in God is what is important.
And why is this necessary? Because we are all sinners. Whether circumcised or uncircumcised, Sabbath observers or not, we are all sinners. It might be tempting to say, “I’m part of the chosen people; Gentiles are the ones who are sinners,” but the truth is we all sin against God.
We are all under God’s
judgment. (19–20)
Next, Paul goes on to say that if we are sinners, those of us who are in the “in” group are worse off than those who are in the “out” group. After all, he says, “Whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law” (v. 19).
Judgment is much tougher on those who know the truth and ignore it than on those who never knew what to do at all. The Law wasn’t meant to be a harsh word to Gentiles but a corrective word to Jews and Christians.
We all fall short of God’s glory. (23)
The first step to getting back into a right relationship with God is recognizing that whether we are part of the right group or not, we all “fall short of the glory of God.” This is a challenging verse for those of us who take pride in the fact that we are at church just about every time the doors open.
It is especially tempting for us to think that church membership, baptism or the name “Christian” is just the same as actually living out a righteous life.
Paul’s argument applies to us as much as it did to his audience in the first century. We are all sinners and the righteousness we seek can only come from the gracious God who gives it to us.
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