But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. (Romans 3:21-22)
For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:22-26)
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles [non-Jews]? Yes, of the Gentiles [non-Jews] also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. (Romans 3:27-31)
Many people falsely believe that the law came first, and then faith. Actually faith came first and then the law. God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion... (Genesis 1:27-28) And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:7-9)
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:15-17) In the beginning, God did not give man the law, but one commandment. All they had to do was have faith in Him to supply all their needs and faith in His Word that they had dominion over everything He had created, except to stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in other words, Satan. That's always been God's plan, that mankind would depend on Him solely and not allow ourselves to be influenced by the world.
Paul goes on to use the example of Abraham's life as proof of this truth, that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” [Genesis 15:6] Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. (Romans 4:1-4)
Jesus taught a parable about workers in a vineyard to explain the difference between the works counted as debt vs. the wages counted as grace. (Matthew 20:1-16) The moral of the story was that the Jews worked from the beginning and received the wages they had agreed to; "And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way.'" (Matthew 20:11-14)
But the rest of us who were not Jews, but were adopted into the family of God, through faith in Christ Jesus, we received grace. God is just and our justifier; "'I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.” (Matthew 20:14-16) Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” [Genesis 15:6] Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” [Genesis 12:3, etc.] So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (Galatians 3:5-9)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” [Psalm 32:1-2] (Romans 4:5-8) Like the workers in the vineyard parable, we weren't chosen from the beginning, like Abraham and then his descendants; we didn't work "all day" like them, but through God's grace, we received the same wages. Blessed is the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works!
Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. (Romans 4:9-12)
Remember, circumcision represented the covenant God established between Himself and Abraham; And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you." (Genesis 17:9-11) Just like Adam in the garden of Eden, all Abraham had to do was believe God, which he did, by walking in the steps of the faith while still uncircumcised. Circumcision and then much later, the law came after faith!
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” [Deuteronomy 27:26] But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” [Habakkuk 2:4] Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” [Leviticus 18:5] Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” [Deuteronomy 21:23]), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:10-14) AMEN!
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