Answer # 92

Paul is referring to the whole system of law. No law-keeping of any kind can justify a person in God's sight - it takes the acceptance of Christ's sacrifice. No law can justify sin. Only Christ's blood can pay for our sins and justify us to God. Even keeping the commandments perfectly for the rest of our lives would not pay for the sins we have committed in the past by breaking the law.

Sin is the breaking of God's laws (I John 3:4). The penalty for sin is death (Rom. 6:23). The only way to have that penalty removed is through the grace of God. But, once forgiven, we must stop sinning - stop breaking God's laws (Rom. 6:1-2).

The same principle is applicable even in adherence to the laws of our land. Take a traffic violation, for example. When a person receives a citation for breaking the law by running a stop sign, a fine is usually imposed. Regardless of how many times a person continues to stop at the sign, having received the citation, the fine must still be paid.

This is the case with God's law. No matter how much we keep the law after having broken it, the penalty must still be paid. This is why Paul explains justification is apart from the keeping of the law.

Paul makes it quite plain that it is not obedience to the law that justifies us. Instead, it is the faith and sacrifice of Christ coupled with our belief in Him that justifies or makes us right with God. But this by no means implies that we must stop obeying the law. We must have active, living faith in God as Abraham had, which will even lead us to a more complete obedience to God's perfect and righteous law. We are to have good works, but we are not to depend on those works for our salvation.

The simplest way to understand the law and justification question is this: Only Christ's sacrifice and His life in us can forgive sin and save us (Rom. 5:10). But Christ will not save any unless they keep His laws (John 14:15, 15:10, I John 2:3-6). Faith without obedience is dead!