But the one who is righteous by faith will live.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is God’s saving power for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith, as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” Rom. 1:16–17.
All that remains is the interpretation with reference to the word of the exalted Lord which manifests itself in the apostolic preaching and conversely makes this a means of Christ’s self-revelation.
To reject the gospel is to reject God’s Messiah, for the compelling power of the gospel resides not in its preachers but in Christ himself, who becomes present in the preached gospel for those who believe. The hearing that produces faith therefore derives from Christ.
The stress on faith lies not on the believing act, but on that which is believed. Thus Paul does not appeal to his audience ‘to have faith’, but rather he reminds the church at Corinth of the gospel, which he had preached and they had believed 1 Cor. 15:11.
“The one who is righteous will live by faith.” Ro 1:16–17.
If the supplementary words in the antecedent arise out of the spaces in the citation, then Paul is offering the following paraphrase of his text from Habakkuk:
‘[The one who is righteous (that is, with a righteousness of God, revealed in the gospel) by faith (since this righteousness is received by faith and is intended for faith) will live.’ Later in his letter, Paul himself will use just such a format to paraphrase a passage from Deuteronomy:
The righteousness of faith speaks thus: Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down), or, Who will descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach: for if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved). (Rom. 10:6–9, cf. Deut. 30:12, 14)
While Paul does not employ this pesher format in Romans 1:17, the logical relationship of text to gloss is similar in the two cases.
Faith serves to establish the law because it enables us to hear the law’s true voice not in the promise that those who observe it will live thereby but in the declaration that, ‘works of law’ notwithstanding, ‘there is no-one who is righteous, not even one’.
"The just will live by faith.”(Hab. 2:4, quoted in Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb. 10:38,) It is the gift or the sharing of God’s justice/righteousness that makes the believer just, not so much on the moral plane of virtues as in the theological order: the dikaios is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), enters into communion with God, is a new being.
Having selected his texts, rewritten them where necessary, and harmonized them with one another, Paul has this to say about their scope: ‘We know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those under the law [ἐν τῷ νόμῳ] …’ These passages, which Paul turns into a single long scriptural citation of his own construction, articulate for him the voice of the law. Romans 3:10–20
In them, it is not a human author but the law itself that speaks; the names of the human authors (David and Isaiah) are eliminated, along with all other contextual factors that might detract from the universal applicability of the law’s verdict on humanity. ‘Law’ here is still the Law of Moses, but its verdict is articulated not in Moses’ own words but in the words of later writers who serve here as his interpreters and commentators.
It is nevertheless the law itself that utters this damning verdict on the people of the law, placing them in the same position of guilt before God that they assign to the Gentiles. Precisely in the texts cited in the catena, the law declares the guilt of the entire world—definitively, so that there can be no appeal (Rom. 3:19b).
The assertion that the righteousness of God is ‘apart from law’ (Rom.3:21) corresponds to the assertion that this righteousness is ‘through faith of Jesus Christ’ (Rom.3:22), and this makes it clear that the initial ‘by faith’ of the Habakkuk (Hab. 2:4) citation carries for Paul the connotation ‘apart from law’. ‘By faith’ means ‘apart from law’, and the necessity of this ‘apart from law’ arises from the fact that ‘by works of law shall no flesh be justified before him …’.
Francis Watson, Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith, Second Edition., The Cornerstones Series (London; New York; New Delhi; Sydney; Oxford: Bloomsbury T&T Clark: An Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016), 57–58.
Nor can anyone say here that it is the works of the law, or ceremonial works, that are being condemned, seeing that Abraham lived so many years before the law was given.
Martin Luther, Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, ed. William R. Russell and Timothy F. Lull, Third Edition. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2012), 155.
Paul says, God “made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:6). God’s revelation of his Son in Paul illuminated his mind and heart so that he saw and knew Jesus to be the Son of God. Paul’s exclamation “Christ lives in me” (Ga.2:20) expresses the lasting result of this inward encounter with the living Christ.
The danger of substituting external observance of the law for this intimate relationship with Christ is the central burden of Paul’s message to the Galatian believers. His lengthy arguments lead to this point: “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (Ga.4:6). His severe warnings alert them to this danger: “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ” (Ga.5:4)
G. Walter Hansen, Galatians, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), Ga 1:13–17.
For Paul faith is not the same as piety cf. 1 Tim. 6:5..For the apostle the strictest piety and morality can be the garment of ungodliness. Unlike Philo, he does not view faith as a human capability and therefore it also cannot be defined in terms of mankind. To define faith, he has to say who God is. He does this in his doctrine of justification by speaking of the creator ex nihilo.
Faith is the Yes to the message of this God. It is thus confession that this God always and only makes the ungodly righteous. Ungodly means more than “impious” (contra Michel). It is a predicate of the person who has to do radically with his Creator and who learns that he must be created anew in grace. He has nothing to which to appeal and will produce nothing that might prejudice God’s creative act. He is the man who has no ground of boasting before God. cf. Rom. 4:8 cf. Rom.5:1. (Ernst Käsemann, Commentary on Romans, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, First edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994), 112.)
Because Christ represents the fulfillment, the embodiment, and the dispenser of divine grace, the early Christians freely referred to God’s grace as “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This grace was conceived as being so basic and so pervasive to their individual lives and to the existence of their communities of faith that they naturally coupled the traditional greeting of shalom (“peace”) with a reference to the grace of Jesus Christ. This is the reason for the ubiquitous repetition of numerous variations on the basic greeting formula found in almost every book of the NT, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all” (2 Thes 3:18). (Gilbert Bilezikian, “Grace,” Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 900.)
Grace does not support man’s striving for the good. It makes the effort to stand on one’s own futile, Bultmann Theol.6, 284.
An aspect of grace is its newness. It is not tied to any human presupposition, but negates all human preparation. It is the instantaneous new creation of the recipient of the message of grace. It makes him a justified sinner. Hence the use is to be understood in a wholly non-mystical sense.
Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, eds., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964–).
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference. "Faith" is the opposite of human works; it is the reception of God's work by those who admit the futility of their own efforts to attain righteousness. Rom. 3:21
The Scriptures say: Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Galatians 2:16
So it is indeed faith that is the principle of the religious life (Rom 3:26; Gal 3:7–9) and justification that gives life (dikaiōsis zōēs, Rom 5:18; to pneuma zōē dia dikaiosynēn, Rom.8:10). This dynamic and life-giving principle indwells the Christian, who, led by the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:18)—whose role is to lead the children of God (Rom 8:14)—and by faith (Gal 3:11), knows how to discern between good and evil and wants what God wants, just as a child instinctively knows its father’s desires and seeks to please him.
The law, on the other hand, was established to set rules for sinners and to punish them. Thus “the law was instituted not for the just (those justified by Christ) but for the lawless and rebellious, the godless and sinful.” this means understanding that the law is laid down not for the righteous but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane,...1 Tim. 1:9
Spicq, C., & Ernest, J. D. (1994). Theological lexicon of the New Testament (Vol. 1, pp. 325–326). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.
“This is our theology, by which we teach a precise distinction between these two kinds of righteousness, the active and the passive, so that morality and faith, works and grace, secular society and religion may not be confused. Both are necessary, but both must be kept within their limits.
Christian righteousness applies to the new man, and the righteousness of the Law applies to the old man, who is born of flesh and blood”
Channing L. Crisler and Robert L. Plummer, eds., Always Reforming: Reflections on Martin Luther and Biblical Studies, Studies in Historical and Systematic Theology (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021).
Paul does view the law as inferior (1) in being mediated through angels (Gal. 3:19), (2) in enticing men to make a claim on God (Rom. 4:3) and (3) in its transient character (2 Cor. 3:13).
On the other hand faith secures, and maintains, righteousness, not because it is inherently superior to ‘works’ or law, but because it is the medium whereby a relationship is established with the One who is righteous.
The character of Isaac as ‘the son of promise’ (Rom. 9:6ff; Gal. 4:22ff) and the election of Jacob (Rom. 9:13) are a part of the same general theme: faith versus works, promise versus law. On Rom. 9–11 as also integral to it.
E. Earle Ellis, Paul’s Use of the Old Testament (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2003), 119.
God’s dealings with man before the fall were not gracious in the strict sense of favor toward a fallen creature, as in the covenant of grace. In the covenant of grace, the demand and obligation of obedience remain, but God graciously gives a Mediator through whom that demand and obligation are met. What was promised man in the first covenant, on condition of “perfect and personal obedience,” is given to the believer in the covenant of grace through the work of obedience of the second Adam. Only through the free gift of that righteousness which belongs to Christ, the second Adam, does the believer who receives this gift by faith become acceptable to God and again find himself received into his favor as a redeemed son (Rom. 5:18–21).
Cornelis P. Venema, Christ and Covenant Theology: Essays on Election, Republication, and the Covenants (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2017), 31.
God does not deal, nor has he ever dealt, with us otherwise than through a word of promise, as I have said. We in turn cannot deal with God otherwise than through faith in the Word of his promise.
Martin Luther, Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, ed. William R. Russell and Timothy F. Lull, Third Edition. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2012), 214.
Paul’s view of circumcision raises the question of the place of the Law in salvation history. Granted that Abraham was righteous before he was circumcised, objectors might still point out that the OT commands circumcision. In Galatians 3:15–4:7 Paul provides his perspective on salvation history (cf. also 2 Cor 3:4–18).
The Mosaic covenant, as a means by which the people of God were identified, was never intended to be in force forever. It was a temporary covenant designed for an interim period until the promise that was made to Abraham reached its fulfillment. Now that the Christ has come the promise made to Abraham has been fulfilled, and thus the covenant with Moses is no longer in force.
Paul considered circumcision to be part of the covenant with Moses, and so he concluded that since the Mosaic covenant was no longer operative, circumcision was unnecessary. Moreover, the arrival of the new covenant (Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:26–27), which is really a fulfillment of the covenant made with Abraham, involved the outpouring of the Holy Spirit who enables believers to fulfill what circumcision in the OT pointed to—inclusion in the people of God. For now the true circumcision, the circumcision of the heart, has become a reality (Rom 2:28–29; Phil 3:3).
In Paul’s thinking circumcision and the Law are intertwined in yet another way. Those who think they can be righteous before God by receiving circumcision (Gal 5:2–6; Phil 3:2–11)—that is, by doing the works of the Law—are deceived. No one can be justified by the works of the Law (Gal 3:1–5, 10–14), for no one can perform perfectly the works required by the Law.
Schreiner, T. R. (1993). Circumcision. In G. F. Hawthorne, R. P. Martin, & D. G. Reid (Eds.), Dictionary of Paul and his letters (p. 138). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Paul’s concern is how Christ-believers are put right with God. His gospel was a Law-less gospel, in the sense that the Law contains no saving or justifying power (Romans 8:2–3, 3:20: Acts 13:39, Gal.3:21, Heb.7:19). The “other gospel” (Gal.1:6–7) of his Christ-believing opponents is, apparently, an attempt to add as a requirement the Law of Moses for those who believed in Christ. Without the Law, they taught, people could not be in a righteous relationship with God. Their message seems to have been that Jesus is not enough.
Walter F. Taylor Jr., Paul: Apostle to the Nations: An Introduction (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 147.
Justification is received with faith, that is, in the form of faith. Faith is the work and gift of God. God justifies a man by giving him faith. Christ is the righteousness of men and to this extent this righteousness is outside of us. But Christ is my righteousness only if I appropriate him and make him my own. Faith is the only way in which Christ can give himself to me. Only the Christ who is appropriated in faith, that is, the Christ who lives in my heart through faith is my righteousness.
Christ is not only the “object” of faith but is himself present in faith. Through faith Christ is present with and in a man.
Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther, trans. Robert C. Schultz (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966), 231.
In Rom. 6:1, the apostle introduces this alleged objection against the doctrine of justification, “shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” Now if by justification he meant sanctification, or the infusion of righteousness, this objection would have been ridiculous. In Rom. 8:33, 34, justification is opposed to condemnation and accusation, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies;—who is he that condemneth?” See also Gal. 2:16.
Benedict Pictet, Christian Theology, trans. Frederick Reyroux (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, n.d.), 311.
he who vindicates me is near.New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021), Is 50:8–9.
Holy Scriptures very plainly speak of the justification as a legal or forensic act, this further fact must be pointed out to the opponents of the doctrine of justification: They have a mistaken notion of what justification is.
{As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, i.e., as conformed to all its demands.
In addition to the pardon of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified. The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law}
They say that such an acquittal of man on the basis of a righteousness outside of himself is unworthy of man, and that it leaves him quite unchanged. But this charge comes back upon the heads of those who make it, for if they justify a person on the basis of a righteousness which is in him, they must themselves certainly admit that this righteousness in man here on earth is very frail and imperfect, and must therefore conclude that God justifies a person on the basis of a very inadequate righteousness and thus makes Himself guilty of a false judgment.
On the other hand, an acquittal based on the righteousness which is in Christ is a perfectly just one for it was presented perfectly by God Himself in the Son of His love. Moreover, although this justification of the sinner, this acquittal, is based solely on the righteousness which is in Christ, it does in time through faith become operative in the consciousness of man and effects important change there.
Herman Bavinck, Our Reasonable Faith, trans. Henry Zylstra (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), 440.
Scripture shows that God intends his law to function in three ways, which Calvin crystallized in classic form for the church’s benefit as the law’s threefold use. Its first function is to be a mirror reflecting to us both the perfect righteousness of God and our own sinfulness and shortcomings.
Thus “the law bids us, as we try to fulfill its requirements, and become wearied in our weakness under it, to know how to ask the help of grace” (Augustine). The law is meant to give knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20; 4:15; 5:13; 7:7–11) and, by showing us our need of pardon and our danger of damnation, to lead us in repentance and faith to Christ (Gal. 3:19–24).
Its second function is to restrain evil. Though it cannot change the heart, the law can to some extent inhibit lawlessness by its threats of judgment, especially when backed by a civil code that administers present punishment for proven offenses (Deut. 13:6–11; 19:16–21; Rom. 13:3–4). Thus it secures some civil order and goes some way to protect the righteous from the unjust.
Its third function is to guide the regenerate into the good works that God has planned for them (Eph. 2:10). The law tells God’s children what will please their heavenly Father. It could be called their family code.
Christ was speaking of this third use of the law when he said that those who become his disciples must be taught to keep the law and to do all that he had commanded (Matt. 5:18–20, 28:20), and that it is obedience to his commands that will prove the reality of one’s love for him (John 14:15). The Christian is free from the law as a supposed system of salvation (Rom. 6:14; 7:4, 6; 1 Cor. 9:20; Gal. 2:15–19; 3:25) but is “under Christ’s law” as a rule of life (1 Cor. 9:21; Gal. 6:2).
Packer, J. I. (1993). Concise theology: a guide to historic Christian beliefs (pp. 94–95). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
Paul’s teaching can be read in a way that ties in closely with the teaching of Jesus. Thus, Paul insisted (as Jesus did to Nicodemus) that ‘a man is not justified by works of [the] Law but through faith in Jesus Christ’ (Gal. 2:16, 3:10–14; Rom. 3:9–26).
In this sense, Christians ‘are not under [the] Law but under grace’ (Rom. 6:14, Gal. 5:18). Under grace, however, they are still expected to be ‘slaves to righteousness’, and, by ‘walking according to [the] Spirit’, have ‘the righteous requirement (dikaiōma) of the Law’ fulfilled in them (Rom. 6:15–8:14, Gal. 5:13–26).
This requirement (as Jesus had taught) excludes outward acts like circumcision (Rom. 2:25–29, Gal. 5:6 etc.), but includes commandments like ‘You shall not commit adultery’, ‘You shall not murder’, ‘You shall not steal’, and ‘You shall not covet’, which are ‘summed up in this saying: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” ’ (Rom. 13:8–10, Gal. 5:14). Christians are therefore (as Jesus had implied) ‘under [the] law of Christ’, i.e. the Law as Christ taught it (1 Cor. 9:20–21, Gal. 6:2; cf. Matt. 7:21–27, 25:31–46).
P.G. Nelson, “Christian Morality: Jesus’ Teaching on the Law,” Themelios 32, no. 1 (2006): 16–17.
In Philippians the apostle recounts his own privileges, both inherited and acquired, such as his circumcision and membership of the chosen people, his conduct in life and his faithful adherence to the law (Phil. 3:5–6). However, the historical and moral benefits of this sort, which had been his “gain” (κέρδος), had become, for the sake of Christ, total loss (ζημία); such advantages, being bound by the law of reputation and achievement, conferred none of the “righteousness from God” (Phil. 3:9).
Paul, therefore, regards the gains of human privileges and achievements as losses—indeed, as something revolting—in order to gain Christ (Phil. 3:8, κερδαίνω; an allusion to Matt 16:26 par. seems likely). Because the gain of Christ is the ultimate good, one can better understand why earlier he had said “to die is gain”: death marks the end of life in the flesh and leads to full life with Christ.
Silva, M. (Ed.). (2014). New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (Second Edition, Vol. 2, p. 668). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Philippians 3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith
Paul's desire to be found in him probably has an eschatological aspect. He wants the divine scrutiny he will undergo at Christ's return to reveal unquestionably that he had been in vital spiritual union with Jesus Christ. For this to be so, it could not be on the basis of a "righteousness" he could call "my own" (i.e., the kind of righteousness one might achieve through conformity to the Mosaic law).
Such obedience might win the admiration of other people, but it could never achieve the absolute perfection God requires ( Gal 3:10-11 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." Jas 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ).
In strong contrast, to be found in Christ implies a righteousness that has its source not in humans but in God, who has provided Jesus Christ, the "Righteous One" (Acts. 3:14; 1Jn. 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ).
At all events this meaning, which is well supported by the passages quoted, is especially appropriate here. The Judaizers spoke of themselves as banqueters seated at the Father’s table, of Gentile Christians as dogs greedily snatching up the refuse meat which fell therefrom. St Paul has reversed the image. The Judaizers are themselves the dogs (Philippians 3:2); the meats served to the sons of God are spiritual meats; the ordinances, which the formalists value so highly, are the mere refuse of the feast.
Lightfoot, J. B. (Ed.). (1913). Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians (p. 149). London: Macmillan and Co., ltd
Justification by works (things we have done) is the heresy of legalism. Justification, as Luther insisted, is by faith only (“faith apart from observing the law,” Rom. 3:28), because it is in Christ and by Christ only, and depends on what he is as distinct from what we are.
But if “good works” (activities of serving God and others) do not follow from our profession of faith, we are as yet believing only from the head, not from the heart: in other words, justifying faith (fiducia) is not yet ours. The truth is that, though we are justified by faith alone, the faith that justifies is never alone. It produces moral fruit; it expresses itself “through love” (Gal. 5:6); it transforms one’s way of living; it begets virtue. This is not only because holiness is commanded, but also because the regenerate heart, of which fiducia is the expression, desires holiness and can find full contentment only in seeking it.
Packer, J. I. (1993). Concise theology: a guide to historic Christian beliefs (p. 160). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
It proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God himself of the perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his Representative and Surety, Jesus Christ (Romans 10:3-9 For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
I, indeed, labored in defense of the free choice of the human will; but the grace of God conquered, and finally I was able to understand, with full clarity, the meaning of the Apostle: “For who singles thee out? Or what hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received it, why dost thou boast as if thou hadst not received it?” Cyprian, the martyr, too, wishing to show this, embraced all this under the heading: “We should glory in nothing since we have nothing in which to glory.”
Augustine of Hippo, The Retractations, ed. Roy Joseph Deferrari, trans. Mary Inez Bogan, vol. 60, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1968), 120.
in the beginning of my episcopate, when, moreover, I both perceived and asserted that the beginning of faith is God’s gift.
For if natural capacity, by help of free will, is in itself sufficient both for discovering how one ought to live, and also for leading a holy life, then “Christ died in vain,” and therefore also “the offence of the cross is ceased.”
Why also may I not myself exclaim?—nay, I will exclaim, and chide them with a Christian’s sorrow,—“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by nature; ye are fallen from grace;” for, “being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and wishing to establish your own righteousness, you have not submitted yourselves to the righteousness of God.” For even as “Christ is the end of the law,” so likewise is He the Saviour of man’s corrupted nature, “for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
Augustine of Hippo, “A Treatise on Nature and Grace,” in Saint Augustin: Anti-Pelagian Writings, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. Peter Holmes, vol. 5, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1887), 137,547
(Gal.2:21) "I do not regard the grace of God as nothing [or, nullify the grace of God] , for if righteousness [is] through [the] Law, in that case, Christ died for nothing [or, needlessly]
It begins with God's grace and continues with a constant unfolding of that grace. His grace is supremely expressed to us through His kindness in Christ Jesus. Grace is appropriated through faith and is intended to result in good works. By trusting in Him, to do the work in us.
(Keep it simple, letting go and let God, He is the one fighting our battles. By trusting in Him, to do the work in us. He is the one that is building the temple, the Body of Christ, the Church. If we are trusting in Christ, and have been born again from above. He has overcame the world. Without him we can do nothing. We overcome in Him, though the revelation of His Word, reveal by our Father in heaven. Then its by the relevelation of God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, that is building the Church.)
We must never attempt to serve God upon a legal principle. (Galatians 5:1). We must never trust our own righteousness (Galatians 5:2).
Cling to Christ alone for all your hope before God. He is 'The Lord our Righteousness'. That person who knows the proper place of the law and the glory of God's free grace, who can rest in Christ alone for all that the law requires and all that justice demands, knows the gospel.
For the Christian, the ultimate rest is found in Christ. He invites all who are “weary and burdened” to come to Him and cast our cares on Him (Matthew 11:28; 1 Peter 5:7). It is only in Him that we find our complete rest—from the cares of the world, from the sorrows that plague us, and from the need to work to make ourselves acceptable to Him.
In Him we find complete rest from the labors of our self-effort, because He alone is holy and righteous. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). We can now cease from our spiritual labors and rest in Him, not just one day a week, but always.
Got Questions Ministries, Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2002–2013).
If you seek to be justified {and} declared righteous {and} to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing {and} so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from grace (from God's gracious favor and unmerited blessing). Galatians 5:4 AMP
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