Romans 3:27,28

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 
Romans 3:27,28 ESV

Paul, after explaining the amazing truth - what was done for us on the cross by Jesus, God being just and the justifier, now deals with the issue of pride, or boasting.

boast: Gr word indicates glory, or glorifying something or someone. English dictionary refers to speaking with pride about something or someone, being proud of a possession, a cause for pride.

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. 

Paul is blunt, and to the point:

 There is no room for human pride in the presence of Almighty God.

Pride is a serious issue that every person must deal with, and it must be prayerfully sought out and purged from our lives as believers continuously and fervently. It occurs on so many levels and in so many areas of our life, that I believe while on this earth we may never be completely free of it. 

When we allow for pride, we imply that something we have done is about us. It's important to remember that anything good we do is God working through us, and not of ourselves. All glory must be completely directed to God, we are to absorb none of it. 

Paul tells the church in Corinth - full of proud, sinful, carnal believers - that any boasting we do, any glorifying that takes place, is to be in the Lord, not ourselves (1 Co 1:31). The Lord is the only One who is to be glorified. 

Paul is clear in his delivery:

There is no room for human pride in the presence of Almighty God. 

We MUST get this! Paul is destroying any idea that we have anything to do with all that has been given to us...we are COMPLETELY reliant on God for all that we have! 

By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.

Here, Paul compares a law of works to a law of faith. We know, by what Paul has previously written in Romans, that the law of works has no power to save - it can only point us in the direction of salvation. 

This is the first time that Paul brings up the "law of faith", and I think this is important. There is a command, a requirement, a law in order for salvation to take place. The only and only thing that is necessary for salvation is faith - faith in what was accomplished through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ - faith that we are accepted not by what we do but by what Jesus did - faith that God is Himself faithful in all that He has promised. 

There is no salvation without faith in Christ alone as our Lord and Savior. 

Thus the law of faith, the requirement of faith alone - for our salvation.

Now...are you ready for the good news? We cannot muster this faith on our own, we are not capable of producing or maintaining the saving faith that is spoken of in the Word of God - so God yet again provides the solution to our problem:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Eph 2:8

The faith that is required for salvation is itself the gift of God. Not only is salvation a free gift, an act of grace from an all loving God, but the one requirement for that salvation is provided as a gift as well - not dependent on us, not by our own doing!
This, as well, allows NO ROOM for boasting. We don't even have opportunity to boast, as none of our works has anything at all to with our salvation!

Hallelujah, thank you Father!

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 

In this sentence, Paul reinforces that our salvation has NOTHING to do with works - our salvation has NOTHING to do with our effort. If we are to believe that Paul was inspired by God in writing this text, and that all of Scripture is God-breathed, then we must agree completely with this statement:

"one is justified by faith apart from works of the law"

"works of the law" covers any and every thing that we could ever attempt to add as a requirement for salvation. Sinners prayers, baptisms, church attendance, self sacrifices, giving, tithing, reading of God's Word - these can be good, when they are done as acts of obedience, as an expression of our love to a Father who has shown and given so much - but they CAN NEVER play a part in our salvation. 

Our salvation is not faith, working alongside our efforts. No, Paul clearly states here that our salvation is by faith, APART from any works or efforts we could ever muster. 

This is a good thing, considering - as we have touched on before - even our righteousness is as filthy rags before our Father (Isa 64:6)...I will let you dig in and find out what exactly "filthy rags" is referring to...it paints a pretty vivid picture of what type of "good" we are actually capable of.

Take time to thank God that He provided everything needed for us to enjoy a restored relationship with Him, not dependent on us - as that would have left us in a very ugly situation. 

Please share any insight on these verses as you feel led! 

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