Paul continues to refute any argument that the Jewish leaders could possible bring to him, as he will do throughout Romans.
Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one
This echoes verse 16 in Chapter 1 of Romans, where Paul proclaims that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe - the Jews and the Gentiles.
There were intense feelings of resentment by these two groups towards each other, going back many, many generations. So for Paul to come in and say that God - who the Jews were sure was their upper hand on the Gentiles - is the God of ALL people, this was sure to ruffle some feathers.
Yet, Paul does not back down from confrontation when the truth about God is being questioned, and he makes sure his explanation is clear - God is one - One God, a God over ALL - Jews and Gentiles.
We should find great peace in the fact that the God who showed so much love, compassion, blessings, and patience to an Israelite nation that continually rebelled in the Old Testament - that same God will shower us with the same love, compassion, blessings, and patience through our relationship with Him today!
We also MUST ensure that we never assume that one denomination has a better standing with God than another based simply on name, or any other man made idea. There is one Church, one Body of Christ, that all of God's children belong to. Each individual church is responsible for teaching the Word of God as it applies to the one Church, the Body of Christ.
As individual churches, we tragically hinder the true Church when we emphasize differences in denominations in place of preaching the foundational truths found in the Word of God alone.
The more we attempt to separate ourselves as individual churches, the more we display to the world confusion instead of unity.
who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
The way I interpret this, Paul uses a play on words here to prove two points.
Point one - justification by/through faith basically imply the same main point - Jews and Gentiles are both justified based on faith, apart from works (as he explained in 28). This has been made very clear, and there are no arguments that can successfully discredit this truth.
Point two - this has to do with the Gr meaning of the words "by" versus "through".
It seems that "by" denotes the origin of something, where something comes from - and "through" denotes the channel of an act, how something happens.
Faith is described as the origin of our salvation, where our salvation starts or comes from - as well as the channel, the continuous act by which we are saved.
I believe Paul could have switched the words "by" and "through" without changing the actual point - because we know we serve the One God of all people, the requirement of faith is the same for all people - the truths about salvation do not change from nation to nation or people to people.
These definitions are so similar, and both imply that our justification is based on faith alone. Yet, the two definitions seem to offer depth to this faith.
This is how I interpreted this, I would love to hear other thoughts on this!
This is how I interpreted this, I would love to hear other thoughts on this!
Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
This is so important, this helps clear up a lot of issues - especially for those who struggle with the feeling that there must be some requirements other than faith for salvation.
There is a pretty good chance any Jews reading this letter weren't too happy with Paul right now. Over and over he has destroyed their belief that all the things they were "doing" amounted to NOTHING when it came to salvation.
I can understand their frustration - they were doing what they truly felt was right, obeying the law they had been given. They had even added more laws to ensure the didn't trespass the law they had been given. For the most part, this was done with the desire to serve God the right way, by "doing" the right things.
Then Paul comes along and says that's all completely wrong, he robbed them of their entire identity. How could this be wrong? This is what their entire life was built around, this is who they were, this is the only thing they knew. Their question had to have been:
"So what are you saying Paul, that we overthrow this law that we have been given, and embrace this new 'justification by faith' thing you and your friends are preaching?"
To which Paul replied: "By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law."
Paul wasn't teaching that the law no longer applied, or that the law had changed. He was telling Jews that they were abusing the law by using it in a way that it was never intended to be used.
The law was NEVER able to provide salvation. The law, from the very beginning, was ALWAYS meant to display our inability to perfectly keep it, and in doing so point us to a Savior that WAS ABLE to perfectly keep it - and then impute to us that righteousness.
So Paul could say with full confidence - we never teach to destroy the law. It was given for a specific purpose from the very beginning, and that purpose remains to this day - to prove that without a perfect Savior, we will never measure up to the perfect character of our God, and will never enjoy a restored relationship with Him - which is eternal life...SALVATION!
Thank You, Father, for clearly laying out these wonderful truths through your faithful servant Paul. Help us to see clearly, open our eyes so that we could be freed from any bondage that we are in due to misinterpretation of Your Word. Please reveal to us the true meaning of all that You have recorded in Your Word, that we may better know you, and as a result better serve you in a way that would most glorify You alone! Forgive us for continually robbing you of the glory only You deserve!
In your Son's Name, Amen!
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