Justification and the Law

Dispensational "scholars" use a number of Paul's passages to argue that Jesus cancelled the Old Testament laws and that law is no longer needed. Let us briefly look at a couple of these passages:

EPHESIANS

One passage used is Ephesians 2:8-10 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Let us begin by looking at the word translated as "saved" (Gk. sozo). This word is best understood when we remove all religious connotations and look at its root meaning: that is to be "rescued". To save someone simply means to rescue them from a situation that put them into danger, or would have resulted in something fatal happening to them, like a lifesaver rescuing someone from drowning in the sea. So, in the spiritual context, it means that we have been "rescued" from our previous condition that has fatal consequences.


And what are the consequences of our previous condition? Quite simply, death and spending eternity separated from God in the fiery pit of hell.

So then how do we solve the problem that the Dispensationalists pose? Well, let us first put the verses into context by looking at the preceeding verses:
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:1-7)

OUR PREVIOUSLY SINFUL CONDITION

In verses 1-3 we see what our condition was as a non-believer:

1. Dead in our transgressions and sins (v1)
   When God created man in Genesis 1, we see that man was open to the things of God, however, since the fall and our repeated sins and transgressions of God's holy principles, our spirit has died and we have become unperceptive. We have become absent of all spiritual life as it pertains to the things of God.
2. Follow the ways of this world (v2)
   No matter how good we think we are, or how different we believe we are to the current culture, in actuality we have absorbed the spirit of the age and have internalised its corrupt values and distorted worldview.
3. Follow the ways of the ruler of the kingdom of the air (v2)
   In effect, followers of Satan. Even though we are not Satanists, we have all been duped into to a pride and attitude towards God that has its origins in the rebellious serpent of the Garden of Eden (cf Genesis 3:1-7). We so readily respond to his tempting whispers and think of them as our own thoughts. No matter how much we try to convince ourselves otherwise, we have all come under his influence one way or the other and are marching to his drumbeat, instead of God's.
4. Gratifying the cravings of the sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts (v3)
   We have become self-indulgent. The focus is on our own desires, wants and lusts of the flesh. This has allowed us to become filled with hate and greed, which then develops into a self-destructiveness. Like a cord beginning to spiral, winding about ourselves, with the end becoming shorter and shorter as it wraps around the central pole, until the focus is so inward to an emptiness that is the internal symptom of being spiritually dead.
5. Objects of wrath by nature (v3)
   No matter how much God loves us, there is still the part of him that is the epitome of justice and fairness that recognises our rebellion for what it is, and passes judgement on our sins, and on us. We are loved, but under a sentence of death. We are rebels waiting for our final day in court when we stand before the Great White Throne of judgement of God (Revelation 20:11-15) when our final sentence will be handed down and executed upon us, with no way of appeal.
   
   It is only once we realise just how dark and rebelious a state we are in, do we see the grace and love of God shining through in all its brilliance. In no way do we deserve God's favour. We are like the prodigal son, desperate to leave home and go our own way. Leaving behind the care, directions and thoughts of our Father. We have turned to our own desires like overgrown children, delinquents that will be judged as adults in a criminal court.

Now that we understand what it is we have to be saved from, let us look at the result of God's saving grace.

OUR NEW CONDITION

Verse 4 then shifts the focus from what our sinful condition is, to the blessings we will receive in Christ Jesus:

• His great love for us (v4)
• His richness of mercy (v4)
• Being alive together with Christ (v5)
• Elevated to a place of spiritual authority and position (v6)
• Being shown eternal kindness through Christ Jesus (v7)

If you want to see the grace of God in all its spleandour and clarity, compare these blessings to what we deserve as sinners. Even without doing a proper study into the punishment due to us, it is plain to see just how amazing God's grace is. This then brings us to the verses at the beginning of this article.

WORKING OUR WAY TO SALVATION

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." (vv8,9) The Apostle Paul was raised as a strict Pharisee, whose highest value was strict obedience to the Torah. If he obeyed, then he was righteous, and if he disobeyed, he was unrighteous. There was only black or white. The Judaism in the Bible during the time of Jesus and Paul had reduced the principles of God's laws into inflexible, and often petty, rules. In essence Phariseeism put up a wall around the Torah. If you did not break the petty rules that they enforced, then you would be prevented from breaking the actual laws of the Torah.
However, as time progressed, these petty rules were mistaken to be the law of God itself. They even substituted the very name of God with other names or words so as not to offend him in any way or to take his name in vain. When the name of God (Yahweh) appeared in the texts, this was replaced with Lord (Yahowah - commonly pronounced Jehovah). The name Yahowah actually came from the consonants of Yahwah - YHWH - and the vowels of Adonai - AOA - YOHOWAH.

To illustrate this point, take a look at Exodus 23:19b: "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk". When read in context, this verse was obviously intended to instill some sense of mercy towards the animals one was butchering for food. However, Judaism had turned it into a system of keeping a Kosher kitchen; with one set of pots and pans used for dairy products, and a completely different set used for meat products, lest they inadvertently boiled a kid in its mother's milk.

SELF-SERVING RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Judaism of Paul's time had degenerated from faithfulness to God's principles to a strict adherence to rules made by man. This was then elevated to a system of earned righteousness before God. By their right actions, they had earned favour from God. It did not matter that their hearts were self-centered and selfish, they were righteous according to the law, and that was all that mattered. This is what Paul is referring to in verse 9 when he says that we have been saved "not by works, so that no one can boast". Paul, as a Christian, is giving up "a righteousness of my own that comes from the law" (Philippians 3:9) in order to embraces the righteousness that comes from God that is by faith.
Be careful here not to fall into the trap and misinterpret this to say that Paul is lawless, but instead he has come to understand that God's favour is not earned by the superficial observance of religious rules. He was the righteous murderer of Christians, but had received mercy from the one he was persecuting (Acts 9). He came to an understanding of his own dark and sinful heart, and the emptiness of religion based on outward rules, while at the same time having a self-centered, rather than God-centered, motivation.

GALATIANS

The second reference used by the Dispensationalists come from the book of Galatians. Before we look at the individual verses, let us set some foundations to the book: Context: Firstly, the context of the book of Galatians is important. Paul was writing to the church in Galatia to help them deal with Judaisers within the church.

The Judaisers were those who taught that the Gentiles had to first be circumcised and become Jews before they could become Christians. We see another reference to this in the book of Acts - "And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'" (15:1)

This teaching is unbiblical for two reasons:

1. In order for a Gentile to become a Christian, he first had to become a Jew in terms of the old ceremonial laws, and
2. In order to be saved, believers must adhere strictly to the law.

Throughout the book of Galatians, Paul was therefore trying to explain the proper understanding of salvation and the true purpose of the Old Testament laws.

Galatians 2:16: "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." This verse also needs to be looked at in relation to verse 19: "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God". What Paul is referring to is that the law showed him that he was dead in his sin and that he could not save himself through his observance of the law. Paul, like everyone else, was unable to meet the standards set by the law. Instead, what the law does is show us that we are all sinners and are unable in any way to save ourselves. It points us in the right direction to life. As Paul goes on to say in 3:24 - "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." [We will look closer at this in the next topic]

What Paul is trying to emphasise here is that it is Christ who saves, and not the law: "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain". In other words, if obedience to the law was enough to achieve a perfect righteousness that enables one to be able to stand faultless in the holy presence of God, then there would have been no need for Christ to have died on the cross.

Notice that Paul is not saying justification, but rather righteousness comes through Christ. It is essential to understand the difference. Justification is the process of being made righteous. Obedience to the law is not what makes one righteous, but rather faith in Christ Jesus and what he did to make us righteous. Therefore, faith in Christ is what takes us through the process of justification. In no way is Paul overriding the law in favour of faith, but rather that the law points us in the right direction to see our need for Christ and to accept his sacrifice for us once for all upon the cross.

Galatians 3:2-3: "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (NB: Remember that in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 8, Paul teaches that baptism in the Holy Spirit and becoming a Christian go hand-in-hand.)

This portion is interpreted by the Dispensationalists to refer rather to sanctification than justification. They argue that Paul is stating that the Old Testament law has no place in the sanctification of believers. In verse 2 Paul is stating that it is only possible to become a Christian and receive the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus. He is simply stating that no-one ever received the Holy Spirit through works of righteousness.

Paul then goes on to compare the Spirit and the flesh, and points out the absurdity of the Judaisers. If faith in Jesus Christ alone was enough for the gentiles to become Christians and receive the Holy Spirit, why then were the Judaisers forcing them to seek perfect righteousness through acts of merit? The Judaisers had taught the Galatians to seek perfection by trusting in the flesh, rather than trusting in the Spirit of God. In a nutshell, Paul was teaching that to base one's hope in the use of Old Testament law apart from Christ, one is placing their trust in the flesh and not in God.

CONCLUSION

We have only really touched the tip of the iceberg here, but we can already see that to entertain the idea from these and other verses in Paul's writings that he is teaching that the Old Testament laws have no place in the Christian life is absurd. Paul was merely arguing the fact that through the law, sin is revealed to us, and points us to the cross of Calvary. As Paul also states in Romans 3:20 - "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

And in 1 Timothy 1:8 - "But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully".
I trust that this post has answered some of your questions dealing with Justification and the Law.

Next topic in the series: Sanctification and the Law.

Baruch atem b’Shem Yeshua! (Blessings in the name of Jesus!)
GW