THE LAW AND THE FAITH IN CHRIST

                                         

According to the Scriptures, mankind is separated from God and weighs upon it the condemnation of death. Said Paul to the Romans: "...as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned" (5:12). God, however, in the course of his plan to restore mankind and bring it to its original condition, gave, through the prophet Moses, his Law to humans (Exodus 20-31).

Since then, and to this day, many have understood that salvation or justification before God comes from fulfilling His Law. The Apostle Paul, however, emphatically said that “no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the Law"(Romans3.20). If this is true, then what is its usefulness? Paul himself asked this question in his letter to the Galatians: " Why, then, was the Law given at all?" (3:19).

The Apostle replies: "through the Law we become conscious of our sin" (Romans3.20). The Law reveals a pattern of holiness that man can’t attain. It shows the human inability to live according to God, because no one can fulfill it. It points out the need for a salvation that comes from God himself and shows that man is unable to save himself by his own efforts. That is why Paul said that "Christ is the culmination of the Law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who belives” (Romans10.4). So, Christ not only fulfilled and obeyed it, but also gave it its full meaning. Christ fulfilled the Law for us.

For this reason, Paul affirms that faith in Jesus Christ is the righteousness that comes from God (Romans3.22), for although He fulfilled the Law, He received the condemnation that was upon mankind: death. This righteousness will be credited to the believers in Christ as belonging to them, that is, they will be justified. Therefore, seeking to be saved by the Law means seeking one's own righteousness and despising the divine, that is, Christ. About The Israelites, Apostle Paul said, “since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness" (Romans10.3).

If it is faith in Christ and not the Law that saves mankind, what is the value of the Law for the Christian? The Law is of vital relevance to believer, for it is not any law, but it is the Law of God. Jesus did not abolished it, but fulfilled it (Matthew5.17). The "commandment is holy" (Romans. 7:12) and points to the love of God, who, seeing the human impossibility of fulfilling it, sent his Son to guard it and then receive the penalty that the Law itself imputed to man. Paul said, "…love is the fulfillment of the Law" (Romans. 13.10). Hence the Christian seeks holiness, that is, obey the Law not as a means of salvation, but for the sake of the one who has saved him.

Antônio Maia – M.Div.

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