The epistles to the Romans and the Hebrews are the great doctrinal expositions penned by the apostle Paul. In considering the major points of those epistles, we note that “sin” is indicted as the universal affliction of mankind. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12).
The law
The law given through Moses enlarged the problem of sin because it more thoroughly defined sin. By doing so, it emphasized mankind’s inability to cope with the righteous requirements of God. “Now we know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).
The law gave knowledge of sin; by the deeds of the law, no flesh is justified in God’s sight (v.20). The real problem facing mankind, however, was not the law. It was, and is, sin in us or the propensities of the flesh; these are what render justification by works impossible.
Justification by faith
When Paul began to spread the gospel, traditional Judaism opposed any teaching which undermined its claim to having a superior knowledge of God’s word. The Jews would not concede their status as the most religious of people. Accordingly, they opposed a right understanding of Abraham’s place in Jewish history.
The apostle set forth the basis of Abraham’s justification before God as being “faith” — “Abraham believed God and it (his faith) was counted unto him for righteousness” (Rom. 4:3).
This assertion about Abraham’s faith evoked strong opposition among those holding to traditional Judaism. To them, Paul had placed an interpretation on the statement which contradicted the later revelation of God. They felt the law stood on higher ground, holding greater value than all that went before. They feared and opposed the principle of justification by faith.
Genetic heritage
To the traditional Jew, circumcision was a linkage of authenticity with Abraham. They were the seed of Abraham, the children of promise by genetic heritage, not by faith. It was to their honor and self-glorification that they were part of a great nation, taken out of Abraham’s loins.
It was not surprising that traditional Jews interpreted Genesis 12:2-3 as having exclusive application to themselves: “I will make of thee (Abraham) a great nation…and in thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed.” They felt it was plain: all nations would be blessed only through their national superiority.
Lost in all of these declarations was the need for sober analysis of themselves.
By teaching that justification through faith had precedence over the law as a basis for salvation, Paul had insulted this estimation of themselves. Paul had defined the purpose of the law — it was a schoolmaster to bring men to Christ that they might be justified by faith. In Christ, those of any nation would receive the blessing of justification through faith (Gal. 3:24-29).
The law’s own witness
The blood-stained altar of the temple bore witness to the offerer’s worthiness of death. It boldly stated the rulership and tyranny of sin. Moreover, the yearly day of atonement declared its somber lesson that the true way of forgiveness was not contained in the law (Heb. 9:7-9; 10:1-2). An everlasting covenant, built upon a better sacrifice than those offered under the law, was required.
The solution was in the better sacrifice of the Messiah: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. For this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Heb. 9:14,15).
The law’s weakness
The weakness of the law was due to mankind’s inability to fulfill its demands. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit” (Rom. 8:3-4).
Jesus, though coming in the flesh, by virtue of his righteous compliance to the law’s requirements, prevailed over sin. Sin, which had previously condemned all men, was defeated by Christ who walked wholly in the spirit of God. His victory can be ours through faith in him.
Through perfect obedience unto the Father, he obtained the blessing of eternal life. This was a personal victory. The representative effects of his victory over sin overflow to us through the mercy of God: “We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…(Jesus) bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed” (Heb. 10:10; 1 Peter 2:24).
In symbol, we were crucified in the body of Jesus because he was one with us in nature. The representative aspects of his work could not have been completed had he not repudiated sin in the domain where it had previously ruled supreme, the flesh (Heb. 2:14-18).
Thus at the very heart of the message to Israel and to all mankind is the assurance that Jesus Christ removed the law’s power to condemn those who have become Abraham’s true seed through faith in Christ.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One