Romans 3:31 says, "Do we then make
the law of no effect through faith?
Absolutely not! Rather, we establish
the law." This is Paul's conclusion.
Prior to this he said, "For we account
that a man is justified by faith apart
from the works of the law" (v. 28).
Since this is the case, someone may
have raised the question: "Is not the
law made void by faith?" Therefore,
Paul answered, "Absolutely not!" The
phrase "Absolutely not!" is a Greek
idiom. It is the same as "Heaven
forbid!" . Paul meant that
heaven would not agree with you
saying that the law was abolished by
faith.
In the first three chapters of Romans,
Paul shows that the Gentiles, whom
God had not chosen, were sinners,
and the Jews, whom God had chosen,
were also sinners. Those who served
God and had the law of God were
also sinners. No one can be justified
by keeping the law. Therefore, Paul
says, "Because out of the works of the
law no flesh shall be justified before
Him; for through the law is the clear
knowledge of sin" (3:20).
"But now, apart from the law, the
righteousness of God has been
manifested, witness being borne to it
by the Law and the Prophets" (3:21).
Praise and thank God for "but now."
Now there is a way of salvation.
"Whom God set forth as a propitiation
place through faith in His blood, for
the demonstrating of His
righteousness, in that in His
forbearance God passed over the sins
that had previously occurred, with a
view to the demonstrating of His
righteousness in the present time, so
that He might be righteous and the
One who justifies him who is of the
faith of Jesus" (3:25-26). God
exercised forbearance toward those in
the Old Testament, and He justifies
those in this age. In the Old
Testament age the Lord had not died,
and sin had not been removed.
Therefore, God forbore man. But
today God justifies rather than
forbears. To justify is not only to
forgive a man or reckon him to be
without sins but, even more, to
pronounce him righteous. God gives
us this righteousness in Christ Jesus.
We can now receive this
righteousness because Christ died
and resurrected. Therefore, Paul said,
"For we account that a man is justified
by faith apart from the works of the
law" (3:28). Paul was afraid someone
might think that since man was
justified through faith, the law would
be abolished through faith. This is
why he immediately said, "Absolutely
not!" (3:31). Even heaven forbids man
to say that.
How, then, do we establish the law
through faith? The law has only two
requirements: (1) the law commands
man to do good, and (2) the law
punishes those who do not do good.
The law requires one of these two. If
you do not keep the law, you will be
punished by the law. If you do not
follow the law and establish it, you will
be punished by the law in order to
establish it. Besides the Lord, no other
person can keep the law; even Moses
the lawgiver did not keep the law
completely. The law requires death for
those who do not keep the law. We
can say, "I did not keep the law; I
have sinned; I have died already. In
Christ, I have received the judgment of
the law and the curse of the law.
Therefore, I did not break the law;
rather, I established it through faith."
Although we cannot establish the law
by keeping it and deserve to die,
praise and thank God that we have
died in Christ! It is of God that we are
in Christ Jesus (1 Cor. 1:30). It is God
who put us into Christ. When Christ
died, we also died in His death.
Therefore, faith does not make the
law void; rather, it establishes the law.
Why are the believers not under the
law? The believers are not under the
law because, on the one hand, they
are already dead, and on the other
hand, they are resurrected. We can
prove this by Romans 7:1-6. Paul uses
a parable of a woman and her
husband. We need to note what "the
husband" refers to in this section.
Some say "the husband" refers to the
law. Others say "the husband" refers
to our flesh. Each group has its own
opinions and reasons. However, if we
read it carefully, we will see that both
implications are actually here. In
Romans 7:2, the husband is the law,
yet the husband is different from the
law. Therefore, "the husband" in this
section has two meanings. One
meaning refers to the law, and the
other meaning refers to the flesh. If
the husband referred only to the law,
then the phrase "if the husband dies"
would mean that law is dead. But
how can the law die? Once we are
clear about this point, we can
conclude that "the husband" in this
section refers to the flesh and also to
the law.
Prior to believing in the Lord,
everyone is bound by the law. How
can one break away from it? It can
only be done through death. Once we
are dead, we break away. God
condemned sin in Christ's flesh. We
have died in Christ and broken away
from the law. We are like the woman,
and our flesh is like the husband.
Once we are dead, we break away
from the flesh. The requirement of
the law, at most, is death. No matter
how many sins a sinner has
committed, the law can, at most,
sentence him to die once. Once he is
dead, everything is ended. Once we
die, we break away from the law.
On the other hand, the verse says, "If
the husband dies, she is discharged
from the law regarding the
husband" (7:2). This refers to severing.

This section also shows us two
pictures. One picture is that through
the body of Christ, we are dead to the
law and have completely broken away
from it. On the day the Lord died, we
died also. Therefore, we can say to
the law, "I am not under the law." The
other picture is that now we can
remarry. At one time the flesh was our
master, but now we can remarry.
Now we belong to the Christ who has
resurrected from the dead, and we
can bear fruit to God. Therefore, today
no Christian is under the law.
If someone says, "We should keep the
law; we should keep the Sabbath," we
should realize that if we attempt to
keep one commandment of the law,
we are saying that Christ did not die
for us. We are overthrowing the work
of Christ. Compare Romans 6:14 with
3:19. Romans 6:14 says, "For sin will
not lord it over you, for you are not
under the law but under grace." This
says that the believers are not under
the law. Romans 3:19 says, "Now we
know that whatever things the law
says, it speaks to those who are under
the law, that every mouth may be
stopped and all the world may fall
under the judgment of God." This says
that the law speaks to those who are
under the law. Since we are not
under the law, the words in the law
are not directed toward us.
Why did Paul write Galatians after he
had already written Romans? The
book of Romans tells us that sinners
cannot be justified by keeping the law.
Galatians tells us that saints cannot be
sanctified by keeping the law. Sinners
are not saved by doing good. But this
is not all; saints cannot be sanctified
by doing good. Just as we began
through grace, we must be perfected
through grace. We cannot be justified
through faith and then try to become
holy by keeping the law. Justification is
by the Holy Spirit, and sanctification is
also by the Holy Spirit. The way of
entry is the way of completion. God
only works according to one principle.
Why can wool not be woven together
with linen? (Deut. 22:11). Wool comes
from the shedding of blood, while
linen comes from man's planting.
What is done by God is God's work;
what is done by man is man's work.
God will not mix His work with man's
work.
What does "not under the law"
mean? "Not under the law" does not
mean lawlessness or ungodliness. The
Bible says, "For sin will not lord it over
you, for you are not under the law
but under grace" (Rom. 6:14). We are
not under the law because we are
under grace. Since we are under
grace, sin cannot lord it over us. We
should pay attention to this verse. Sin
cannot have dominion over whoever
is not under the law. However, we
cannot be uninhibited to do anything
we want to.
What does it mean to be "under
grace"? Let us read Romans 11:6: "But
if by grace, it is no longer out of
works; otherwise grace is no longer
grace." "Under grace" means we do
not have to depend on our own
doing. What does it mean to be
"under the law"? It means we do it by
ourselves. Yet the more we try to do
good, the more we cannot do it.
Being under grace is having the Lord
Jesus do it, while being under the law
is doing it ourselves. To be under
grace is for God to operate within us
until sin can no longer be our master.
To be under the law is for sin to lord
it over us because we cannot
overcome sin. If we are under grace,
we have the grace of God working
within us. Can sin compete with the
grace of God? Of course not.
The Lord who died on the cross for us
is living in us. The same One who
bore our sins on the cross is now in
us causing us to overcome sin. The
law was but a command of God, but
grace is God's power. The law
commands us to do something, but
grace empowers us to do it. Not being
under the law, but being under grace,
means that the resurrected Christ is
living in us and enabling us to
overcome.
Christ is the end of the law because
He has satisfied all the requirements
that the law has on man.
First, Christ ended the law in His living.
For the moment, we will not mention
the Lord Jesus as God but consider
Him only as a man. In the whole
world, the Lord Jesus is the only man
who has ever completely followed the
law. There were none before Him nor
any after Him who did this. He has
such a qualification. He is the end of
the law.
Second, Christ's death ended the law.
The ultimate, consummate
requirement of the law is nothing
other than death. Suppose a person
breaks the law of the nation. He
deserves death and is executed. Once
this person is executed, the law of the
land can no longer require anything
more. The requirement of the law
extends only up to death. Once a man
is dead, everything is settled. The law
says that those who do not keep the
law have to die. The Lord Jesus died
and ended the law.
The end means the final point. Once it
is the end, what more can you add?
What more needs to be done?
Therefore, every Christian can thank
and praise God that Christ has ended
the Law.