called the message itself from Romans 3.31, establishing law. Just to get a little bit bigger view of the whole context, in Romans 3.9 through 31, God is giving to us the very heart of the gospel. And we have three things here. One is the problem, and that's man's sin. Of course, Paul's been dealing with that right since chapter 1, But in this immediate context, that's verses 9 through 18. The second thing we have is the revealer of the problem. Too many people consider this the answer to the problem. It's not. The revealer of the problem is the law, verses 19 to 20. And then finally, the third thing is the true solution to the problem, which is justification by grace. through faith in the atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that is verses 21 through 31 of chapter 3. So here we have God give an answer to the question, how can a man be just with God? A man being a sinner and unrighteous in God's sight, God being holy and righteous and just, and a sin-hating God who demands that all sin be punished. So how can a man be just with God and accepted with Him, and yet God remain a just? Well, in verse 27, coming closer to our verse, Paul states that no man can boast before God because sinful men can only be justified by faith in Christ alone and not by their own works. He says, where is boasting then? It is excluded by what law of works? Nay, but by the law of faith." Then he concludes the section by stating, we are justified by faith apart from any works of the law performed by us whatsoever. That's verse 28. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Then he goes on to say that this one and only way of justification holds true both for Jews and Gentiles. In other words, both are justified by faith in Christ. Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, seeing it as one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith. So all men are in the same place before God, lost guilty, condemned, hell-deserving sinners. God has only provided one way for men to be brought back into a right relationship with himself, and that's through his son Jesus Christ. And that's the same for Jew and Gentile. There is no difference in that respect. Then, as we come to our verse 31, Paul states and answers an objection brought against his doctrine. And what he's saying is this, do we then, by preaching that God freely justifies sinful men through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, make void the law? Or do we thus render the law idle and inactive or inoperative? In other words, if indeed our works of the law do not contribute to our justification before God at all, Is the law then shown to be of none effect? Is it thus rendered null, void, and useless? Well, that's the question. And the answer he gives is, God forbid, for may it not be. Perish the thought. Paul rejects that conclusion with a statement of abhorrence. And then he goes on. to express the true conclusion of the doctrine of justification by faith. Yea, rather, through faith or by the preaching of the gospel, the message of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ and not by the good works of men, we actually, by that faith or doctrine, establish the law. And the word established there is saying We thus confirm the law, or we set it up. We make it stand firm. We put it upon its true base. In other words, by faith in Christ for justification, the law is placed on its only sure and sound basis, and it's fixed upon its most firm foundation. That's what this word established means. God's method of justifying sinners by faith in Christ is what settles the law in its proper place in God's redemptive program. It firmly roots it where God intends it to be. And again, this whole relationship between the law and faith and how they relate to one another, Galatians 3, Verses 21 to 23, he again asks if the law and the promise of God are somehow contradictory or in conflict with one another. Is the law then against the promises of God? We have the same rejection of that idea. God forbid, for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. In other words, men need righteousness perfect righteousness before God before they can be restored to life in favor and fellowship with God. And the law cannot, in any sense, bestow that. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin. And as sinners, the very idea that we can somehow come back to God's favor and acceptance by our works is rendered impossible. Sin, by its very nature, is to break the law. So how, as those who have broken the law, can we be saved? By keeping the law. We're disqualified, even before we begin, because we start out as lawbreakers. And so the law offers us no hope, so that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up under the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. All right, so he talks about the faith coming in at a certain point, and that's with Christ and his bringing the gospel to light. And so at that point, the law was fulfilled. And it only was to last until that time. But then the next thing we have to say, I think Galatians 3 already indicates it, What law is Paul talking about here in Romans 3.31? We make void the law through faith. God forbid, yea, we establish the law. Well, the first thing you need to notice, which you can't see here, but in the Greek, the definite article is not found before the word law in either of its two occurrences in this verse. So it could be translated this way. Do we then make void law through the faith? God forbid, yea, we establish law. Then, law here would be used in the abstract as any revelation of the will of God that's binding upon men as their duty, whether in the scriptures or by the law of conscience or any other form of law. And so it would be referring to the principle of law or of binding authority in general. And that somewhat compares to 1 John 3, 4, where it says, whosoever sinneth transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. They translate that the law, but actually the word the law is not even found in that verse. What that verse is saying is that sin is lawlessness. In other words, it's described as rebellion against authority in the abstract, not a specific transgression of an objective law or a clearly defined law. And so what that would say is that sin is iniquity, wickedness, or an attitude of total disregard for any and all laws. But the principle of law is not done away by the doctrine of justification by faith. We are not lawless as believers. The law very much enters into that whole teaching. And what we're going to see is how. Now, another understanding of the word law here is it's taken in its more complete or general sense as the Old Testament scriptures. We make void the Old Testament scriptures through faith. And the reason it's understood that way sometimes is in Romans 3.21, it says, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. In other words, he says that this method of justification by faith in Christ is pointed out to or testified to by the law and the prophets. And what is he saying? In other words, the righteousness of God here would be the justification of guilty sinners by the imputation of Christ's righteousness to them when they believe. And that teaching is not contrary to the Old Testament, nor is it something new that could not be found in any way in the Old Testament, but it's actually witness to by the law, the law there being the five books of Moses and the prophets, or the entire Old Testament. And the reason they feel this may be the proper interpretation is because in chapter 4, Paul goes on to prove this by the example of Abraham, who lived before the law was given on Sinai. He was justified by faith. And then David, who lived under the law, yet he was justified by faith. And these are examples taken from both portions of the Old Testament, Abraham from the law and then David from the prophets. And it seems to be a continuation of the concept in verse 27, where is boasting then? It's excluded. Why? Because we are justified by what law? Of works, name, but by the law of faith. Then he picks it up in chapter 4, Verse two, if Abraham were justified by works, he hath were of the glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. In other words, Abraham had no place to boast before God, because he was not rewarded righteousness as a debt, or he had not earned that by his works, but it was freely bestowed on him by the grace of God when he believed the promise of Christ. It's interesting too, the only two occurrences of the English word faith in the Old Testament, as far as the King James Version, are found in the Law and the Prophets. First, negatively, in Deuteronomy 32, 20, Gary talked about those who are not Jews in the heart. And they're the ones who are without faith, and so they did not share the blessing of Abraham. 3220, he said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. These were not justified. And then, of course, the great text that we're all familiar with and that's quoted so often in the New Testament, Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 4. Behold, his soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him. And that's an expression of pride. But the just shall live by his faith. And that, of course, is the great statement of justification by faith that is quoted in the New Testament. So then, if this is what Paul is saying of how the law is established, he'd be telling us that the doctrine of justification by faith does not ignore or set aside the Old Testament scriptures. Rather, it agrees with them and confirms them since they taught the same thing, only in a germ form, and it's fully unfolded in the New Testament. And I think this was the fear of the Jews, that Jesus was just bringing in some new thing and ignoring everything that had gone before. But I don't think that's the true interpretation here either, because in chapter 4, Paul is not going on to prove that the law is established but rather that justification is by faith alone. That's his whole argument in the continuation of his book here as he goes on in the chapter four, not to prove that the gospel agrees with the law. So probably then the best understanding of the word law here in Romans 3.31 is to take it as it's been used throughout the entire preceding context. And there it's used for the Law of Moses or the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament scriptures. And if that's how it's met, it would be very closely parallel to our Lord's words as found in Matthew 5, Matthew 5, verses 17 and 18. He says there, think not. that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Of course, here he's using the word law in the specific sense of the law of Moses. And he doesn't talk about establishing it. He's talking about fulfilling it. and that it must be fulfilled. It would be easier for heaven and earth to pass than that the law not be fulfilled. And of course, he came to do just that. He refers to it in chapter 3 when he came to his baptism, to John the Baptist. John held him back, said, I shouldn't baptize you, Lord. You should baptize me. Verse 15, Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he went ahead and baptized him. And so Jesus came to fulfill all righteousness. Then, if this is referring to the Law of Moses, what Paul would be saying is that the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ does not make that law of Moses to be useless. It has a very important and necessary place in that whole teaching. But how? Just what does it mean then? Well, I want to go to another very erroneous interpretation of this verse. There are many who would say that Paul here in verse 31 is introducing the idea of sanctification. And he's just stating it prior to his picking up again in chapter 6, verse 1. And the reason he does that is he's so anxious to remind us that we're still under the law as believers that he couldn't even wait. In other words, he says, we still need to obey the law in order to refute antinomianism. And the way he does that is by saying, that the law continues in effect to the believer as a rule of life so that he continues to be under the law because the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ actually establishes and strengthens the law's authority over the believer so that we're even more bound to keep the law of Moses after we believe than we were before we believed. But this entirely violates the context of what Paul is saying here. The entire context from 319 till the end of chapter 5 is dealing only with the doctrine of justification. And Paul does not even refer to sanctification within this section. And this is not an exception to that fact at all. In other words, to bring in the idea of sanctification here is to confuse it with justification. Now, sanctification always follows justification, but they always must be kept distinct in our minds. And this would confuse sanctification with justification by saying that the law is established in justification by our good works after believing. If we obey the law of Moses, as believers in Christ, we establish the law. Now that's to say that we're justified by our works. And that's to go back to teaching the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification by an infused righteousness. And what that means is the Roman Catholics teach that God gives us the grace of justification, and he infuses righteousness into us, and that makes us righteous. in our nature so that we can live righteous lives and then we are justified by our good works that we perform after justification. But yet that's justification by grace because we can only perform those good works by the grace God gives us. But to say that faith in Christ enables us to fulfill the law by our partial and imperfect obedience That's to say that we're justified and the law is established by our own personal flawed righteousness. That's the problem with that teaching. This makes Christ half a savior and us the other half of a savior. In other words, he establishes the law by his death, but we establish the law by the obedience of our life. And in no sense can the law be established by any imperfect obedience on our part before or after believing. If any man will keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. In other words, even one infraction of the law violates and destroys the law, not establishes it and confirms it. And so there's no way that that could be the teaching. Actually, this is to deny the true doctrine of justification because That doctrine says that we are righteous by faith in Christ alone, and no works of our own contribute to that, even one iota. As a matter of fact, these people who teach that we're sanctified by the law, and that's what establishes the law out of this verse, they're going to the other extreme. They're trying to avoid saying that the law is nullifying, and what they go, do is if our works of the law contribute to our justification in any way, then faith is made null and void. How many times have you heard him worried about, oh, you're making faith null and void? I always hear him saying, you're going to make the law null and void if you say we're not under it as a rule of life. But what does Romans 4, verse 13 and 14 say? For if the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham, or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect." Notice, if the law enters into this in that way, in the area of justification, which Paul is talking about in chapter 3, faith is made void, and the promise nullified. And that's serious. That's real serious, because that means we're lost. I think this would fall into the category of Romans 10 where it says, they being ignorant of God's righteousness, going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. In other words, you can't have it both ways. I know they try to say we're justified by faith alone through the righteousness of Christ. But if you interpret this verse as saying we establish the law by our obedience to it as believers, you have just brought in sanctification and denied justification by faith alone. So it's interesting. In these final verses, we have some very prevalent heresies refuted. First of all, Arminianism is refuted. In verse 27, they say that we believe by the power of our own free will. That makes faith a work. And so we are rewarded for our faith with righteousness. And that gives us room to boast. I'm saved because I accepted Christ, or I believe. It also refutes a very closely related error that says that faith itself is our righteousness. instead of saying that the obedience and merit of Christ is our righteousness, which we lay hold of and receive through faith. And again, that makes faith take the place of the law. Instead of God saying, you have to keep my law to be righteous, I know that's kind of hard, but you're able to believe. So if you'll just believe, you'll be righteous. And then I'll accept you on that basis because of your faith. No, we're not righteous because of our faith or for our faith. We're righteous by faith or through faith. Faith is not our justifying righteousness. Faith is the means or instrument by which the righteousness of Christ is applied to us, and that is our justifying righteousness. It's also a reputation of dispensationalism. The whole basis of dispensationalism is that you have to maintain a distinction between Jews and Gentiles. In other words, you have to keep them separate to understand the scripture. And yet, no, the gospel says they are the same before God, and there is no difference anymore, nor will there ever be a difference in the future. That difference was erased at the cross. And then it refutes covenant theology, which would try to say that we're under the law of Moses and as our rule of life. And so that's how we establish the law, by obeying it as believers. And all three are dashed to the ground and proven false by this section. Well? Then we're still where we started. Just how does faith in Christ not set aside the law as of no effect, but rather establish the law? Well, first of all, justification is a forensic term. And that means that that term is taken from the setting of a court of law. By definition, justification is the judicial act of God whereby he declares righteous the believing sinner for the sake of the righteousness of Christ which God freely imputes to him. That's what we find in verse 22 of chapter 3. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. Now the law is very helpful and contributes to this because it brings this court setting to the floor. In other words, the law itself is a legal arrangement. And so the whole concept of law is involved in it by its very nature. By the law, God is presented to us as our governor, our lawgiver, and our judge. According to Isaiah chapter 33, In verse 22, it says there, for the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. And thank God for the last phrase, he will save us. Of course, the law does not do that. That's where the gospel comes in. The law of Moses, as a legal economy and as a covenant of works, makes promise of life to those who keep it perfectly. and threatens death and curse upon those who violated its precepts. You remember Leviticus 18, verse 5, which Paul quotes later on in Romans 10. You find it there stated, you shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. I am the Lord. And also in Deuteronomy chapter 27, here's another famous quote you find in Galatians 3, to prove that no man is justified by the works of the law. Deuteronomy 27 and verse 26, cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, amen. And then, of course, Deuteronomy 30. God sets before us two options, or before Israel. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil. In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply. And the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. And he actually says, it will be your righteousness if you do keep this law. But then he says, but if you turn away and don't hear, worship other gods. I denounce unto you this day, you shall surely perish. And he says, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you. I have sent before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both thou and thy seed may live. So again, the law offers life for obedience and threatens death for disobedience. The law also is a revelation of the character of God. It reveals his holy nature, that he's a pure and perfect being, and a God who hates sin. It tells us of his righteousness, that he governs his moral creatures by means of his holy law. And he gives them an objective standard by which to order their lives so as to obey God. In other words, not only is He holy, but He gives us the means by which we may be holy by obeying His laws. Leviticus 19, the first two verses, it says, the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy. For I, the Lord your God, am holy. Now, we also find that the law is absolutely inflexible and unbending in its demands. And it's very searching and severe. It points out any violations that are committed against it so as to charge the offender and transgressor with guilt and condemnation. And it condemns him to punishment. And it binds him over to death and wrath and hell. And so again, the law allows no room for any disobedience whatsoever. In any sin, even one, brings its curse upon the sinner. That's what chapter 3 of Romans 19 and 20 said. Now we know that what things soever the law says, it says to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. And so again, here you have the law pointing out and cursing and condemning those who are guilty of breaking it. Also, we find that the law reveals to us the justice of God. God's a judge. And he gives a law, and that law has penalties attached And as a just judge, he cannot allow sin to go by unpunished. He can't allow people to treat his law with impunity. And so the law reveals that God demands the death of the sinner. Right over in Romans 4, verse 15, because the law worketh wrath. For where no law is, there is no transgression. See, the law was added because of transgression to point out where we had sinned and then to bring us under wrath, to make us guilty, or to show us that we are deserving of punishment and facing a certain death. Just a side note on Romans 319. A lot of people like to say, well, every mouth is stopped and all the world is guilty before God because we're all under the law. I don't believe so. I think what Paul's saying there is the Jews have the law. That law condemned them for disobeying it. And so Jews are condemned as well as the Gentiles. In other words, they don't escape because they have the law. The Gentiles are condemned. They are without excuse by the very virtue of the creation in their conscience. And they sin without the law, and so they will also be judged apart from the law. But in other words, Jews are guilty as well as Gentiles. Not the whole world is under the law, because it talks about the Gentiles who have not the law, but yet all are under sins, curse, and damnation right from the first disobedience of Adam. Now also we find the law does not allow for repentance or make any way for the pardon of our sins by any future amendment or obedience to the law. They who despised Moses' law died without mercy before two or three witnesses. So how can this law be established and yet sinners be saved? That's the whole argument. of Romans chapter 3, the only way the law can be established is by its precepts being obeyed perfectly and by its penalty being paid in full. So that would automatically tell us that the law cannot be fulfilled by our works because no one has obeyed it perfectly. And not only that, but if even All mankind should be cast into hell for their sin. If God had never provided a means of forgiveness and salvation, the full penalty of the law could not even be paid by an eternity of the entire world suffering there. Because it would be always being paid, but never fully paid. Because it's an eternal offense. And it brings an eternal punishment. And no finite creature could ever pay that fully. And so here you have a real dilemma. How can this law be established? It can only be established in the life and vicarious sufferings of our Lord Jesus. That's the only way. In other words, the faith of Christ or the gospel declares that our Lord Jesus magnified the law and he made it honorable because he who was from all eternity God was made flesh made of a woman and made under the law. The one who gave that law and who was above that law put himself under the law and kept that law perfectly in his life. Not for himself, he had his own righteousness. He didn't need any further additional righteousness, but he brought out a perfect obedience in order that he might provide a righteousness for those who did not have it, which was us, his people, guilty sinners. And then the gospel, as nothing else, reveals the holiness of God in that when the Lord Jesus went to the cross and took our place and then our sins were laid upon Him, God showed His absolute hatred of sin and His determination to punish it as His justice demanded because He poured out His wrath upon His sinless Son. In other words, when God determined to save sinful men, He did not say, I wonder if I can do this in an easy way and get around my law. He held to the requirements of his law absolutely, even to the point of sending his son to pay that penalty in our place. That's what verse 25 of Romans 3 says, whom God has sent forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. Now, the word propitiation there is saying that Christ's death is the satisfaction of all the righteous demands of God's justice against sin. And so when we believe in his blood, we can be justified, and yet God's justice perfectly satisfied. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us. As it is written, cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. And so Christ's death. fully satisfied and pacified God toward us by paying the penalty of sin in our place. So here we see God's righteousness. How? In the very sinner's justification. We see God is a just God and a Savior, and that he can be just in justifying the sinner who believes in Jesus. That's what verse 26 says. To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness. His righteousness was upheld by Jesus' perfect obedience. And then his demands that sin be punished were carried out and satisfied in Christ's death. And now when the sinner believes, Christ takes his sin and gives him his righteousness so that God can be just and the justifier of him which believes in Jesus. And so the way of faith in Christ for justification, again, shows the righteousness of God. It does not deny it. It also shows us how man is helpless to save himself by his own works of the law. And so they can only be saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. That's what verse 23 and 24 say. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God cannot pronounce us righteous, because we're not. There's none righteous, no not one. So we're being justified freely, without cause. without cost on our behalf. The cost was paid by Christ, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And all this was pointed to by the law. All the types, all the prophecies, all the promises, all the threatenings, and all the ceremonies of the law were fulfilled in the person and work of our Lord Jesus. And so justification by faith establishes the law, it does not make it void. And only justification by faith can establish the law, because only Jesus Christ maintained it, and confirmed it, and fulfilled it in every way, by his perfect obedience in his life, and by the full satisfaction of God's justice in his atoning death. And when we believe, then God's law is honored in every way, and fulfilled, and established. And God's word is brought to pass. And we're saved. And God continues just in doing it. And so we can look in the face of God, acknowledge his full holiness, and his righteousness, and his justice, and all the demands of his law. And then we can look to Christ and see how all those were fulfilled and established. And we can have peace with God. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The law itself. approves us and accepts us because it finds us clothed in the righteousness of Christ which satisfies it in every way. And so the law was not somehow skirted around and avoided and set aside and ignored by justification by faith. Only in that way was the law established. And praise be to God, the law was established and we were saved. Let's close in prayer.