There is an old Chinese proverb which says, "What's the use of running if you are on the wrong road." Nearly all religious division is about forms, rituals, and specific doctrinal interpretations. However, none of these are important if one does not understand the fundamental purposes of God, and the basic relationship He wants to have with His creatures. Until we understand why Christ built the church, we will never have a correct view of its structure, nor its function. It is these
profound fundamentals that Paul addresses in the book of Romans, but a cursory reading of the text will miss the point.
In the third chapter, Paul points out the exalted privilege the Jews had in being entrusted with the "very word of God"! The writer of Hebrews begins with the awesome fact that God (Creator of Heaven and Earth) has spoken to mankind, and that the message was too important to be left to mere men, but had to be finally brought to earth by His Son. In chapter one, Paul considers himself a debtor to all men, because he has been given the Gospel (The Word of God), and he feels compelled to share this incredible gift with the whole world.
As he begins to share the message of Heaven, he graphically emphasizes the great contrast between God's righteousness, and our way of life here on earth. Please note that he does not begin with forms, rituals and religious ceremony. He talks about who we are, and how we live. He characterizes the difference between God's way and our way, as sin. A subject foreign to much popular preaching today. He drives home the importance of his message by saying, "...we all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God." There is no elitist group, capable of claiming to be right, and to judge others.
The book of Romans is not written to chastise the Jews for relying on the law. It is written to tell us all that the principles of the law are God's way to live, and that we should not make them religious symbols, but a way of life.
As I have quoted K. C. Moser before, "The law only justifies the innocent." Because there are no innocents, God's way, reflected in the law, would condemn us all. Many have tried to escape this condemnation by defining rules and regulations for the church, and by legally following them, justifying themselves. Again they miss the point. If we all fall short of God's way of life, only He can offer the solution. Here in chapter three, Paul continues to bring the Word from Heaven and to describe God's solution.
The solution is "faith", but be very careful to study what Paul means by faith. Let's look at two verses, which should cause us to revise the ordinary religious view of faith. Chapter 3, verse 28: "...we maintain that a man is justified by faith, apart from observing the law." Now read verse 31: "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all!
Rather we uphold the law." What is Paul saying? First, obeying the law, no matter how careful your legal interpretation may be, will not justify you, for we are all sinners. Second, if your faith in God, and in His Word, is strong enough to cause your life to conform to the principles of the law, then and then alone, are you justified. We do not have a legal
relationship with God, but a relationship in which our complete trust in Him causes us to behave as His children. How different from the religious wrangling over forms, rituals and symbols, that has characterized the history of Christianity through the centuries.
I was on the beach several years ago, and saw a father and his small son walking along the ocean front. The little boy was following, and trying to step in his father's footprints. He was leaping and stretching, but his little legs were just not long enough to make it to the footprints, and he kept falling short. However, because he was following the footprints, he kept following his father. This is what faith means. We can never live up to the perfect righteousness of the Father. However, if His footprints are our guide, we will continue to go in the right direction, and will reach home with Him at the end of the road.
