“Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).
In addition to its doctrinal teachings, we should bear in mind that the Epistle to the Romans served as Paul the Apostle’s introduction to the first-century church at Rome. As such, it offered a helpful resource for those who were unfamiliar with his life, ministry, and doctrine. It also served to reassure the members of Paul’s Jewish audience and affirm the value of their cultural identity.
From one perspective, the final verse of this chapter serves as a mirror image of the first verse, as Paul affirmed the importance of the Jewish law and their shared cultural legacy. Paul’s standing as a Jewish scholar also lent credibility to this teaching, and it will later become a recurring theme within this epistle…
“God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:20-21 NLT).
“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4 ESV).
“For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:9-10 ESV).
So, it seems that Paul anticipated this objection from Romans 3:31 and took steps to address it in advance. In doing so, he established the continuing merit of the law. Two crucial elements contributed to the law’s enduring significance. First, Christ fulfilled the law’s demands on our behalf. Next, the law itself foreshadowed the concept of justification by faith.
Thus, in the words of one Biblical translation, “…we confirm and establish and uphold the Law [since it convicts us all of sin, pointing to the need for salvation]” (AMP). We’ll explore that relationship at greater length in our next study.