Question:
Kindly explain Romans 5:13, 14 and Galatians 3:16, 17. It has been claimed that as Abraham was saved by faith, the law, coming 430 years after, could not change the covenant of faith.
Answer:
All of which is true, for all who are saved are saved by faith, for “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” (See Hebrews 11:6). What is meant by the law coming 430 years after is that it was given in written form 430 years after. We are expressly told that it does not make the covenant of no effect. The covenant is God’s everlasting promise in Christ Jesus. The object of the giving of Christ and that covenant is to save from sin, and sin is the transgression of the law.
There were brethren in Galatia, as elsewhere, who seemed to think that the law saved men. The apostle’s argument in Romans and Galatians is to prove that man is saved not by his own righteousness, which is by the law, but by faith in Christ’s righteousness. If this point is kept in mind, there will be no difficulty with these scriptures, for we are saved by faith. Faith lays hold upon the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. That was true of Abraham. It has been true of every child of Abraham since that.
Consequently, anything that comes in through God’s providence, or anything that man may do, can not make of none effect the eternal promises of God. This scripture shows that the law was not given to annul the promises and was not revealed in written form to Israel to change God’s plan of salvation in any way. The apostle in Galatians and Romans tells us why the law came in written form. It was added, or spoken, because of transgression. (See Galatians 3:19). “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound.” (Romans 5:20). In order “that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” (Romans 7:13). “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” (Romans 5:20). God’s eternal moral standard is His holy law. Man’s everlasting hope in all ages is Jesus Christ.
