Did Paul Teach Righteousness Without Law-Keeping? cbcg.org

Many believe Paul taught that Christians are made righteous apart from any obedience to God’s law—especially when reading Romans 3:20–21: “By the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified… But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.” On the surface, it sounds as if Paul dismissed law-keeping altogether. But is that what he meant?

A closer look at the Greek reveals otherwise. The King James translators mistakenly added the word “the” before “law” and “works,” giving the impression Paul was condemning God’s commandments. In Greek, however, Paul wrote simply “works of law,” referring broadly to man-made religious ordinances and ritual observances—what he elsewhere calls “the traditions of men.” These external “works of law” could never remove sin or justify anyone before God.

True justification comes only through faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice—His shed blood that forgives sin and restores right standing with God. Yet Paul never taught that faith nullifies obedience. He wrote, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: we establish the law” (Rom. 3:31).

The law’s role is to define sin and guide righteous living; Christ’s role is to cleanse us from sin and empower us to live according to that law. Thus, “righteousness without law” means justification is separate from law-keeping—not opposed to it. The believer, once forgiven, upholds the very law that reveals God’s character, now written on the heart by His Spirit.

#BibleStudy #PaulineTheology #FaithAndObedience #RighteousnessByFaith