Romans chapters 3 and 4 should be read by every believer every single, it contains an elaborate and comprehensive brief of what the message of grace is all about. I am sure Paul was aware of the many questions that people had been asking, and so he employs asking the questions and providing answers to them. Put in a single verse, this is Paul's argument;
Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
Romans 3:19-20 NLT.
It is that simply, obeying the law has never saved anyone and will not save us, it is faith in God expressed through Christ Jesus that saves.
I love Paul's arguments here even though I know most people would disagree. Let me say that again, the law cannot save you, the law was never intended to save us. The purpose of the law was to show us how utrerly sinful, lost and helpless we are.
The purpose of the law is to help us realize how much we need God.
The law has concluded every single man born of a woman, since the creation of the world, is guilty. Trying to then obtain righteousness by doing that same law is completely futile. Paul says;
"no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands."
The solution is simple;
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,
Romans 3:23-25 NLT.
In Christ Jesus, you are free from the penalty of sin. Halleluyah!
