Grace Vs. Works?
by Eric V. Snow
Does
the Bible contradict itself? Are
Christians “justified by grace alone by faith alone by Christ alone”? Or do Christians have to literally obey God
at some level in order to be saved?
Consider
the message of Gal. 2:16: “[T]hat we
may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by
the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified (NASB throughout, unless
otherwise noted).” So then--works have
nothing to do with salvation. But what
about Matt. 19:17: “[B]ut if you wish
to enter into life, keep the commandments”?
Or Heb. 5:9: “And having been
made perfect, He [Jesus] became to all those who obey Him the source of
eternal salvation.” So what then--are
works a condition for salvation in the latter verses, but are not in Galatians?
First
of all, to solve this seeming contradiction, we must realize that justification
is not the same thing as salvation.
Surprising? Consider Romans
5:9: “Much more then, having now been
justified [past tense] by His blood, we shall be saved [future tense] from the
wrath of God through Him.”
Justification, meaning the wiping away of all past sins, has already
occurred in Christians’ lives when we repented and placed our faith in Jesus’
sacrifice. By contrast, salvation,
meaning having our lives lasting forever because we have bodies made of spirit,
has not occurred yet since we have not entered the kingdom of God
yet. So Gal. 2:16, which talks about
justification, need not conflict with Hebrews 5:9, which talks about salvation.
Of
course in some cases the word “saved” does mean the same as
“justified.” One meaning for the word
“saved” is that the death penalty of our sins has been removed by Jesus’
sacrifice, which is the same thing as justification. But another meaning is being given eternal life through an
immortal spirit body when Jesus comes back, since then we could never
die. The word “saved” is applied to
Christians in three different tenses in the Bible. In Acts 15:11, it is used in the past tense: “But we believe that we are saved
through the grace of Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” Salvation is a process in I Cor. 1:18 since
it is in the present, progressive tense:
“For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Finally, in a familiar text, it is used in
the future tense: “But the one who
endures to the end, he shall be saved” (Matt. 24:13). Obviously, the Bible uses the word “saved”
in several different ways about Christians, or else the Bible would contradict
itself!
A
useful schema (employed by the Seventh-day Adventists) in analyzing salvation’s
three different definitions uses the terms “justification,” “sanctification,”
and “glorification.” “Justification”
has the basic definition that Christians are given a right standing before God
through having all their sins forgiven through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on our
behalf. “Sanctification” is the process
by which Christians actually become righteous through developing holy righteous
character through the Holy Spirit living in them. “Glorification” occurs when we enter the kingdom of God and are
given a spirit body at the first resurrection when Jesus returns (Phil.
3:20-21; I Cor. 15:49). Here
justification is gained by faith through grace alone, but sanctification
involves Christians actually obeying God literally in order for them to be made
actually holy. Justification is gained
by men and women accepting Jesus’ sacrifice by faith, baptism, and repentance
(Acts 2:38). “Works” have nothing to do
with it here. In contrast, for humans
to actually become holy, they must gain the Holy Spirit and then follow its
lead in obeying God. Sanctification
involves human effort and participation in a way that neither justification nor
glorification involve, for the latter two are fundamentally just “done” to
humans by God, while the former requires the effort of continually yielding our
will to God’s will.
It’s
important to realize that while literal works aren’t a requirement for an
imputed or forensic justification (as per Romans 3:21, 28; 4:1-8; 10:10), they
are a requirement for sanctification.
This is a similar concept to what Roman Catholics call “infused grace,”
as supported by the ninth canon of the sixteenth-century Council of Trent,
which condemned the Reformers who said men and women could gain grace by faith
alone without any cooperation between man and God in order to gain it. For example, good works will determine who
will be a “sheep” or a “goat” in Matthew 25:31-46, while faith remains
unmentioned in this context. The
preceding Parable of the Talents describes a man so lacking in good works that
he was denied admittance to the kingdom of God (Matt. 25:15, 18, 24-30) when he
saved but did nothing with his one talent that he had received from God.
Now
consider the problems supposedly created by contrasting Gal. 2:16 with Rom.
2:13: “[F]or not the hearers of the Law
are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” Then, as always, Martin Luther’s “book of straw” poses its own wrinkle on the
subject of justification: “You see
that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). This contrast seems to be a blatant
contradiction, but is not when the context of James’ statement more carefully
scrutinized. First, if we have not
works, we did not really have any faith to begin with. “[F]aith without works is dead” (James
2:26). Thus, if we do not obey God, we
are not justified because we would have shown we never truly repented (which
always must involve the determination to obey God in the future). For if we truly repent, we will begin to
obey God because we have an overall obedient attitude (Acts 26:20), even if we
may continue to sin now and then. Thus,
when James says (v. 21), “was not Abraham our father justified by works, when
he offered up Isaac his son on the altar,” he means that Abraham showed he had
an overall obedient attitude (the proof of true repentance) by doing a literal work
of righteousness. Through this
repentant attitude, Abraham fulfilled one of the conditions for being justified
(Acts 5:31; Luke 24:47; compare II Cor. 7:10; Acts 13:24). So now we know justification, by its main
definition, comes only from faith ultimately.
Also,
in resolving the seeming contradiction between James and Paul concerning
justification, we need to realize “justification” and “sanctification” have
secondary meanings to those found in the three-definition schema of salvation
described above. Since we humans keep
sinning all the time, including after we have confessed our sins to God and
accepted Jesus as our personal Savior at some definite point in the past, we
continually need to keep getting justified as we keep sinning. But, contrary to what those who accept “once
saved, always saved” maintain, justification should not be seen as a one-time
event that forgives in advance all the sins we will commit in the future. Paul’s own terminology using the language of
athletic contests, which means, of all the contestants involved, some win and
some lose, shows that Christians can lose salvation even after having sincerely
repenting and accepting Jesus as their personal Savior (notice I Cor. 9:24-27;
II Tim. 4:7). This view can turn God’s
grace into a license for sin, since no matter how much we may sin, it is
automatically already forgiven at the moment we initially accepted Jesus as our
personal Savior. As for sanctification,
in one sense we are “sanctified” (made holy) all at once, which is when we
receive the Spirit of God after baptism and the laying on of hands (Acts
8:14-19; 19:6). But becoming obedient
in the habits of daily living is a gradual, life-long process, so
sanctification should be mainly seen as a process rather than something
instantaneous (Rom. 6:13, 16, 19, 22; I John 3:7). Hence, one solution to the seeming contradiction between Paul and
James on justification is to see the former as normally talking about the
initial moment of conversion, while the latter discusses how it needs to be
maintained by a continuously repentant and faithful relationship with God.
Now--what
is the relationship between righteousness and faith? Since justification literally means “to be declared righteous,”
it is obvious that righteousness must also be gained by faith, just like
justification (the removing of sin) is.
The Bible shows that two types of righteousness come from God, since
that word is used two different ways.
The first type of righteousness is forensic or imputed, meaning it is
attributed to us by God due to our faith only (Rom. 10:10), without any
merit involved. We find this type in
Rom. 4:6: “[J]ust as David also speaks
of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from
works.” The second type of righteousness--imparted
righteousness--is gradually gained as spiritual character is developed through
using the Holy Spirit to overcome through various trials (Phil. 3:12-13). This type is described in Rom. 6:16: “[Y]ou are slaves of the one whom you obey,
either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” This second type is actual
righteousness, composed of acquired habits of obedience, and is not something
God just arbitrarily asserts we have.
Imputed righteousness corresponds with justification’s normal
definition, while imparted righteousness corresponds with sanctification.
A
Christian receives imputed righteousness when he places his faith in Jesus’
sacrifice. As Paul put it in Romans
4:5: “But to the one who does not work,
but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned [regarded]
as righteousness.” Or, as the Old
Testament put it (Gen. 15:6): “Then he
[Abraham] believed in the Eternal, and He reckoned it to him as
righteousness.” When imputed
righteousness is given to a Christian, he has still has to overcome all his old
evil habits from his life prior to repentance.
Likewise, Abraham, in Rom. 4:10-11 was declared righteous before he was
circumcised: “How then was it
reckoned? While he was circumcised, or
uncircumcised? Not while circumcised,
but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision [not the
actual reality--it was only imputed spiritually], a seal of the righteousness
of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that righteousness might be
reckoned [to be looked upon as having] to them . . .” Notice also Rom. 4:22 (KJV):
“And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.” Then Phil. 3:9 says: “[A]nd may be found in Him, not having a
righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith [only--without works]
may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law
[i.e. from coming under the Old Covenant by being circumcised], but what which
is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis
of faith [without the physical act--”work”--of being circumcised].” Thus, there is one kind of righteousness
which is attributed (imputed) to us purely on the basis of faith, without
having overcome any evil habits we may have, or obeying various physical
rituals (such as circumcision) found in the Old Testament.
Imparted
righteousness--the “second” type of righteousness--is gradually developed as a
Christian progresses in his spiritual life as he overcomes sins with the Holy
Spirit’s help (Rom. 8:13). For God does
not just intend to only say (declare) that we are righteousness by
removing our sins from us (which constitutes imputed righteousness), but He
wants us to actually become righteous by overcoming sinful ways of life. Note Rom. 8:3-4: “He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of
the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit.” We are to
become holy (sanctified): “Be holy, for
I am holy” (Lev. 11:44).
We
must never think, as many professing Christians do, that we are not to work
hard to actually become righteous, since they think being declared righteous is
enough with an initial conversion experience which they might call “being born
again.” They want imputed righteousness
without striving to actually become righteous by obeying the law, which is
imparted righteousness. But Paul says
we shouldn’t be casual about working with God to gain salvation! “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both
to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13). How much is this opposed to the idea of
resting in Jesus and being fully confident in our salvation and relationship
with God? To the contrary, we must put
effort into becoming sanctified (holy):
“[D]o not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as
instruments of unrighteousness; but
present your selves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members of
instruments of righteousness” (Rom. 6:13).
“[Y]ou are the slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting
in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness” (Rom. 6:16). Then, what does righteousness result
in? “[S]o now present you members as
slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification” (Rom. 6:19). Then, what does sanctification result
in? “But now having been freed from sin
and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification,
and the outcome, eternal life” (Rom. 6:22). Observe how imparted righteousness is linked sanctification, and
in turn how sanctification is made a condition to salvation! Thus, at first we are declared righteous
because Jesus took away our sins, but later we are actually to become righteous
by overcoming sinful habits with God’s help.
In
order to become truly righteous, we need more than just our faith IN Jesus,
which only allows us to be declared righteous (justified). Instead, we need also to have to actual
faith OF Jesus, not just IN Jesus, since we must have God’s help in order to
become truly obedient in all the habits of our life. “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
faith, as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith’” (Rom.
1:17). To have the death penalty removed
from us by being justified does not make our old sinful habits go away
automatically. We must have God’s help
to overcome our carnal ways of life, through the faith OF Christ. Since Jesus needed God’s help in order to
resist sin (Heb. 5:7), then surely we do also (Rom. 8:13). We are to learn how to live a righteous life
by Jesus’ own faith coming into us, becoming a part of us: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the
Son of God” (Gal. 2:20, KJV). We could
never become actually righteous by our own efforts alone: “And all our righteous deeds are like a
filthy garment” (Isa. 64:6).
One
stumbling block to various professing Christians attempting to become actually
righteous is the common belief that the law is done away such that there is no
need to obey God. But this confuses the
law as a guide to conduct with the law as a source of salvation. Christians should look to the law as if it
was a mirror helping reveal what is wrong in their lives (James 2:23-25): “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and
not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for
once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what
kind of person he was. But the one who
looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not
having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be
blessed in what he does.” The law defines
what is righteousness since sin occurs when it is disobeyed. “Sin is the transgression of the law” (I
John 3:4, KJV). “Sin is not imputed
when there is no law” (Rom. 5:13).
“Shall we say, then, that the Law itself is sinful? Of course not! But it was the Law that made me know what sin is. If the Law had not said, ‘Do not desire what
belongs to someone else,’ I would not have know such a desire [was sin] “(Rom.
7:7). “Through the law comes the
knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). The law
convicts us since when we disobey it, it condemns us (Rom. 4:15): “[F]or the Law brings about wrath.” “[F]or sin, taking opportunity through the
commandment deceived me, and through it killed me” (Rom. 7:11). Obviously, that which is the source of
condemnation cannot be a source of salvation!
Yet, the law is still a Christian’s compass as to what God wants us to
do in our lives.
Furthermore,
the law is clearly still in force: “Do
we nullify the law through faith? May
it never be! On the contrary, we
establish the law” (Rom. 3:31). “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet
stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not
commit murder.’ Now if you do not
commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the
law” (James 2:10-11). Obviously, you
cannot transgress what has been abolished!
“For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man . . . “
(Rom. 7:22). How could Paul “joyfully
concur” with something that has been abolished? He certainly did not in Galatians! In Eph. 6:1-3, he says the Fifth Commandment is still in force. Of course, some aspects of the law have been
abolished (Eph. 2:15; Heb. 9:10; l0:8-9).
But the moral law, which is codified by the Ten Commandments, must still
be in force, or else the Bible contradicts itself. Thus, the dual law theory is true.
The
law does not contradict grace so long as we realize specifically how each has a
different role. The law is the great
sin detector--it tells us what to do and not do. Grace describes the attitude God has towards mankind’s sins: He forgives us through unmerited favor. This results in an overall relationship or
state in God’s sight, not a moment-by-moment condition in which we are judged
sinners and lose salvation each time we sin, only to confess and repent in
order to regain salvation again.
Obedience does not earn salvation, since only by grace, not by the merit
of lawkeeping, is salvation ultimately saved.
Without Jesus’ death on behalf of our sins, nobody could be saved. But if one routinely sins without repentance
or an overall obedient attitude, one will lose salvation. Lawkeeping earns nothing concerning
salvation, but lawbreaking without repentance costs salvation since “the
wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23) before and after baptism. However, so long as one has an overall
obedient attitude, which will inevitably manifest itself in works, one will
still be saved. So long as a Christian
has the Holy Spirit, which is the presence of salvation conditionally, he or
she will still be saved (II Cor. 5:5; Eph. 4:30; l:l3-l4).
But
how do we explain about being saved by grace when we encounter such scriptures
as Matt. 16:27 (KJV): “For the Son of
Man shall come in the glory of His Faith with His angels; and then He shall
reward every man according to his works.”
Or Rev. 20:12: “[T]he dead were
judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their
deeds”?
What
we need to realize here is that our “reward” is not salvation, but
rather how high or low a position we will have in the kingdom of God. The parable of the pounds (Luke 19:11-27),
which has servants receiving positions of rule over ten (v. 17) and five (v.
19) cities, plainly shows different ranks will exist in the kingdom of
God. The servants were rewarded due to
their differing efforts, differing positions, relative to their ability (Matt.
25:14). Obviously, getting into the
kingdom of God is not based on ability or what is earned, but with whether you
repent, have faith in Jesus’ sacrifice, and accept God’s grace. [True, such
faith must manifest works to be real (James 2:26)]. A reward is something given in exchange for some service, good
work, achievement, or accomplishment, such as being put on the honor roll at
school in exchange for having good grades, while grace is something given
completely freely, in exchange for nothing, and is totally undeserved. Thus grace is the opposite of a reward, and
since eternal life is a gift (Rom. 6:23), it can NEVER be a reward in exchange
for services (works) rendered.
Since
getting into the kingdom of God is by grace, the amount of time you are a
Christian in the process of sanctification has nothing to do with whether you
are saved (Matt. 20:1-16). Instead, the
issues are: Have you repented? Did you have faith in God’s grace? Did you receive the Holy Spirit, which is
what makes you a Christian (Rom. 8:9)?
For if you die the day after having gained the Holy Spirit through the
laying on of hands, you are every bit as much saved as if you were a Christian
for fifty years and then died.
For instance, those who repent and believe during the Great Tribulation
will be saved despite having only believed for a brief period before being
martyred in it. But the person who is a
Christian for fifty years before dying has a chance to gain a higher position
in the kingdom of God if he works hard to overcome his past bad and sinful
ways. Thus, besides the benefits of
being happier in this life due to obeying God’s law lifelong, there also can be
a great spiritual benefit (rank in the kingdom of God), even though everyone
receives by grace the same basic benefit and gift: eternal life (Matt. 20:12-16).
Are
Christians qualifying for the kingdom of God now? The answer is yes or no, depending on the definition of the word
“qualify” used. If “qualify” is taken to mean “to be fitted or
competent for something,” the answer is no, because Christians on their own
will never be fit enough or competent enough for God’s kingdom. On the other hand, if the word “qualify” is
taken to mean “to get authority, license, power etc. (i.e. something) as by
fulfilling required conditions,” then the answers is yes. If Christians fulfill the required
conditions of repentance and faith, they will enter the kingdom of God due to
God’s grace. Thus Christians either are
or aren’t qualifying for the kingdom of God, depending on how the word
“qualify” is used.
A
key point in reconciling grace and works is that an obedient attitude is a
condition to salvation. Grace is
undeserved and unmerited, but it is not unconditional. As someone once pointed out, “We have to be
eligible for grace.” God lays down
certain requirements for anyone who wishes to receive salvation: Repentance and faith in Jesus’ sacrifice,
which must be expressed by baptism (Acts 2:38, John 3:5; Mark 16:16). Repentance literally means “a change of
mind” or “having another mind.” And
since repentance involves not only the confessions of sins to God, but also the
will to try to obey God in the future, you must have an overall obedient
attitude if you wish to be saved.
Naturally, if you have this
obedient, repentant attitude, you will produce good works matching it. For a faith that produces no works cannot
save: “You believe that God is
one. You do well; the demons also
believe, and shudder” (James 2:19).
Those who truly repent, are baptized, and
then receive the gift of the Holy Spirit will strive to obey God. The Holy Spirit is not passive within you,
but it will flow out in righteous works if you allow it to. The branches (Christians) will produce fruit
(righteous works) if you allow the Holy Spirit to work within you (John
15:1-8). Thus, if one is repentant, one
had better be trying to obey God, or else one’s “repentance” or “faith” were
delusions. Occasional slip-ups can be
expected, and are routinely forgiven (“justified”), but they should decrease as
one grows spiritually (II Pet. 3:18).
Those who strive to gain more of the same faith Jesus had, the faith OF
Christ, will establish the law (Rom. 3:31) in their lives, and avoid sinning as
much as possible. Of course, our sins
can always be forgiven even after baptism (I John 1:8), but may we minimize
them! Repentance without works is just
as dead as faith is without works.
Notice that the fact God has conditions
to his grace does not mean we earn salvation by fulfilling those
conditions. Rather, through repentance
and faith, we are doing only what was required of us already (Luke 17:10). No amount of lawkeeping today can take away
a single sin committed yesterday. Only
through Jesus’ sacrifice, and not through commandment keeping, can any sin be
forgiven. And surely no one has
“earned” the right to have Jesus’ innocent life slain for himself or herself!
Consider: If God had no conditions to salvation, then
anybody could demand the benefits of God’s grace, which is eternal life. It would become a right. Even a criminal who never repented or
believed in Jesus’ sacrifice could whine to God, “I want eternal life and
forgiveness now!,” and God would have to give it to him if He imposed no
conditions. On the contrary, notice Gal.
5:21 and I Cor. 6:9-11. We must have an
obedient, repentant attitude if we wish to be saved. Only by laying down conditions can God keep His impartial grace
from being abused.
In
a very important sense, we can always be confident of our salvation so long as
we have an overall repentant and obedient attitude, which will be a
manifestation of our faith. Literal
obedience will then be a natural outflow of our faith and obedient
attitude. If we sin, now and then, we
can always be forgiven so long as we repent and strive to keep that overall
obedient attitude. Occasionally, of
course, we have bad attitudes, especially when under stress, but so long as we
repent of these mental slips there is no danger to our salvation since our
overall attitude would still be correct, and we still would have the Holy
Spirit, which is what guarantees eternal life so long as it is within us (Rom.
8:11; II Cor. 5:5). Those who worry
about having committed the unpardonable sin almost certainly have not committed
it, if they still wish to repent. Let us never give up being a
Christian because we sin occasionally, for with God’s help and forgiveness we
will triumph: “If God is for us, who is
against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
Eric V. Snow
The Revolutionary Implications of the MMT for
Interpreting Paul’s “Works of the Law”
by Eric V. Snow
One
of the great puzzles in Paul’s writings is the meaning of the term “the works
of the law.” For example, Paul
wrote: “For we maintain that a man is
justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28). The term appears again in Gal. 3:5: “Does He [God] then, who provides you with
the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by
hearing with faith?” A long time
problem in interpreting this term is that it appeared absolutely nowhere
in ancient Jewish literature outside the New Testament. IF this term means all acts of lawkeeping
and obeying God, whether it be caring for the poor, avoiding stealing, keeping
the Sabbath, or getting circumcised, then the classical Protestant
Reformation’s view of how Christians are saved is fundamentally correct: works--literal acts of obedience--have
nothing to do with being saved (except, perhaps, as being evidence of having
saving faith). However, IF this term
has a narrow meaning, as referring to rituals of the ceremonial law, or various
Old Testament judgments not tied to the Ten Commandments (i.e. the moral law),
then this opens the door to the view that Paul merely condemned obeying the
CEREMONIAL law as a condition to salvation, with particular emphasis on
circumcision. For various gentiles were
seriously tempted to be circumcised because standard Jewish theology said that
one could not enter the Old Covenant relationship with God, and thus be saved,
without being circumcised (compare Acts 15:1).
For the Jews, circumcision was seen to be the equivalent of baptism for
Christians--as absolutely necessary to gain an initial relationship with God,
and thus necessary for salvation. So,
when Paul wrote (say) Gal. 2:16 or Rom. 3:28, did he mean no acts of obedience
were a condition to salvation, or just no acts of obedience to the ceremonial
law were a condition to salvation, such as circumcision?
As
described in Martin Abegg’s article, “Paul, ‘Works of the Law,’ and MMT,” in
the November/December 1995 Biblical Archeology Review, there has been
uncovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls an ancient Jewish document using this term
for the first time outside the Bible.
This document is known as the MMT (Hebrew for Miqsat Ma’ase Ha-Torah,
“Pertinent Works of the Law” by one translation). It describes the works of the law in a list based upon ceremonial
rituals, or various judgments, but not upon the Ten Commandments, including the
Sabbath. Examples of laws listed in it
are: cleansing lepers, letting blind
and deaf people into the Temple, carrying gentile corn into the inside of the
Temple, intermarrying with Ammonite and Moabites (i.e. gentile) converts,
plowing with different animal simultaneously, mixing wool and linen in cloth
together, and presenting gentile offerings.
Since none of these “works of the law” concern the great precepts of the
Ten Commandments, or such duties as caring for the poor, or even tithing,
keeping the Sabbath, Holy Days, etc., the MMT’s definition of “the works of the law” radically narrows the
meaning of what Paul was condemning in Gal. 2-3 and Rom. 3-4. It means literal works obeying the moral law
can be a condition (not that they earn) to salvation, which is in
accordance with certain always troubling scriptures like Matt. 19:17 or Rom.
2:13: “[I]f you wish to enter into
life, keep the commandments.” “[F]or
not the hearers of the Law are just before God (contrast Gal. 3:2, 5), but the
doers of the Law will be justified.”
Hence, Paul can be seen as generally dealing with the initial stage of
salvation--”justification”--and seen as denying repeatedly circumcision as
being what reconciles you to God in this first stage of the salvation process.
In contrast, “sanctification” can be seen as requiring some literal works of
obedience to the moral law, as the chain link of logic in Rom. 6: 13, 16, 19,
22 would indicate.