To Keep the Law is to Break the Law

There are two paths to righteousness. The first path is called Works, and it is the basis of every religion ever invented. The second path is called Grace and it is the invention of heaven.

These two paths run in different directions. One goes up and the other down. And you can only walk on one path at a time:

If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. (Romans 11:6)

Which path are you on?

The Way of Works

The Way of Works is signposted by rules and regulations. “Do this, and you will be acceptable. Don’t do that, and you will be holy.”

It’s a path that appeals to our flesh. “If I keep God’s commandments, I will be righteous.”

It is a path that leads to death.

Sadly, many well-intentioned people are walking the Way of Works and they do not know they are going the wrong way. They honor the Ten Commandments and consider themselves moral and law-abiding people. They do not know that they are falling short even on their best days.

The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. (Romans 8:7)

The irony is that someone who tries to keep the law is actually breaking the law. By trusting in themselves and their law-keeping abilities, they are elevating themselves above God. They are breaking the first commandment. “You shall have no other Gods before me” (Ex. 20:3).

Paul spends much of Romans talking about people who tried to do the works of law. He talks about religious types who “pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law” (Rom. 9:31).

Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. (Romans 9:32)

It’s easy to dismiss Paul’s warnings as if they were written for other people. But millions of people are walking the Way of Works, and they are wretched and lost. This includes well-meaning churchgoers who think that God will accept them if they stop sinning, read their Bible every day, and serve faithfully. The problem is not what they are doing, but why they are doing it.

If you believe God will accept, bless, save, or sanctify you because of the things you do, you are going the wrong way. You are pursuing a righteousness based on the law, and you will never attain your goal.

The remedy is to get off the Way of Works, stop trusting in the law, and put your faith in God’s grace.

The Way of Grace

The law is holy, righteous, and good, but it has no power to make you holy, righteous, and good. The purpose of the law is to reveal the futility of relying on your flesh so that you might put your trust in Jesus. On the cross, God condemned sin in the body of Christ…

so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)

Note that the law is fulfilled in us, not by us, as we allow Jesus the Righteous One to reveal his righteous life through us.

When we walk in step with the Spirit, we keep the law without any conscious effort. Conversely, when we try to keep the law in our own strength, we fall short. The problem is not the law, which is good, but our flesh, which is weak.

Do you see the paradox? Those who try to keep the law can never succeed (see Romans 7), while those who trust in Jesus can never fail (Romans 8).

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4)

Christ is the end or fulfillment of the law. His cross is the exclamation mark that marks the end of the Way of Works.

The only road sign you need

The Way of Works has many road signs, but the Way of Grace has just one – the cross. When you come to the cross, you will either walk past it, believing you can make yourself righteous, or you will turn around and say, “I am done with works. I need grace.”

If you are working to make yourself acceptable and pleasing to God, stop. See the cross. See the God who justifies the ungodly on account of grace (Rom. 4:5).

If you believe you must confess sins and keep short accounts with God, stop. See the cross. Your sins are there (Rom. 4:7–8, 11:26–27).

If you believe you must keep the commands to prove you are holy, stop. See the cross. Christ is the end or fulfillment of the law for all who trust in him.

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If you liked this, you will love my new verse-by-verse commentary on Romans.