one of your articles<\/a>, “He offers forgiveness of sins if a person submits to God’s laws.”<\/p>\nWhat about faith? Shouldn’t we live by faith and not law (Galatians 3:12)?\u00a0Also, what about Romans 7:1-6?<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
The requirement for faith is a part of God’s law. “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him<\/em>” (Hebrews 11:6). Those who believe are obeying God.<\/p>\nWhen looking at a passage, you need to understand both the passage and the context in which it appears. “However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘He who practices them shall live by them’<\/em>” (Galatians 3:12). A key to understanding this verse is to ask which law is Paul discussing? For that, we must look back in the context.<\/p>\n“For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, to perform them.’ Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘The righteous man shall live by faith.’ However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘He who practices them shall live by them’<\/em>” (Galatians 3:10-12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe frequent quotations from the Old Testament show that Paul is discussing the Law of Moses. His point is that in order to be justified by the Law, a person had to keep all the laws perfectly — something no one was able to do. Instead, even the Law of Moses points out that faith is required. Paul did not say faith was the only thing necessary. His point is that you can’t be justified without faith and this was in accordance with what God commanded when Paul quoted Habakkuk 2:4.<\/p>\n
“Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter<\/em>” (Romans 7:1-6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHere again, the context shows that Paul is discussing the Law of Moses. Here he is arguing that Christians are not under that Law. Those who were once Jews were released from the Law of Moses by the death of Christ, but that doesn’t mean they were released to live without any law. They were released so that they might be joined to another law — the Law of Christ. Notice how this section ends, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God<\/strong>, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin<\/em>” (Romans 7:25). He made the same point in Ephesians 2:11-18 and Colossians 2:8-14.<\/p>\nPaul argues that law-keeping without faith is useless because you will always fail. James argues the other side of the coin: faith without obedience is also useless (James 2:14-26). There must exist an “obedience of faith<\/em>” (Romans 1:5).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: You said in one of your articles, “He offers forgiveness of sins if a person submits to God’s laws.” What about faith? Shouldn’t we live by faith and not law (Galatians 3:12)?\u00a0Also, what about Romans 7:1-6? Answer: The requirement for faith is a part of God’s law. “And without faith it is impossible to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[53,177,55],"class_list":["post-15725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-faith-alone","tag-law","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20326,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-you-beautifully-write-about-the-law-being-nailed-to-the-cross-and-insist-that-salvation-comes-through-obedience\/","url_meta":{"origin":15725,"position":0},"title":"How can you beautifully write about the law being nailed to the cross and insist that salvation comes through obedience?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can someone write a beautiful article like \"What Was Nailed to the Cross?\" and then insist that salvation comes through obedience to a new set of commands? Answer: Because it is what God stated. See \"Doing Our Duty\" and \"In Word and Deed.\" \"For the weapons of our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20009,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-work-to-become-more-righteous-is-it-true-you-are-not-accepting-gods-righteousness\/","url_meta":{"origin":15725,"position":1},"title":"If you work to become more righteous, is it true you are not accepting God’s righteousness?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Mr. Jeff, A friend posted this on Facebook. I've read it over and over, and I just can't grasp what is being said. I'm always skeptical when a writer only quotes one Bible verse when he has so much to say. Sounds to me like a false doctrine or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24522,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-jesus-become-a-curse\/","url_meta":{"origin":15725,"position":2},"title":"Did Jesus become a curse?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, In Galatians 3:10-13, did Jesus become a curse? Please give some insight into this verse. Thanks. Answer: \"The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'All the nations will be blessed in you.'\" So then those who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40819,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/with-so-many-ways-being-taught-who-am-i-supposed-to-follow\/","url_meta":{"origin":15725,"position":3},"title":"With so many ways being taught, who am I supposed to follow?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Christ liberated us from legalism. I'm confused about determining what is wrong in our culture. I've always been brought up with a tough view on things that aren't customary. My question is: if we're called to preach the gospel to the world, how do we do it? Are we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61195,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/works-in-the-book-of-romans\/","url_meta":{"origin":15725,"position":4},"title":"Works in the Book of Romans","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Irvin Himmel via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0XXIII: 2, pp. 43-45, January 11, 1979 Frequently Paul mentions works or deeds in his epistle to the saints at Rome. Whatever he means by \"works,\" the term expresses something opposed to grace and faith. He insists that justification does not find its source in works.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faith-and-works-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":15725,"position":5},"title":"Faith and Works (Sharp)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Keith Sharp The doctrine of salvation by faith alone is fundamental to Protestant theology. The old Methodist Discipline stated, \u201cWherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.\u201d The Standard Baptist Manual, by Edward T. Hiscox teaches, \u201c... the great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}