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Scriptural Exegesis

Now let's address some of the passages that have been used by those advocating that "works of the law = ceremonial law."

We saw earlier that Romans 3:29 is often cited to support the idea that "works of the law" in Romans 3:28 refers to the ceremonial law. Here are those passages again:

28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one."

As noted earlier, it is argued that since the distinguishing characteristic between Jews and Gentiles is that the former practice the ceremonial law and the latter do not, then the "works of the Law" in 3:28 must refer to the ceremonial law. It is further argued that since the Jews and Gentiles have the moral law in common, then this leaves the ceremonial law as the only distinction between the Jew and Gentile.

Although this kind of argumentation sounds logical, it is based on a faulty understanding of both the Law and the context of the passage. Let's first deal with the concept of "Law."

On the one hand, let's understand what a "ceremonial law" is and from whence it derives. Ceremonial laws are laws having to do with worship and relations with God. The Fathers and the Medievals often referred to them as "sacraments" for that very reason. They stem from the first three commandments of the Decalogue, wherein men are told to honor and obey God alone.

In Israel, there was a specific way God desired the Israelites to worship him. First and foremost was circumcision, which was established at the time of Abraham. Then there came the institution of feast days; eating certain kinds of foods; sacrificing certain kinds of animals; etc. All these were forms of worship and the means of honoring God.

On the other hand, moral laws concern relations with men. They stem from the last seven commandments of the Decalogue, wherein men are told to treat their neighbors with love and respect. Man does this by honoring his parents, not killing, stealing, adulterating, lying, or coveting against his neighbor.

Now, it is often assumed by the proponents of "works of the law = ceremonial law" apologetic that it is only the moral law which Jews and Gentiles have in common. This is usually based on the fact that in Romans 2:14-15 Paul says that the Gentiles have the "law of God written on their hearts," and therefore they know through their conscience what is right and wrong, and will be judged thereby. These "laws of the heart" are assumed to be representing the moral laws of the Decalogue.

But what these apologists fail to recognize is that the laws of worship, stemming from the first Three Commandments, are also written on the hearts of the Gentiles, not just the laws of morality from the last Seven Commandments. If this were not the case, the Gentiles would not know they were required to honor and thank God.

We see this principle more clearly in Romans 1:19-21 where Paul says:

19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Notice Paul says that God made Himself evident to man, even his "divine nature." Hence it is not merely moral laws that God wrote on the heart of man, but the very knowledge of God himself, verified by the things which God made.

Paul further says that, because of the divine knowledge placed within them, men were required to "honor" and "give thanks" to God, but they refused to do so. What is "honor" and "thanks" to God but worship of God? In fact, as the rest of the context tells us, it is only after they refused to worship God that they fell into all kinds of moral debauchery against their neighbor (cf., Romans 1:22-32). So we see that the worship laws written on man's heart have a unique relationship with the moral laws written on his heart.

Thus, we are left with the truth that the laws written on the heart of the Gentiles are not only moral laws, but also worship laws, laws which are supposed to lead men to honor and thank God, as well as love their fellow man. These laws are the same laws Adam and Eve had written on their hearts. It is the very reason they knew they were to worship God alone and to shun the Devil.

Men today still have those laws written on their heart, although they are marred due to the presence of sin. It is Christ who re-writes those laws of worship and morality on our hearts in the New Covenant, which we receive at Baptism (cf., Hebrews 8:8-13; 10:16-18), for he is the second Adam (1 Cor 15:45).

So when Paul says in Romans 3:29: "Is he the God of the Jews only?" he cannot be referring just to the ceremonial law, since it is clear that the Gentiles have more in common with the Jews than the moral law.

The only thing the Gentiles did not have in common with the Jews was a set of laws written on tablets; a divine codification of specific and detailed commandments; a covenant directly from God in which everything He required was spelled out and ordered, along with its blessing and cursings. The Gentiles possessed the laws of the Decalogue only in their hearts and consciences, but they had no direct communication with God as the Jews did.

We see this portrayed rather precisely as Moses describes the contrast between Israel and the other nations in Deuteronomy 4:1-8:

1 "Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you....5 See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. 6 "So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' 7 "For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? 8 "Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today?"

We know that Moses is referring to the whole law of Israel, for in the next chapter, Deuteronomy 5, the Ten Commandments are given to the people. It is these commandments, and their details which are explained in other parts of the Pentateuch, which are the envy of the nations and which make them revere Israel as a blessed people of God. Unfortunately, they became too proud of the Law, which leads Paul to say to them in Romans 2:23: "You boast in the Law, but through your breaking the Law you dishonor God." The Jews were boasting in the whole law of Moses, not just the ceremonial law, which is noted by the fact that Paul specifies that they were breaking the laws against stealing, adultery and idolatry (Romans 2:21-22).

Someone might argue that though the worship laws of the first three Commandments were written on the hearts of the Gentiles, still, circumcision was not written on their hearts, and thus it was circumcision that set them apart from Gentiles. But this objection fails. The Gentiles did not possess the specifics of the moral law. The specifics of the moral law were codified in the Pentateuch of Israel. As such, the Gentiles did not know the details of the moral law.

For example, the Gentiles did not know that they should requite a person fourfold from whom they stole (Ex 22:1). They did not know that a man who had sex with a virgin should marry her and not divorce her all his days (Dt 22:19). They did not know that one could grab some grains of barley to eat on the Sabbath but that one could not do it with a sickle (Dt 23:25). They did not know that astrology or sorcery was strictly prohibited (Ex 22:18).

The Gentiles had only the general imprint of the moral law written on their heart, so in that sense they did not have the moral law in common with the Jews, just as it can be said that they did not have the ceremonial law in common with Jews. The only time the Gentiles DID have the specifics of the law in common with Israel was when they actually became a part of Israel. It was only then that they were required to obey the ceremonial and moral laws of the Pentateuch.

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