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The Gentiles and Works

We can also prove the point by showing that the "works of the law" was not a problem only among the Jews, but the Gentiles themselves were tempted to think that God was in debt to pay them with salvation. To combat this, Paul continues the "grace versus works" theme throughout his writings.

For example, in 1 Corinthians 4:7 (the very verse St. Augustine used to show the true nature of Justification), Paul says:

"For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?"

Notice the same accusation against the Corinthians concerning their "boasting" that Paul used against the Jews in Romans 2-4 when he was speaking about their self-aggrandizing behavior. In four passages, Romans 2:17; 2:23; 3:27 and 4:2 Paul uses the word "boasting." He does so because the Jews were boasting that because they merely possessed the Law of Moses that God owed them salvation. Now, in the Corinthian letter, we see that the Gentiles began to think the same way about the Christian religion, thinking that somehow, because of their own efforts, they earned what they had received. The problems for the Corinthians in this regard are enormous. Almost every chapter of the epistle is an indictment against their boastful pride.

We next see Paul giving the same teaching to the Gentiles at Ephesus. In Ephesians 2:8-9 he writes:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Notice again the same emphasis on "boasting" in the context of "grace versus works." Paul is not writing to Jews, but to Gentiles, since in the surrounding verses he addresses them directly. In Ephesians 2:1-5 he writes:

1 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.... 11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision " by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands-- 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world."

Paul continues this same theme in another epistle written mainly to Gentiles. In Titus 3:5-7 he writes:

"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

This passage is even more significant than the others since Paul doesn't use the common wording "works of the law" or "works" or "law," but a new clause is added to the Justification dictionary: "deeds which we have done in righteousness." The Greek wording is "oujk ejx ejvrgwn tw:n ejn dikaiosuvnh aJ; ejpoihvsamen hJmei:V" which literally translates as "not by works of righteousness which we did." It couldn't be any clearer that St. Paul is including moral works in his regimen of things which do not justify, since "works of righteousness" can hardly be understood as referring to the ceremonial law. It must refer, as the Council of Trent taught, to "his own works which are done either by his own natural powers, or through the teaching of the Law."

So again, we see why the Council of Trent addressed the "works of the law" issue by teaching that it referred to the whole law. The reason: because the Gentiles have just as much of a problem in thinking that God owes them salvation as the Jews. In fact, THAT is the perennial problem of all mankind -- in his pride he thinks that that God both owes him a living and salvation. But Paul clearly teaches that such is not the case. Paul sums this up very well in Romans 11:35: "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became his counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?

Now, some may object that the whole Judaizing matter became obsolete after St. Paul's time when the Temple was destroyed and it was no longer possible to practice biblical Judaism. Christians and Jews became polarized against each other and lost sight of their common heritage.

But in answer we say that the principles learned from that experience remained. That is why, for example, Paul keeps going back to the experiences of Jewish unbelief in the Old Testament as the examples from which the Gentile churches must learn to have faith.

Just as Paul goes back to the Jews of Elijah's time in Romans 11 as an example of people who sought works rather than grace, so Paul does, for example, in 1 Cor 10:1-11 in order to warn the Corinthians not to fall into the same mind-set as the Jews.

What was that mind-set? From the surrounding context of the Corinthian epistle we find that the Corinthians were falling into the same sins of pride and boasting as the Jews, thinking that somehow they were owed what they were receiving from God because of their great knowledge and piety (cf., 1 Cor 3:18-22; 1 Cor 4:7-8).

Hence, twice in 1 Cor 10, in verses 6 and 11, Paul says that the stories about Jewish unbelief were written in the Old Testament precisely to serve as examples to the Church of our day so that we wouldn't fall into the same trap. The "trap" was that the Jews had all the accouterments of God's presense (v. 1-4: baptism, spiritual food and drink, the rock of Christ following them, etc) but verse 5 says "MOST of them God was not well-pleased with, and they were laid low in the wilderness."

So it seems that the "Jewish problem" was not, in essence, a reliance on rituals, but a warped mentality which believed that just because God blesses you means that he owes you, and that because of His obligation toward you then you are secure forever no matter what you do.

And isn't that the problem with the Gentiles too? How can we deny it when Paul says that it is the case? And if it is, then that is the reason the "Jewish problem" will never die, and that is the reason the New Testament is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.

But aren't we supposed to obey the moral law?

So now let's answer the question we posed earlier: If the moral law is included with the ceremonial law as that which condemns mankind, how does that square with the fact that we are supposed to obey the moral commands of the Old Testament, but not obey the ceremonial commands?

The answer is very simple. We are not obeying the moral laws of the Old Covenant. We are obeying the principles of the moral laws found in the Old Covenant. More than that, we are obeying the much improved moral laws, which God placed in the New Covenant. The New Covenant of Jesus Christ borrows from the good laws of the Old Covenant and makes them better. As Hebrews 8:6-7 says:

"But now he hath obtained a better ministry, by how much also he is a mediator of a better testament which is established on better promises. 7 For if that former had been faultless, there should not indeed a place have been sought for a second."

That is why, for example, we find Jesus saying in Matthew 5:21 "You have heard it was said 'You shall not commit murder,' but I say unto you that everyone who is even angry with his brother shall be liable for judgment." Jesus is taking the principle of the Old Covenant law and expanding on it for those who will be His followers in the New Covenant. In the New Covenant, Jesus is our Lawgiver and Judge (James 4:12). He is the one who gives us our ceremonial, moral and civil laws. In order to do so, He must set aside the Old Covenant ceremonial, moral and civil laws, for the Church cannot have two competing systems.

But notice this important point: It is the WHOLE system of the Old Covenant that must go, not just a part here or there. Those who teach that "works of the law" refers only to the ceremonial law are essentially teaching that only PART of the Old Covenant was set aside.

What about the ceremonial law? Isn't it true that we are not to obey the ceremonial law any longer, and didn't Paul make that clear in, for example, Colossians 2:16; while also teaching in Romans 13:9 that we are to obey the moral laws?

Well, we already answered the "moral law" question above. We are obeying the principles of the Old Covenant decalogue, but we are no longer under the Old Covenant itself.

As for our not obeying the ceremonial laws any longer, that is true, but it is true in the same way that we are no longer obeying the moral laws of the Old Covenant. Rather, we are obeying the principles of the Old Covenant ceremonial laws.

The ceremonial laws we have now are represented by our seven sacraments, Baptism, Confession, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Sacrament of the Sick. Hence, just as the New Covenant improved on the moral laws of the Old Covenant (i.e., the Sermon on the Mount), so the New Covenant improved on the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant and gave us the sacraments.

Paul summarizes this principle in Romans 7:6:

"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."

And he had already introduced it in Romans 6:14:

"For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."

Here we see that we have been "released from the Law" and that we are "not under Law but under grace." This means that we have been taken out of the whole system of Law (the ceremonial, civil and moral laws of the Old Covenant) and are now placed in the system of Grace. In that system Paul tell us that we are not to function based on the "oldness of the letter" (which is another way of saying the "letter of the law") but "we serve in the newness of the Spirit," that is, the Spirit of God guides our actions. The Spirit takes the principles of the Law, and infuses them, with Himself, into our being. That is the power of the New Covenant.

Paul says this best in Romans 8:2,4:

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death....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."

Notice again that we are "free from the Law" yet we must still fulfill the "requirement of the Law." Why must we fulfill its requirements? Because, as Paul says in Romans 7:12:

"So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good."

Every command in the Law is from God and therefore good. So our behavior must be modeled after the commandments. But we don't follow the commandments by putting ourselves back into the system of Law; rather, we take from the Law what is good, and practice it by the power of the Spirit of God. If we sin, the Spirit can forgive us, but the Law cannot, and therefore we must never come under the system of Law, or we will be condemned.

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