4:15
The Law brings wrath not life. For the Law highlights our guilt, and justifies no one. Paul then says “that where there is no law, there is no transgression”. What does this mean? It cannot mean that where there is no law people haven’t sinned. Man has sinned from the beginning, all have sinned. Paul would be contradicting himself (and the Bible) if he was saying that without the law people have not sinned. I have read one or two commentaries and haven’t found a wholly satisfactory answer, with some ignoring the issue! It could mean that faith does away with the Law, Christ has fulfilled and completed the Law. So Law is no longer an issue in terms of justification. The moral stipulations and principles of the Law were always valid, and are still valid.
4:16
Paul had a much bigger sense of the vision of God than the Jews had. A Promise resting on the works of man was doomed to failure because of the sinfulness of man. In order for the Promise to succeed it had to be built upon grace, and to be received by faith. Then all of Abraham’s offspring could receive the blessing. It is so important that we grasp what Paul is saying. Today when we want something to be “inclusive” we think that means relaxing standards, or abandoning them altogether. That is why so much of the church is willing to abandon clear Biblical teaching on sexuality, mistakenly thinking that this will lead to growth, or at least stop decline. This is a futile exercise. The gospel is utterly different. It is far more inclusive and diverse than anything the world comes up with, but at the same time it maintains standards, God’s standards. There are two key elements to the gospel, one is that it is open to all who will believe, the second is that it calls us to righteousness.
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