Romans 3:31

Context

Romans 3:31 is part of the letter that Paul wrote to the believers in Rome. In the immediately preceding passage, Romans 3:21-30, Paul states that the righteousness of God has been manifested "without the law" and that a person is justified by faith and not by the deeds of the law (Romans 3:28). This verse answers an objection that his teaching might provoke: "Do we then make void the law through faith?" Paul rejects the suggestion with "God forbid" (Greek mē genoito, a strong negation) and replies, "yea, we establish the law." In chapter 4 he continues the argument from the Genesis account of Abraham, who was counted righteous by faith.

Interpretation

• Contextual reading: Many commentators take "law" here in a broad sense, referring to the Old Testament Scriptures as a whole. Because Romans 3:21 describes the righteousness of God as "being witnessed by the law and the prophets," and because chapter 4 demonstrates justification (being declared righteous by God) by faith from Genesis, a book of the Law, they read the verse to mean that the doctrine of faith accords with the testimony of the law.
• Lutheran reading: The tradition that distinguishes law and gospel explains that faith establishes the law in that it acknowledges the law's condemnation as true and accepts that Christ has fulfilled its demands. The thought of Martin Luther underlies this line of interpretation.
• Reformed reading: John Calvin and the Reformed tradition hold that the moral law remains a rule of life even for believers who have been justified in Christ. This view is often explained with reference to chapter 19 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, which treats the law.
• Wesleyan reading: John Wesley preached two sermons on this text, titled "The Law Established through Faith." He emphasized that faith does not abolish the law but establishes it by leading to love and a holy life, that is, to sanctification.

Debates and Issues

The verse is cited as a safeguard against misunderstandings in two opposite directions. One is antinomianism, the view that because one is saved by grace the law no longer matters; the other is legalism, which makes keeping the law a condition of salvation. Although denominations differ in where they place the emphasis, they generally agree in holding together justification by faith and the continuing significance of the law.

Interpreters differ over which law is "established." The Seventh-day Adventist Church appeals to this verse to argue that the entire Ten Commandments, including the Saturday Sabbath, remains binding on believers. Most Protestant denominations distinguish between the ceremonial law and the moral law, or emphasize the law's fulfillment in Christ, and worship on Sunday. This question is treated further in the article Sabbath and the Lord's Day.

Related Passages

• Romans 3:21-26
• Matthew 5:17
• Romans 8:4
• Romans 10:4
• Romans 13:8-10