By Tom Damour · May 28, 2019
Part 1 of 2
What Paul Corrected — and What He Did Not
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.” — Romans 1:16
Paul’s statement in Romans 1:16 is easy to quote, but its force becomes clearer when we understand the world from which he spoke. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel because he had discovered that it accomplished what ancestry, religious reputation, tradition, and even the written Law could never accomplish. The gospel was not merely a better set of religious instructions. It was — and remains — the power of God to salvation.
That does not mean Paul turned against Scripture, Torah, or obedience. This point must remain clear. Paul’s problem was not the written Law of Moses. His concern was what happened when that Law was placed inside a religious system that treated outward actions, inherited traditions, and identity markers as the practical basis for acceptance with God.¹
Paul was not rejecting obedience. He was rejecting the idea that obedience could earn righteousness. He was challenging a system that had confused the fruit of faith with the foundation of salvation. Once those two things are confused, religious performance begins to occupy the place that belongs to Christ alone.
“Therefore, the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” — Romans 7:12. Paul does not speak like a man who believes the Law is evil. He says plainly that it is holy, just, and good.² The problem was never with what God had spoken. The problem was within us.
The Law can define sin. It tells us what is right and what is wrong. It can expose rebellion by bringing guilt into the light. It can also describe faithfulness by showing what obedience to God looks like. Yet the Law cannot give a new heart. It can identify the disease, but it cannot create the cure. It can reveal the need, but it cannot produce new life.
That distinction is essential. A mirror can show a man that his face is dirty, but the mirror cannot wash him. In the same way, the Law exposes the truth about the human heart. It reveals sin in its moral seriousness, but it does not possess the power to transform the sinner from within. That work belongs to God, who promised to give His people a new heart and place His Spirit within them.³
Religious works become dangerous when they are no longer understood as the response of faith but are turned into a substitute for faith. This was at the center of Paul’s dispute in Galatians. Some were telling Gentile believers that faith in Christ was not enough. Before they could fully belong to the people of God, they also had to take on particular Jewish identity practices — especially circumcision.⁴
Paul recognized the theological danger immediately. If belonging to God depended upon adopting those outward marks, then Christ was no longer sufficient. The gospel had quietly been changed from the announcement of what God had done in Christ into a program of what human beings must do to make themselves acceptable.
“A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.” — Galatians 2:16. Paul brought the argument back to Christ. We are accepted through faith in Jesus Christ, not by earning a place through religious performance. Obedience matters, but it is not the price of admission into God’s family. It is the life that follows from having been received by grace.
Another distinction must also be maintained: the written Law and the traditions built around it are not identical. The written Law was what God gave through Moses. It carried divine authority and revealed God’s will. The traditions surrounding it consisted of later explanations, rulings, applications, and expectations intended to govern how the Law should be practiced.
Not every tradition is automatically wrong. A community will always develop habits of interpretation and practice. The danger arises when those traditions can no longer be tested, corrected, or overturned by Scripture. At that point, they cease to function as servants of the Word and begin to operate as a rival authority.
Jesus confronted this problem when human tradition was used to make the commandment of God ineffective. Paul had lived within the same kind of religious world. He could speak of being exceedingly zealous for the traditions of his fathers.⁵ His criticism, therefore, did not come from ignorance or hostility toward his people. It came from firsthand knowledge of how a religious system can gradually train people to defend its inherited judgments as though those judgments carried the same authority as the Word of God.
“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” — Galatians 3:6. Paul appealed to Abraham because Abraham’s story reveals the right order with unusual clarity. Abraham believed God, and righteousness was credited to him. The covenant sign came later.⁶ Faith came first; obedience followed.
This does not make obedience unimportant. It puts obedience in its proper place. Abraham’s obedience did not purchase the promise. It expressed his trust in the God who had already spoken the promise. The outward sign testified to the covenant relationship; it did not create righteousness by human effort.
The same order appears in the experience of the Galatian believers. Paul asked whether they had received the Spirit by works of the Law or by hearing with faith. The answer was obvious: God had already given them His Spirit in response to faith.⁷ Their reception of the Spirit was evidence that God had accepted them. No teacher had the right to add another entrance requirement after God Himself had given the defining gift of the new covenant.
Questions & Answers
Q: Why was Paul not ashamed of the gospel, according to this part?
A: Because he had discovered that the gospel accomplished what ancestry, religious reputation, tradition, and even the written Law could never accomplish. It was not merely a better set of religious instructions — it was, and remains, the power of God to salvation (Romans 1:16).
Q: What was Paul NOT rejecting — and what was he rejecting?
A: He was not rejecting Scripture, Torah, or obedience, and he did not believe the Law was evil — he calls it “holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12). What he rejected was the idea that obedience could earn righteousness: a system that confused the fruit of faith with the foundation of salvation, letting religious performance occupy the place that belongs to Christ alone.
Q: What can the Law do, and what can it not do? What picture does the article use?
A: The Law can define sin, tell us right from wrong, expose rebellion, and describe what faithfulness looks like. It cannot give a new heart, create the cure, or produce new life. The picture is a mirror: a mirror can show a man that his face is dirty, but it cannot wash him. Giving a new heart and placing His Spirit within His people is God’s work.
Q: What was the danger in Galatians when teachers required circumcision of Gentile believers?
A: If belonging to God depended on adopting those outward identity marks, then Christ was no longer sufficient. The gospel had quietly been changed from the announcement of what God had done in Christ into a program of what human beings must do to make themselves acceptable. Paul’s answer: “A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16) — obedience is the life that follows being received by grace, not the price of admission.
Q: How does this part distinguish the written Law from tradition, and what does Abraham’s story show?
A: The written Law was given by God through Moses and carries divine authority; traditions are the later explanations, rulings, and expectations built around it. Tradition is not automatically wrong, but it becomes a rival authority when it can no longer be tested, corrected, or overturned by Scripture. Abraham shows the right order: he believed God and righteousness was credited to him — faith came first, and the covenant sign and obedience followed. In the same way, the Galatians received the Spirit by hearing with faith, not by works of the Law.
Summary Test
Answer each question, then open “Check your answers” to see how you did.
1. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel because it is…
a) A better set of religious instructions
b) The power of God to salvation
c) A proud family tradition
2. True or false: Paul believed the Law was evil.
a) True
b) False
3. The Law is pictured as a mirror because it…
a) Can wash a dirty face
b) Shows a man his face is dirty, but cannot wash him
c) Hides sin from view
4. Requiring circumcision of Gentile believers implied that…
a) Christ was no longer sufficient
b) The Law was evil
c) Faith was unnecessary
5. Abraham’s story shows righteousness was credited to him when he…
a) Was circumcised first
b) Believed God — faith came first, and obedience followed
c) Had kept the whole Law
Check your answers
1. The power of God to salvation — Romans 1:16 — the gospel does what ancestry, reputation, tradition, and Law could never do.
2. False — He calls it “holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12); he rejected earning righteousness by it.
3. Shows a man his face is dirty, but cannot wash him — The Law exposes our condition; giving a new heart is God’s work.
4. Christ was no longer sufficient — Belonging would rest on outward marks — the gospel quietly changed into a human program.
5. Believed God — faith came first, and obedience followed — Faith first; the covenant sign and obedience followed.
End of Part 1.
For more information on the subject’s covered on this site simply click here: United Church of God
Part 2 of 2
The order of the gospel is therefore faith, new life through the Spirit, and obedience. When that order is reversed, obedience becomes an effort to obtain life. When the order is preserved, obedience becomes the expression of life already received from God.
Paul understood the attraction of religious confidence because he had once possessed it in abundance. He had an honored heritage, strict training, careful rule-keeping, and a respected reputation. If anyone could have placed confidence in religious credentials, Paul believed he could have done so.⁸
But meeting Christ forced him to reevaluate the entire structure of his confidence. The things he once counted as gain could not make him righteous before God. Compared with knowing Christ and being found in Him, Paul counted them as loss. He wanted a righteousness that did not rest upon his own record but came through faith in Christ.
Paul was not attacking something he did not understand. He was describing the trap from the inside. He knew how religious achievement could become a source of identity, status, and confidence. He also knew that such confidence could make a person zealous for God while resisting the very work God was accomplishing.
The conflict Paul addressed is not confined to the first century. Every religious community must ask where its final authority truly rests. Three questions help expose the answer.
First, can the tradition be corrected? What happens when Scripture challenges a long-held practice or inherited interpretation? If the system protects the tradition by refusing correction, the tradition has already risen above its proper place.
Second, is Scripture allowed to speak clearly? A tradition may formally affirm biblical authority while controlling in advance what the text is permitted to mean. When the inherited system always wins, even when the biblical text is plain, the system has become the actual court of appeal.
Third, are ordinary believers encouraged to read, understand, and obey the Word of God? The Bereans were commended because they searched the Scriptures to test what they heard. Scripture is profitable for teaching, correction, and training in righteousness precisely because it remains capable of addressing and correcting the people of God.⁹
When a religious system can no longer be corrected by Scripture, it has become a rival authority — even if it continues to use biblical language.
The Law reveals sin; the gospel reveals the Savior. The Law exposes guilt; the gospel announces forgiveness. The Law describes righteousness; the gospel gives new life through Christ and the Spirit.¹⁰
These are not competing revelations, as though the God of the Law were opposed to the God of the gospel. The Law truthfully reveals our condition and our need. The gospel announces God’s saving answer to that need. What the Law could not do because of the weakness of the flesh, God accomplished by sending His Son. The righteous purpose of the Law is fulfilled in those who walk according to the Spirit.
The gospel is therefore not another religious system for making ourselves righteous. It is the good news that God saves, forgives, and changes those who believe. Its power rests neither in human ancestry nor in institutional approval. It rests in Jesus Christ — crucified, risen, and able to give life.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.” — Romans 1:16. Paul was not ashamed because the gospel did what his former confidence could never do. It revealed the Savior, offered forgiveness, changed the heart, and gave new life. The gospel did not flatter human pride. It brought every person — Jew and Gentile alike — to the same place: dependence upon the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Paul’s critique was therefore narrower and more precise than it is often made to appear. He did not condemn Scripture. He did not call the Law evil. He did not reject obedience. He opposed every system that placed human performance, inherited status, or religious tradition where Christ alone belongs.
That leaves us with a closing question. When Scripture challenges something we have always believed, what will have the final word: the Word of God, or the religious system that taught us how to read it?
Endnotes
1. Galatians 1:13–14; Philippians 3:4–6. 2. Romans 7:12. 3. Romans 7:7–13; Ezekiel 36:26–27. 4. Acts 15:1–11; Galatians 2:16; 5:1–6. 5. Mark 7:6–13; Galatians 1:13–14. 6. Genesis 15:6; 17:9–14; Galatians 3:6–7. 7. Galatians 3:2–5. 8. Philippians 3:4–9. 9. Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:16–17.
Questions & Answers
Q: What is “the order of the gospel” stated at the start of this part?
A: Faith, new life through the Spirit, and obedience. When that order is reversed, obedience becomes an effort to obtain life; when it is preserved, obedience becomes the expression of life already received from God.
Q: Why could Paul speak about religious confidence “from the inside”?
A: He had possessed it in abundance — an honored heritage, strict training, careful rule-keeping, and a respected reputation. Meeting Christ forced him to reevaluate it all: the things he once counted as gain could not make him righteous, so he counted them as loss compared with knowing Christ, wanting a righteousness that comes through faith in Christ rather than his own record.
Q: What are the three questions that expose where a community’s final authority rests?
A: First, can the tradition be corrected — or does the system protect it when Scripture challenges it? Second, is Scripture allowed to speak clearly — or does the inherited system control in advance what the text is permitted to mean? Third, are ordinary believers encouraged to read, understand, and obey the Word of God, like the Bereans who searched the Scriptures to test what they heard?
Q: How do the Law and the gospel work together, rather than competing?
A: The Law reveals sin; the gospel reveals the Savior. The Law exposes guilt; the gospel announces forgiveness. The Law describes righteousness; the gospel gives new life through Christ and the Spirit. They are not competing revelations: the Law truthfully reveals our condition and need, and the gospel announces God’s saving answer — what the Law could not do because of the weakness of the flesh, God accomplished by sending His Son.
Q: Where does the gospel’s power rest, and what closing question does the article leave us with?
A: Its power rests neither in human ancestry nor in institutional approval, but in Jesus Christ — crucified, risen, and able to give life. Paul’s critique was narrow and precise: he opposed every system that placed human performance, inherited status, or religious tradition where Christ alone belongs. The closing question: when Scripture challenges something we have always believed, what will have the final word — the Word of God, or the religious system that taught us how to read it?
Summary Test
Answer each question, then open “Check your answers” to see how you did.
1. “The order of the gospel” is…
a) Obedience, then faith, then new life
b) Faith, new life through the Spirit, then obedience
c) Tradition, then faith, then obedience
2. Paul counted his religious gains as loss compared with…
a) His reputation
b) Knowing Christ, and a righteousness that comes through faith in Him
c) His heritage
3. Which of these is one of the three questions that expose where a community’s final authority rests?
a) Can the tradition be corrected when Scripture challenges it?
b) Is the tradition very old?
c) Do most people like it?
4. True or false: the Law and the gospel are competing revelations.
a) True
b) False
5. The gospel’s power rests in…
a) Human ancestry
b) Institutional approval
c) Jesus Christ — crucified, risen, and able to give life
Check your answers
1. Faith, new life through the Spirit, then obedience — Reversed, obedience tries to obtain life; preserved, obedience expresses life received.
2. Knowing Christ, and a righteousness that comes through faith in Him — What once looked like gain could not make him righteous.
3. Can the tradition be corrected when Scripture challenges it? — Can it be corrected? Is Scripture allowed to speak clearly? Are believers encouraged to test teaching like the Bereans?
4. False — The Law reveals sin; the gospel reveals the Savior. They work together.
5. Jesus Christ — crucified, risen, and able to give life — Not ancestry or approval, but Christ alone.
End of Part 2.
For more information on the subject’s covered on this site simply click here: United Church of God
