What is the Apostle Paul saying in Romans 2:13? Is he saying that one must keep the law in order to be justified?
The Apostle Paul seems to be contradicting himself in Romans 2:13, which he seems to say that one is justified by keeping the Law, because in other passages (Romans 3:28; 5:1; Galatians 2:16; 3:24) he claims that one is justified by one’s faith. Is the Apostle Paul contradicting himself?
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Asked 3 hours ago
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Albert DeBenedictis
Supporter
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Tim Maas
Supporter
Justification WOULD have been possible through the Law IF it had been possible to keep the Law perfectly. But humanity's universal inherent sinfulness (which had been present ever since the commission of the first sin in Genesis 3) had made that IMpossible. However, the Law was still valid both as an ideal of conduct, as well as (at the same time) the instrument that showed humans that they could never conform to that ideal. (Paul made this point in the next chapter (Romans 3:20).) That was why it was necessary that Jesus be both without original sin (through His virgin birth) and without actual sin (through His conduct in thought, word, and deed), so that He could take the sacrificial punishment on our behalf that we should have been subject to, and so that, through faith in both that atonement and His subsequent resurrection, we could be granted the same eternal life that He now possesses.
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