No Grounds for Boasting

In the portion of Romans 3 that we have studied so far this month, Paul has powerfully presented the Gospel solution to the problem of human evil—justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Now he turns to a consideration of three implications of this God-ordained way of salvation.

The first of these is found in today’s passage. Paul writes: “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.” Simply put, the divine way of salvation rules out human pride. Indeed, as Dr. James M. Boice explains in his commentary on Romans, true faith and human pride cannot co-exist: “Boasting is related to pride—it is an expression of it—and pride is the greatest of all sins, according to Biblical Christianity. If pride is the greatest of all sins and God’s plan of salvation does not destroy pride—rooting it up, casting it out, and even dusting off the place where it stood—then it is not a good plan. It has failed, and we need a faith other than Christianity.”

Boice goes on to point out several attitudes and behaviors that people typically believe commend them to God and in which they therefore boast. They may boast in their morality, believing that they can save themselves by doing good things. They may boast in their knowledge of the Bible, of doctrine, or of eschatology. They may even boast of their faith, revealing that they see their act of trusting in the work of Christ as originating in themselves. But the Bible leaves no doubt that we are saved not because of our faith but by it, for faith is only the instrument of salvation—it is Jesus who saves. All these attitudes, while generally worthy in and of themselves, are not sufficient to save, Paul says. There is nothing man can do to save himself; salvation begins and ends with God, who gives man the very faith by which he is saved (Eph. 2:8).

Because faith is so crucial to God’s plan of salvation, Paul can speak of a “law of faith” that governs the process. That being the case, any other theoretical method of justification is ruled out quid pro quo, especially the idea that one can be justified by obeying the law. God has declared that justification is by faith; therefore, justification is not by keeping the law, and believers have no grounds for boasting.