How is the law upheld by this faith?

Explanation:

Paul says that faith in Christ does not overthrow the law, but through faith in Christ the law is upheld. Paul will explain in Romans 8:3–4 that the law is upheld through faith in Christ in the sense that those who put their faith in Christ are enabled by the Holy Spirit to live according to the commands of the law.³ Specifically, he says that by sending Christ, God condemned sin so that the righteous requirements of the law may be fulfilled by those who walk according to the Spirit. In other words, those who put their faith in Christ are enabled by the Holy Spirit to deny sin and live according to the righteous requirements of the law. ⁴

Counterargument:

The problem is that in Romans 8:1–11, Paul does not say that those who have faith in Christ will be enabled to live according to the Spirit. In fact, there is no mention of faith in Romans 8:1–11, where Paul discusses walking by the Spirit. Of course, this is a problem for this argument because Paul says in Romans 3:31 that it is by faith in Christ that the law is upheld. Given that Paul does not mention faith in Romans 8:1–11, it is unlikely that faith upholds the law in the sense of living by the Spirit.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument overlooks the fact that the person who is enabled by the Spirit to live according to the requirements of the law does so by the fact that Christ is in them. That is, Paul says that it is the person who is in Christ who lives according to the Spirit, and is therefore able to uphold the righteous requirements of the law. He goes on to refer to the Spirit of Christ dwelling in a person (Romans 8:9). Of course, to put faith in Christ is to be united with Christ so that Christ dwells in us. So by putting one’s faith in Christ, Christ dwells in the believer so that the believer has the Spirit and is able to maintain the righteous requirements of the law.

Explanation:

When Paul says that by faith we uphold the law, we can detect that he has in mind that we uphold the commands of the law through faith in Jesus Christ. We can detect that he has this in mind because he opens Romans 3:31 with the conjunction therefore. That signals that what he says in Romans 3:31 is related to what he wrote previously, and what he wrote previously is that we are justified by faith apart from the works of the law (Romans 3:28), where works of the law has to do with the commands of the law. Paul is saying we are justified by faith, not by upholding the commands of the law. Now Paul asks, Do we therefore overthrow the law by faith? To which he responds, No, we uphold the law. In other words, although we are not saved by upholding the commands of the law, by faith in Christ we uphold the commands of the law.⁵

Counterargument:

In Romans 3:31, Paul does not ask whether we overthrow the works of the law by this faith. Rather, he asks whether we overthrow the law by this faith. Now, the term law is used by Paul in several ways in Romans, including to refer to the Old Testament. For example, in Romans 3:19, after quoting Scripture, Paul says that whatever the law says, it says to those under the law. And it is clear from the context that when Paul says whatever the law says, it says to those under the law, he uses the term law to refer to the Old Testament. In the same way, Paul may be using the term law to refer to the Old Testament in Romans 3:31.⁶ In this sense, Paul would be saying, Does faith overthrow what is written in the Old Testament? To which Paul responds, No, it upholds what is written in the Old Testament.

Response to counterargument:

While it might be that Paul’s use of the term law is somewhat flexible, the immediate context suggests that he has in mind the prescriptions of the law.⁷ That is because, in this section, Paul specifically contrasts works of the law with faith in Christ (Romans 3:28), noting that our boasting is excluded by the law of faith, not the law of works (Romans 3:27). That our boasting is excluded by the law of faith and not works suggests that we cannot boast by our capacity to uphold the commands of the law. That is because we are all under sin (Romans 3:9). Of course, this raises the question. If we are not saved by works of the law, doesn’t this imply that we will not uphold the commands of the law? Paul says, No; in fact, it is through faith that we uphold the commands of the law.

One weakness of this view is that it is surprising that Paul, by saying we uphold the law through faith, implies that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to keep the aspects of the law. Given the importance of the detail that it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we uphold the law, we expect him to state that here.

Explanation:

When Paul says that we do not overthrow, but rather, establish the law by this faith, he means that his teachings on justification by faith is consistent with Scripture. We can detect that this is what Paul means by the Aramaic word that underlines the Greek verb ἵστημι (to stand). Paul uses the Greek verb in Romans 3:31b when he writes that this faith upholds the law. The Aramaic term that underlies the Greek verb is qiyyem, and it means to show that the text [of Scripture] is in agreement with your teaching.¹⁰ Most likely, Paul has this Aramaic notion in mind in Romans 3:31, which implies that Paul’s point is that his teachings on justification by faith are consistent with scripture.

Counterargument:

The problem here is that Paul does not say that this faith upholds Scripture. Rather, he specifically says that this faith upholds the law. Of course, the law refers to the laws given to the Israelites from God through Moses. These laws included ceremonial aspects such as offering sacrifices and participating in circumcision, as well as moral commands. Given that law refers to the Mosaic law, it is hard to see why Paul would use the clause, We uphold the law, to say that this faith aligns with the teachings of Scripture.

Response to counterargument:

Paul’s use of the term law throughout this section is not limited to the specific aspects of the ceremonial or moral commands of the Mosaic law. Rather, Paul has in mind the whole body of instruction found in the first five books of the Old Testament along with the commentary and on those books by further Old Testament authors.¹¹ In fact, we even notice Paul explicitly use the term law to refer to the Old Testament in Romans 3:19 when he says that the law speaks to those under the law, referring to the fact that Scripture speaks to those under the authority of Scripture. So it is not unlike Paul to use the term law to suggest something like the Old Testament law.