What does it mean that if election is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works?

Explanation:

Paul explains that election is based on grace, not works. To understand what he means, it is important to understand what he wrote earlier about works. First, in Romans 4:2–8 Paul explains that Abraham was not justified by works. Rather, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Further, in Romans 9:10–13 Paul explained that God chose Jacob and not Esau before either of them had done anything right or wrong, so that election is based not on works but on him who calls.³ In both Romans 4:2–8 and Romans 9:10–13, then, works refers to any work. Paul teaches that aside from any work, God chose Abraham and Jacob. Likewise, he reaffirms this teaching in relation to the remnant he has kept for himself in Israel. That is, there is a remnant God kept for himself by grace, not on the basis of works, which means, not because of any human effort whatsoever.

Counterargument:

The problem here is that Paul is specifically addressing Israel in this section. Romans 4:2–8 has to do with God justifying Abraham, while Romans 9:10–13 is related to God electing Jacob. Romans 11:1–6, on the other hand, is about God preserving a remnant in Israel. Now, we know from Scripture and historical records that Israel believed their covenant relationship with God was due to their adherence to the Mosaic law. In particular, they thought that observing circumcision, dietary, and Sabbath laws is why God elected them. Since Paul is addressing Israel specifically in this section, it is likely that Paul is addressing their understanding of election. Specifically, he is likely addressing that election is based not on works of the Mosaic law but on God’s grace.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument overlooks the fact that Paul raises the example of Abraham as well as Jacob and Esau to explain to the Jews how election works. First, Paul uses Abraham to counter Jewish ideas of election. For after explaining in Romans 3:1–31 that justification is by faith and not works, Paul raises Abraham as an example in order to affirm that God justified Abraham not by works. There was no Mosaic law when God justified Abraham, so the point is that neither works of the Mosaic law nor any work whatsoever will justify one before God. The case of Jacob and Esau is even more clear, because Paul specifically raises them as an example to show that God elected before either of them had done anything good or bad. Likewise, since Israel is chosen by grace, it is no longer by works, which means election is not based on anything done by Israel, including things prescribed by the Mosaic law.

Explanation:

Paul explains the election is based on grace not on the basis of works. He then clarifies what he means by writing that if election were based on works, then grace would not be grace. By explaining this, Paul highlights that works refers to any work whatsoever.⁴ For he is saying that if it were the case that works are involved, then grace would not be grace. In other words, Paul’s whole understanding of what grace is would be drastically altered if it were based on some sort of human work. Given the meaning of grace, and the fact that grace would not be grace if it were based on works, works must refer to any human effort whatsoever.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that it presupposes a meaning for the term grace. That is, it presupposes that grace means a gift aside from any work whatsoever. It then says that if grace were based on works, then grace as defined would not be grace. The problem with this line of argument is that we cannot assume Paul’s meaning in order to understand his meaning. For we argue in a circle if we assume that grace means a gift aside from any work whatsoever, and then use the fact that Paul says grace would not be grace if it were based on works, to show that works means a gift aside from any work whatsoever. The fact is, grace has a variety of meanings, and while Paul does clarify what he takes grace to mean in Romans 11:6, all we know is that it is not based on works. Whether or not works means any work whatsoever, or simply the works of the Mosaic law, is simply not made clear.

This view does not take seriously how ingrained it was for Jews to associate works with works of the Mosaic law.

Explanation:

When Paul writes that election is based on grace, not work, he clearly uses the phrase on the basis of works to refer to works of the law as these relate to the Jewish understanding of election.⁵ Jews saw themselves as God’s elect based on whether or not they adhered to certain Jewish identity markers, such as circumcision, dietary, and Sabbath laws. Jews believed that by participating in these, one was marked out as God’s elect. Paul refers to these identity markers as the works of the law, throughout this letter (Romans 3:20, Romans 3:27–28; Romans 4:2, Romans 4:6; Romans 9:12, Romans 9:32). In this section, Paul corrects this Jewish misunderstanding of how election works. Paul explains that God has always kept, that is, elected, a remnant for himself from Israel, including at the present time (Romans 11:2–5). Of course, God elected this remnant by grace, not on the basis of works. That is, God graciously kept the remnant based on his own sovereign choice, not because they maintained circumcision, dietary, and Sabbath laws.⁶

Counterargument:

The problem is that Paul does not refer to works of the law here. Rather, he purposely refers to works, not works of the law, in order to make it clear that election is not based on any human work whatsoever.⁷ The point is that human works play no role in determining God’s electing grace.

Response to counterargument:

According to this counterargument, since Paul uses the phrase on the basis of works and not on the basis of works of the law, he must mean any human work whatsoever and not simply the works of the Mosaic law that might be considered Jewish identity markers. Unfortunately, this is not a very strong counterargument. For we know from earlier in the letter that the phrase from works) is a shorthand for from works of the law). We know this because in Romans 3:20, Romans 3:27–28, Paul carefully explains that we are not justified from the works of the law. Then, he opens Romans 4:1–25 by asking whether Abraham was justified from works. Given the close proximity of Romans 3:30, Romans 3:27–28, and Romans 4:2, Paul seems to use the phrase on the basis of works and on the basis of works of the law interchangeably. So works is just a short form for works of the law.

Explanation:

One important theme to which Paul returns over and again in this letter is the idea that the Israelites misunderstood how they relate to God. For example, the Israelites generally believed that a righteous person was a person who was faithful to their covenant community, which means fulfilling the obligations of that community by upholding the Mosaic law. We find the idea that righteousness is bound up with the law in the Psalms, Psalm of Solomon, writings from the ancient Jewish Qumran community, and the Targum.⁸ The Jewish idea that their relationship with God is based on their adherence to the law, with an emphasis on circumcision, dietary, and Sabbath laws, is in the background when Paul writes to the Romans. Thus, when Paul explains how God kept a remnant of Jews for himself based on grace, not works, we have to understand him in the context of the Jewish theology of election he corrects. That is, Paul corrects the idea that election is based on maintaining circumcision, dietary, and Sabbath laws by explaining it is based on grace, not works.⁹

Counterargument:

Paul not only addresses the Jews in Rome. Rather, his audience is a mix of Jewish and Gentile Christians. So when Paul explains that God chose a remnant based on grace and not works, it is likely that he uses the broader term works instead of works of the law, because he wants to explain election to both Jews and Gentiles. For Jews, they would understand Paul as saying that election is not based on keeping the Mosaic law. For Gentiles, they would understand that election is based solely on God’s grace, not any human effort or work.

The one weakness here is that Paul has made it clear that election is not based on any human work whatsoever. Further, we know that any work whatsoever includes works of the Mosaic law. Given these two points, along with the fact that Paul addresses Jews and Gentiles in this letter, it makes sense for Paul to use the term works to refer to any work whatsoever.