BSF Romans Lesson 6 Day 5
Study of Romans 3:31
12a. We uphold the law.
“Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary. We uphold the law.” (Romans 3:31 ESV)
“We confirm and establish, and uphold the law.” (AMP)
Exodus 20:1-17
- I’m required to put God first.
- Worship only Him.
- Respect His name and day of rest.
- Honor my parents.
- I must not murder.
- Don’t commit adultery.
- Do not steal, lie about others, or desire what belongs to someone else.
Romans 6:23: Sin leads to death, but God freely offers eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Romans 13:8-10: I should treat love as a continuing obligation. When I genuinely love others, I will not harm, exploit, or deceive them. Love fulfills the purpose behind God’s commands.
Summary: God’s law calls me to love and honor God and to love others by treating them with integrity, faithfulness, respect, and self-control. My failure to live up to it is sin, which brings death, but God offers eternal life through Jesus.
12b. The law and righteousness.
The law cannot make a person righteous by obedience because no one keeps it perfectly. Instead, it shows us God’s standard, exposes our sin, and makes us aware that we need forgiveness—“through the law we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:20).
The law also serves as a guide or guardian, leading us to Christ. It shows us our need for a Savior, but Christ is the one who makes us righteous through faith (Galatians 3:24). We do not attain righteousness by trying to earn God’s approval through rule-keeping; we receive it by trusting in Jesus, who fulfilled the law perfectly and offered Himself for our sin.
Faith does not treat the law as meaningless. Trusting Christ upholds its true purpose: the law points us to God’s holiness, reveals our need for grace, and leads us to rely on Christ rather than on our own works. After receiving righteousness by faith, we seek to live in obedience—not to earn righteousness, but out of gratitude and love.
12c. Jesus fulfilled the law.
Jesus fulfilled the law by living a completely sinless life and becoming the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Through His death, He satisfied God’s justice, showing that God is both just and merciful. Although Jesus was fully human, he never sinned; he faithfully obeyed God and made reconciliation between God and humanity possible.
Because Jesus was sinless, God placed our sin on Him so that, through faith, we could receive His righteousness.
- Romans 3:25–26: Jesus’ sacrifice paid for sin and demonstrated that God is both just and merciful.
- 2 Corinthians 5:21: Jesus, who was sinless, took our sin so that we could receive righteousness through Him.
- Hebrews 2:17: Jesus became fully human so He could represent us, show mercy, and make atonement for our sins.
- Hebrews 4:15: Jesus understands our weaknesses because He was tempted in every way, yet He never sinned.
Jesus fulfilled the law by perfectly obeying God, remaining without sin, and offering Himself as the sacrifice that makes us righteous before God.
13. Only by grace
God encourages and enables my loving obedience in these ways:
- Gives me the Holy Spirit: I am no longer controlled by sinful desires but can live as God’s child (Romans 8:12–17).
- Reminds me that I am accepted: Since God is for me, I do not have to obey out of fear or try to earn His love (Romans 8:31–34).
- Works in me: God gives me both the desire and the ability to do what pleases Him (Philippians 2:12–13).
- Forgives and cleanses me: When I confess my sins, God is faithful to forgive and restore me, helping me continue walking in His light (1 John 1:5–10).
1 John 1:5-10 This passage addresses the Gnostics of John’s day. “Anyone who professes to know the Lord and has no evidence of it in their actions is a liar.”
“If we are in true fellowship with God, it will be reflected in our lives. This is not saying that we will be sinless. The next chapter talks about Christians sinning (1 John 2:1-2). Christians can still sin, and some more than others. But this is countering the Gnostics of John’s day who claimed to have a superior knowledge and understanding of God, yet their lives were a mess. They didn’t have any evidence of a relationship with the Lord. John was simply stating that knowing God changes a person’s actions. The degree to which their actions change is dependent on a number of things. But anyone who professes to know the Lord and has no evidence of it in their actions is a liar.” Andrew Wommack’s Commentary
Psalm 51:10: He creates in me a clean heart and renews a right spirit within me. (paraphrased from ESV)
God enables me to obey by giving me new desires, strengthening me through the Holy Spirit, confidence in Christ’s forgiveness, and the humility to confess my failures and keep following Him.
God makes us right with Him through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice. The debt created by our sin is stamped PAID IN FULL!
The Law of Love
Rabbis divided the Mosaic Law into 613 commands — 248 positive ones and 365 negative ones. They engaged in an ongoing debate about which ones were the most important.
When they asked Jesus, He replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV)
To love God is to enjoy Him above everything and everyone else, and out of that joy live in glad obedience to His will.
All of this shows how completely dependent we are on God’s grace. “We cannot love God supremely or people sincerely apart from His love first reaching us through the power of the Gospel. Only as we are so loved will we be set free to love in return.” (Andrew Wommack)
These are my answers and research for BSF study questions BSF Romans Lesson 6 Day 5
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