Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Paul's radical idea here is that faith in Christ doesn't erase the Law; it actually fulfills its deepest purpose. By establishing that righteousness comes through faith, he shows that the Law’s demands for perfect obedience and penalty are met in Christ, thereby upholding its authority and divine character.
Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Paul has been meticulously demonstrating that both Jews and Gentiles are under sin, and salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the Mosaic Law. He anticipates an objection: if salvation is by faith, does that mean the Law, with its commands and requirements, is now irrelevant or nullified? Paul vehemently rejects this idea, asserting that faith actually upholds and validates the Law.
Does believing in Jesus mean we can ignore God's rules? Absolutely not! Paul flips this common misunderstanding on its head.
Some people thought that if we're saved by faith in Jesus, then God's law becomes irrelevant. Paul emphatically says, 'No way!' He argues that faith doesn't destroy the law; it actually upholds it.
How Faith Upholds the Law:
If faith upholds the law, what exactly is that law supposed to do for us?
Paul is clear: the law isn't the means of salvation. Its primary function in relation to us, before and even after we have faith, is to reveal our sin and our desperate need for God's grace.
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The Law's Two Key Functions:
Understand the original words
nomos · Greek Noun
In a biblical context, law (torah) refers to the divine instruction and moral standards revealed by God to His people, encompassing both the Mosaic Covenant and the broader principle of divine requirements for righteousness. It functions to reveal human sinfulness and the holiness of God.
pistis · Greek Noun
Faith in a biblical sense is not merely intellectual assent but a personal, active trust and reliance upon God and His promises, specifically centered on the finished work of Jesus Christ for salvation. It is the instrument through which justification is received, standing in contrast to works-based righteousness.
histanomen · Greek Verb
To uphold or establish means to confirm, validate, or cause to stand firm. In this context, it signifies that the gospel of grace does not negate the moral authority or the witness of God’s law, but rather fulfills its purpose and intent.
Jesus declared He did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it, mirroring Paul's point that faith upholds the Law's true purpose rather than nullifying it.
Galatians 3:21This passage addresses a similar concern, questioning if the Law is against God's promises, and Paul clarifies that the Law was intended to lead us to Christ, the source of righteousness, thus establishing its ultimate divine aim.
Romans 6:1-2Paul directly confronts the potential misunderstanding that grace through faith might lead to sin, emphatically stating 'By no means!' He then explains that believers are united with Christ in His death and resurrection, implying a life of holiness that honors the Law's intent.
1 John 3:7-10This passage emphasizes that true righteousness comes from God and that those who are born of God do not practice sin, underscoring that genuine faith naturally leads to obedience, thereby upholding the spirit of the Law.
henryRomans 3:27-31: "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith."
3:27-31 God will have the great work of the justification and salvation of sinners carried on from first to last, so as to shut out boasting. Now, if we were saved by our own works, boasting would not be excluded. But the way of justification by faith for ever shuts out boasting. Yet believers are not left to be lawless; faith is a law, it is a working grace, wherever it is in truth. B…
clarkeRomans 3:31: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law."
Do we then make void the law through faith? - 1. By law here we may understand the whole of the Mosaic law, in its rites and ceremonies; of which Jesus Christ was the subject and the end. All that law had respect to him; and the doctrine of faith in Christ Jesus, which the Christian religion proclaimed, established the very claims and demands of that law, by showing that all was accomplished in the…
Paul's radical idea here is that faith in Christ doesn't erase the Law; it actually fulfills its deepest purpose. By establishing that righteousness comes through faith, he shows that the Law’s demands for perfect obedience and penalty are met in Christ, thereby upholding its authority and divine character.
Paul has been meticulously demonstrating that both Jews and Gentiles are under sin, and salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the Mosaic Law. He anticipates an objection: if salvation is by faith, does that mean the Law, with its commands and requirements, is now irrelevant or nullified? Paul vehemently rejects this idea, asserting that faith actually upholds and validates the Law.
Paul has been meticulously demonstrating that both Jews and Gentiles are under sin, and salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the Mosaic Law. He anticipates an objection: if salvation is by faith, does that mean the Law, with its commands and requirements, is now irrelevant or nullified? Paul vehemently rejects this idea, asserting that faith actually upholds and validates the Law.
"Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law." — Paul's radical idea here is that faith in Christ doesn't erase the Law; it actually fulfills its deepest purpose. By establishing that righteousness comes through faith, he shows that the Law’s deman…
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Last reviewed October 2026