SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS ANSWERED VERSE-BY-VERSE ON ROMANS 3:31: "FAITH UPHOLDS THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OR THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE?"

 

Romans 3:31 (ESV) 

"Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law."

Seventh-day Adventists Arguments:

From the Seventh-day Adventists 28 Fundamental Beliefs book

#1. "His gospel produced a faith that firmly upheld the validity of the Decalogue. Asked Paul, do we "make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law" (Rom. 3:31)." [1]

From Handbook of Seventh-day Adventists Theology:

#2. "The law, and more specifically the Decalogue, represents the divine mandate. It is the living will of God. This characteristic of the law leads Paul to a clear conclusion: the law cannot be abolished. “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (Rom. 3:31). By the “principle of faith” (literally, law of faith) the believer obeys the law (verse 27)." [2]

From The Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary:

#3. "It is true that Paul “made void” the Jewish idea of law as a means of attaining righteousness and the Jewish insistence that the Gentiles must follow the same method (Acts 15:1; Gal. 2:16–19). But law in its true function is confirmed, rather than abrogated, by God’s appointed method of justifying sinners."[3]

Introduction:

To understand a passage from the Bible, it is crucial to study and learn the context or background of the verse and the issues that prompted what is stated in the passage. This approach is also the correct way to fully comprehend the meaning and intention of the author in Romans 3:31. Seventh-day Adventists often use this verse to defend their belief that faith does not nullify the law and to demonstrate that the law and faith, or the gospel, are not in conflict. It is one of my favorite verses to show that the Seventh-day Adventists correctly assert that the law, particularly the Ten Commandments, remains commanded by the Lord for Christians under the grace of the New Covenant.

Answer:

Let's break down Romans 3:31 to grasp its true meaning according to the genuine intention of the Apostle Paul, who wrote it. We will do this by understanding the context or background of this verse and why Paul said, "Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law"(Romans 3:31)

1.) The Context has nothing to do with the Ten Commandments.

The main theme of the book of Romans is God's righteousness. 

Romans 1:16-17 (ESV) "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

All humans, whether Jew or Gentile, are sinners and face judgment by a holy and perfect God. Reconciliation with God is possible only through faith in Christ's atoning death on the cross. Because of Christ's sacrifice for sin, God "justifies," or declares righteous, those who believe in Him.

In Romans 2, Paul challenges the belief that God favors Jews over Gentiles. Traditional thinking held that Jews had an advantage because they were given the law revealed to Moses. Gentiles, unless they converted to Judaism, were not regarded as part of the covenant community.

God's righteousness is revealed apart from the law, showing it does not depend on human adherence to the law's works. Paul may also suggest that it is not based on the Sinai covenant. Although God's saving righteousness is separate from the law, the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it. Essentially, the Old Testament Scriptures predicted this method of salvation:

Romans 1:1-2 (ESV) "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures."

Paul also affirms that the Old Testament Scriptures testify to God's righteousness through faith apart from the works of the law.

Romans 3:21 (ESV) "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it."

God's salvation occurred independently of the law, separate from the Mosaic law, applying to both Gentiles who do not possess the law and Jews who do not follow it. Because of this, concerned Jewish Christians were asking Paul, “Does faith erase everything Judaism stands for? Does it invalidate our Scriptures, end our customs, and imply that God is no longer working through us?” Paul emphatically states, "Absolutely not!" Faith illuminates God's dealings with the Jewish people; it does not destroy the Old Testament Scripture {Rom. 3:1-2).

Besides the context, it's unlikely that the "Law" mentioned in Romans 3:31 refers to the Ten Commandments because the Greek text uses the word "nomos" (Torah or 613 commandments) instead of "dekálogos" or "deka remata," which are the Greek words equivalent to the Ten Commandments.

Therefore, there is no solid basis or support for the SDA interpretation that this refers to the Ten Commandments. They would need to manipulate and distort Romans 3:31 to deceive people into believing that faith and the Ten Commandments are compatible.

2.) The "Law" is not the Ten Commandments but the Old Testament Scriptures.

This is where SDAs often need to correct things. They assume that the "law" in Romans 3:31 refers to the Ten Commandments without carefully considering its true context. This gives SDAs confidence to challenge debates because their study of the Bible is often superficial, relying more on literal reading rather than understanding the true intention of the passage. Romans 3:31 becomes their weapon in debates, where they engage in question-and-answer sessions without bothering about its context, aiming primarily to win debates rather than seek the truth.

At the beginning, we mentioned some references from the SDA Church that assume it refers to the Ten Commandments. For example, in their Seventh-day Adventists 28 Fundamental Beliefs book:

"His gospel produced a faith that firmly upheld the validity of the Decalogue. Asked Paul, do we "make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law" (Rom. 3:31)." [4]

Notice that the SDA 28 Fundamental Beliefs book assumes Paul is referring to the "decalogue" as established by faith. However, as mentioned earlier, Paul's context does not discuss the Ten Commandments but rather the entire law of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, which became a mark of identity for the Jewish religion. In fact, the SDA Bible Commentary contradicts the erroneous conclusion of the SDA 28 Fundamental Beliefs. Instead of asserting that the law strengthened by faith refers to the Ten Commandments, the SDA Bible Commentary states that it refers to the law revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures:

"Establish the law. Paul is emphasizing the place of law as a principle, and particularly, in the context of this chapter, as it is embodied in the revealed law of the OT."[5] 

Even any SDA member would admit that the entirety of the law in the Old Testament is not confined to just the Ten Commandments. They acknowledge that the 613 commandments comprise the law in the Old Testament, but they deliberately avoid mentioning this because they know they cannot fully adhere to all the 613 commandments. Instead, they reduce it to the Ten Commandments, unaware that by doing so, they are still committing a sin against God. They also frequently read James 2:10, which states, "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it."

For this reason, it is not wrong to argue that faith establishes the Old Testament Scriptures rather than the Ten Commandments. One of our bases for this argument is that according to the SDA Bible Commentary, the Greek word nomos, often translated as "Law" can also refer to the Old Testament Scriptures in the writings of the Apostle Paul.

"Paul uses the word “law” in different ways. It may refer to the Mosaic Law (Gal. 4:21); to the whole OT (1 Cor. 14:21); to the Ten Commandments (Rom. 2:17–23; 7:7; 13:8–10); or to a specific law, such as the one that binds husband and wife (Rom. 7:2). He also uses the word “law” (nomos) in a figurative sense, such as when referring to the “law of evil” (verse 21) or “law of sin” (verse 25; see also Rom. 8:2; Gal. 6:2). While Paul does not give a precise definition each time he employs the term, usually its meaning is evident from the context."[6]

It is clear, therefore, that the word "law" in Paul's letters has various meanings and does not always refer solely to the Ten Commandments, as often heard from many preachers and debaters in the SDA church. This is largely because many of them lack theological background or are not diligent in reading their theological books. The mentioned reference also provides a valuable tip for many SDAs that because Paul often does not explicitly explain how he uses the word "law" in his letters, it would be helpful to consider how he employs it based on the context of his writings.

In our case, in Romans 3:31, the context is very clear and precise in supporting that verse 31 does not refer to the Ten Commandments but rather to the testimony of the Old Testament Scriptures. This is what is stated in verse 21:

Romans 3:21 (ESV) "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it."

This is the testimony itself of the SDA Bible Commentary:

"The law and the prophets. That is, the OT Scriptures. In the Greek, the article appears with “law”. There is no contradiction between the OT and NT. Although this manifestation of God’s righteousness is apart from the law, it is not in any opposition to the law and the prophets. On the contrary, it was anticipated by them (see John 5:39). The OT is in substance prophetic of the righteousness to be revealed in Christ and received by faith, as recorded in the NT (see Acts 10:43; 1 Peter 10, 11). Paul has already quoted Hab. 2:4, “The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). Throughout the epistle, Paul constantly refers to the OT for confirmation of his thesis that righteousness is by faith (see chs. 4; 10:6, 11). "[7]

In summary, God's righteousness, in harmony with both the law and the prophets (Old Testament Scriptures), is revealed in both the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT). The OT predicts the righteousness that will be revealed in Christ and obtained through faith, a truth confirmed in the NT. Paul often refers to the OT for validation.

#3. Faith-Based Righteousness Without the Law Upholds Abraham's Old Testament Example

The following chapter, Romans 4, provides evidence that faith upholds the Old Testament Scriptures, not the Ten Commandments. Romans 4 continues from Romans 3 and uses Abraham as an example. Abraham was considered righteous by God because of his faith, not by following the Ten Commandments, which, as stated in Galatians 5, did not exist during Abraham's time. The law, including the Ten Commandments, was given 430 years later during the time of Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness after their liberation from Egyptian captivity.

Galatians 3:17 (TLB) "Here’s what I am trying to say: God’s promise to save through faith—and God wrote this promise down and signed it—could not be canceled or changed four hundred and thirty years later when God gave the Ten Commandments."

Abraham is used as a test case to illustrate that justification is by faith alone. As the ancestor of the Jewish people, his example is crucial to Paul's argument in Romans 3. Paul connects his rejection of boasting (Romans 3:27–31) with Abraham, whom he presents as the key example for God's people and the prototype of justification for both Gentiles and Jews. In Romans 4:1–16, Paul argues that Abraham was justified by faith, not by works. Abraham is seen as the first converted Gentile and the first Jew who received God's covenant through circumcision. Contrary to traditional Jewish views, Paul asserts that Abraham, the Jews' ancestor, was not justified by his works, which might allow for boasting before humans but not before God.

It is a significant error for our SDA friends to insist that Romans 3:31 supports adherence to the Ten Commandments through faith. They mistakenly interpret it as referring to the Ten Commandments due to their superficial proof-text method, neglecting the context of the passage. We have shown that their explanation is incorrect; it is not the Ten Commandments that are upheld by faith, but rather the entire Old Testament Scriptures, which testify that righteousness is obtained by both Jews and Gentiles through faith in Jesus' atoning sacrifice on the cross, separate from the law or the Ten Commandments. This is supported by:

1. The context of Romans 3:31, which has nothing to do with the Ten Commandments.

2. The term "law" in this passage refers to the Old Testament Scriptures, not the Ten Commandments.

3. Faith-based righteousness, apart from the law, upholds Abraham's Old Testament example.

Footnote:

[1] Ministerial Association General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Seventh-day Adventist Believe: A Biblical Exposition of Fundamental Doctrines. 2005 Second Edition, USA, Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2006. 276

[2] Dederen, Raoul. Handbook of Seventh-Day Adventist Theology. Electronic ed., vol. 12, Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2001, p. 471.

[3] Nichol, Francis D., editor. The Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1980, p. 509.

[4] Ministerial Association General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Seventh-day Adventist Believe: A Biblical Exposition of Fundamental Doctrines. 2005 Second Edition, USA, Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2006. 276

[5] Nichol, Francis D., editor. The Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1980, p. 510.

[6] Raoul Dederen, Handbook of Seventh-Day Adventist Theology, Commentary Reference Series, electronic ed., (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2001), 12:471.

[7] Nichol, Francis D., editor. The Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1980, p. 501.