I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will keep your statutes. I cried unto you;save me, and I shall keep your testimonies. I rose before the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in your word. My eyes awake before the night watches, that I might meditate in your word. Hear my voice according unto your lovingkindness: O LORD, revive me [ i.e. give me life] according to your judgment. They draw near that follow after evil: they are far from your law. You are near, O LORD; and all your commandments are truth. Concerning your testimonies, I have known of old that you have founded them forever. (Psalms 119:145-152)

With respect to God’s salvation men seem to get it exactly backward. Many Christians teach that you must obey a certain set of or all of God’s Law in order to be saved. Others teach that Christ put away the Law and that Christians do not need to obey nor be concerned about the Law at all. The Bible, which tells a seamless story, says something entirely different. Paul makes it very clear in the book of Romans that no man can keep God’s Law perfectly and condemns Christians who teach people to obey the Law and yet fail to keep the Law themselves. And yet after saying all this he asserts, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law!” (Romans 3:31) Paul “establishes the law” after just seemingly trouncing the Law to smithereens? How can this be?

Paul proceeds in Romans 4 to teach us that men have pleased God always and only by “faith” saying,

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he has something in which to boast; but not before God. For what says the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:1-3)

Paul proceeds with this concept throughout this chapter and finally summarizes,

For if they who are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect … Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the descendants; not to those only who are of the law, but to those also who are of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all … And therefore it [faith] was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 4:14-5:1)

Yet, remember, Paul teaches that his doctrine of salvation by faith “establishes the Law.” How can this be? Didn’t we always learn that it was Israel’s obedience to the Law which established their standing before God, their salvation? Yes, but we learned wrongly. David was called a man after God’s own heart not because he perfectly obeyed God’s Law, but BECAUSE HE WANTED TO! When he failed and knew he failed then he repented and asked God to forgive and restore him. By faith he believed God heard him and forgave him, and David continued on with God. This is how he and we “practice righteousness” as John teaches us in 1 John.

The person who wrote this wonderful psalm, Psalm 119, understood the same thing. Thus he cries to the LORD. He wants to keep God’s statutes. He cries, “SAVE ME and I shall keep your testimonies.” He knows that God must save him, that God must quicken him, that God must give him new life, eternal life, glorified life before he can perfectly obey him. But, he wants to obey him and he wants to obey him now. He just can’t, just like you and I can’t. But, do we want to? This is the question and this is the condition upon ever entering the Kingdom of Heaven, of ever becoming a perfect jewel set in the foundation of New Jerusalem.

So, which comes first, salvation or obeying the Law perfectly?