Where is boasting, then. It is excluded. By what law, of works? Nay, but by the law of faith. Romans 3:27
Many years ago, as we made our way toward the Douglas area, a Fredericton policeman’s radar detected a bit too much weight on my gas pedal. He pulled me over and wrote me a speeding ticket, giving me a number of days to appear at the police station to pay the ticket. A few days later, I paid the ticket, and then waited for a letter from the Province of New Brunswick, to tell me how many points I had lost. At that point, I did not have many to lose, so I was concerned. The letter never came. When I asked the police why, they told me that the officer had charged me, not with violating a provincial law, but with violating a city bylaw. The bylaw did not include the loss of points on a license. (Note: that law has changed.) Our text today also points out a difference in two sets of laws: the law of works has no restrictions on boasting, but the law of faith does.
In terms of our salvation, we know we have nothing to boast about. That applies to the day we first trusted Christ and became possessors of eternal life. Everything that brought us from wrath to blessing was wrought by Another. All was achieved by our Saviour. Our only boasting is in His cross. But we also have nothing to boast about when it comes to our daily salvation. We don’t hold onto or work for our claim to eternal life. It is only the grace of the Lord Jesus that enables us to live for Him. By grace are ye saved – Ephesians 2:8. Yes, there are many Christians who are doing far more service than others for their Lord, who have far more knowledge of the Word than others, whose lives are much more godly than others. But you will notice that these believers do not boast about their service, their knowledge, or their holiness. The law of faith forbids it. The closer we come to the Lord Jesus, the more aware we become that it is of Him that we need to boast.
Although the law of works allows boasting, we are not under that law. But the law of faith acknowledges that we have no right to boast, nothing to boast about, except our Saviour’s cross. -Jim MacIntosh