Death Blow to Spiritual Pride and Arrogance: Romans 3:27-30
“27) Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28) For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29) Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? 30) Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:27-30‬ ‭
Spiritual pride and arrogance are totally eradicated by the doctrine of justification by faith. It means that God did not chose us because of any merit of our own; our salvation was based on His grace.
We were not born into the Christian faith by being part of a certain family, race or church. We did not earn our salvation by our own goodness or works. In fact, we did nothing to deserve God’s work of grace in our lives. It was a free gift of His grace.
These verses keep me humble and empower me to reach out to all people of all nations and of every social and economic class. It also means that I have brotherhood with all Spirit-filled and born-again believers everywhere. We are one in Jesus. We are all in the family of God and on the road to healing, wholeness and holiness through faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul himself became the primary example of this concept. In Philippians 3:4-11, he explains his pedigree and zeal for God as a Jew. He was even a Pharisee of unparalleled religious legalism. He had every reason to boast, but then he came to the shocking discovery that he was lost.
It was then that he came into a faith based personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you know his story, you realize that Saul was not seeking Jesus. He was persecuting Christians. (See Acts 9:1-8) But Jesus was seeking Saul.
Philippians 3:7-11 are among my favorite verses in the whole Bible. In them, Paul explains that becoming a Christians cost him everything from his former manner of life, but what he lost was mere rubbish compared to what he gained in knowing Jesus Christ.
The irony of his story is that this former proud and arrogant Pharisee went on to become the Apostle to the Gentiles and was used by God to write much of the New Testament. He utterly repudiated his past and gave Jesus Christ all the glory for who and what he became.
With that simple background, you can now appreciate his question in Romans 3:27; “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.”
His story reminds me that today’s adversary might become tomorrows closest friend in Christ. It affirms the fact that as a Christian I have no excuse for discrimination. The Body of Christ has people from every nationality, gender and background. I have every reason to be loving, kind and patient with everyone I meet. My goal in life is to build bridges and not walls as I share Jesus and the gospel without bias as I go through life.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global