not by works of the law

What, then, is Paul attacking under the label 'works of the law'?

Not, we must insist, what one might call proto-Pelagianism, the belief that one must earn one's justification and salvation by unaided good works. (Of course, had Paul met Pelagians, real or proto-, he would have given them short shrift. But there is no evidence that he did.)

Nor, we note, is he attacking the idea that true religion is about outward observances rather than inward attitudes. That caricature of Paul has become so popular that Paul is still sometimes criticised as though he had anticipated Luther, or even Kant...

Rather, Paul is denying that the basic biblical commands, which in his day were the most obvious defining marks of Israel over against the nations, are of any continuing relevance in defining the true people of God, the people in and for whom the promises of Deuteronomy, and for that matter the promises to Abraham, were now coming true.

We should note in the same breath, of course, that for Paul the basis of this critique of 'the works of Torah' is not that the Torah, or its commands, were evil, stupid, wrong-headed, demonic, or any of the myriad other things that Paul has been thought to say about the law (often by those in the Reformation or Enlightenment tradition who wanted him to say such things about 'law' in general, about medieval catholic superstitions, or whatever).

Rather, the basis for the critique is eschatological. Torah has done its primary job, a job designed for the period before the time when Deuteronomy 30 would be fulfilled. Now, in the new age ushered in by Jesus' death and resurrection, Torah is relativised, and in particular is of no use, as it stands, when it comes to defining the eschatological people of God.

- N. T. Wright, 4QMMT and Paul: Justification, 'Works' and Eschatology

just because justification is not by works of the law does not mean that the law is bad. indeed, the law is good - 'through the law we become conscious of sin' (Romans 3:20b, NIV) and our need for a Saviour.

justification is not by works of the law not because the law is bad (or because 'works' are bad), but because the whole point of the law is to 'lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith' (Galatians 3:24, NIV) - faith in the sinless life, the substitutionary death and the bodily resurrection of Christ.

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."" - Romans 10:9-13 (NIV)