“(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.”
(Romans 2:13 KJV)
Those refuting the Eternal Security of the Believer will point o his one verse to state a doctrine that salvation is not by belief alone on Christ crucified and His rising from the dead. They use this one verse taken completely out of the context to somehow ‘prove’ that Once Saved Always Saved is false and that works are required to be and remain saved.
But read the entire chapter 2 in Romans and continue reading the book of Romans and we clearly see how false this belief on the one verse is and how it is taken completely out of the context Paul wrote it.
Paul was showing the Jewish people at that time how wrong they are in judging the gentiles for not keeping God’s Holy standard when they themselves could not keep the standard of The Law they proclaimed they kept! The Jewish people and Pharisees were being hypocrites, just as Jesus called them out to be hypocrites in Matthew 23,
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Matthew 23:25-28 KJV).
James wrote,
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10 KJV)
Apostle Paul taught,
“Knowing that a man is NOT JUSTIFIED by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and NOT BY the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall NO FLESH be justified.” (Galatians 2:16 KJV)
Now go back to Romans 2:12-13 (wrote also by Apostle Paul) and we see a more clear context of verse 13,
“For as many as have sinned WITHOUT LAW shall also perish WITHOUT LAW: and as many as have sinned IN THE LAW shall be judged BY THE LAW; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the DOERS of the law shall be justified. (Romans 2:12-13 KJV)
Paul is just making the point that the Jews under the Law would have to keep ALL THE LAW to be justified if they trusted in their belief that keeping he Law made a person righteous. But the truth is, they could not keep all the Law. In fact, NO ONE EVER HAS except Christ Jesus.
Paul goes on in the very next chapter to push again this point; we are justified by faith APART FROM the works of the Law.
“26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith WITHOUT THE DEEDS Of THE LAW.” (Romans 3:26-28 KJV)
No one is able to keep the Law. If you fail even once, then you become guilty of it all.
