Posted by Romans on Saturday, 20 June 2015
Romans 4:14-15
(14) For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
(15) Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
As Paul explained, if Jews could become heirs by obeying the Law, then faith has no value (kekenōtai, “it has been made empty”; cf. the noun kenos, “empty, without content,” in 1 Cor. 15:10, 58). Also the promise is worthless (katērgētai, “has been made invalid”). The reason this would be true is that Law brings wrath (lit., “the Law keeps on producing wrath”) as a consequence of disobedience. No one can keep the Law fully; therefore God, in wrath against sin, judges those who disobey.
Paul then stated a related general principle: And where there is no law, there is no transgression. A person may still be sinning in his action, but if there is no command prohibiting it his action does not have the character of a transgression, an overstepping of a prohibition (cf. Rom. 5:13).
