Law of works I think means understand the law of the Old Testament as a list of laws to perform to get right with God.

If you understand the law that way, it will never put away boasting it will support boasting

if the law is not to be understood as a way to get right with God how is it to be understood as a way to get right with God, how is it to be understood?

That's the critical question that John Piper answers from Romans 3, 27 to 31, in this

episode of Light and Truth.

This sermon was originally preached

at Bethlehem Baptist Church on May 30th, 1999.

The question I want to begin with from this text is why Paul is so concerned about

this issue of boasting.

Verse 27, where then is boasting?

And he answers, it is excluded.

By what kind of law is it excluded?

A law of works?

No.

But a law of faith excludes boasting. Now lest you think it stops there, drop your eyes down

to verse 2 of chapter 4 just a few verses later. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before

God. So boasting is on his agenda here.

Boasting is something important.

Why?

Boasting is the external form of the internal condition of pride.

Pride's on the inside, boasting is pride coming out. And pride, the root of boasting, is the root of all the sins and

all the miseries of the world, including everything we saw from Chapter 1,

...