Perfectly Keeping the Law: 15 Bible Passages

This is a common “slogan” among Protestants, in attempting to make the point that we are all totally depraved (what Calvinists believe), or fallen to such an extent that we can never even possibly rise above sin. Catholics already agree that no one can save themselves (over against the heresy of Pelagianism). What I’m particularly referring to, however, is the notion that no one ever has, or could, perfectly keep the Mosaic law (with its 613 commandments). Protestants then go on to say that this was why we needed grace. Again, Catholics already agree with that broad statement; we totally concur that salvation ultimately comes by God’s grace alone. It’s not a disagreement between us, and never has been. Whoever thinks it is, is ignorant of the matter.

Protestants will often cite James 2:10 (I use RSV) in this regard: “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (cf. Gal 3:10). Looked at closely, that’s not asserting in the first place that no one can ever perfectly keep the law. It’s saying, rather, that failing in one point is the same as failing in all. That’s a different thing than saying that no one can possibly keep the whole law and avoid violating it in some way. The Protestant simply assumes from the outset without argument that no one can do it, which is invalid circular reasoning.

Monergism.com is a Calvinist site. On it, I found the article, “Of Man’s Inability to Keep the Law Perfectly” (from the book, The Ten Commandments), written by a Scottish Presbyterian theologian, Thomas Boston (1676-1732), who wrote:

. . . the absolute impossibility of yielding a perfect obedience thereto . . .

There is not a just man upon earth. By the just man in this text is not meant an evangelically just man, or one just in respect of parts, though not of degrees; but one who is legally so, just in the eye of the law, as having yielded perfect obedience to all its commands . . .

There can be no perfect keeping of the commands of God . . .

Since Adam fell, no mere man is able, while in this life, either of himself, or by virtue of any grace now given, to keep the commands perfectly. Of himself he cannot do it; neither is there any measure of grace given to any in this life, whereby they may be enabled to do it . . . And there is no promise of grace given in the word, whereby believers may be enabled to keep the commands of God perfectly . . .

How about looking to see what the Bible actually teaches on the topic, since James 2:10 doesn’t claim what it is purported and casually assumed to have asserted. The Psalmist assumes that it’s possible:

Psalm 119:1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!

Psalm 119:80 May my heart be blameless in thy statutes, that I may not be put to shame!

St. Luke, writing in his inspired Gospel, makes the same point about Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist (see Lk 1:5):

Luke 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

There it is, folks: plain as day. Protestants who deny this are wrong, and we know that they are because it says so in God’s inerrant and inspired revelation. It’s always better to follow that, than the mere traditions of men, dreamt up in the 16th century, to counter received Catholic tradition. Not only this; we also have the corroborating testimony of no less than the great St. Paul:

Philippians 3:4-6 Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: [5] circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law a Pharisee, [6] as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law blameless. (cf. Gal 1:14: “I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.”)

Maybe someone at this point wants to quibble about the meaning of the Greek word translated “blameless”? Okay, let’s have that discussion. It’s the same word in both Luke 1:6 and Philippians 3:6: amemptos (ἄμεμπτος): Strong’s Greek word #273. Strong’s Lexicon on this same page defines it as:

a state of being without fault or blame. It conveys the idea of moral integrity and uprightness, often in the context of one’s conduct before God and others. In the New Testament, it is used to describe individuals who live in a manner that is above reproach, adhering to God’s commandments and maintaining a pure and righteous lifestyle.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon gives the meaning for these two passage as “blameless, deserving no censure . . . free from fault or defect.” Baptist Greek linguist A. T. Robertson in his Word Pictures in the New Testament, commenting on Philippians 3:6, states that it indicates that Paul “knew and practised all the rules of the rabbis. A marvellous record, scoring a hundred in Judaism.” So he kept all the laws!

God the Father is repeatedly presented in the Bible as assuming that His people were capable of keeping His laws and (synonyms) statutes and ordinances and covenant and His commandments: given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Otherwise, it was all a big farce: He commanded them to do something that He knew all along was impossible.

To the contrary, the Psalmist did it:

Psalm 119:56 . . . I have kept thy precepts.

Psalm 119:67 . . . now I keep thy word.

Psalm 119:69 . . . with my whole heart I keep thy precepts

Psalm 119:100 . . . I keep thy precepts.

Psalm 119:168 I keep thy precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before thee. (he also verifies that others are doing so: Ps 119:63: “I am a companion of all who fear thee, of those who keep thy precepts.”)

So did King David, according to God:

1 Kings 11:34 . . . David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes;

1 Kings 14:8 . . . you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes,

So did Moses, Aaron, and Samuel (see Ps 99:6):

Psalm 99:7 . . . they kept his testimonies, and the statutes that he gave them.

The children of Levi did:

Deuteronomy 33:9 . . . they observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. (see 33:8-9a)

So did King Hezekiah:

2 Kings 18:3, 5-7 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. . . . [5] He trusted in the LORD the God of Israel; so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. [6] For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses. [7] And the LORD was with him; wherever he went forth, he prospered.

Also, it should be noted that the New Testament states three times that one can entirely keep the Law simply by loving neighbors:

Romans 13:8-10 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. [9] The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [Lev 19:18] [10] Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Galatians 5:13-14 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. [14] For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

James 2:8-9 If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. [9] But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

If we need a model of how to love, Jesus says that He Himself is the example:

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

John 15:9-10, 12-13, 17 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. [10] If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. . . . [12] “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. . . . [17] This I command you, to love one another.

St. John reiterates all of this in his first two epistles:

1 John 3:11, 23 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, . . . [23] And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

1 John 4:11-12 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [12] No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

2 John 1:5 And now I beg you, lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

So the next time you hear this claim that no one could possibly keep the law and God’s commandments and precepts, show them this, and point out that St. Paul, Zechariah and Elizabeth, the Psalmist, King David, Moses, Aaron, Samuel, the children of Levi, and King Hezekiah, and anyone who truly loves their neighbor all did — according to Holy Scripture — that which Protestants are trying to tell us that supposedly no one can do and no one ever did. Make your choice today: God’s inspired, inerrant revelation or false traditions of men concocted fifteen centuries after Christ.