“Where is the boasting now? It is excluded! By what law? That of works? No! But by the law of faith! For we reckon that man is justified by faith, without works of law.”
Romans 3:27-28

“Where then is the boasting?” This question is the direct result of Paul’s proclamation in the verses before. There, it was about the proclamation of God’s justice. When Paul preaches, the apostle speaks of what God has made in and through Christ. For when it comes to God’s righteousness, I cannot boast in it. It is about what He has done, not about what I have to do. For it is not I who have accomplished anything here, but He who has accomplished everything. That is why Paul immediately completes his rhetorical question with “It is impossible! We have no reason to boast, because we have accomplished nothing.

It is about what God has made, not what I have to do.

Paul also repeatedly addresses the Jews in the church who are familiar with the Torah, with the Mosaic Law for Israel. He says with reference to the Mosaic Law: “By what law? The [Gesetz] of the works? No!”. In this way he creates a contrast. This contrast is to make clear that it is not about our adding, our works. The talk of the Law is relevant only to those community members who have a Jewish background. But this law of works is not what Paul means in the Gospel. Rather, he means, “But by the law of faith!” In other words, there is no advantage in keeping the Mosaic Law. Here, the word “law” should be understood as “lawfulness”, not as a rule book. So there is already a lawfulness, but it is not the Mosaic law. Faith is that which works even without Mosaic Law. It is addressed to the Jews in the church who (like Paul) had learned many good things from the Law of Moses. This now Paul must point out in no uncertain terms that these preferences are irrelevant in relation to God’s own righteousness. Faith, namely “trust” in what God has done, is much more efficient.

In the Mosaic Law, it was important to do certain things:

“If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will make your plagues and the plagues of your descendants extraordinary: great and enduring plagues and evil and enduring diseases. And he shall turn against thee all the plagues of Egypt, of which thou shalt be afraid, and they shall cleave unto thee. Also all the diseases and all the plagues that are not written in the book of this law – the LORD will bring them upon you until you are destroyed. As a little multitude you will be left, instead of becoming like the stars of heaven in multitude, because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God.”
Deut 28:58-62

Paul, on the other hand, speaks of the law of faith. The contrast plays between works on the one hand and faith on the other. Faith because we cannot contribute anything to God’s righteousness. While the law called for us to do something ourselves, the gospel calls us to trust God’s doing. Trust or faith is then our answer.

We can thank Him. We can confirm that we trust and commit to this word. This is how we fulfill the law of faith – we make Him right in His actions and in His words. Faith can never be our achievement. The Gospel is always about God’s performance. Faith cannot add anything to this and faith does not make this work of God “valid” for us in the first place. These are all projections. He who believes confirms (not: brings about) God’s righteousness. Confirmation is not a precondition for God’s righteousness to be ours until then. There can be no boasting, not in the least.

Paul writes:

“For we reckon that a man shall be justified by faith, without works of the law.”

Paul “reckons with it” (Gr. logizomai). The word is used again and again in the Letter to the Romans. It is about an attitude of faith. Paul reckons with this – which means: This is what he considers to be true, and this is what he acts upon.

Paul says of himself:

“That I may gain Christ and be found to be in Him, having not my [eigene] righteousness, [nämlich] that of [dem] law, but that through the faith of Christ, the righteousness from God at [Grund] of faith.”
Ph 3:8-9

Where is the boasting now? It is excluded.