"From the modern point of view the difference would have seemed to be very slight. Paul as well as the Judaizers believed that the keeping of the law of God, in its deepest import, is inseparably connected with faith. The difference concerned only the logical - not even perhaps the temporal - order of three steps. Paul said that a man (1) first believes on Christ, (2) then is justified before God, (3) then proceeds immediately to keep God's law. The Judaizers said that a man (1) believes on Christ and (2) keeps the law of God the best he can, and then (3) is justified. The difference would seem to modern "practical" Christians to be a highly subtle and intangible matter.... Surely Paul ought to have made common cause with teachers who were so nearly in agreement with him.... As a matter of fact, however, Paul did nothing of the kind.... the difference between the Judaizers and himself... was the difference between a religion of merit and a religion of grace."
Christianity and Liberalism - Pg 24
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