When Paul says to the Gentiles in his congregation that "a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law," he's saying that they don't have to abide by the entire Torah in order to be acceptable to God. After all, he would have been familiar with this scriptural prophecy, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nation, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6)
But, he's not saying that "anything goes," is he? Do Christians have some bedrock requirements for salvation? That is, how do we demonstrate faith? And, thinking about the Isaiah passage, how far are the ends of the earth? Who else might be included in this salvation intention? What do they have to do to demonstrate faith?
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