How we uphold the law

Romans 3:30-31, NIV
30 …there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 
31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

The "faith" spoken of here that justifies both the Jews and Gentiles is of course faith in Christ as opposed to justification by the law.

When we turn to this faith, we actually uphold the law.

How so?

When we put the law in its rightful high place of perfection by saying, “I cannot keep the law,” we uphold it.

But when we say, “I can keep the law,” we bring it down to our low levels and it is thus not upheld.

It is like the white belt Tae Kwan Do exponent who keeps boasting that he can beat the guy with the black belt. By thinking like this, he is demoting the guy with the black belt to his level.

But when he says, “Okay, this guy is to tough for me,” he is not only respecting the guy with the black belt, but he is also “upholding” him.

In Jesus' time, the scribes and Pharisees had brought the law down to their own levels by making it "keepable". And they thought that they were doing a pretty good job at keeping the law. 

That is why Jesus had to put the law back in its high place of perfection by saying things like "If your eye offends you, pluck it out. If your arm offends you, cut it off." That is how serious the law is. If you want to be justified by keeping the law, then those are the standards that you must maintain.

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