Audio commentary on this verse

Note 2 at Ro 4:14: We are either justified by faith in our works without faith in Christ or we are justified by faith in Christ without faith in our works, but not a combination of the two (Ro 11:6). Trusting in our own goodness as the reason that God would grant us salvation neutralizes faith and renders God's promise to Abraham useless.

There are Christians who have put their faith in Christ for their eternal salvation, but then they fall back into the deception that God is going to bless them and use them based on their performance. This is what happened to the Galatians. Paul told them that Christ had become of no benefit to them if they were trusting in what they did in order to be justified with God (Ga 5:4). Likewise today, many Christians do not experience the full effect of their salvation because they are making faith void by trusting in their own goodness.