The great reformer Martin Luther taught classes in Saxony at the University of Wittenberg. An assignment for one term was the Epistle to the Romans. Luther had long struggled with the idea of earning one's way to heaven via the many meritorious works of Roman Catholicism. Moreover, he was heavily influenced by the teachings of Augustine and believed in the bondage of the human will. Luther's big problem was reading Romans through the glasses of contemporary problems (like Romanism's sale of indulgences, simony, etc.) and not understanding the book in its original setting or context. Paul was not dealing with the kinds of meritorious works being promoted in Luther's day. Rather, he was talking about the Judaizers who insisted on binding parts of the law of Moses on Gentiles (esp. circumcision). "Works of the law" have to do with those works among Paul's opponents in his own time. Luther arrogantly added "allein" (alone, as in "justified by faith alone") in his translation of Romans 3:28. It is not in the Greek. It was not in the Latin. It was added by Luther himself. This translation error has vitiated the entire Reformation. Paul isn't against any and all human effort, just the Judaizers.