The Law – Revealing God’s Thoughts And Man’s Incapacity To Please God

Feature 1 – September 2020 — Grace & Truth Magazine

The Law – Revealing God’s Thoughts And Man’s Incapacity To Please God

As we begin, we must remind ourselves that God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts. Also, the L ORD God always works what is good because He is good, and He does so through His Word (Isa. 55:8-11).

At the beginning of human history God gave rules to the first human couple for their well-being and happiness, as He has done since, for our blessing and joy. God placed Adam and Eve in a wonderful environment – the garden of Eden – and gave them clear directions (Gen. 2:15-17). However, in a short time Eve was seduced by the serpent, and Adam, knowing what he was doing, transgressed God’s command (3:1-7; Hos. 6:7). Their sin had very serious consequences for them and the whole human race (Rom. 5:12-21).

After the flood in the days of Noah, God gave additional instructions to bless all humanity (Gen. 9:1-17), but the people did not honor Him.1 Instead, they turned away from Him as they worked to build the tower of Babel. They “exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25 NKJV). This had dreadful results, for God let them go in their own ways, reaping the fruit of their disobedience (vv.26-32). The Bible clearly shows that since that time humanity has been on its own while still being accountable to God (Acts 17:26-31; Rom. 3:19, 14:12). No faithless one is able to please their Creator because “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

God’s Call
When all of humanity was serving Satan through the worship of idols, God, in His sovereign grace, called Abram out of that bondage (Gen. 12:1; Josh. 24:2-3). Many years later, Abraham’s descendants found themselves in a different kind of servitude, which lasted about 400 years. God had foretold this captivity when He made a special covenant with Abram and promised He would free the people so they might serve Him (Gen. 15:7-21; Ex. 12–15). For this purpose He placed them under His law (Ex. 19; Dt. 6). Later, Moses explained how privileged Israel was as compared with other nations, if only they would obey Him (Dt. 28).

God’s Law
That brings us to our twofold topic:

1. God gave the law revealing His thoughts, but
2. Man was and is not able to keep the law.

The commandment, as Paul wrote, is “holy and just and good” (Rom. 7:12). Even before Israel received the commandments written by God on two stone tablets, Moses told the nation about the covenant and the need to obey. The people said in self-confidence, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do” (Ex. 19:8). They repeated their declaration twice (24:3,7). However, by the time Moses descended from the mount with those tablets, Israel had already fallen into idolatry (32:4-6) and transgressed the commandments (vv.19-23). Moses broke the tablets so God’s wrath would not immediately smite the people (v.19).

God then instructed Moses to prepare two new tablets on which the LORD would write the Ten Commandments. After God had written the commandments, Moses put the tablets into a chest, called an “ark” (Ex. 34, 25:16,22). Later, Moses explained the meaning of the law in many details, as described especially in Deuteronomy. All this was written for our instruction (1 Cor. 10:1-13; Rom. 15:1-4).

What God required of man was just and fair, but no one was able to meet His demands. That is why, after 4,000 years of human failure, God sent His beloved Son. He came to lay a righteous foundation for our salvation and justification, and to enable us to walk and act for His honor. “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (8:3-4). All praise to God and to His Son!

The Perfect Keeper Of The Law And His Sacrifice
The only One who always practiced the law and never failed became the perfect sin-offering, taking upon Himself the righteous judgment we all deserved, whether under the law or without it. He brought us God’s solution to justify us – declare us right, without any accusation – and we take this for ourselves by faith (3:23-27, 8:1-4; Gal. 3:13-14).

The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, became our Substitute. God’s righteous demands were fulfilled in Him, first in His perfect life of obedience and then in His work on the cross. God expressed His satisfaction at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry (Mt. 3:16-17) and towards its end (17:5; Jn. 12:28). On the cross the Lord Jesus finished the work God had given Him (17:4, 19:29-30), and after His death and burial God showed by the resurrection of His Son that He was fully satisfied. He was able and willing to declare us righteous (Rom. 4:22-25) because of the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). During the three dark hours on the cross the Lord Jesus, as a Man, was forsaken of God when He became the perfect sin offering to bring us to God, as explained in Hebrews 9–10.

What the law of Moses could never achieve, the Lord Jesus did by His coming into this world, His perfect life and His once-for-all sacrifice accomplishing God’s will (10:7). His life was the perfect expression of God’s will, for God’s law resided in His innermost being (Ps. 40:6-8). This led Him to give Himself as the supreme sacrifice to glorify God. Through all this – His coming, His life, His sacrifice and His resurrection – God introduced a new order of things through which we are sanctified, that is, set apart for God (Heb. 10:8-10).

The Holy Spirit’s New Ministry And How It Relates To The Law
Based on what we just saw, God began a new testimony with which the Holy Spirit fully identified. It was established in Jerusalem (Acts 2), where the Lord Jesus had been rejected and now showed His victory as He worked from heaven. In multiple ways and in several places this victory became evident as many of the former opponents came to be His disciples, even Saul of Tarsus, the fierce persecutor (Acts 3–9). Despite opposition and persecutions, God’s new testimony brought in many Samaritans and Gentiles, both despised by the religious Jews (Acts 8–12).

The Holy Spirit sent out Paul and Barnabas, and they had the support of the new assembly in Antioch. During their first missionary journey, Paul explained that through Christ’s perfect sacrifice all who believe in Him are declared righteous, having their sins forgiven (13:38-39). This had never been possible by keeping the law of Moses because nobody was able to do so, as was later confirmed by Peter (15:8-11). The one, lone exception of course is the Lord Jesus. To God’s delight, He perfectly kept the law as He lived here and then died as the perfect Sin-offering, in which the law was fulfilled (consider Rom. 10:4). He took the sinner’s place before a holy and righteous God, fully satisfying Him and saying, “It is finished” – that is, paid in full (Jn. 19:30).

It is important to note that the Lord Jesus is also the law-Giver, for He is the LORD God. Therefore He was able to give the true meaning of the law, not according to man’s interpretation but according to God’s thoughts. He pronounced those who are in tune with God and in whom God’s rights are displayed and honored as “blessed” (Mt. 5:3-12). Such disciples are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” and are here to the glory of God (vv.13-16).

The Jewish leaders, however, sought to reinterpret the law. They claimed that God had given Moses the oral law – really man-made traditions handed down from generation to generation through memorization. Also, these leaders explained the written law according to their interpretation. Jewish officials held that this oral law overruled the written law, as the examples the Lord gave sufficiently prove (see Mt. 5:20-47, 23:1-39; Mk. 7:1-23). The true purpose of His coming was to fulfill the law, not according to man-made traditions (Mt. 5:17-20) but in its real meaning, in contrast to the faulty interpretation by the Jewish leaders (vv.21-47).

For disciples who faithfully follow Him, the Lord Jesus has set a very high standard: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48 ESV). In our own strength we cannot walk the path of true discipleship, even though this is the desire of the new nature God has given us. Through a difficult struggle, and sometimes a long process, we find that we cannot reach His high standard. This battle between natures – the old, or the flesh, and the new – proves that the new nature desires to please God but has no strength to accomplish God’s will. That is when we turn, as Paul learned to do, to outside help (Rom. 7:24-25), and the Holy Spirit becomes our Helper, directing our hearts to Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8).

God’s Solution
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (vv.1-2). This new position is something God has given us because of Christ’s accomplished work on the cross. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, having sent his own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit” (vv.3-4 JND). Praise God!

In addition to the battle between the old and new natures, there is also a battle between the religious flesh in us versus the indwelling Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:17-18). Paul described his experiences (Rom. 7; Gal. 5) to help us understand these battles and learn how he was led by the Lord in heaven and by His Spirit not to give any room to the flesh (Gal. 1–2). Christ was made a curse (3:13) as He took our place under God’s judgment on the cross (2:19-21), which also shows the absolute necessity of faith (2:20; Rom. 10:6-10).

Romans 9 explains that God’s plans cannot be fulfilled by human will or activity, but only through God’s sovereign intervention, which does not set aside human responsibility. Romans 10 shows that what the law demanded is reached by faith based on Christ’s accomplished work. This response of faith implies a work of God. In Romans 11 we find the ultimate results, first in a remnant of believers throughout every generation, and Paul was an example of this, and ultimately in the restoration of the whole nation of Israel. This, in turn, will lead to God’s blessing the nations in the world to come. All this will bring honor to God, who acts in mercy, as His ways will lead to fulfill His purpose and plans (vv.33-36).

Applying The Lessons
These issues face us today as well, because every generation of believers must learn similar lessons, although in other ways or different situations. Paul always tried to promote God’s interests, and he was very conscious of Satan’s efforts to counteract, using the flesh in the believers to thwart any progress in those who have a heart to promote God’s thoughts. “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3 ESV). Satan is a very subtle enemy who finds a point of contact and helper inside us; then we become our own worst enemy if we do not judge the flesh in us and keep ourselves dead to sin (Gal. 2:19-20).

God desires to have us as sons for Himself, so we can be His worshipers (4:6). The enemy seeks to frustrate this, to keep us under his control. As he was not able to prevent our salvation, he will try to halt or hinder our spiritual progress by making us believe that we can please God through observing rituals or laws, for instance (4:9-18). That is why Paul was pleading with the believers in Galatia to reconsider their situation, whether they wanted to be in spiritual bondage or in true liberty (4:21-31). What about us today?

Furthermore, we must differentiate, or recognize the distinction, between systematic wrong teaching that seeks to bring and keep believers in bondage (Phil. 3:2) and thus abuse God’s grace, from grace that must be shown to those who are weak in the faith (Rom. 14:1-15:7). Seeking to introduce wrong doctrine, Satan tries to destroy God’s testimony by using the law (1 Tim. 1:3-10, 4:1-5). He may quote the law as he partly quoted the Scriptures when trying to tempt the Lord Jesus, but Satan’s motives are always wrong, as is the case with the instruments he uses.

If we are governed by love from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith (1:5), then the Holy Spirit will be able to help us to use the law in a proper way (v.8), lead us as God’s useful instruments and link these instructions with the gospel (v.11). Paul was a law-keeper, but in his unsaved condition he was a blasphemer and persecutor of the saints (v.13) until God’s wonderful intervention in His marvelous grace (v.14). After that, Saul, who also went by the name Paul,2 needed to keep faith and a good conscience (v.19) – and so do we. We need to maintain continuous self-judgment and keep trusting the Lord. It is always helpful to read Paul’s testimony (Gal. 1:11-24; Phil. 3:4-14).

Opposition To God’s Grace
Resistance may come from unexpected sources, including from people who claim to keep the law yet are destroying God’s testimony (see v.2). Those teachers wanted – as do many today – Christians to rely on rituals of man-made order instead of entirely trusting the Lord in the glory. The enemy seeks to take our focus off Christ and put our trust in self, rules, regulations, ordinations and organizations.

To answer this challenge Paul wrote something very remarkable, which seems to contradict what he wrote before: “we are the circumcision” (v.3). It means that the flesh has been set aside, just as in literal circumcision some flesh is removed. The moment we put our trust in the Lord Jesus who died for us and rose again, we put our trust in His perfect work on the cross, where He was judged in place of us (Gal. 2:20). We need to keep trusting Him to enjoy the relationship into which God has put us with Himself, with Christ Jesus in heaven and with the believers. The flesh has no place here whatsoever.

Because we are still in the flesh, there is always the danger that we will act according to it and not in agreement with the position and relationship where God has put us. We may allow something to interfere with God’s purpose. However, by accepting God’s thoughts we will be able to function accordingly and respond in true worship in the power of the Holy Spirit (Phil. 3:3). The same verse concludes, “and have no confidence in the flesh” a sober reminder that the flesh is still in us, but it should not have any control or influence.

From a human perspective, Paul could have had much confidence in the flesh (vv.4-6), but he had learned to see everything in relation to “Christ Jesus my Lord” (v.8), and continued to do so. He desired to get to know Him (v.10) rather than seeking to build his own righteousness, because that would interfere with this new position of being circumcised in Christ (see Col. 2:11). This conviction implies an ongoing challenge and exercise (Phil. 3:11-14), as we continue to run the race with our eyes fixed on Jesus in heaven. This focus on Him is essential for a proper understanding of God’s law, given for our good, realizing that we cannot do anything to please God in our own strength. However, the Lord in the glory and the Holy Spirit living in us desire to help us achieve this goal, as we exercise ourselves to have a sound mind, the right mindset and a good spiritual mentality (v.15). There is to be a moral transformation as we wait for the final transformation (Rom. 12:1-2; Phil. 3:20-21). We can enjoy the liberty of sonship (Rom. 8; Gal. 4–5) and honor the Lord while we are on this earth.

James’ teachings about the law of liberty, the perfect law, and the royal law (Jas. 1:25, 2:8-12) fully agree with this concept, as does Paul’s teaching about the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). I leave this for your further study.

Conclusion
The issue of the law of Moses is simple while at the same time very complex, for the human tendency is to complicate things. That is why we need to be simple, in tune with God, fixing our eyes on the Lord Jesus and realizing the importance of the dispensations as taught in Scripture. Let’s not mix what is for Israel with what is for the Church, or the dispensation of the law and Moses with the dispensation of grace.3 Careful reading of Scripture in good translations is vital, not allowing human thinking or reasoning to take over but being in subjection to God’s Word that works in us (1 Th. 2:13). Most of all, we need to cling to the Lord and do His bidding, then He will preserve us from rejecting His Word or putting our thoughts above it.

ENDNOTES
1. In the world to come, all will honor Him (Phil. 2:11). It is highly recommended to read the Scripture references along with this study.
2. We see in Acts 13 how his different name was used in a specific context of ministry, as an instrument of the Holy Spirit; it does not mean that his name was changed completely. Compare this with Jacob/Israel. The Holy Spirit has a reason to use both names. With Saul/Paul it is similar. When his ministry is emphasized it is Paul; when his origins or background are emphasized, it is Saul.
3. In this context it is good to remind ourselves that Matthew’s gospel describes the transition of one dispensation to another, from law to grace. It introduced the church age (Mt. 16:16-18) as well as several previews of the coming millennial reign.

By Alfred Bouter