The Law

Feature 3 – September 2020 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The Law
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. —Romans 3:19-20 KJV

No one is outside of this condemnation: “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (v.23). Paul then added a great and wonderful hope for all who believe, saying, “... being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (v.24).

The LORD God gave the law to Moses and the people of Israel, and they presented it to the world. Why did Israel have this special revelation? God had uniquely gifted them. However, Israel could not keep the law even though by it “is the knowledge of sin.” Since the gifted people could not keep the law, it is apparent that no one could. Therefore we must realize that all are guilty before God. We may then ask, why does God condemn us all and make us aware that we are all sinners?

The only living man to keep all of God’s law is the Lord Jesus. He is morally and spiritually perfect and therefore was able to offer Himself without spot to God. He died that we might live, be forgiven and saved from the penalty for sin: death. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (6:23).

The Lord Jesus said, “He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (Jn. 5:24). What a simple matter it is to believe these words and therefore pass from death to life forever.

In addition, God sent the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin, keep us from being misled and help us understand the way of salvation perfectly. The Spirit of God convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgment. He also leads us into all truth (16:7-15, 14:26). God does not want anyone to perish, but all to be saved.

There is more: the law actually disciplines us. Writing to the Galatians, Paul described the law as a child leader or corrector. The King James Version translates that as “schoolmaster” (3:24), which is not particularly accurate. The Greek word used in this verse, paedagogue, was in fact a slave who protected the boy, but in the schoolroom had a stick with which to chastise him if his attention strayed from his lessons. The law operated in this way with Israel. In a similar sense, if we lose our vision of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit will gently but firmly correct us.

The law is a set of absolutes for ethical standards. Worshiping idols, for instance, degrades the worshipers, whereas to worship the real God lifts up and dignifies the worshipers. Lying, cheating, coveting, unfaithfulness, disobedience and disrespect to parents all degrade and corrupt, and we see their results in society. Such things are often connected to human greed, the failure of parents to bring up their children properly, the utter confusion in society over marital relations and the general acceptance of everything that is wrong. To many, right and wrong, good and evil have lost their meaning.

God has sent “them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie” (2 Th. 2:9-12). This is the blasphemous lie of Satan – presenting himself as God, and his Antichrist as the true Messiah. That is yet to come. It denies the evidence of creation as well as the Word of God. Paul wrote: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men ... because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; ... for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:18-20). Quoting Psalm 14, Paul also wrote: “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (3:11-15). Sin, as disobedience to and rejection of God’s law, affects our thinking and the way we speak.

May we take the advice of Paul: “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8-9).

By Roger Penney