The apostle Paul said in Romans 7:12 “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” The law of God was not grievous to Paul but a joyous delight. Romans 7:22 “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:”
Some trip over the purpose of the law.
Some trip by disregarding that it teaches them about what is pleasing and displeasing to God. Others stumble by thinking they are saved by observing the law. The truth is the law of God is neither to be disregarded nor discarded. [Jesus said so in Matt 5:17-19] but it cannot be used to ‘earn’ one salvation. That is not the intended purpose of the law. The law is to teach us how to love God and love our fellow man and to point out where we fall short of these goals.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
I heard of one Evangelist who used three images to describe the purpose of the law. First, he likened the law to a dentist’s little mirror, which he sticks into the patient’s mouth. With the mirror he can detect any cavities. But he doesn’t drill with it or use it to pull teeth. It can show him the decayed area or other abnormality, but it can’t provide the solution.
This brother then used another analogy. He said that the law is also like a flashlight. If suddenly at night the lights go out, you use it to guide you down the darkened basement stairs to the electrical box. When you point it toward the fuses, it helps you see the one that is burned out. But after you’ve removed the bad fuse, you don’t try to insert the flashlight in its place. You rather put in a new fuse to restore the electricity.
In his third image, the teacher likened the law to a plumbline. When a builder wants to check his work, he uses a weighted string to see if it’s true to the vertical. But if he finds that he has made a mistake, he doesn’t use the plumbline to correct it. He gets out his hammer and saw.
The law points out the problem of sin; it doesn’t provide a solution. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can take away our transgressions of the law.
Jesus died for our transgressions and was raised for our justification – this is the gospel.
Galatians 3:21-22 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Romans 8:3-4 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
1 Timothy 1:5 Now the end [goal] of the commandment is charity[Love] out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
Matthew 22:36-40 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The Saints are characterized by two main things: They Have the Faith of Jesus Christ and they Keep the commandments of God. (See Rev 14:12)
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