The Law Doesn’t Do It

The law doesn’t do what, justify. We do not find our justification through the upholding of the law. And by law I am speaking primarily of the law of man, but also the law of God. I have written that even those who do not know God and the gospel still have His law written on their hearts. Where that is true, I have also written that they still have not arrived and are still accountable to their sins.

This morning I am again for the umpteenth time in Galatians at the passage titled in my ESV Bible, “Justified by Faith”, and that could not be more true to me where I am in my study of the word “law”. You see, we are aware of the law and we know that we are to keep it. But, we are incapable of keeping the law perfectly. As such, we cannot be justified by the law. The law is there to guide us by providing a living standard.

“¹⁵We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ¹⁶yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” – Galatians 2:15-16 (ESV)

We need Jesus Christ to be justified. Our faith in His coming and taking on the consequences of our sin, even as He had no sin. We turn to Him to be our salvation and not the works of the law, as keeping the law does nothing for us.

“¹⁹For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.” – Galatians 2:19 (ESV)

Keeping the law is a reaction to our new found justification. We keep the law as we are guided to do so by the Holy Spirit who resides in us thanks to our justification. We know that the LORD sent Jesus to die for our sin and that I deserved to die for those sins. With our justification comes a desire to be more like Jesus and it is the law that provides the guardrails as to our actions. But again, this is a result of our justification and it does not get us there, that comes from our faith. The law doesn’t do it.

What is your approach to justification? Are you of the view that following the law will somehow give you the high ground? What if it is a result of justification that you follow the law and you were to find justification through faith in Jesus Christ?

Escape the Power of Sin

Oh that we would do just that, escape the power of sin. Well we can.

“⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” – 1 Corinthians 15:56 (ESV)

You see, the power of sin is the law. The law points out what is prohibited and that prohibition is what drives us to sin. Paul said that he did not know covetousness if the law had not said not to covet. Eve did not desire the fruit of the tree had the serpent not pointed out the restriction.

“¹Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’” – Genesis 3:1 (ESV)

Without the law, we would not know of sin and therefor would not consciously sin. Now, yes, sin is sin and we are held to account for our sin, but the thing here is that we are not ruled by sin when we do not know of that sin.

The great thing is that we do have an escape from sin. We have an escape from the law. That escape is in the grace and person of Jesus Christ.

“⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 15:57 (ESV)

I do not want to be ruled by sin and as such, I have accepted the gift of salvation from Christ. I have been freed from the burden of that sin. I have been given victory over sin. I am able to overcome the temptation of conscious sin thanks to the guidance from the Holy Spirit who dwells within me. I have escaped the power of sin.

How are you escaping? Are you out there just trying to not break the law? What if you accept that the law has power over you and your escape from that power is to accept salvation from Christ?

Meet Others Where They Are

As I read and study this morning I again can see how there is confusion with what comes from God’s Word. If we are to be true to the LORD and trust Him, how then are going to spread the gospel if as we do so we are calling out their sin. Are we not to judge others. Well, we are NOT judging for simply pointing out that which is contrary to the Law of the LORD.

“¹⁹For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. ²⁰To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. ²³I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” – 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (ESV)

In 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks to the church and points out that we have to become like those we are meeting to guide us in reaching them. When reading this it seems to indicate, if you are just taking the words as they are, that we are to act like other to get in with them and then pretend to be something like them in order to reach them. Where that may be what it is on the surface, we have to look deeper into what is meant by being “as” them and what we are in those times.

I remember seeing a video of an inner city youth outreach guy. He was out in the community playing basketball and chatting up the kids of the neighborhoods. There were those who were wondering how he was going to reach those kids when he was acting like them in order to reach them. His response was something to the effect that he was being like them on the surface to get in with them to show them that we all are not so different in the eyes of God. He did not abandon his love for and devotion to the LORD, he only changed his approach to those in the neighborhood to be as them so they would listen.

This is the approach that Paul is speaking of in the above verses. Notice the parenthesized notes in the verses. Paul never lost sight of his identity in Christ. He was always true to God, he only appeared to be the same as those He was working with to reach them and then show them that God and His law were for all, not just a select group.

We have to be similar in our approach. We cannot be hesitant to meet others where they are. We will make more ground with our spread of the Gospel when we take the Gospel to others where they are as opposed to forcing others to come to us. We have to show, not just speak of God being for all. We have take the LORD to those and demonstrate that God does indeed love all and wants nothing but the best for all, not just a certain set of people.

Of course, we are not to take the actions of others, we are only to present ourselves as them to show them that God is for everyone. We are to reach them with and through the love of God. We are to go to them and not ask them to come to us. We are meet them where they and bring the Christ to them.

What is your approach to reaching others? Are you asking everyone to come to you in your safe space? What if you were to meet others where they are and bring the Gospel to them to show that God is for everyone where they are?

Love to Fulfill the Law

I believe I have spoken about my wife’s former coworker that we just pour love on as opposed to beating him up to get to church and get right with God. This morning in my continued study of the word “law”, I was brought to the passage that brings that to life.

“¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” “⁸Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” – Romans 13:10 & 8 (ESV)

The title of the passage, in my ESV Bible, where these verses come from is “Fulfilling the Law Through Love”. You see, our approach should be one of love. We are called to fulfill the law through love, not through other means. Jesus was the shining example of this approach. He loved all, not just those who would be following Him. He loved the tax collector and the adulteress. He dined with all. He healed those who would come to Him. In all, He loved.

I want to be careful not to glaze over the idea of accountability to our sins. Yes, Jesus loved all without exception, just as He continues to do today with you and me. But, He did not condone all of the actions of those He loved. He dined with the tax collectors yet did not avoid conversation. He spoke truth to the adulteress at the well. In just these scenarios Jesus delivered accountability through truth yet displayed love and forgiveness.

“¹⁴The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” – 2 Corinthians 13:14 (ESV)

We fulfill the law of the LORD when we spread His love to all. Paul, even as he spoke truth to the Corinthian church, did so through love and as you can see above, ended his letter letting them know where the love came from.

Love is from the LORD. We are called to live as the LORD and be His example here in this world. We are then called to live a life of love. Loving others does not mean that we avoid the truth to keep things cordial. Loving others means that we bring the truth but do so to guide and direct to the LORD, not to condemn. We are not the judge of others, that is left to the LORD. We are however bringers of love to the people as Jesus did and in doing so, we work toward fulfilling the law.

What is your approach to fulfilling the law? Are you rigid in the keeping of the rules to be just in all your work? What if you were to simply bring love and truth to all and know that in doing so, you will be fulfilling the law as God intended?

Christ is Our Righteousness

How do we know that we have done something wrong? We compare our actions to the law or the rules. The same goes for our sin. We know that we have sinned when we compare our actions to the Law of the LORD written on our hearts.

“¹Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” – Romans 10:1 (ESV)

I recently saw a debate where one of the debaters asked a group of onlookers if they wanted everyone to go to heaven and there was 100% respondents of yes. Now, this was not exactly the subject of the debate, but the question was a valid one. You see, people are inherently good and want the best for others. Paul echos this in verse one above. He wants, no desires’ that everyone is saved.

“³For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” – Romans 10:3 (ESV)

Even as Paul and others want the best for us, there is truth in that people still follow their own desires and law as oppose to the Law of the LORD. There is a continued seeking of our own rules and laws to get us through. We want heaven, but we insist on getting there our own way and do not submit to the Law of the LORD which is written on our hearts.

“⁴For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4 (ESV)

Jesus is the where we find the path to righteousness and heaven. We know the Law of the LORD, we are just not submitting to it. We are aware of the path to heaven, we simply choose to take another path. We choose to do things our way, avoiding The Way because, “we know better”.

“⁶Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6 (ESV)

Jesus told us that the way to righteousness is through Him, and that is the only way. We cannot get there on our own. We cannot reach heaven doing things our way. We cannot submit to Christ without finding Him. Christ is for our righteousness and the path to heaven, we only need to trust in and submit to Him.

What does your path look like? Are you intent on going your own way as you know better? What if you were to submit to and trust in Jesus as He is our path to righteousness?

Heirs Through Satisfied Law

“¹⁶The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” “³For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”– Romans 8:16-17 & 3-4 (ESV)

We have been recognized as living led by the Spirit. And as such we have been adopted as children of God. And as we are children of God, we are heirs with Jesus to the Kingdom of God. What a wonderful thing to have as my identity. I am a child of God and heir to Heaven. But, see in verse 17. We are heirs yes, but in that we will suffer. We will be persecuted as Jesus, our brother was persecuted.

Here is the thing, we will be persecuted, yes, but that persecution is from man, not from God. You see, we have been justified through our faith in Him. We have been set free from the burden that sin has on our lives. As Jesus came and took that burden away. God sent Jesus to appear as us, human, as an offering for sin, condemned our sin, and satisfied the law of sin for us. Jesus stepped in for us with God and satisfied our payment for the sin in our lives. He dismissed the case against us with prejudice to satisfy the law.

I am so grateful that I do not have to concern myself with the consequence of sin, death. I am free from sin and can lead my life focused on the work God has for me and that the Holy Spirit guides me in thanks to the grace afforded me through Jesus Christ. The law was satisfied and I get to live. And I get to live as an heir to Heaven with Jesus, my brother.

How do you qualify as heir to Heaven? Are you getting there for being a good person? What if you realized that it is because your sin has been satisfied by the grace of Jesus and the love of God?

We Sin Because of the Law

Do you remember your parents telling you not to do something and as such you had an almost insatiable desire to do it now that they said not to? I know that I do. I remember with my first B.B. gun I was told not to point at something that I did not intend to shoot. Well, I did and pulled the trigger and shattered the back window of my uncle’s pickup. I did it because I was told not to. This is the effect of sin in our lives as well.

I know it sounds as though I am making an excuse for sin, saying that it was or is the law that made me do it. I am not doing that. I am saying that we know about the negative impacts of sin through the law that tells us not to do and our nature is such that we are drawn to that thing to really test the validity of the law.

“⁷What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ ⁸But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.” – Romans 7:7-8 (ESV)

We see here that Paul is saying just that. He would not know what is or how to covet, had the law not indicated that it should not be done. And as he now knows, he is drawn to it like the moth to the flame, ultimately to his detriment. Had he not known of this thing called covetousness, he would not have been drawn to it. As he notes in the last part of verse eight, if he had not known, the he would not have sinned.

Now, as I have read, studied and written, just because we don’t know does not absolve us of the sin. I may not sin consciously, but I do sin subconsciously every day. And I pray for forgiveness every day. I am still accountable to all of my sin whether conscious or subconscious. The difference is in my heart. Without knowing of the sin through the law, I am not looking to sin. I am aware and do it because of my nature to test the bounds of the law. Without the law, I am working through things based on what is written on my heart thanks to God.

“⁹I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” – Romans 7:9 (ESV)

So, I was alive and now I am dead. Not physically, but I am no longer free to simply live by way of the law on my heart that is placed there by the LORD. I am a slave to the law in knowing that this and that are against the LORD and thanks to my nature, I choose to do them anyway because I know. I choose sin thanks to knowing of sin through the law.

What is the law to you? Are you of the view that it keeps you from sin? What if you consciously sin because of knowing the law and what if you leaned on the law of your heart as the LORD wrote there?

Free Yourself from the Law

Yes, we can free ourselves from the law. But what does that mean. Can we no longer be accountable? What about following of the law, are we exempt? Does the law no longer apply, to us? The answer to all of those questions is a short no.

I mentioned to Lori just the other day that we have to get back to a place where we are not trying to follow some “political correctness” and we should get back to truth and that which is founding in God. I see too often that there is an abandonment of that which is known to be true in the interest of not offending or following some sort of social “norm”.

“⁵For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.” – Romans 7:5 (ESV)

When we are following those social “norms” we are living in the flesh. We are doing and saying things that are in the interest of acceptance and in doing so, we abandoning truth and love as God intended for us. We find ourselves working for others and not working for the LORD.

“⁶But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” – Romans 7:6 (ESV)

With acceptance of Christ as our Savior and that He died for our sin so that we may have life eternal, we are freed from sin. We are forgiven for those sins we have committed and will commit. We are no longer slaves to the law written in on the page, we are held to the law written on our heart by God.

As mentioned above, we are not absolved of accountability to the law as written, we are not exempt, and the law does still apply to us. But we will find ourselves following the law because we are doing the work of the LORD and not for acceptance to the societal “norms”. We are free to do that which is right as opposed coerced into it to avoid some persecution. We don’t “break” the law as we are too busy following truth and love as given to us by God through Jesus Christ.

What is your view of the law and your freedom? Do you feel restricted to follow the law to adhere to social “norms”? What if you were free from sin in that you were following Christ and doing His work in truth and love?

One Man

Our sin and our forgiveness are each the result of one man’s actions. Adam sinned therefor we are now all sinners. Jesus took our sin upon Himself and died for us and therefor we all have salvation available.

“¹⁹For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” – Romans 5:19 (ESV)

Before I get more into the one man, I want to point out the verbiage in the verse above as it relates to my first paragraph. “many will be made righteous” are the words and “will be” is the focus. We are not guaranteed to be righteous only that it is available and that many will be. Each of us have to go through the acknowledgment of our sin and the acceptance of forgiveness in our hearts to be saved.

It is one man who made our fall into sin happen. Adam did the one thing that God instructed him not to do. Adam sinned and that opened the gate to our sin. He was made in the image of God and yet fell for the idea from the evil one that he could be like God. Thanks to the one man’s transgression, we all now fall for the evil one’s tricks and deception which lead to our sin and our fall from the grace of God.

Jesus. The one sent by God to remedy the results of the fall. Jesus came to take our sin and provide a path back to God and the grace He has for us all. He came and took our sin, dying in the process, and as a result, we are afforded the sparing of our lives due to the sins we commit. He did that, one man, sent by God to to provide the way to righteousness.

Again, I come to the fact that the way to righteousness is provided, but not all will take the way. We are given the choice to take the path of one man. Either we can take the path we are on which was provided by Adam that leads to death for the very sin we commit, or we can take the path to righteousness provided through the shed blood of Jesus who took our sin and atoned for it so that we could have life everlasting.

What is your choice? Are you going to choose the path of sin and destruction provided through the sin of Adam? What if you were to accept salvation from the one man, Jesus, who took your sin so you could have life everlasting?

The Law is Here, Now

Righteousness is through our faith in the LORD and not through our works or adherence to the law of any kind. This is shown through those introduced in God Word as being righteous before there was the described law that is known today. We have Abel, Noah, and Abraham who were all shown to us and described as righteous even as Moses had not been or been given the law from God as of yet. So, as we know righteousness and salvation, it does not require the law, but it is here now and it is to be held.

You see, we are not able to keep the law. We are sinners and will sin continually. We may minimize our conscious sin, but we will still sin subconsciously continually. I pray daily for forgiveness and ask the LORD to help keep me from sin, yet I know that I cannot avoid it.

“¹⁴For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.” – Romans 4:14-15 (ESV)

The promise of salvation and being heirs with Jesus cannot be left to our adherence to the law as we are not able to keep the law, no matter how hard we try. With that breaking of the law, or sinning, we are subject to the wrath of God. And frankly, we deserve it.

So, the law is here to guide us as much as possible. There is no escaping the law, but there is an escape from the wrath of God. That escape is thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus for our sin. That sacrifice carries from yesterday, into today, and out through tomorrow. Even as I sin, those are forgiving through my faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Abraham did not have the law to direct him and Jesus had yet to come, yet his faith in God and the work of God saved him from the certain wrath of God.

Adherence to the law today as our outward demonstration of our obedience to the LORD. We have what is right written on our hearts and we display that through our actions for the world to see. But remember adherence to the law does not our righteousness make. It is our faith in and reliance on God where we find grace. Yes, the law is here today, yet our salvation is found in Christ?

What is your view of the law today? Is the law saving us from something? What if you were reliant on your faith in God and adherence to the law is just that outward expression of what is on your heart?