A Holy Law

Those who read my posts and notes might easily begin to think that I have lost all respect for the Law of God. With this post I want to make clear that that is not so. I have great respect for the Law of God.

A Perfect Law and Flawed People

First of all, as did Paul, I acknowledge that God’s law is holy, righteous and good (Romans 7:12). There is no question about that. Were a man able to keep the whole moral will of God, as expressed in the Commandments, he would be morally pure. In this regard the Law is beautiful. Any words that could this concisely present the will of God to mankind are words that should inspire awe in us. The Law is an awesome thing.

The Law is indeed perfect. It perfectly expresses the perfect will of God. As evidenced by our inability to keep it, it is perfectly holy. It is so different from the will of man that it must clearly be recognized as being of divine origin; separate and at enmity with the worldly wisdom of mankind. And because the Law carries with it the penalty of judgment, it commands the respect of men. It tells us exactly what it is that God intends for us, and threatens judgment if we refuse to become what it demands. The Law is always the voice of judgment over us.

Ultimately, though the Law itself is perfect, the sin within ourselves renders it completely incapable of helping us meet its demands and becomes to us nothing but a mechanism of pure judgment. Our sin looks at the Law and intentionally defies it, and much of this takes place apart from our will (Romans 7:15-23). Not only can we not keep the law, but we willfully and unwittingly rebel against it. The Law, despite its perfection, is weakened by our sin and becomes ineffective at producing the holiness it demands. Because it is so weakened by the flesh, it cannot be used to change our lives from the inside out (Romans 8:3). At the same time, the sin in our flesh makes it impossible for us to be changed by the Law from the outside in.

A Costly Law

That the Law is precious to God and ought to be precious to the Christian is obvious in the tremendous cost of satisfying the Law’s demands. The judgment of the Law is that all who do not obey shall die. “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them’” (Galatians 3:10 ESV). Since there is no one who can fulfill the demands of the Law according to the flesh, all are under the judgment of death (Romans 3:10-12).

To be satisfied, the judgment of the Law demands death. So the value of the Holy Law is the cost of a life. If we continue to live under the judgment of the law, we can only satisfy it by our eternal death, at which time the sentence is served. So it would always be had it not been for Christ Jesus. He met the judgment of the Law on behalf of humanity so that those who place faith in his work on Calvary are imputed to have served their sentence (they have died) and been freed from judgment by the Law. This is not cheap grace; it is extremely costly. If you dare say that release from the demands of Law is cheap grace, you slander Christ and discount his death and resurrection. This is not God doling out favors like Halloween candy. This is God giving himself as a sacrifice for sin, dying a pitiful and spiritually agonizing death on your behalf to satisfy his own holy justice for you!

We must never cheapen the Law that demands our death to be satisfied, nor should we ever cheapen the grace that satisfied that Law on our behalf.

Faded Glory

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul refers to the Law as the ministry of death and condemnation:

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

(2 Corinthians 3:7-11 ESV)

Christian, the only way in which the Law may speak to you is with threat of condemnation and death. It does not speak righteousness into your life, or grace. It is a hammer designed to break you into a thousand pieces that you might cry out for mercy to God. That is its purpose from the beginning. The Law can only say to you, “You will die! You will die! You will die!” The glory of the Law has faded in light of the ‘ministry of righteousness’ that was introduced at the cross. The Law is merely a shadow of grace.

Do not think for one moment that the Law ever speaks to you in any other way. When you leave the sheltering grace of God and seek to be made righteous by the Law, you will immediately hear its icy voice again. “You have failed. God is condemning you for your lawlessness. You are too imperfect. You shall die!” That is the language of the Law.

But the language of grace is much different. “You have failed, but you have not failed me. You cannot fail me because I have made you what you are and you cannot disappoint me. You are imperfect and yet you are perfect in my estimation. You shall live!”

I do not disregard the holiness, perfection, or the demanding nature of the Law. It is of God. But I know that the Law does not have the power to bring about within me what it demands; it no longer has glory in this world. It is grace (God’s totally lop-sided love for me) that meets the demands of the Law within me. Grace is the permanent glory of God which I must live by, always.

God Bless