Uses of the Law: Unlawful uses (2)

Ephesians 2.8, 9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Many contemporary Christians apparently cannot think about the Law of God apart from salvation. It almost never fails: Whenever I have preached anywhere on the Law of God, someone will always confront me at the door, wagging his finger and insisting that we are not saved by the Law. I always agree and explain that I did not in any way suggest that we are. Nevertheless, this is what people hear.

We know that we are saved by grace, that’s true. None of our own doing is involved, save to receive what God, by His Spirit, has awakened us to receive – the Kingdom of God. We are saved by the Law in the fact that Jesus’ righteousness and suffering fulfilled all that the Law requires for wretched sinners to enjoy the favor and presence of God. But we have nothing to contribute to that.

So it is an unlawful use of the Law to insist, in any way, that our keeping the Law of God contributes to our being saved. We are not saved by obeying the Law of God. And we are not saved by believing in Jesus and keeping the Law of God.

We are saved by grace through faith. The Law of God, of course, comes into our salvation, but never in any ways as a means, only as a fruit. But, more on that later.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.