Law Matters: The Law and the Scriptures (5)

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. Romans 3.31

For years, when I was preaching full time, it almost never failed. Let me mention in a sermon something about our duty to learn and obey God’s Law, and someone would be sure to say to me afterwards, “I’m glad I’m not under the Law, but under grace.” This wresting of Paul’s too-easily-hijacked phrase represented a misunderstanding both of my intentions as well as those of the Apostle.

When Paul wrote in Galatians 3 that we are no longer under the Law, he meant it only in terms of salvation. We are not saved by the Law, and we are not sanctified by obedience to the Law. Salvation and sanctification are works of grace, rooted in Jesus Christ, unto Christ-likeness, as the Spirit of God works on, in, and through us according to God’s Word. We are not saved by keeping the Law; indeed, our efforts to keep the Law will always be miserable failures, thus “teaching” us to look somewhere else for the salvation we desire.

Jesus is our salvation. His righteousness provides both our justification and our sanctification (Rom. 3.1-30). So shall we simply throw out the Law? Not at all, Paul insists. The Law is holy and righteous and good. It is crucial for understanding the Word of God. It guides us in the paths of righteousness so that the righteousness of Jesus may be graciously worked out in us by the Spirit of God (2 Cor. 3.12-18; Phil. 2.13).

All people are under the Law of God – some to condemnation, some unto righteousness through Jesus Christ. The Law of God will continue in force until heaven and earth pass away, and, thereafter, its presence in our glorified souls and lives will be so indelible and inescapable that we will gladly live in perfect conformity to it, even as we see our Master and King doing (1 Jn. 2.1-6).

If you claim to be under grace, then you must also admit to being under the Law. Begin to nurture the right attitudes toward the Law, and watch how the grace of God will flow in and through you to make the holiness and righteousness and goodness of the Law your lived possession, increasingly, day by day (Rom. 7:12).

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