JDL - Direction Twenty - The message - Law (what we do) and Gospel (what God does) - Part One

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 (ESV))

Jesus directs us. He directs us through His Word. We might rightly divide the His Word into two important parts, His Law and His Gospel. In the Law our Lord gives us direction for our lives. The Ten Commandments are an example of the Law of the Lord. This law was the Law He first gave to His own chosen people, the children of Israel. Along with the Ten Commandments the children of Israel were to follow the civil law, the ceremonial law, and the moral law.

The civil law helped the citizens of the children of Israel to live in harmony with one another and with those around them. The ceremonial law was the rules and regulations which governed their worship. The moral law included the Ten Commandments and were laws which governed their rightful living and treatment of one another as fellow members of the same religious order.

When Jesus came, not only did He fulfill all the promises and prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah as one of many proofs that He was and is the Messiah, but He also fulfilled all of the laws, perfectly. Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law did not do away with the Law, but His keeping the Law on our behalf gives us reconciliation before God the Father.

When we move into the New Testament, God gives us a new covenant. The New Covenant is one that is based on God’s love for us. Yes, we still have the Ten Commandments, but we no longer are bound by the ceremonial law. We still observe and obey the civil laws of our country, and we still abide by God’s moral demands on us.

So, as we think about God’s Law in our world today, we are reminded that the purpose of His Law has changed. The purpose of the law of God today is that it is meant to show us that we have sinned. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), that is Law. The Law is a word that condemns. Unfortunately, the Law does nothing except accuse us. An easy way to remember the purpose of the Law is to think of it as the S.O.S. of the Law. The Law Shows our Sin.

The Law can be used to motivate us. When we hear the threat of the Law we are motivated to try to not sin. Of course, because of our sinful nature, this is impossible. And so instead of showing us how we are to live and act, we are discouraged as we continue to see how we daily disobey the Law. The Law may then lead to despair because we may think we have no hope.

Unfortunately, if the Law is coupled with a bit of moralism, we might be lead to think we can save ourselves through our own merits, through works righteousness. Still, this too is unsatisfactory. The Law accuses; that is its purpose. It might motivate us to attempt to be good and to do good, at least for a while, but that eventually wears off as we become more and more discouraged, and we see time and again how we are completely unable to do what is demanded of us.

The Law accuses; that means that it points us to ourselves, and that is the problem. When we look at ourselves we only see our imperfections and our sins, and so we are not encouraged, rather, we are discouraged. As we read through the Word, we will certainly make note of Jesus’ Words of law, of His Words of direction, of His Words that point to our ineptness. Jesus speaks these words to us not to discourage us, but to show us that in and of ourselves we are lost and we have no way to make ourselves right with Him. Jesus speaks these words of Law because He has a better way, a more loving way, a perfect way, His way of directing us which we will get to next.

Think About
Have you ever been told that you can keep the Law? Do you really think you can keep God’s Law perfectly?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Law which helps me to see my sin. Forgive me my sins especially as I forgive those who have sinned against me. Help me to know and believe in Your forgiveness, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.