For God’s Sake
Let’s talk about laws for a moment; what is their function? We might assume that laws exist to prevent us from doing what is, well, unlawful. But if laws were effective at prevention, we wouldn’t need law enforcement. And how many of us know all the laws to which we are subject? In 2018, Governor Scott signed over one hundred bills into new laws. One hundred new laws! How can something you don’t know keep you from doing something you shouldn’t do?
Some believe that God’s law, particularly the Ten Commandments, functions as a preventative. I wonder how many of us even know the Ten Commandments. The Bible presents a different function for God’s law: “Through the law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). People were sinning against God, so he gave his law to inform us of the fact. The Apostle Paul writes, “Had it not been for the law, I would not have known sin” (Romans 7:7). We’re very familiar with law functioning this way. If I’m driving along Highway 98 and suddenly notice blue flashing lights in my rearview mirror, I pull over, and the law officer informs me of the law and how I have broken it.
God’s law informs us that we have sinned against God, but it cannot prevent us from sinning. The Apostle Paul, a Pharisee, knew God’s law thoroughly, but he lamented, “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”
But God’s goal in informing us of our sin is to reveal our need for the rescue from sin that only he can provide. His law makes clear that “none is righteous, no, not one…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:10, 23). What our sin has earned for us is death, eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23). But God has made a way for people to meet the righteous requirements of his law perfectly. God sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to this earth to accomplish two important tasks: Christ lived the sinless life we are unable to live, then he died for our sins. When a person puts their faith in Christ alone, God forgives that person’s sins and declares them righteous forever. His sins are laid on Christ, who died in his place, and Christ’s sinless record is credited to him forever. God’s Spirit comes to dwell in that person to begin a change process to give him both the desire and the ability live a life pleasing to God.
Can you imagine being on Highway 98 and everyone drove the speed limit, not for fear of the penalty of lawbreaking, but because it pleased their heart to do it? Now if we could just get folks to use their turn signals!