April 30, 2008

~An Impotent Law~

"For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh." - Romans 8:3

We will never be saved by works (Titus 3:5; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal 2:21), as if that weren't obvious. But what are works? How would one define a work? A work would be something that one thinks he can do to attain salvation apart from God's unique prescription which is through Christ alone. So, how does one decide that a "work" of his will be sufficient (keeping in mind that no work will ever be sufficient apart from the work of Christ)? The answer is found in the law. Romans 2:15 says that "they show the work of the Law written in their hearts." We are conscious of a sense of right and wrong according to this verse. However, the condemnation goes further. Paul says in Romans 1:18 that mankind, in general, suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. Paul goes on to talk about this in detail in Romans 7 showing that the law becomes a schoolmaster, and, rather than making it easier to do right, it makes it painfully obvious how corrupt we are and incapable of doing right. Thus, whenever we try to do a "work" we are going off of a conscious standard (which is seared) and a quasi-moral standard (which is always in flux, driven by humanism).

We think because the law says "do not kill" that if we haven't killed then we are doing okay - forgetting about the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:22. Or, what about coveting, or adultery? The issue is the heart, and all the law does is expose the true wickedness (Jer. 17:9). Thus, whenever someone thinks they can arrive at salvation with their own merit they cast off this key principle that the Law is powerless in this matter!

The law is tied to the flesh and is therefore "weak through it." It can, and does, show sinfulness and guilt but cannot cleanse. Here is what the Law could not do; and, exactly at that point, where the Law lost its potency, God stepped in, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (fully human yet without sin) and for sin - the only acceptable payment. Romans 8:4 goes on to say that Christ was sent so that the requirement of the Law would be fulfilled in us (through Christ) who . . . walk according to the Spirit.