“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17
The Old Testament law is not really a topic I’m usually drawn to write about, but in reading the New Testament, it’s evident it was a very hot topic when Jesus walked the earth.
Growing up, my knowledge of the law consisted of keeping the Ten Commandments, something it seemed all Christians were called to do. I had no idea that God knew when He gave them to Moses that none of us would be able to fully keep them, but rather that it would work to reveal our sinful weaknesses and need for a Savior.
The Apostle Paul explains in Romans 3:20: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”
Sometimes we don’t make the connection between the law and Jesus. As a child, I didn’t know that the law could only be fulfilled by Jesus. It’s something the Jewish leaders and His followers of the day didn’t understand either, so He clarified in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Without the law revealing our sinfulness, we tend to think we’re pretty good people, and why wouldn’t God love us? But the law served a divine purpose until Jesus came and fulfilled it for us. Paul explains in Galatians 3:24: “So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.”
Justification wasn’t attainable for us under the law, as Acts 13:39 explains: “Through Him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the Law of Moses.”
The law is about doing and not doing things in order to meet God’s standards, but Galatians 3:11 clarifies to us, “Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.’”
It reveals how none of us are able to keep the law perfectly, but instead, we all need a perfect Savior who fulfilled the law and gave His life in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.
Paul explains in Galatians 2:16: “Know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”
It’s easy to believe when we’re struggling that we’ve lost our righteous standing with God, but even when we struggle, Romans 6:14 explains, “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”
Unlike the law, even when we fail, because of God’s grace, we have the righteousness of Jesus because “Christ is the culmination of the Law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4).
Our righteousness does not come through keeping laws but through faith in Jesus. Romans 3:22 describes, “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Likewise, as Paul so eloquently explains in Romans 8:2-4 “For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life sets you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Let’s Pray:
Dear Father,
We recognize that Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law, and because He did, we receive justification from sin through His death and resurrection. Help us to walk by faith, according to Your Spirit, each and every day of our lives.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Photo Credit: ©Unsplash/Christopher Sardegna
Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.
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Originally published Friday, 19 April 2024.
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