The longer I live, the less inclined I am to delve into politics. Too often to my eyes and ears politicians spend most of their time patting themselves on the back and sounding like the “Wah, wah, wah…” of Charlie Brown’s cartoon teacher. I do, however, get excited thinking about law–God’s law, that is–and why He sent it.
Romans 3:19-20 teaches, Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
This is perhaps the greatest truth in the Bible, and what the Lord revealed to Martin Luther, sparking the Reformation. Many Christians do not see this, do not believe it, or vehemently argue against it. In their book we are justified, at least in part, by trying our best to “be good.” But Paul clearly states that no effort on our part can ever make us right before God. We’re either completely justified or hopelessly condemned. Keeping only part of the Law accomplishes nothing as far as our justification before God.
Consider this analogy. If an American goes to court for breaking a law, such as drunk driving, the fact that they have kept almost every other law carries no weight. It matters not that they never shoplifted, always kept their dog on a leash, never cheated on their taxes, or even kept the speed limit while driving drunk! The breathalyzer test proved their guilt. Keeping all the other laws cannot justify their drunk driving.
If we cannot be justified by keeping even part of the Law, then why did God give it in the first place? In human governments, laws are created with the expectation that people keep and obey them. In contrast, God gave His laws to prove that we cannot keep them! And in God’s economy, The person who keeps every law of God but makes one little slip is just as guilty as the person who has broken every law there is (James 2:10 TLV). That sounds pretty hopeless!
But there’s good news, i.e., the gospel! Paul continues, But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe (Romans 3:21-22). In other words, righteousness is only credited to those who believe Christ paid for their sins Himself. That faith is completely apart from any works we perform.
Think of it this way. If I used my credit card to pay for your transaction, the vendor would be unjust to charge you as well. In fact, that transaction shouldn’t even show on your account, since I paid for that purchase. In the same way, God paid for our sins by imputing them to Jesus so that we don’t have any charges shown on our accounts. It’s just as if we’d never sinned. That, my friend, is justification. You can rejoice that Jesus kept the law for you!
