I may be completely off base, but I’m willing to bet that my last two articles have left you with some unanswered questions. Let me take a shot at it.
- If God wasn’t too impressed with the best law keepers of Jesus’ day (the Pharisees), then why did He give Israel the law in the first place?
- If God desired mercy and love above all else and the law couldn’t produce that in us, then what did He expect the law to accomplish?
- Since God specifically gave the law to Israel, does it have any place in the lives of Gentiles?
- What purpose, if any, does the law serve today?
All good questions. And even if they hadn’t crossed your mind, it’s still good to find answers to them. In doing so we will learn even more about who God is. So let’s get started.
The Pharisees thought they were the apple of God’s eye. And why wouldn’t they? They were the upper crust of society. Everyone looked up to them as the nation’s leaders, not only politically but religiously too. No one knew the law like they did. Presumably no one followed the law like they did either. Surely this made them loved and approved by God.
One story alone exhibits this arrogant attitude they had. It’s in a parable Jesus told to some people who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
As I mentioned in last week’s article, the Pharisees exhibited a self-righteous attitude that is only too common for religious legalists, even in the 21st century. Notice how the Pharisee thought he was so accomplished at obeying the strict requirements of the law. He was convinced he was better than those “sinners.”
Since the Bible makes it clear that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), we should hold no illusion about the Pharisees or modern-day religious folks. Like all of us, they come up short too, despite their best efforts to live according to the law. And the thing is God knew we would come up short. He never intended for any of us to find righteousness and salvation through obedience to the law.
So then what’s the reason for the law? There really are some good ones. First, Israel was just getting started as a nation when God gave the law to them. They had just left over 400 years of Egyptian enslavement behind. They didn’t know what it meant to be a nation. Something was needed to bring a sense of unity, purpose, and order. The law was an important element in that effort. It served a purpose to this new nation similar to the purpose the U.S. Constitution served to our young nation.
But that’s certainly not the only reason. The Bible offers us some very clear and specific additional reasons. For example, Paul states, “Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.” (Galatians 3:19) In other words, one of the purposes of the law was to act as a restraint on man’s sinfulness until Jesus came. As Paul further stated, “So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24) As a guardian, the law demonstrated that our attempts to live up to its lofty requirements of righteousness were utterly hopeless. If man was to be saved, he would have to look elsewhere. And that brings us to the next reason for the law.
Though Jesus fulfilled the law (Matthew 5:17, Romans 10:4), that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t serve a purpose for mankind today. However, that purpose does not apply to believers. Allow Paul to explain again. “We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.” (1 Timothy 1:8-11) To put it another way, the law’s perfect standards are meant to reveal to mankind it’s hopeless position of trying to save itself. It’s pure folly to think that we can ever be good enough or could ever obey God’s law well enough to earn salvation. That is complete nonsense.
So what is the lawbreaker and rebel to do? When confronted by God’s righteous and holy standards, the sinner is to cry out for mercy. And here we see the grace and love of God in action. Since God never intended for the law to save us, He gave us another way. That way, of course, is Jesus Christ. Once again, he fulfilled the law on our behalf. To restate what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:24 from the NASB, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” And there it is – the law’s main purpose – to lead us to Christ. When the law fulfills that purpose, when a sinner cries out to the Lord, God’s purpose has been met. His grace has once again touched the heart of sinful man and restored him by the love of the one who gave it all for him.
So we see that God is anything but a lawgiving killjoy. He never gave us the law to destroy our good time. It’s quite the opposite. He gave it to us to bring us to Jesus Christ and to take us from death to life. It’s the supreme act of a loving Father and another example of His essential grace. So see the law for what it was truly intended for and see your Father for who He truly is – the one who has a heart beating with an unquenchable love for us all.
Essential Grace 