(continuation of
Meditation 109)
“The Law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful
nature.” (Romans 8:3*)
When the apostle Paul speaks of the Law and its commandments, he means
the Law that God gave through His servant Moses to His people Israel at Mount
Sinai after their liberation from the bondage of Egypt.
The Law of Moses...
In the Holy Scriptures [the Bible], this Law is called “the Law of
the LORD” (Exodus 13:9, etc.), “the Book of the Law of Moses”
(Joshua 8:31), “the Law of Moses” (Joshua 8:32, etc.), “the Book of
the Law of God” (Joshua 24:26, etc.), “the Book of the Law of the LORD”
(2 Chronicles 17:9), “the Law of the God of heaven” (Ezra 7:12), “the
Law of my servant Moses” (Malachi 4:4), “the Law of our fathers”
(Acts 22:3), “the Law of the Jews” (Acts 25:8) and “the Law of
righteousness” (Romans 9:31),
Jesus summarises God’s holy Law with the words: “’Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love
your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets [i.e. the entire Old
Testament] hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40**)
Wholehearted love for God and our fellow-man is the essence of the divine Law.
Therefore, it is obvious that the apostle Paul declares in his letter to the
church in Rome: “The Law itself is holy and right and good” (Romans 7:12*).
Moses (ca. 13th century B.C.) already said to the people of
Israel: “What other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and
laws as this body of Laws I am setting before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:8**)
Furthermore, Paul writes to the Christians in Rome: “We know that the
Law is spiritual” (Romans 7:14**), which means “given by the Spirit of
God”.
In the 5th
century B.C., Nehemiah attested also that the Law had come from God Himself: “You
came down on Mount Sinai and spoke to them from heaven. You gave them
regulations and instructions that were just, and laws and commands that were
true.” (Nehemiah 9:13*)
The Psalms often praise God’s perfect and righteous Law, especially
Psalm 119!
Jesus firmly upheld God’s
Law when He said: “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for
the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.” (Luke 16:17**)
Jesus made it perfectly clear that He did not come to invalidate God’s
Law. He warned: “Don't misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to
abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17*).
Paul repeats that declaration in his own words: “Christ has
accomplished the whole purpose of the Law.” (Romans 10:4*)
What no human being could do, Jesus did! He fully obeyed God’s Law. In
that way He demonstrated to us what it means to live a complete, sinless and perfect
human life. By living such a life, Jesus accomplished the actual purpose of
God’s Law: He restored life in the way God had originally created us: “in
His image and His likeness.” (Genesis 1:26**)
The apostle Paul reminds the Christians in the Greek town of Colosse of
the true nature of Jesus: “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation.”
(Colossians 1:15*)
The evangelist John
wrote about Jesus: “The Word [God the Son] became flesh and made his
dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who
came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14**) One could also
say that in Jesus the Law of God became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
With the arrival of Jesus, our old world entered a
new era. Jesus said: “The Law and the Prophets
were proclaimed until John [the Baptist]. Since that time, the
good news of the Kingdom of God is being preached...” (Luke 16:16**)
The apostle Paul also
mentions this divine point of intervention to the followers of Jesus in Galatia
(former region in Turkey): “Well then, why was the Law given? It was given
to show people how guilty they are. But this system of Law was to last only
until the coming of the child [Jesus Christ] to whom God's promise was
made.” (Galatians 3:19*)
When Jesus burst into world
history two thousand years ago, the captivating power of God's moral Law on
mankind came to an end. Why? Let's continue reading.
The Law of Moses could not save us...
Now we come to a crucial question: could I save myself and get right
with God by obeying His holy, righteous and perfect Law? Or, to put it more
generally: could I find the way to penance and perfect peace by practising
some form of self-discipline, abstinence, asceticism or obedience to specific rules
of life? I think that this question is fundamental to most religions and spiritual
traditions.
It is not our intention to seek an answer to this question in general
terms or by studying comparative religion. In these Meditations we want to find
out what God says in His Word (the Bible) about His way of true salvation.
The apostle Paul gives a straight answer to our earlier question when he
tells the Christians in Rome: “No one can ever be made right in God's sight
by doing what his Law commands. For the more we know God's Law, the clearer it
becomes that we aren't obeying it.” (Romans 3:20*)
In Romans 7:5* and 7:7-11*, Paul writes: “When we were controlled by our
old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the Law aroused these
evil desires that produced sinful deeds, resulting in death.... Well then, am I
suggesting that the Law of God is evil? Of course not! The Law is not sinful,
but it was the Law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that
coveting is wrong if the Law had not said, ‘Do not covet.’ But sin took advantage
of this Law and aroused all kinds of forbidden desires within me! If there were
no Law, sin would not have that power. I felt fine when I did not understand
what the Law demanded. But when I learned the truth, I realized I had broken
the Law and was a sinner, doomed to die. So the good Law, which
was supposed to show me the way of life, instead gave me the death penalty. Sin
took advantage of the Law and fooled me; it took the good Law and used it to
make me guilty of death.”
To the Christians in Galatia, Paul explains the difference between hoping
to get right with God by trying to obey His perfect Law and finding God’s
salvation by trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice. Paul writes: “Those who depend on
the Law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures
say, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all these commands that
are written in God's Book of the Law.’ (see Deuteronomy 27:26)
Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever
be right with God by trying to keep the Law. For the Scriptures say, ‘It is
through faith that a righteous person has life.’ (see Habakkuk 2:4)
How different from this way of faith is the way
of Law, which says, ‘If you wish to find life by obeying the Law, you must obey
all of its commands.’ (see Leviticus 18:5)
But Christ has rescued us from the curse
pronounced by the Law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the
curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is
everyone who is hung on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:23).’” (Galatians 3:10-13*)
...because of our sinful nature
In Paul’s letter to the church in Rome he lays bare the depth of his old
sinful nature: “I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old
sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do
right. I want to, but I can't.” (Romans 7:18*)
Concerning our
original sinful self, Paul writes to the church in Ephesus (Turkey): “Once
you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. You used to live just
like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of
the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who
refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passions and
desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under
God's anger just like everyone else.” (Ephesians 2:1-3*)
The apostle reminds the Christians in Galatia of the depraved character
of our sinful hearts: “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature,
your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts,
eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities,
hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition,
divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little
group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you
again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit
the Kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21*)
Paul warns the Galatian Christians for the consequences if they continue
to follow the cravings of their old sinful nature: “Those who live only to
satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and
death.” (Galatians 6:8*)
The apostle makes it perfectly clear to the Christians in Rome why we
never could save ourselves by our own efforts to obey God’s perfect Law of
life, even if we would desire to do so: “You see how it is: In my mind I
really want to obey God's Law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to
sin.” (Romans 7:25*)
In Paul’s correspondence with the churches, he shows why it is impossible
by our own efforts to save ourselves in trying to fulfil the requirements of
God’s perfect Law of life and love. As we have seen in the various texts quoted
in this meditation, the root of the problem lies in our own selfish and sinful
hearts.
So, if God’s Law of love is holy, perfect, eternal and unchangeable, and
I am unable to fulfil its requirements, how could I ever escape God’s anger and
punishment? How could I ever get right with God? Could God compromise His own
Law to save me? And, coming back to our theme: could I ever overcome the power
of sin in my life?
We will look into these questions in our next meditation.
(to be continued)
Translations: * New Living Translation; ** New International
Version
For more on the Holy Spirit’s ministry see Meditations 27 to 34 and
49 to 56 and 105.
For more on the question ‘what is sin?’ see Meditations 101 to 103.
For more on Jesus Christ:
-- as true God and true man: Meditations 2 to 4.
-- His sacrifice, resurrection and enthronement in heaven: Meditations
5 and 6.
-- as the only Mediator between God and man: Meditations 7 and 8.
-- as God’s promised Messiah (Christ) : Meditations 9 to 12.
-- as God the Son,
resembling God the Father: Meditation 14.
-- the characteristic
of the divine Father-Son relationship: Meditation 15 and 16.
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