God has been opening my eyes to the importance of His Law as I have been studying through Romans. God and His people made a covenant, and they affirmed all God had said they would do. No matter how hard people tried to keep the 613 commands - to do the 248 positive commands and avoid the 365 negative ones - no one was perfect. Knowing this full well, God provided a means of atonement through the offering of sacrifices. By the deeds of the Law no flesh can be justified, for the Law can only condemn. The Law cannot wash you, but is like a clean mirror which reveals your sin before God in truth.
What was intended to humble men became a source of pride. Allow me to illustrate with the history of the I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) test. There is no sense in going into great detail here (if you are reading this you have the internet!), but in the early 1900's a test was developed by a French psychologist to determine if children had learning issues so their educational needs could be better met. A smart idea, right? Discovering and quantifying intellectual disabilities early would afford the best future care for young people. But over time, research and study led to different theories and tests. Instead of intelligence testing being exclusively used to see how severe a disability was, tests were developed to quantify how intelligent "smart" people were - measuring the capacity of intellectual brilliance.
I am not an expert in the field of intelligence testing, but I do appreciate the irony that what began as a test to quantify disabilities has been turned into a point of boasting for some of their intelligence. Chapters of exclusive, internationally recognised high-intelligence groups exist worldwide today. I have not heard of people belonging to a low I.Q. society, and I can't imagine many people would proudly boast of their membership on their resume! The point is this: the point of the Law was to show how sinful people are - not how righteous or holy they are. The Law was given to show that all men were sinners and unacceptable before God. Over time, the keeping of the Law became a quantifiable, measurable standard through which people began to gauge how devout they were - and condemn others as wrong. If people kept the Law better than others, they mistakenly considered themselves righteous. The Law never shows how righteous a man is, but that he is corrupt, sinful, and condemned.
Jesus told a parable to illustrate the folly of thinking righteousness could be found by adherence to the Law rather than by faith alone. Luke 18:8-14 reads, "Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." A mark of self-righteousness is revealed in verse 8 through how people view others. The Pharisee in the parable "kept" the Law even where it concerned his herbs, but his efforts did not grant him an audience in heaven: he only prayed "with himself." While the Pharisee stood in a prominent place the tax collector stood afar off - not daring to lift his eyes to heaven. He simply cried out, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." Through faith and humility before God, he went home justified, cleansed from his sins - without sacrifice, tithes, or any boast of obedience to God.
The Pharisee was proud because he kept the Law far better than the tax collector, but he failed to confess a single sin in repentance. His sin remained. The tax collector's prayer was heard and answered by a gracious God who rewards faith in Him. God looks at the heart. Our conduct matters because it is an expression of the reality within, but attempts to gain favour from God through keeping a Law which only condemns is futile. All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, but we are justified freely by grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22-24). Ephesians 2:8-10 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
Jesus has fulfilled the Law and instituted a New Covenant through His shed blood. Allow me to close with a passage which explains our legal responsibility before God as it concerns His commands in 1 John 3:18-24: "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."
What was intended to humble men became a source of pride. Allow me to illustrate with the history of the I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient) test. There is no sense in going into great detail here (if you are reading this you have the internet!), but in the early 1900's a test was developed by a French psychologist to determine if children had learning issues so their educational needs could be better met. A smart idea, right? Discovering and quantifying intellectual disabilities early would afford the best future care for young people. But over time, research and study led to different theories and tests. Instead of intelligence testing being exclusively used to see how severe a disability was, tests were developed to quantify how intelligent "smart" people were - measuring the capacity of intellectual brilliance.
I am not an expert in the field of intelligence testing, but I do appreciate the irony that what began as a test to quantify disabilities has been turned into a point of boasting for some of their intelligence. Chapters of exclusive, internationally recognised high-intelligence groups exist worldwide today. I have not heard of people belonging to a low I.Q. society, and I can't imagine many people would proudly boast of their membership on their resume! The point is this: the point of the Law was to show how sinful people are - not how righteous or holy they are. The Law was given to show that all men were sinners and unacceptable before God. Over time, the keeping of the Law became a quantifiable, measurable standard through which people began to gauge how devout they were - and condemn others as wrong. If people kept the Law better than others, they mistakenly considered themselves righteous. The Law never shows how righteous a man is, but that he is corrupt, sinful, and condemned.
Jesus told a parable to illustrate the folly of thinking righteousness could be found by adherence to the Law rather than by faith alone. Luke 18:8-14 reads, "Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." A mark of self-righteousness is revealed in verse 8 through how people view others. The Pharisee in the parable "kept" the Law even where it concerned his herbs, but his efforts did not grant him an audience in heaven: he only prayed "with himself." While the Pharisee stood in a prominent place the tax collector stood afar off - not daring to lift his eyes to heaven. He simply cried out, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." Through faith and humility before God, he went home justified, cleansed from his sins - without sacrifice, tithes, or any boast of obedience to God.
The Pharisee was proud because he kept the Law far better than the tax collector, but he failed to confess a single sin in repentance. His sin remained. The tax collector's prayer was heard and answered by a gracious God who rewards faith in Him. God looks at the heart. Our conduct matters because it is an expression of the reality within, but attempts to gain favour from God through keeping a Law which only condemns is futile. All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, but we are justified freely by grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22-24). Ephesians 2:8-10 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
Jesus has fulfilled the Law and instituted a New Covenant through His shed blood. Allow me to close with a passage which explains our legal responsibility before God as it concerns His commands in 1 John 3:18-24: "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."
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