BREAKING THE LAW
The speed limit sign reads, “55 MPH”, and it clearly indicates that you have broken the law, when you look at your own speedometer which reads, “65 MPH”. This oversimplification of how the rule of law works in our society aptly represents the way in which the Apostle Paul, of the first century AD, communicated the ramifications of God’s law to us, in the book of Romans. Paul was without a doubt, a very brilliant man, capable of deliberating extremely difficult theological subjects, and rendering them simply to the understanding of average listeners. For Jews and Gentiles alike, in his time and throughout the church age, Paul has forever simplified the Law of Moses for us, by asserting that it cannot save you, but rather, it brings the conviction that you need to be saved; just as the speed limit sign brings the conviction that you are a law breaker.
Paul’s understanding of the Law of Moses is truly transformative. It removes completely, the commonly held notion that we are to obey the Ten Commandments (the law), for the purpose of attaining our own salvation. That by “doing our best” to keep them, even if we don’t succeed, we will somehow look good enough before God, for trying and making the effort, that He will grant us entrance into heaven. However, this could not be further from the truth, in fact it is even in opposition to the truth of God’s word. For we see in Romans that, “…to him who works [according to the law], the wages are not counted as grace but as debt” (NKJV Romans 4:4), meaning that, the more we work to save ourselves, the greater the condemnation that falls upon us for not believing.
Paul wrote in his epistle that, “…a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Rom 3:28), but of course he knew that this would cause all kinds of problems; namely, the questions which would surely be asked next, “Do we then make void the law through faith” (Rom 3:31). Very skillfully, Paul established the law as being a method of bringing the knowledge of sin, so that we would become guilty before God, and then forced to cry out in repentance for salvation. We see this clearly as Paul himself realized, “…I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” (Rom 7:7). Paul referred to the law as our, “…tutor to bring us to Christ…” (Gal 3:24), just as that speed limit sign is our schoolmaster, to teach us to repent and obey by slowing down.
This boldness toward the demands of the law may have encouraged some to minimize its authority, to which Paul did not allow either; because, “While Paul is outspoken on the fact that justification is apart from law, he is nevertheless careful to guard the holy character of law. Justification by faith is not lawless; it is not a trampling on the law. It is the fulfillment of its holy demands in the Person and work of Christ” (Walvoord 2). This distinction is significantly supported throughout the letter by Paul who proclaimed, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not” (Rom 6:15)! Paul, in no way promotes a lifestyle of lawlessness, but he tells us to turn the law inward upon the fleshy tablets of our hearts because, “The point is not that Christians are relieved from the obligation to observe a few ritual demands, but that theirs is a whole new way of life and mode of divine service” (Westerholm 432).
Ultimately, Paul’s conclusion is that, “...love is the fulfillment of the law” Rom 13:10), and this must be advanced within the Christian Church today. For, too often, we complicate things with confusing rules and regulations that miss the whole point of what Paul said to the Romans, but if we simply love our neighbor and love the Lord, we fulfill His law and we are fulfilled as well.
By Pastor Glen Mustian
Works Cited:
NKJV New King James Version. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN: 2000. Print.
Walvoord, John. “Law in the Book of Romans Part 2.” Walvoord.com. Bible.org, 01 Jan, 2008. Web.
Westerholm, Stephen. Perspectives Old and New on Paul. Eerdmans. Grand Rapids: 2004. Print.
