Plainly Speaking
     with Karl J. Forehand

 

 

 

Why the Law then?

By Karl J. Forehand

 

  It has influenced more civil law of more countries than any other document.  In Hebrew it is called the “Ten Words” – In Greek, it is called the Decalogue.  Sometimes know as the “testimony of God.”  The moral absolutes, known as the Ten Commandments present some interesting discussions.  Doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible that we are not under the law.  Didn’t Jesus also say that He came to fulfill the law?  And, aren’t we supposed to be like Jesus?

 

  This article will look at Galatians for an overview of the “the Law” and see if we can get some perspective.  The Galatians had stumbled back into heresy and were perverting the Gospel.   These Judaizers were very proud of the mosaic law.  They were also proud of their Father Abraham.   They were adding their laws and their legalism to salvation by faith.  We sometimes get like that – we know that God approved of us by faith; but we don’t approve of other because they don’t measure up (usually to our laws).  Paul spends a great deal of time defending his ministry, then he makes a rather strong statement to Cephas:

 

      But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth   

      of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a

     Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you

      compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?  (Galatians 2:14)

 

   What was Paul telling him?  He is saying, “You are condemning people for not keeping rules that you don’t keep.”  That happens in many ways; but many non-churched people don’t understand why we condemn them for things that are very similar to the things they do.  We write someone off for smoking; yet we gorge ourselves at a church pot luck.   But what if I am measuring them against the law?  First of all it was never our job to judge people – that is God’s job.  Second, God judges them for eternity based on faith.

 

   Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the

   Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ

   Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the

   works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be

    justified.   (Galatians 2:16)

 

  This is the starting point to understanding the Ten Commandments.  The Ten Commandments didn’t ever save anyone – faith saved them.

 

­

"I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes   

through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."  (Gal. 2:21)

 

  Think about it:  People were sinful before the Ten Commandments were given.  The law did not make them any less sinful.  If anything it made them more sinful because it gave a name to their sin.  If the law EVER had the power to save, then Christ died needlessly.  Even Abaham was saved by faith (3:4-14). 

 

  We want to be choosy about the laws.  We say emphatically, “But at least I am not an adulterer or a murder!”  But we must ask ourselves if we have ever told a lie, ever put something before God, ever took something that didn’t belong to us.  If we have broke one of the commandments, we have broken them all.   The law was put there to prove that we ARE transgressors. 

 

  The key is found in chapter 2, verses 19-20.  It says “For through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”  We have to stop trying to justify ourselves by the good things we do, and start living for Christ and through what He did for us.  The law helps us realize we are sinful, but living IN Christ helps us fulfill His purpose for us.

 

  The bottom line: ALL of us are sinners – no one has ever been saved by the law, but the Spirit of God helps us live up to the standard that God has always had – His commandments.

 

­Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man's covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.  Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.  What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.  For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.  (Gal 3:15-18)

 

  Where does the law fit in?  First, the promise was made to Abraham that God would give Him many things (Gen. 17:1-8).  One of the things God promised was that his “seed” would become the answer to the problem of sin (Gen 22:18).  The initial promise of this goes all the way back to Gen 3:16, immediately after the fall.  The official promise was made to Abraham and was still in force 430 years later when the Law was given.  The law did not invalidate the Abrahamic convenant.   The law was given after the people returned from Egypt.  God took the people out of Egypt – He gave the law because the Egypt was still in the people.

 

  Salvation is based upon the promise to Abraham and the fulfillment in Jesus Christ.  The law didn’t change that.  As we said before, the law was given for transgressors.  Remember, transgressors are us.  Salvation has always been based on the promise of God and our faith in that promise.  For that matter, pleasing God is based on the same formula – His promise and our faith (Heb. 11:6). 

 

  We are so blessed to be able to look back in faith and see that the elements of the covenant have been fulfilled.  We still haven’t got to the real purpose of the law.  We know who it is for – transgressors; but tomorrow, we will begin to look at the purposes of it.

 

 

     Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having   

     been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until

     the seed should come to whom the promise had been made.  Now

     a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only on  (Gal.

     3:19- 20)

 

  The text asks the question that we want to ask “Why the law then?”  The first reason we see is that the law points out our sin.  The law is for the transgressor and transgressors are us.  The bad news is we are all sinners.  The covenant with Abraham was unilateral (or one sided).  God alone was responsible for the covenant with Abraham.  The law was bi-lateral and dependent upon us to keep it.  It was supposed to fail.  Before Moses finished citing the Ten Commandments to the people, most of them had probably broken one. 

 

  We must realize and understand that we are sinners.  It is essential to salvation, but also essential to our walk with the Lord.  Too many times we fake ourselves out by comparing ourselves to other people.  People are not the measuring stick – the law is the standard that none of us keep; hence we are all sinners (we’re all in the same boat).  We must depend upon God to serve Him properly.

 

  Consider the depths of your depravity today – I know that doesn’t sound fun.  Before God can help, He needs you to understand your sinfulness.  Then tell Him about it, ask Him to help and start living in victory.

­

 

     Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be!

     For  if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then   

     righteousness would indeed have been based on law.   But the

     Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in

     Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.  But before faith

     came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the

     faith which was later to be revealed.  Therefore the Law has

     become our 1atutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by

     faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 

     (Galatians 3:21-25)

 

 The next puspose of the law is that it prepares us for a Savior.  The promise given to Abraham was unconditional and irrevocable; but, without the law, we assume we have no need for a Savior.  We would say, “Hey—after all I’m pretty good – I’m better than so-and-so.”  Without the standard, we begin to lie to ourselves, like the Pharisees and Judaizers.  The law convinces us, if we use it properly, not that any of us are better than the other – but that we are all sinners -- sinners who need a Savior. 

 

  The law made us prisoners.  It identified us as guilty and became like a schoolmaster (padagagos) for us.  This “tutor” taught us the wrong and showed us the way out.  Many of us had teachers like that.  They showed us the wrong and pointed us in the right direction.  The law is supposed to do that.  It is not soft of sin; but helps in convicting us to turn to the Lord.  Let me summarize the things the law does.

 

    - The law shows us our sin

    - Jesus fulfilled the law (purchased our salvation)

    - We have an obligation to the law (to live up to it)

   -  The Holy Spirit helps us keep the law

 

  The law is always in the picture.  It never saved anyone; but displayed God’s rules (standard) for our lives.  Jesus fulfilled the law and sent the Holy Spirit to help us keep the law.  It is an obligation we should do out of love.  

 

                                        Karl J. Forehand