There’s a song from back in the 1960s with a chorus that says, “I fought the law and the law won... I fought the law and the law won!” The song talks about a few things that the singer did wrong and got caught for - hence, he fought the law and the law won.
That’s definitely how it works for all of us as humans. I’m not just talking about human authorities such as police officers and other law enforcement, but how things work when you’re a part of the Kingdom of God as a Christian. We are always up against the law of God - the things He has told us to do and not to do. Just take a look through the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and I’m sure you’ll find something you’re guilty of. And if you don’t, read through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and you’ll see how He elaborates on the commandments to include thoughts and motivations, not just physical actions.
So what is God’s law? It encompasses everything that God has told us in the Bible that we should do or not do. Many of the laws in the Old Testament have been fulfilled through Jesus’ sacrifice, so we don’t need to practice them anymore. Included in this category is all of the ritual sacrifices that the people of Israel were required to perform. Jesus’ death on the cross is the only sacrifice that we need for our salvation now. There are over 600 laws in the Old Testament, but every one of them can be summed up with Jesus’ interaction with some Pharisees in Matthew 22:35-40:
One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘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 neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
If you don’t love God with *all* your heart, soul, and mind, then you’re breaking God’s law. If we fight the law, the law always wins. But, law’s partner in crime so to speak is grace. The law shows us what we’ve done wrong and how we don’t deserve God’s love, but grace steps in and gives us forgiveness and life with God forever. Without having the law and realizing that we don’t deserve God’s favor, then grace would be meaningless. But because we have the law, God’s grace is that much more important and amazing.
2 comments:
I've really been meditating on Paul's letter to the Galatians the last couple weeks. I found this commentary this morning that puts into words a lot of what I've been feeling and hearing from God.
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Gal/Freedom-Love
The law can only condemn. A life lived according to the Spirit brings life and spiritual fruit. Only through living a Spirit-led life, can we hope to fully fulfill Jesus' command to love our neighbor as ourselves and to love God above all.
Great post, Katie! And Jeff, I appreciate your comments, which are spot on. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be writing my blog this evening and I was already planning on writing a bit from Galatians 5. I think that is one of the wonderful passages about the law in the whole Bible as Paul takes a common-sense approach to the false teachings of the Judaizers.
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