The Role of the Law in our Lives

The majority of my last posts have been an attack on the law as a means of salvation. It should be understood though that the law in itself is not a bad thing. In his book to the Romans, Paul writes in chapter 7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Paul even goes on to say that the law is holy. What does this all mean? I have spent some time attacking the law and now I am saying that the law is a good thing? Exactly.

The law, when used as a means to salvation is bad. But that is not the intention of the law. The law was given to us as a gift from God. Like all of God's other gifts, man has a way of misusing them and turning them into sin.

So what was the original purpose of the law, before it was perverted by man? Paul tells us in verse 7: Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. He goes on in verse 9: I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment (law) came, sin came alive and I died. Verse 13: Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.

The purpose of the law is twofold. First, the law shows sin to be sin. It reveals sin in our lives. Paul says in verse 7: For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." Sin has always been there, the law just brings it into the light and reveals it to us so that we know when we are sinning. In my opinion, the best explanation of this purpose of the law was given by John Bunyan in his book "The Pilgrims Progress". Bunyan paints this picture: A large dustcovered room in Interpreter's house symbolizes the human heart. When a man with a broom, representing God's law, begins to sweep, the dust (sin) swirls up and all but suffocates Christian. This is what the law does to sin. It so agitates sin that it becomes stifling. And just as a broom cannot clean a room of dust but only stir it up, so the law cannot cleanse the heart of sin but only make the sin more evident and unpleasant.

That brings us to the second purpose of the law which is to show us how far we are from God's standard for us. The law is designed to make us realize that we are so far away from God that there is nothing we can do to get back to Him. As Bunyan would put it: the law cannot cleanse the heart of sin but only make the sin more evident and unpleasant. This purpose of the law is to show us that we are in desperate need of a Savior. It is designed to show us that we are so sinful that we are spiritually dead. That is what Paul was talking about in verse 9 when he said: I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment (law) came, sin came alive and I died. Spiritually dead people cannot save themselves and once we realize that, the second purpose of the law is fulfilled, that we may rely on faith alone in Christ alone for our salvation.

So now we know that the law in itself is a good, holy gift from God. It serves two main purposes: to reveal sin in our lives and to show us how far we fall from God's standard for us. Once we come to understand the role of the law in our lives we will no longer rely on the law to save us but instead look to Jesus, who is the only way to salvation.