\u201cThe beautiful law tells you how you should live for your whole\nlife.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nice quote, huh? Ok, ok, I made it up. But I think it is true,\nwhether you are a believer in Jesus Christ or just want life on earth to go\nwell. The law comports well with societal function and relational peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea that you shouldn\u2019t try to keep the law on earth (speaking\nof Biblical law, but in general it comports with law as a whole) is just an\ninvitation for consequences. Consequences of the law. For example, if you\ncommit adultery, your marriage may well break. If you steal, reparations and\nimprisonment await. If you covet, you\u2019ll break relationships and ruin reputations.\nLife will make you care about the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christians see Jesus raising the law to its beautiful heights.\nLawkeeping isn\u2019t just avoiding murder, it is not even getting angry; not just\navoiding adultery, but never lusting. The law paints a picture of truly\nskillful living at a level that God approves. When the scribe says that loving\nGod with all his heart and soul and mind and strength and loving his neighbor\nas himself is keeping the law, Jesus responds with \u2018you aren\u2019t far from the\nkingdom of God.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, the radical change that the gospel brings isn\u2019t on the beauty\nor desirability of following the law on earth. We desire to keep it. It is rather\nin how we see our accomplishment<\/em> of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To know that the law is this radical love of God and\nneighbor, is to be near the kingdom of God. And that\u2019s the thing, right? Near;\nnot far. That means\u2026 not there. Close, but no cigar. And we hear those words\nand think, \u2018well, maybe with a bit more elbow grease.\u2019 With more effort, more\nprayer, more enablement, the law\u2019s demands can be fulfilled. I reason that with\nan extra push from the Holy Spirit, I can attain the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the direction we often take isn\u2019t to stop trying but to redouble effort on our not-quite-good-enough lawkeeping. \u201cFake it \u2018til you make it,\u201d a friend used to say. And we hold the law so high that we try and try\u2026 thinking we are taking steps, even baby steps, towards fulfillment. I don\u2019t love God with all my heart, but I am trying to love him more and more. That counts for something, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the dead end that so many Christians are caught on. The focus is on using the cross, using the enablement of the Spirit, using the means of the gospel, to attain the law. The focus is on our effort. We\u2019re trying! These efforts are often labeled \u2018sanctification,\u2019 as if incremental improvement in lawkeeping over time would mean we are more holy, more set apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what if that focus is all wrong? What if the purpose of\nthe law isn\u2019t accomplishment, but rather on highlighting failure? The beauty\nand rightness of the law means that we try, of course we do. But if the reality\nsimply is that we do not accomplish it, then the law leaves us failures. No\nmatter how much you do, you are still a failure at the law. Just one jot or\ntittle missed, James says, and you are guilty of it all. He\u2019s talking to\nChristians. And he\u2019s keeping us\u2026 failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That opens the door for truth to leak in. The truth of our\nhumble state. Our inability. Our lack. Instead of us looking at some enablement\nfor self-improvement, we are forced to look outside of ourselves, for a savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the message that brings freedom. This is the good\nnews of the cross. Of a Christ who died once for all, his blood cleansing all\nour grime, his forgiveness deep enough for all our sin. Forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This doesn\u2019t mean you stop trying to keep the law. It is\nstill out there, in all its (terrifying?) beauty. But issue of your life, the\nwork of the Spirit, is in opening your eyes to how you are doing. Before and after\n\u201cpraying the prayer.\u201d And how you are doing is failing still.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you think you use the cross to improve yourself, whether you call that holiness or righteousness or God-glorifying activity, you will stay focused on you. The law doesn\u2019t pat you on the back. Your tongue doesn\u2019t stop being a pit of poison. Your sin doesn\u2019t become less and less. You don\u2019t climb a ladder of progressive lawkeeping. You are knocking on the wrong door, no matter what high-sounding words you use. You\u2019re trying to leverage the cross to attain a better you. That\u2019s the wrong goal. You don\u2019t need to be better. You need to die. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But if you keep seeing the beauty of the law, its true\nheight, and thus your failure\u2026 welcome to true freedom. A freedom that stops at\nthe cross, that receives the forgiveness of Jesus, and a righteousness that is\nfreely given, not earned through trying. Your hope is totally outside your\nlawkeeping. Forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The beautiful law shows you how should live for your whole life.\nAnd your whole life you will fail, thus keeping you at the foot of the cross.\nThis is where we die with Christ to our dreams of self-earned righteousness. To\nour grandiose ideas of attaining the law. To ourselves, period\u2026 and instead trust\nin the freedom of his sure promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:56-57)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The law brings death your whole life long. Trust Jesus, who will\nresurrect the dead and give us the victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThe beautiful law tells you how you should live for your whole life.\u201d Nice quote, huh? Ok, ok, I made it up. But I think it is true, whether you are a believer in Jesus Christ or just want life on earth to go well. The law comports well with societal function and relational peace. … Continue reading Some thoughts on law<\/span>