The Law: A Reflection of God’s Will

Americans debate the validity of divine law recorded in the Bible. Should we teach children the “Ten Commandments” in our schools? Should they be displayed in public buildings? What value do they have in modern society? Are Christians supposed to obey the Ten Commandments? Some people believe that Christians do not need to follow them because people are not saved by the Law, but they are saved by God’s grace. They may quickly point out that Paul preached a gospel that downplays the Law while at the same time he elevates faith and grace. We will address this later. Some people reason that God loves His people and a good and loving God will not punish His people. This is the question that Christians must address: Why do we need faith and grace today if there is no validity to the law? Think about this: God has mercy. Mercy is what keeps God from giving us the punishment we deserve. Grace is God giving us something that we don’t deserve. Grace and mercy are gifts from God because of our failure to live up the standards of God revealed in the Law. America is the greatest nation on earth because it was founded on laws. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution reflects that the founding fathers of this country believed that laws that are based on the principles found in God’s law make the best society. Most founders believed that God is active in the affairs of nations. According to one of the local newspapers our first president, George Washington said: “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” Another founder said: “Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is Divine. … Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other” (James Wilson: Original Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court” (The Tennessean, July 4, 2016, p. 5A). The original constitution and the Declaration of Independence are based on the writers’ understanding of God’s will recorded in the Bible. The founders acknowledged that their understanding was not perfect. Future generations would change laws when the citizens came to understand God’s will differently. In America today a significant number of citizens do not believe in God. They do not believe the laws in the Bible serve any useful purpose in the world today. In this article I want to briefly explore Divine Law and its usefulness in the world at the time of its inception. I hope that it will cause Christians today to think about how the role of the law might help or cause harm to the citizens and their guests in the land today. What is law? Why did God give His people the Law? What were Jesus and the apostle Paul teaching when they talked about the law? So, then, our first question is: “Law” is “an official set of rules governing the behavior of individuals in society” (“law” in Harper’s Bible Dictionary, [San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1985], 548). Jesus and Paul taught the law differently, not based on principles, but, rather based on emphases and purposes. Jesus taught from the law. “His target was not the law, but rather any style of interpretation of the law that removed its immediacy as teaching the people” (p. 551). For example, the Pharisees charged Jesus with blasphemy because he healed people on the Sabbath Day. They had a misguided belief about work on the Sabbath. Many people believe that Paul was against the law. However, in the same article the editors state that “Paul’s antinomianism was not an opposition to the law per se (e.g. Rom. 7:12), rather an opposition to observance of the law as the route to divine redemption (e.g. Gal. 5:4)”, (551). A second question is: “Why do we need law”? We need law because people are lawless. In Galatians 5:17-21 Paul describes the behavior of those who are led by the flesh, that is, those who are ruled by their own desires without consideration of others in the community. In Paul’s theology this is lawlessness because these behaviors are contrary to the behaviors that God desires for His people. They are contrary to the Spirit of God; His nature. We need the law because it identifies behaviors that are contrary to God’s will. Paul writes these words to his protégé Timothy. “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching” (1 Tim. 1:8-10, NASB). Now, if we look at this list and stop here we might conclude that Paul is condemning all persons who have been guilty of any of these behaviors. On the contrary, Paul is simply pointing out a list of things that are contrary to God’s will. In Romans 3:10-26 Paul tells us that the Jews who are privileged to have the law and the Gentiles who do not have access to the Law are both guilty, and both of them are justified or made right with God by their faith in Jesus Christ who died a vicarious death on the cross. A third question is: “What does the law do for us?” First, the Law makes us aware of our sins. Paul writes, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Rom. 7:7, NASB). Let me say at this point that here Paul is primarily talking about our relationship with God. At the same time I have encountered many people who have suffered because they had no knowledge of the rules and regulations that governed their behavior. It is not what we can do for the law, but it is what the law can do for us. A second thing that the Law does for us is that it leads us to faith in Christ. Paul writes: “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 tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:23-24, NASB). The Law teaches us that we fall short of the mark of God’s glory. It shows us our inability to live righteous before God based on our inability to keep the whole Law. The fact that we break the Law, regardless of what point, means that the Law condemns us to God’s punishment. God forgives the sins of those who have faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ means that we sell out to Jesus whose blood cleanses us from all of our sins. However, there are some things that the Law cannot do. The Law contains no provisions for mercy and grace. The Law demands justice, but we are an unjust people. Since this is true God provides a way by which we can obtain mercy and have a right relationship with Him. Paul writes, “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; 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, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (Gal. 2:15-16, NASB). Does this mean that the law has been abolished? Jesus said, Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17). Jesus further states that the Law will never pass away. He warns against annulling the least commandments and teaching others to do so also (vv. 18-20). Also, Paul writes and asks the question, “Do we nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law” (Rom. 3:31, NASB). The Law reveals God’s will, His standards, and His requirements for one to be righteous. However, we are all sinners and incapable of living according to His will. God loved the world and sent His son Jesus the Christ to die in our stead so that we who were dead now live. We must have laws in our society. Just as God judges everyone equally by His Laws we must judge all citizens equally based on the Law; not by their status in society if we are to have justice and fairness in this great country that God has blessed.