By: Carole L. Haines
I could see it coming, regular as clockwork. Reading through the Bible is so exhilarating…until you get to Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. That’s when I get bogged down and secretly desire to skip over these three books to get to what I call “the good stuff” again. The Law is hard for me. As I read it, all I feel is gratitude for Jesus and His fulfillment of the Law, because believing on Him frees me from the Law.
(Romans 3:28) Why was the Law given in the first place? I believe the Apostle Paul answers that question in the following verses from the Epistle to the Romans.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
(Romans 8:1-5 ESV)
The Law bogs me down because it reminds me of my own human weakness. Psalm 19 tells me:
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. (vs 7 ESV)
The Law’s one flaw is that it keeps me focused on myself and what I can and cannot do. It points out my continual failure, whereas Christ has fulfilled the Law perfectly and faith in Him has made me wholly perfect under the gaze of my Heavenly Father. So our call is to fix our eyes on the One who fulfilled the Law.
“Let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1b-2 NASB)
There are two laws mentioned here, the law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and death. We were given the law of sin and death, so we would see just how incapable we are of keeping it. In many ways we are too proud to admit how weak we are. We can never reach the height of God’s standard, that is why we needed Jesus to come. Paul points this purpose out to us in the Epistle to the Galatians.
24 Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
(Galatians 3:24-25)
Jesus brought us the law of the Spirit of life that has set us free from that unreachable standard. This is because Christ reached it for me. God sent Jesus to do what I could never do, so that I could be reunited with God, my Father, my Creator, my Lord. Jesus reveals this truth to us when He says:
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32 ESV)
The truth that we come to know through the Law is just how much we fall short of it. We discover how very flawed we are and how desperately we need a savior. In light of this, I will trudge on through the Law books, allowing my rejoicing in Christ’s victory to resound in and through me, as I reflect all the more upon how truly free I am from the law of sin and death. Free now in Jesus to walk within the Law of the Spirit of Life. O, thank you dearest King Jesus.
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