The Law & the Gospel (3:27-31, 7:7-12, Galatians 3:21-25, 5:14)

If only there were a set of laws by which my self-righteous nature could establish itself as “meeting the standard,” so I could judge everyone else. Alas, all the law did for me was to reveal to me how depraved I am without Christ. Thus, the Law is the servant of the gospel; it brings a guilty soul to the judgment seat of God, where, much to our surprise, the righteous Judge justifies us rather than condemns us. Obviously, now that I have believed, the law serves no purpose whatsoever…

Or, does it?

To be very clear, we are not saved by works, by our keeping the Law of Moses or any other standard, whether it is some church’s membership requirements or the standards of our conscience. Stick around for a while; you’ll break just about any standard you try to live by.

But Jesus said He did NOT come to abolish the Law (Matthew 5:17).

And Paul still refers to the Law as “holy and righteous and good” (Romans 7:12).

And the fulfillment of the Law is still God’s desire (note Galatians 5:14 on this point!)

So, here is how I look at this; the Law reveals to us that we are sinners, thus, leading us to the cross. Coming to the cross and believing does not abolish the Law’s purpose for it is still God’s expression of real spirituality. We are no longer “under” the Law, trying to measure up to some standard, but it does paint a picture of what true religion, if I can use that word, actually looks like. We are not saved by works (Ephesians 2:9), but we are saved for works (Ephesians 2:10).

The Holy Spirit of God has invaded the life of believers in order for us to actually live the life we were intended for, a life of good works. The works that we are saved for are not merely dutiful obligatory emotion-less spiritual acts; they are the spontaneous, organic acts of love that the Holy Spirit produces in us, which fulfills the Law…love fulfills the Law.