October 25
October 25
God’s law and his grace are not in opposition; they are two aspects of his work in our lives.
“But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void” (Luke 16:17). What a clear and bold statement from Jesus. The word but at the beginning of the verse tells us that Jesus is correcting a misunderstanding about the law. Jesus came to earth as the ultimate fulfillment of God’s law. All of the laws of ceremony and sacrifice would be fulfilled by him as he hung on the cross as the final sacrificial Lamb, fully satisfying God’s requirements on our behalf. He is also the final fulfillment of the moral law. As our substitute, he lived a perfectly righteous life all of the time and in every way. He met every moral requirement of the law so that we would be able to stand before God as righteous. Every sinful thought, desire, choice, word, or action of every sinner cries out for the Son of Man to come and live, on sinners’ behalf, as they would never be able to live, and to die, on their behalf, so that the curse of the law would finally be removed for all who believe.
But in his ministry, Jesus wanted to make it clear that he did not come to make the law null and void. Contrary to what many Christians think, God’s law is a gift of his grace. Think about when the law of God was first given. God gave the children of Israel his law after he redeemed them out of slavery in Egypt. The law was not a means of achieving God’s favor; he had already chosen to place his love on this group of people and had already demonstrated his willingness to unleash his almighty power for their welfare. God gave them his law because they had lived as slaves for four hundred years in a pagan land and had no idea how to live in a way that was pleasing in the sight of the one who had provided their freedom. The giving of the law to the children of Israel was a sign of God’s love and a tool of his grace.
The law is a tool of grace in our lives as well. God uses his law to reveal and convict us of sin. When we look into the moral mirror of the law, we are to see ourselves as we actually are and to cry out for forgiving and transforming grace. God’s law is also a guide for our lives. God’s commands reflect his holiness and describe what a holy life looks like. As we submit to God’s holy standard, we must cry out for empowering grace to make us holy as he is holy.
God blesses us with his law, but it’s important to understand its limits. The law has no power whatsoever to purchase for us acceptance with God, and it has no power on its own to transform our hearts. But we are thankful for God’s law as we celebrate his rescuing, forgiving, transforming, and delivering grace.