Breakin' the Law...

We must always be on our guard lest, under the pretext of keeping one commandment, we be found breaking another. ... St. Basil the Great

We are a people who abide by the law. We like the law, it keeps us all safe, it gives the world order, and it puts down lanes and lines that we are to stay within. But the Apostle Paul tells us that the law condemns us, that it is only there to show us our own sin. He says that if it were not for the Law, we wouldn’t know what sin was, for the law clearly points our sin out. Let’s look at what Paul tells us. In Romans 3:20 it says: For no one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't obeying it. You see, it seems that the Law was established just so we could see how far form the mark we are.

It is very true, the law shows us our sins. Let me show you, have you ever flown to Canada? When you fly to Canada the flight attendants hands out a piece of paper that allows you to claim your goods and also to make some required statements, it asks you three questions before you are allowed to enter. One, “Are you carrying any weapons?” Well that seems like a no-brainer, of course the answer is going to be no; who in their right mind would carry weapons into a foreign country (unless you are going hunting). The second question that is asked is, “Are you carrying any illegal drugs?” Even if you were a drug dealer would you answer this question with a yes? The third question is the one that gets you thinking. They ask, “Are you planning to visit a farm?” Now the wheels are turning, this is the question where everyone hesitates for a moment. Of course the answer must be no, since all the other questions are obviously no, so your hand is heading for the “no” checkbox, but in your mind you know something sinfully wonderful must be happening at the farm. So as you lean over the paper ready to check “no” just like you did for the other questions, but your mind is saying YES YES! You are hardly able to hold it in, the plane barely lands and you race to the rental car as fast as you can, and you are immediately on your way to the farm.

The Law says no, but we say yes. The law points out what we would rather be doing. It tells us “no,” prior to our asking. But if we are condemned so quickly, if our lives are so wrongfully bent toward sinning, what are we to do? As always the answer belongs to God, you see, He wrote a new Law for us, a law written in blood. We only have to go to the next verses Paul writes in Romans (3:21-27) to see it.

But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight--not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times. And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

Paul wasn’t a deliberate law breaker, and God knows that we aren’t either. Paul understood that God doesn’t require strict adherence to the Law, He requires faith. Jesus paid the fine for our broken laws. The law points out our sin, and also points us inevitably to the cross where they were taken away…

“Repent”, says Jesus, “For the Kingdom of God is at hand.”