I Fought the Law and the Law Won

I Fought the Law and the Law Won

Romans 3:19 (KJV)

19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Growing up in the church I was taught that the Old Testament Law was a guide for me as a believer. It was a moral compass of sorts. It told me right from wrong and laid out God’s standard for my conduct and behavior.

This was a problem for me because there were some behaviors that did not appear to be discussed in scripture. Consequently, when I could not find an answer for a specific situation, I found bits and pieces here and there. I then patched them together into a kind of theological Frankenstein designed to keep me inside the fence so that my conduct would remain (or become) acceptable to God—and the judgmental eyes of the Christians around me. Of course, there was no way for me ever to live up to this standard. That led to a mentality of hiding, covering up, and lying.

I am sure you see where I am going with this. No matter what I did, I could never make myself righteous. My mouth was stopped. The Law shut me up. I was guilty and I knew it. My behavior could never make me righteous. I knew for sure that I was sinning and my best efforts to stop were worthless.

I made the same mistake my ancestors Eve and Adam made in Eden. I ate from the wrong tree. I was trying to know good and evil as well as possible so that I could do good and avoid evil. The only thing that was accomplished was that I came to know my sin. I was sin focused. I was sin conscious. My faith was all about me.

I made another mistake too. Despite what I thought was careful and honest study, I did not read carefully enough.

I missed the meaning of “what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law.”

I missed Ephesians 2:12 which, speaking to Gentiles like me reads in part, “ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise.”

I missed the part where 1 Timothy 1:8-9 say, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; 9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners.”

I missed Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

I missed these things because I had been studying scripture through the lens of what I had been taught by men who had studied scripture through the lens of what they had been taught.

Whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law.
You know, the Hebrew people.

By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified.
Not you, not your friends, not your children.

By the law is the knowledge of sin.
You have tried to be good. I am confident that it did not work out well for you.

Do not let yourself be put in bondage to that. Live in the freedom Jesus has given you.