The Purpose of the Law
Here Paul
brings logic into the mix of the discussion.
Let’s make sure that we understand why the logical argument is
needed. You see, many among the Jews
believed that the Law was their salvation.
Paul argues that the Law doesn’t bring salvation; it actually brings
knowledge of just how far we are from deserving salvation! Then Paul is no doubt asked a great
question. If the law doesn’t bring
salvation then why even have it? It is
out of this line of thinking that Paul begins this chapter.
The Law is
good and the Law is necessary because it points to our life and highlights
sin. Through our ever-increasing
understanding of sin, we also have an ever-increasing understanding of God’s
grace. When we look to the Law, we
understand just how big the chasm is between us and God. When we probe the depth of the Law and see
what true righteousness looks like – we are inherently laying the foundation
for understanding the heights to which God’s grace rises.
Think of
it this way. If you are walking down the
street and find a $5,000 bill, you consider yourself lucky. You might try to find the owner, but let’s
say that you can’t because the bill has been there for several days and the
owner is long gone. So you pocket the
money and count yourself blessed. You
didn’t earn it, and you slip right past the need to fathom God’s blessing upon
you.
However,
now think about walking down the street and suddenly a black van pulls up
beside you and IRS agents crawl out of the van.
They inform you that you are being arrested for some mistake on your
taxes unless you can pay the $5,000 penalty incurred by your mistake. Not having the $5,000 on your person, they
begin to arrest you. All of a sudden,
some stranger appears and hands the agents $5,000 and demands your
release. In this scenario, you are going
to ponder the grace and generosity of the stranger who had no reason to
intervene but he does anyway. {Yes, the scenario is contrived. But I’m okay with that.}
In this
second case, the IRS agents are analogous to the Law. {And please don’t stretch
the analogy too far, all analogies break when stretched too far.} The Law comes along and tells us about an
error we made. Just like in taxes, sometimes
we are aware of an error and sometimes we aren’t aware of an error. The Law demands that a payment be made, a
payment that we have no chance of paying.
So when we find the payment made by someone who had no reason to make
the payment, we now realize God’s grace.
The Law points us to Jesus, who paid that debt when we could not.
Righteousness In Christ
In the
second half of the chapter Paul talks about the fact that the Law and the
Prophets bear witness to faith and righteousness, which comes apart from the
Law. You see, all are saved through the
faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Righteous
comes not from our own faith, but because Christ was faithful. When we turn to God and trust in His ability
to save, we are cloaked in Christ’s righteousness. Nothing we do – even our so called “belief” –
is righteous. Our righteousness
originates purely in Christ.
This is
why Paul can make the claim in the end that God is the God of the Jews and the
Gentiles. There doesn’t need to be a
different God if the same righteousness coming from the same Jesus Christ is
what matters. Law or no law, it is the
righteousness of Christ that saves and is the foundation of salvation.
Think of
it this way. Paul came to an understanding
of Jesus Christ much like I did – through the Law and an understanding of how
the Law illustrates human depravity. Paul
saw the need for salvation through Christ because of his understanding of God’s
Word and the truth it contains. Through
the study of the Holy Scriptures, Paul came to know that humanity has no chance
of saving itself. In this sense, Paul
used the scriptures to help him come to Christ.
The being true, salvation still comes through Jesus Christ and not through
the Law.
On the
other hand, it is possible for a person outside of the law to still come to an
understanding of human depravity. It is
possible to come to the knowledge that human beings are selfish, self-centered,
hedonistic individuals without knowing the Law.
In this case, it is possible that a person could rationalize that such a
self-centered person cannot make a righteous way into salvation themselves
without corrupting it. Such a person would
still need a “righteous outsider” to save them.
Faith and salvation still comes through Christ. {Although
admittedly that this is a far more difficult and risky approach because it
eliminates a very useful tool in understanding the nature of humanity: God’s
Word. But it is possible to come to an
understanding of human depravity without the Law. That’s Paul’s point. One simply needs to be introduced to Christ
in this situation.}
In either
case, though, the result is the same.
Whether through the Law or through human observation, we understand that
we cannot save ourselves. We simply
cannot do it. We need Christ. Those who have the Law have an incredible
tool to use in the process. But it
results with the same ending and the same need for Christ’s righteousness to
cover what we cannot make for ourselves.
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