“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” – Romans 3:20
Herein lies the great conundrum of God’s Law… God gave His Law to the ancient Israelites to be obeyed, however it’s impossible for an ordinary human to perfectly follow the Law in both action and attitude. God gave the Law to bless His people, guide them, and show them how to be His people in an ungodly world. However, following the Law perfectly could never make an imperfect and sinful human being perfect. It could never result in the guilty being declared not guilty (justified).
The greatest value of the Law was to reveal just how impossibly holy our God is. It vividly details the unbridgeable distance between us in our fallen, sinful nature and our sinless, unstained, infinitely righteous and holy God. Why would God give the Law for this purpose? So we would finally admit that we can’t save ourselves, can’t justify ourselves, and can’t reconcile ourselves to God. In other words, for all its many virtues, the greatest virtue of the Law is to make clear that each and every person needs a Savior!
We need someone who can reconcile us to God. We need someone who can deal with our sins and our guilt. And none of us are qualified to be that person. Not for ourselves and certainly not for others. The ultimate point of the Law is that we all need Jesus! Only Jesus, the eternal Son of God and perfect human being, fulfilled the Law in action, heart, and mind. Only Jesus was qualified represent us before God and take our sin and guilt upon Himself so that through faith in Him, we are justified before God.
The Law’s ultimate objective was to spur us to faith, not to exaggerated efforts to save ourselves. Although good works are important for those who have been saved, salvation comes only through God’s grace and not in the slightest bit through our works. That hasn’t changed and it won’t ever change. #FollowJesus