The Law and the Lamb

"Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." -Romans 3:19-20

So, here's one more look at the problem of sin in our lives. The question now becomes, "How do we know that what we're doing is wrong?". The answer... through the Law!

The Law is God's standard of holiness. It is the bar which has been set, and by no other law does God judge the world. Through the Law we are made aware of those things which we do that displease God; those things which are against His laws and standard of perfection. The Law condemns the sin within us.

This is an incredible gift! If you cannot see the benefits of the condemnation which comes from Law... let me try to explain what I mean. The Law makes us aware of a fracture in our goodness. We begin to see, through the Law, that we have displeased our Creator and we have rebelled against His goodness. The sin in our hearts is revealed through God's standard of obedience. Look at the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20 -

"You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:3-17)

As is evident by this list... there is not a single person (outside of Christ) who has ever been able to keep all of these commands. From the moment we are born we are selfish, self-serving beings who cannot, in and of ourselves, honor God or faithfully serve Him. The Law burns in our consciences the fallen state of our hearts. We see, through the Law, our failure in following the commands of God. Ten rules of living which no man or woman has been capable of keeping... These laws have been in effect for thousands of years, and yet only one man, Jesus Christ, has ever kept all of them to their fullest extent. You see, Christ came to fulfill Law. We see this in other places in Scripture; that Christ was the fulfillment, not the abolitionist, of Law. This is something we will be studying in greater detail, in the not-so-far-off future.

So, I've mentioned the conscience already... The conscience is a gift from God. It is the tool by which we are convicted of those things which are wrong in our lives, even before we become children of God, our consciences convict us of wrongdoing. Think about it... our society has a standard of "right" and "wrong." For example:

We all agree that murder is wrong. Murder is not considered acceptable in our society... Where does this conviction of wrong come from? Who is to say that there is anything wrong with murdering another human being? Why do we recoil at the news of such happenings? Why can a non-Christian group of people stand up and say, "This man deserves death! He has taken the lives of others, therefore His life is forfeit!" What gives us this sense of justice and judgment? There must be a foundation for such a universal wrong... If you think about standard human behavior for a minute... there are very few things which people agree on to such an extent as murder, embezzling, rape... even lying is something which causes distrust and sorrow in the lives of those who are affected by it. What gives us this feeling of wrong-doing when we see and experience these things, whether done by other or by ourselves? Where does the guilt come from? Where does the sense of punishing the one responsible for such actions come from? ... The conscience!

The Law speaks to our conscience and tells us that those things which we read, of which we are all guilty of breaking at least some if not all, are the standard of behavior that demonstrates righteousness (right-standing with men/God). We see ourselves in light of the Law and it reveals the sins which we have within us.

Even in human law, given by humans, the reason for laws is not for the upright citizen but rather for the ones who would seek to do wrong. The law condemns wrongdoing. This has been a very long and probably a very circular topic to look at this morning... I just want to make sure that we understand Law before we look at the bright side of this whole ordeal. You see, the Law does not give us much hope for right-standing before God. If all we have is the Law and our conscience, which tells us that we have not kept the Law, then we are condemned within ourselves and stand ashamed before the throne of God. We understand that there is no good in us and that we have fallen short...

There is yet hope, though... Enter, Christ Jesus, the Savior and fulfillment of Law! The only way by which men could be justified before God, according to Old Testament Law, was through the sacrificing of animals. The blood of lambs, bulls and other animals was the atonement by which current sins could be forgiven. This, however, was never meant to be the fulfillment of Law, because the blood of lambs could not cover the sins which you were yet to commit. You had to keep sacrificing lambs and bulls to atone for the sins which you would continue to commit, over and over again.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only One to ever live a sinless life, upholding the entirety of the Law... He became the sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world. Through the blood of Christ we have eternal redemption. This is not something which must reoccur in order for our sins to be continually covered. Christ's death was the finality of blood sacrifices! Through His death and resurrection we now have a way to be found blameless in the sight of God! This is something we will look into in much greater detail, in the next blog. I did not, however, want to leave this blog without the hope of the Gospel.

So, basic recap... The Law speaks to our conscience and reveals the fracture that has taken place between us and God. Our conscience convicts us of our wrongdoing and urges us to make things right. We see that, through the Law, we can never be completely forgiven or made clean... there is only temporary cleansing through Old Law. Then, we see Jesus! God's redemption plan! "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (Jn. 1:29b) His death and resurrection make a way for us to be cleansed, completely, of our sins and shortcomings before God. We are washed in the blood of the Lamb and, therefore, we are clean in His sight. This is such incredible news!

I can't wait to get into this in much deeper detail. I must, however, end this episode right here and now. I'm sorry to cut things short, but I will be late for work if I don't get going!

I love you all! Grace and Peace!

Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com