Gospel

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When we last saw our hero, he stood guilty of breaking over 600 laws in plain sight of the Judge of the Universe. I was facing the Eternal Green Mile. But I’m here today to tell my story.

Normally, when a criminal is sentenced for breaking the law, the judge throws the book at him. In this case, the judge threw the book at someone else!

As we noted in our last episode, the Torah, or first five books of the Old Testament part of the Bible, contains over 600 laws. We have all broken them all: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Well, everyone might admit that they’ve maybe lied or stolen or did something minor, but break the whole law? That’s what God says: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). Why? Because the law was given by one Authority—God—and any offense is an act of rebellion against Him. God has jurisdiction over every place and time.

God is just, and must punish sin. We saw this last time: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20, KJV). But He is also merciful: “The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty” (Numbers 14:18, NKJV). This presents a dilemma: how can He forgive yet not clear the guilty?

God, in His infinite wisdom, provided the solution, as predicted in the Old Testament: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). The prophet was talking about Jesus Christ: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). Christ paid the death penalty for our sins, and was raised from the dead, so that God could exact the punishment, yet forgive us. And he raised Jesus from the dead to prove it.

To put it another way: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God loved us by sending Christ to die for us, so that all we have to do is turn from our sin and believe this, and all charges will be dropped! God maintains His justice: “He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26). The just penalty was paid, and God can, on that basis, forgive the sinner.

Even when a criminal is acquitted or his sentence has been fulfilled, the law is still on the books and he is still subject to it. But God went a step further and eliminated the law—in a sense.

For thousands of years, God held the Israelites and, by extension, those who wished to join them, to the Law of Moses. If they obeyed, they lived. If they didn’t, they died. However, once Christ died and rose again, “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4). In other words, the law cannot provide the righteous standing before God that Christ alone can give. The law cannot save and is no longer a requirement for righteousness.

So what purpose does it serve? The law was given for three reasons:

1. To reveal the standard for righteousness (Deuteronomy 4:8; Psalm 19:7–9).

2. To identify sin and reveal man’s guilty condition (Romans 3:19f; 7:7f)

3. To exclude law keeping as a means of salvation or merit before God (Galatians 3:19–24; 1 Timothy 1:8–11).

If a person wants to try to “get right” with God by keeping over 600 rules, he must be careful to not break or ignore a single one. For example, “Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law” (Galatians 5:3). That produces a dead man. Our only hope is to admit that we can’t meet God’s standards, and accept His forgiveness based on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and make Him Lord of our life: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

“He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13, 14).

As is the case with most legal issues, this seems rather complicated, and it is too much to explain in detail. But the summation isn’t too hard to understand: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). Put your faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, and all charges will be dropped!

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