Grace Doesn't Enable Us to Keep the Law

The Law of Moses is a burden. Grace doesn't make the law any less of a burden. Life in Christ doesn't make the law any less of a burden. Peter addressed this in Acts 15 when some Pharisees said it was necessary for Gentile believers to keep the law.

First, note what Peter didn't say. He didn't say, "Well, now that they have Christ, they indeed are able to and should keep the law." To the contrary, he said to those Pharisees, "Why do you test God by putting a putting a yoke around the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"

For centuries the law had been a burdensome yoke for the Jews, and it doesn't become any less of a burden for those who believe in Christ who try to live by it. The law was always meant to be a burden.  Its purpose was to point people away from self-righteous justification to justification by faith in Christ alone.

In Christ, God has removed the burden.  He hasn't done this by making the law easier to keep, by grace.  Rather, He's "wiped it out" and "taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Col 2:14)  So why are so many believers still living under it?  Let's not add to their burden by teaching and preaching law in the lives of believers!

As we saw in Acts, Peter had referred to the law as a burdensome yoke that no one could bear.  Paul took this a step further in his word to the "foolish Galatians" who knew they'd been saved apart from law but had gone back to the law as a means of attempting to complete the work that was begun by the Spirit and could only be accomplished by grace.  Paul exhorted them, "It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of bondage." (Gal 5:1)

The law is, was and always will be a yoke of bondage and a burden.  What we need is not more or better adherence to the law, but rather to be free from it entirely!  When we're freed from the law, we're freed into the liberty of Christ.  We're freed from death unto life.  (2 Cor 3:7-9, Rom 5:17, Rom 8:2). We're freed from sin unto righteousness.  (Rom 6:7, 18-22).  This is what Christ has done for us!

The "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" is our life now!  This is where our hope is.  This is our source of righteousness, and in fact is our very righteousness.  This is where our godly living comes from.  Put the law away and turn to Christ!

The Law Didn't Lead to Better Behavior; The Law Led to Faith in Christ

Not long ago someone asked me if I thought the purpose of God's law was to curtail unrighteous and criminal acts (which was this person's interpretation/understanding of 1 Tim 1:8-10) and to teach the people of Israel not to do wrong. My response is that the role of the law was to condemn sinful acts, but it could do nothing to curtail sinful acts. Even under the law, "there is no one righteous, not even one... There is no one who seeks after God... There is no one who does good, not even one." The law has no power to make a bad person good, nor to change a person's bad behavior to good. In fact, not only could the law not curtail sin, but "the law is the strength of sin." (1 Cor 15:56).

The word "curtail" means to cut back, diminish, reduce. Paul said that the law actually has the opposite effect. "The law entered that sin might increase." (Rom 5:20). "But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind." (Rom 7:8) "When the commandment came, sin revived and I died." (Rom 7:9) "And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death." (Rom 7:10)

1 Tim 1:8-10 (the lawful use of the law) doesn't say that the law leads to a curtailing of sin. If we put Paul's words here alongside everything else he says about the law, we see that the law is a tutor to lead people to Christ. (Gal 3:24). (Not to lead people to better behavior, but to Christ.) Paul goes on: "Therefore the law was our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." That was the purpose of the law. To lead the lawless and subordinate, the ungodly and sinners, the unholy and profane... etc, etc... to Christ, that they might be justified by faith.

"But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness." (Rom 4:5)

The requirement of the law was perfection, and yet it had absolutely no power to provide it! Perfection could not be obtained through the keeping of the law. The law only showed people their imperfection, and led them away from trying to be perfect through their works.  It pointed them to being made perfect, righteous and holy by the gift of God, by His grace alone, through faith.  What teaches us to do right and to say "no" to sin?  It's not law.  It's grace! (Titus 2:11-14)

Even with all of this being said, I must point out something very important. As Gentiles (which is a word that refers to all people who are not Jewish; that is, most people who have ever lived), we never had any relationship to God's law in the first place. We were strangers and aliens from everything that had to do with Israel and the law (Eph 2:12). We were without hope and without God in the world. We were "far off" from God (Eph 2:13). But in Christ we have been brought near to Him. As Gentiles, we came to God, not through the tutor of the law like Israel did, but simply by God inviting us into the New Covenant by grace, through faith. There actually is no "lawful use" of God's law when it comes to Gentiles. The lawful use of God's law is for Jewish people who are trusting in their own works for righteousness. For Gentile unbelievers, it's not a matter of law but a matter of conscience. (Rom 2:12-16)