The Law And The Gospel
by Rev. Timothy L. Atterberry, Ph.D.
Presented by Saint Luke Evangelical School Of Biblical Studies
http://ficotw.org/school.html
Do you think by being marked by the covenant rite of circumcision that
Abraham found favor with God? I don?t. I believe Abraham embraced God for
what He did for him. It was a heart decision and not a thought decision. Law
could make us think in the direction of God, but God interacting with us
could lead our heart to God. Its what is in the heart that determines who we
are. Before Abraham was ever physically marked by covenant rite, he had
already embraced the heart of God. The law was easier to live that way. It
was his desire, his passion that made him the man of God he was. To most
men, God was just a lawgiver, but to Abraham he was more. He was a friend.
God, The Lawgiver
How fortunate we are to have a lawgiver that is not just about law, but also
love. Many times when we think of law, we think of authorities that remain
distant so it becomes easier to enforce the laws they give. There are some
people who lead this way: do what I say, and you will be in right standing
with me. This is the way God presented the law to his children. However, God
desired a relationship. Most authorities become ?untouchable?. Our God is
not this way. Though it is true that He is the potter and we are the clay,
which puts us in a position of his pleasure, meaning he can choose to do
whatever he wills. He can make us into a bowl to be used at the table, or a
vase to be used as decoration. We can only be what he designs us to be. Yet
he loves us so much that he finds pleasure in us if we are willing to be
used in the way He wants to use us. He is not a Lawgiver that is far from
his people. It was his bloodshed, not ours. It was His sandal worn feet, not
ours. It was his mercy and His grace that brought His law of love to our
lives. He not only brought us a law that was hard to live, he fulfilled it
by a sacrifice that we could never give. The creator became His own creation
to know us. He did more than what he expects of us. God not only stretch
forth his hand of grace, but cradled in it, the human form, breathed himself
in it, and became one of us to show us his way. The law was then fulfilled
in love.
God, The Love-Giver
How else can it be? God is love. It is His nature. This is what we lost in
Eden. God?s love is pure. Man?s heart is defiled. God had to win man?s heart
back. The human race was in its infancy when God began to lead us back to
Him. The first steps we were to take had to be trained. Humanity?s training
lesson was the written law. It gave us the first corrective action plan from
God. The Jews could be his people and He would be their God, if they would
obey Him. Notice he asked them to be humble and seek after Him. His real
desire was that they would turn their hearts, not just their minds to Him.
He always insisted that He be the focal point of their daily lives. This was
accomplished through keeping the commandments. If they did this, then for
sure their hearts would follow. Some did. Some began to embrace what He was
doing in them as the law straightened out their lives. So, that was the
solution. Give them enough rules and they can?t go wrong. Right? Wrong. God
wanted everyone?s heart, not just the Jews. He looked on his whole creation
and knew what He had to do. They were becoming so absorbed in how they well
they were keeping the law that they were forgetting why they were keeping
the law. They no longer were trusting in God, but in their own abilities to
keep the law. You see, the law was good, but it wasn?t enough. God had to
write the law on our hearts.
God?s Good News
The law was good in that without its clear guidelines for right and wrong,
moral behavior would be mostly guesswork. The written law of God was an
excellent piece of work. The problem was the mind of man. It was being fed
from a bad heart. The mind perverted the law into another tool of Satan. It
was like eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil again. The
serpent once again used it to seduce man. Man began to take pride in being
the one who followed the letter of the law, but still never have a
relationship with the Law Giver. The commandments were good, but there was
no communion.
As the schoolmaster could no longer keep the mind of the child, God
determined to find fellowship with man. He no longer would allow His law to
only lead our minds. Now it would first find our hearts. Since Christ came
and died, He began to write his law in our hearts. This is the law of faith,
grace, and love. This law is experienced only through a heart relationship
with God. He convicts our hearts, exposes our minds, and breathes his own
compassion into us. We become new creatures with new hearts that through the
Holy Spirit can break our thinking and free us to put on the mind of Christ.
In this way, God can have fellowship with us. The Good News is that Jesus
came to fulfill the law by giving His life as a ransom for our hearts so
that He could once again fellowship with all of His children. Now our hearts
can bring our minds to God.