What the Law Cannot Do
by Cody Anderson Corinth Missionary Baptist Church
Let me get rid of a common misconception about the Old Testament and the Law: man was not saved by following the Ten Commandments. The Law was in no way able to save mankind from the rebellion against God and take away sins. Men would love a checklist to be able to assure themselves of salvation and have something to boast about.
As history tells us, we cannot follow rules or be obedient enough to earn salvation. The Law diagnosed the disease, but it had no power to cure it.
God’s law revealed sin, but it could not remove sin or forgive it. Romans 3:20 clearly states, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (ESV).
The purpose of the Law is to reveal God’s holy standard and to show man that we are not capable of being obedient.
The Law fulfills its purpose when man comes to the understanding of one’s need for the Savior.
Yet, people still believe they are good. When people compare themselves to their neighbor or someone they think they know, they may think that they are better than that other person.
However, they are not even close to being good when compared to the holy God.
The Scriptures are clear that there is no one good except God. Going back to last week’s article, we are not judged based on our goodness.
We are guilty of sin by our nature. Being good could never negate our sin nature; it could never cover our sins.
The Law is a tutor. It can only tutor those who know it.
Galatians 3 talks about the law guiding us until Christ comes.
We are to live by it in order to know God and His ways.
Just as creation itself shows us the glory of the Creator, the Law shows us character of the Creator. Paul writes in Romans 7:7, “…
Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.
For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’” (ESV). While the Law did not create sin, the Law did uncover it.
It also revealed that the problem was not with behavior but with our very nature, our hearts.
The Law demands complete, perfect obedience. It wasn’t given as a self-help guide. James 2:10 states, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (ESV).
Man could never obtain it. It may be able to restrain evil, shape societies, clarify right and wrong, but has never given life to the spiritually dead.
The Law could not save. It identifies sin, judges sin, and condemns sin, but it could never remove it.
So what now for man? Maybe the sacrifices could account for the sins of the people.
Maybe the offerings and the rituals could close the relationship gap that sin brought.
Hebrews 10:1 says, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of the realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near” (ESV).
