Before I surrendered to Jesus I was controlled by my flesh and trapped by sin. God’s law was embedded in my conscience, but it was impossible to keep no matter how much I struggled and strived. It both tempted me to sin and condemned me for it. Every box left unchecked was a reminder of my condemnation. I was a slave to sin.
After I surrendered to Jesus, a new power took over. A new mind with new desires and new motives. One that desires to please the God who saved me. Jesus took my sinfulness and replaced it with His righteousness. In Christ, I am dead to sin and alive to righteousness. The law is no longer my master, Christ is. Striving is no longer my work; Holy Spirit sanctification is!
The law cannot save us, but it reveals our need for a Savior!
God’s Law is good. It reveals God’s character. Who He is and how He wants His creation to operate. It reveals His holiness and mankind’s unholiness. It is a mirror that shows us our corruption and drives us to Christ. It is the holy standard met by Jesus and the desired goal sought by His children. It is all these things, but in Christ, it is no longer the means for salvation, which it could never accomplish.
“The law is not sin, but the law makes known to us our sin.”
R.C. Sproul
When the law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, it was written on tablets of stone by the very finger of God. It was given as a means to set His people apart and make them holy. But Christ ushered in the New Covenant and now, God has written His Law on our hearts so that we can know Him fully.
Sin repelled and holiness desired.
The closer I grow to God, the more I love His Law. It unveils His character and holiness and reveals the severity of my sin. It makes me ever more thankful that, in Christ, God has forgiven me. When He looks at me, He does not see my sin, He sees His Son! The righteousness of Christ repels the stain of my sin. This realization does not make me careless about sin, it makes me desire holiness.
So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16 NLT
For the child of God, sin has lost its reign, but it has not lost its influence. The disposition to sin still lingers, but we have the power to override it. More about that to come…
