The commandment I believed would give me life if I obeyed it, instead brought condemnation/ death for I could not keep it. Sin through the law slew me.
Yet I knew the law was holy, perfect, just and good, the problem was my sinful nature.
Through the commandment sin became utterly sinful in me.
Romans Chapters 7 and 8
((Romans 7:7, What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful?
Certainly not!
Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”))
Paul, before his conversion, believed that the ‘Law’ was not sinful. And after his conversion, he still held that the law was not sinful. He said in ((Romans 8:7, The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.)) This understanding remains true for all time.
((Romans 7:8, For apart from the law, sin was dead.)) Paul is saying, that apart from the Law, sin does not exist. So many people, who have absolutely no faith at all in God, justify their life and actions ‘that they are righteous,’ because they see nothing to condemn them. There is nothing in nature to condemn them, and there is nothing to guide them.
Love
Love. ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ This is regarded perhaps as the only guiding principle. Love allows many things. Man can enter into many different sexual relationships – man with man, man with animal, a man with his mother – there is no word to condemn, that is -- provided love exists between those involved in whatever relationship.
And even ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself,’ is a command from the old covenant – ((Leviticus 19:18, ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself.’ I am the Lord.))
Did Paul throw out this command along with everything else recorded in the OT Scriptures, more importantly, did Jesus throw out this command ‘to love your neighbour as yourself?’ No.
The good news throughout the New Testament is that Jesus is our sacrifice. We are each forgiven by Christ’s sacrifice and his shed blood. He is not just a ‘perfect’ lamb selected from among a flock of animals, he is the perfect Son of God who presented himself in our stead and bore our sins. We are forgiven. ((See Romans 8:1-4.))
A Change in the Law
((Hebrews 7:12-18, For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests… Jesus has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.
For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless ‘for the law made nothing perfect.’))
It was the ‘ritual’ and ‘sacrifice’ which was intended to cleanse from sin. But animal blood alone could make nothing perfect.
There has clearly been a change in the law.
The Levitical priesthood and its animal sacrifices were temporary measures only. Their only significance was in what they represented. They were never ever God’s last word regarding the redemption of mankind. From their inception, they were intended to point to the ‘Lamb of God’ who takes away the sins of the world. When Jesus came they ‘the Levitical priesthood and animal sacrifices’ lost all significance. The Book of Hebrews deals with this topic at great depth.
God’s commands regarding love to neighbour, love and honour to parents, and ‘If you love me, keep my commandments’ abide forever.
1. The law gives guidance, ((Paul would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”)) 2. The law condemns, it cannot forgive. ((Romans 7 and 8))
When I confess my sin, and I do, I recognise my sin because of these very things written in God’s Word. I don’t confess things of my own imagination and fancy. I confess on the basis of what God says is right or wrong.
I thank God that Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, and that He has cleansed me of my sin and unrighteousness. And daily he continues to do so. Amen.