Needing More than Law

July 3, 2016 Background Scripture: Romans 2 Lesson Passage: Romans 2:17 – 29 Very few Christian doctrines can be stated or explained without at least one reference to Paul’s letter to the Romans. The scope of the letter is all encompassing in that it includes all persons and covers all times. From the onset of his writing, Paul asserts the fairness of God. God punishes evil and rewards righteousness. For those who do evil and will not repent, punishment will come; to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. Although most Gentiles did not have the law, those who sin will perish without the law because their conscience is proof of God’s law written in their hearts. We know right and wrong because God has placed His law in our hearts to discern right and wrong. On the other hand, those who have the law and sin will be judged by the law. In either case, all unrighteousness will be judged by God and evil doers who refuse to repent will be punished. Paul accused the Jews of feeling exempt because they had the law. The clarity he provides is that faith, according to the law, must be demonstrated in actions demanded by the law. They need more than the law. Teachers and preachers are warned that they must live according to the doctrine they are teaching and proclaiming; they will be judged by what they teach and preach. The ones who teach and preach are held to a higher standard than those who don’t. They clearly show that they have the law and demonstrate their understanding of it through teaching and preaching. Having and understanding the law does not make them right with God but it places them in position to know of God’s righteousness and righteous requirements of the saints. It is a shameful situation when saints, who have the law, sin in the presence of people who do not know God. God is blasphemed or seen as weak when the righteous sin before the unrighteous. Why should a sinner turn to God if the actions of the saints who have turned to God prove to not make a difference in the lives of the saints? Why should a sinner forsake his ways if the righteous participate in the same activities? The law defines the righteousness of God but the rituals of the law are not prescriptive to becoming right with God. Conformance to the rituals of the law does not equate to right standing before God. Persons who seek to only conform to the letter of the law as defined by its rituals will never become right with God based on their actions. Believers must seek to live up to the spirit of the law and not merely conform to the letter of the law which does not bestow right standing before God. Certainly Jesus expounded on this very point in his “Sermon on the Mount”. He taught that it is not enough to not kill but we must not harbor anger in our hearts because it is still sinful; and the sin of adultery occurs through lust long before the act. The spirit of the law is written in our hearts and we are condemned by it even as we meditate on sin. The sin in our bodies is evidenced in our hearts through sinful meditations. It is this sin in our members that the spirit of the law exposes to us. The law does not eliminate or correct it. Therefore, we need more than law. Robert C. Hudson June 21, 2016