Responding to the Law
The other day, I heard someone talking about how irrelevant the Bible was to his life. He wasn’t angry or aggressive, just dismissive and very sure of himself. He had observed that the standards of the Bible opposed his personal lifestyle choices to a large degree and resolved the tension by deciding that while biblical standards may be useful for “religious persons,” they do not apply to him.
It would be easy to think that the law is made for those who want to keep it and those who don’t want to keep it are free to choose a law of their own or even no law at all. The opposite is true. In 1 Timothy 1:9, we read “We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious...”
The idea that the law with its consequences is designed for lawbreakers is not just found in the Bible. We see it in everyday criminal law as well. For example, laws against stealing are in place because of the thieves in society. Most people have a fairly healthy respect for personal property. They understand that if they don’t want their own property stolen, then to be philosophically consistent, they would have to refrain from stealing the property of others.
The wide variety of laws covering theft of various kinds, in a sense does not apply to them. They’ve already committed to upholding their high regard for the concept of personal property both at the philosophical and practical levels. These laws are really designed to curb the tendencies of those who have a strong inclination to take what belongs to you and make it theirs. Some laws against stealing provide for restitution to the victim of the things stolen and punishment, in the form of a fine or jail time, to the perpetrator. This is aimed at raising the thief’s view of personal property and curbing his antisocial behaviour.
But what of God’s law? Those who simply write it off as irrelevant to their life are precisely those to whom it applies. Those who choose to ignore it because it sets too high a standard are the ones who are called to submit. At this point, each of us has a tendency to point to others and apply this to them. But the line between righteous and unrighteous is not drawn between social groups or even individuals. It runs straight through the heart of each one of us. Not every sin is equally appealing to every person, but we all have areas of rebellion against God.
Make no mistake, God’s laws are not only meant for others. They apply to you, too. But keep in mind that God knew you wouldn’t be able to keep His law, so He provided a way for you to be righteous though you can’t personally keep every point of the law. Jesus did what you can’t and when you accept His offer to be your sacrifice, you get His righteousness credited to your account.
When it comes to responding to the law, there’s a world of difference between the prospects of those who have already committed to keeping it and of those who are contemptuous of it.
Ron Hughes
© September 2008
