In our church culture, "the law" has taken on a negative connotation. There are few things allegations that sting more for a church leader or a Christian than to be accused being too much law and not enough grace. In fact, the law has been pitted against grace, as though they are bitter enemies who are mutually exclusive. Most Christians or people familiar with the Scriptures would quote the apostle Paul to prove that point. Paul does speak out vehemently against legalists and heavy handed religious types who use the law to weigh people down with the burden of earning right standing with God. Absolutely, the law can be abused and misused to the peril of lost and hurting people in need of grace.
But in a letter to his young pastoral apprentice, Paul tells Timothy "we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully..." (1 Timothy 1:8). Understand, the law is not even morally neutral. Rather, the law, in and of itself, is a good thing. God's laws flow from His wisdom, kindness, goodness, grace, love and desire for our joy. The law is inherently good.
Jeremiah speaks of God’s word as a hammer, which is good when used to drive a nail through wood, but it is an instrument of pain and death when used to drive a nail through a hand. In the same way, the law is good when it's used rightly, but it can be an instrument of pain and death in the hands of sinful and self-righteous men.
One way we misuse the law is to impose behavioral standards on people as a way to gain the acceptance and affection of God. We tell people to adopt specific practices, cultivate certain habits, adhere to particular standards and then they will receive blessing from God and belonging among His people. This is a complete distortion of the truth and an awful abuse of the law. This is like a contractor building a wooden deck, but using his hammer to bludgeon somebody over the head rather than to drive nails.
In response to this common and tragic error, there are a great number of professing Christians that adamantly and rightly declare that "we are not under the law, but under grace." However, a great number of those same professing Christians regrettably reject the law altogether and wrongly excuse an ongoing attachment to sin under the guise of grace. Rather than use the hammer to build the deck, they arrange all the wood properly but throw the hammer without driving any nails. It might be pretty to look at but the deck can’t bare any weight and people are going to get hurt.
To use Paul’s language, both are unlawful uses of the law. I would add that both are ungracious uses of grace. And both also have tragic and deadly consequences. Law and grace are not opposed to each other, they work in concert with each other. Only through the clarification of the law will we come to the realization of our guilt. Only when we realize the extent of our guilt can we grasp the extent of God’s grace. Only when we grasp the extent of God’s grace, will our hearts desire be to please God. And when that desire is birthed, the law is what guides our pursuit of pleasing God.
The law, as Jesus said, was not abolished in favor of something that is better. The law was fulfilled by someone who is better. God's demands for holiness, purity and perfection have not been modified by Christ. They have been met in Christ. If we disregard the law in order to remain in our disobedience, we make a mockery of grace. The law is, in itself, a gracious gift from God to help us grasp the depth of His gift of grace.
The law is the grounds of our disobedience, which His grace covers. But the law is also the guide for our obedience, which His grace compels. Both law and grace are good. Both are necessary. Both are perfect. But both can be perverted and misappropriated. If you are in Christ you can’t dilute either one. We must learn to delight in both His law and grace for what they are - good gifts that point us to Jesus so that our hearts might be stirred with both love for him and obedience to him.
Beautifully said.
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