Romans 7:9–10: I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
Oh, the tragedy of the person who seeks to live by the Law! It does not lead him to life. While it is true that God had said, “This do and thou shalt live” (see Deut. 8:1), the doing of it was the difficulty. The fault was not in the Law, but in the one who thought the Law would bring life and power. It did neither. It merely revealed the weakness, inability, and the sin of mankind. If there had been a law which could have given life, God would have given it (see Gal. 3:21). But life and Christian living do not come by the Law.
Let me illustrate this. A car is a very useful thing. But a car in the hands of an incapable driver can be a danger and a menace. In fact, it can be a death–dealing instrument. The fault is not with the car; the fault is with the driver. The problem is man; he is the culprit. 1
Application
- Making a “to-do” list to make you feel like you are a better person is pointless. In time, you will actually cheat against yourself, to make you think you completed your own to-do list perfectly.
- The Law is perfect and demands perfection. The Law does its job by making you realize that you are not perfect. It points you to the Perfect One. When you accept His perfection as a gift, you become perfectly ready for heaven.
Prayer
Lord, thank You that Your only request of me is to seek love, not law.
1. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (Romans 1-8) (electronic ed., Vol. 42). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
