In Romans 5:20, Paul tells us why the law was given. Hold onto your seats because this might shock you!
Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound,… (Romans 5:20)1
Another way of putting it is the law was added that sin might increase! Can that be true? Why would a holy God who hates sin put His people under something that would cause sin to abound? It’s because He wanted to expose through the law that self-righteousness could do nothing to make us acceptable to God so that we would see our need for Jesus.
The law was not added to make us better people, and it was not added as a moral guide. The law of God, the Ten Commandments, “the ministry of death” as 2 Corinthians 3:7 describes it, was given to increase trespasses. The law did not make man a sinner, and the law did not cause death to enter mankind. The law functioned much like a dye that is put in a person’s body to reveal a disease. It couldn’t cure the disease; it could only show that disease of sin was there.
On the other hand, the Gospel of grace reveals a righteous condition that you already have in Jesus as a believer! Or it’s a righteousness that you can receive today if you will believe that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Believe that God is not counting your sins against you! He can’t because His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, took your sin into His body on the cross so that you could be just like Him. God loves you!
(from pages 124-125 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
