HOPELESS AND HELPLESS

 

HOPELESS AND HELPLESS

Rom. 3:19-20 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to bring the entire world into judgment before God. For no one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God’s law, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying it. NLT

The Law was given to those who do not know Christ on a personal level. All who try to live life without Christ are subject to the Law’s demands and punishment. We who live in Christ are subject to his laws and demands, which lead to holy living.

The reason why God gave us His Law was to help us understand our sinfulness and to understand that we can never live in relationship with God on our own efforts. It is impossible for anyone to think they don’t need God based on the Law. God clearly exposes our sin. He is perfect holiness, and we are perfect sinfulness.

The more we study the Law of God, the more frustrating it becomes to those of us who try to live by it. We are constantly confronted with the fact that we aren’t living by it. No one can do on his own what God commands us to do.

However, God did not leave us hopeless and helpless. He came to earth in the form of a man to do what we could not do. He became the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He displayed His power over sin by living a sinless life and then taking our place on the cross. We deserved to die because of our sin, but Jesus did it for us. Jesus took every sinful act and thought of man and rendered them powerless over us. He stripped Satan of his hold over us. He made it possible for us to be righteous before God without keeping the Law. Every mandate of the Law was fulfilled in Christ.

If you are trying to satisfy God’s wrath by legal means, you will never have peace with God. You will never know that your sins are forgiven and you will never have the confidence that you will go to heaven when you die. Our only hope and help is in the righteousness of Christ. Jesus is the only way we are ever going to live obediently to God.