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The Amish Voice 2
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the very best he can. They were saying that, yes, Christ is important;
but a commitment to live by the law—a commitment to do the very
best one can—is also essential in order to be saved and acceptable to
God.
The false teaching sounds good, for a person not only should, but
he must, do the best he can. Actually a person should not only do the
best he can in seeking God but in everything he undertakes.
However, Scripture is very clear: man is not justified by being good
and doing good. Man just cannot be good enough nor do enough
good to become perfect. God is perfect; therefore, man must become
perfect if he is to live with God.
How then can a person become acceptable to God? By faith in
Jesus Christ. When a person believes in Jesus Christ, he honors
God’s Son, and God honors the person who honors His Son. God
honors the person by doing the very thing for which the person
trusted Christ. For example, if a person believes that Christ died for
his sins, God counts it so. If a person believes that God considers
him righteous in Christ, God considers it so. And so on. Note,
however: belief does not mean
mental assent
, just believing in one’s
thoughts and mind that Jesus Christ is the Savior. True belief is
spiritual commitment
, the commitment of one’s heart and life--all
that one is and all that one has--to Christ.
How do we know that we are justified by faith and not by the law and
doing the best we can? Because of what faith does for us.
OUTLINE:
1. Faith in Christ frees us from the supervision of the
law (vv.23-25).
2. Faith in Christ makes us children of God (vv.26-27).
3. Faith in Christ makes us one: eliminates all
distinctions and prejudices (v.28).
4. Faith in Christ makes us heirs of the promise (v.29).
1. FAITH IN CHRIST FREES US FROM THE SUPERVISION
OF THE LAW (vv.23-25).
There are two pictures which clearly illustrate the purpose of the
law.
1. The law was a prison for man. Before faith came, that is,
before Christ died, man was “kept under the law.” The word for
“kept under” means to be guarded, kept in custody, imprisoned,
held in bondage. Very simply, the law shuts man up under sin; it
imprisons and holds man in bondage to sin. How?
a. The law shows man exactly where he fails—exactly where he
comes short. There is no question about it: the law said to do
this, but the man did that. He failed or disobeyed. The failure is
clearly spelled out, just as clearly as a speed limit sign spells
out the violation of the speeder.
b. The law accuses and condemns man. As soon as a person
violates the law, the law charges him. The law is in black and
white, written down, so there is no question about its having
been broken. Therefore, it preys upon his mind, cuts and
convicts his heart. Guilt and conviction take over, and the man
is troubled and vexed to varying degrees, all dependent on the
seriousness of the violation.
c. The law has no life and no power to deliver man from the
punishment due him for his violation. This is the whole point:
the law reveals the violation and condemns man; it imprisons
him. The law does not deliver man; it condemns man to
bondage. It continues and continues to point out man’s sins
and failures. And the case of the law is endless: its finger of
accusation points out the man’s failure every time he violates
it. The bondage to the law is ongoing.
The only hope for man is for someone to appear on the scene
with the power to release him. That someone has appeared: Jesus
Christ has come to set us free. But note: as prisoners we have to
accept His deliverance. The choice is ours. We can believe and trust
His power to deliver us or not.
2. The law was a schoolmaster or guardian for man. The law
was man’s guardian to lead him to see his need for Christ. He was
usually a trusted slave who was in charge of a child’s moral welfare,
but he had one particular duty to which Paul was referring. Every
day the guardian took the child to school and delivered him to the
teacher. And then at the end of the day, he returned for the child and
brought him safely back home. This was what the law was to do.
The law was to lead man to Christ, the true Teacher. The law does
this by showing man that he is utterly unable to secure
righteousness by himself. He must look to Christ, the real Teacher,
for righteousness and acceptance by God, that is, for justification by
faith. And once Christ (faith in Him) has come, there is no need for
the law nor for any other guardian, for Jesus Christ brings us face to
face with God.
QUESTIONS:
1. The law is a prison for man. Can anyone successfully
escape from this prison? Why do men think they can