Threefold: The Threefold Us of the Law
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Mirror (Romans 5:20-21)
Mirror (Romans 5:20-21)
The first use of the law is found in our text here.
Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I actually love the clarification that the New Living Translation can give to this verse:
God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In this verse, Paul mentions the first use of the law of God, that of a mirror. Mirrors are remarkable inventions. Up until mirrors were invented if you wanted to see yourself you would have to find a pool of water, or a very shiny piece of metal, and even then, chances are you really didn’t have a good idea of what you looked like.
I remember when I was in high school the big thing to do was go to Northpark Mall. Now today, my kids cannot understand how important the mall was. It wasn’t just a place to go to Old Navy and get your jeans, but it was the place to hang out and socialize. We would spend Friday or Saturday nights going back and forth the halls of the mall along with thousands of other teens . One thing you did a lot when you were at the mall was check yourself to make sure your clothes were good.
I had one friend that almost couldn’t pass a plate glass window or a mirror in the mall without double checking his hair or his clothes, primping and adjusting, making sure he was set to meet some ladies.
Paul says, that the Law of God serves to show us what we really look. Just like the mirror in the mall, the law reveals everything to us. It shows us all the sin in our hearts and brings about conviction of sin.
“The law is a mirror. God gives us His perfect law so that we can look at His law and see into our souls, so we can see the sinners that we are. There is none righteous, no not even one. There is none who does good, there is none who seeks after God, no one. And just in case you think you are that one, here's my law, how's that working for you? You keeping it? Not are you just forbidding yourselves from fulfilling those desires that are in you; that's not the question. Are you keeping it? And the answer is no.”
Voddie T. Baucham
Crossing Guard (Rom 2:14-15)
Crossing Guard (Rom 2:14-15)
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
I remember when I was a kid I wanted a job that was so special, so important that it killed me that I wasn’t old enough or “mature” enough to get it. Every day, as I went to school with my friends, I longed to be called up to the big leagues of school. Now for those of you younger then me, this will seem foreign, but I remember wanting to be on the School Bus safety Patrol and get to hold the flag to stop cars and allow kids to cross the street.
Back in the 80’s students would wear vests, and hold out a flag and help other students cross the street to get on and off of the bus. I never was able to do this job because when I finally got old enough our buses became equipped with crossing arms and they said it was unsafe for us to do that job (Go figure).
The second use of the law is known as restraining use of the Law. It holds that in the heart of man is an understanding, through our conscience, of the rightness of the law. That the law is given to us by “common grace” and that all men, everywhere have a sense of the truths of the law.
In the 1689 London Baptist confession of Faith, the writers noted this in paragraph 2:
“The same law that was first written in the heart of man continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall, and was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in ten commandments, and written in two tables, the four first containing our duty towards God, and the other six, our duty to man.”
We see this truth in that in every culture all over the world, almost without exception there are certain things we find repugnant.
Thus the law written in our hearts serves to restrain evil. It is the moral conscience that pervades all of mankind.
John Calvin agreed:
“They are restrained, not because their inner mind is stirred or affected, but because, being bridled, so to speak, they keep their hands from outward activity and hold inside the depravity that otherwise they would wantonly have indulged. Consequently, they are neither better nor more righteous before God. Hindered by fright or shame, they dare neither execute what they have conceived in their minds, nor openly breathe for the rage of their lust.”
Teacher (Gal. 3:24-29)
Teacher (Gal. 3:24-29)
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
In ancient Rome, the paidagogos was a slave entrusted with the care of another’s child from the time the child reached age six until he reached adulthood. Until the child reached adolescence, the paidag__ō__gos was like a nanny who watched over the child and ensured that he made it to and from school and would act as a tutor, helping the student review the material learned in class.
The paidag__ō__gos was also the child’s main disciplinarian; he corrected bad manners and helped his charge learn etiquette and decorum. Depending on the individual, a paidag__ō__gos might discipline the child harshly with canings and whippings or with greater tenderness and care. Some children hated their paidag__ō__gos; others formed a strong, lifelong bond with him.
This background enriches our understanding of this purpose of the Law and why it is no longer the defining principle of the life of the believer. In our text, Paul says that the law is our paidagogos, our teacher and like this paidagogos, when we “grow up” spiritually the guardians purpose is complete.
This purpose of the law is to lead us to Christ. As we study the Law, the law has the important job of “taking us to school” — of leading us to Christ who alone unfolds the depths of God’s will for us (Matt. 5–7; Col. 2:1–3).
Thus, the law, like a teacher, reveals to us who God really is and how we are to live in light of that revelation and it encourages us to live that way.
Thus while we are no longer under the condemnation of the law, we do well to look to the law and it’s teachings.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Notice, Jesus said he came to fulfill the law. This is why many ceremonial laws, like the dietary laws, and the laws on dress, etc. are no longer binding. The purpose of the ceremonial law was to point in types and shadows to Christ, and they are fulfilled in Christ, but they still do their appointed work:
The law continues to be the perfect rule of righteousness for Christian living. It continues to reveal God, and His character and His will for us, it continues to reveal the true nature of man when we measure ourselves by it. It continues to show us the nature of salvation because it teaches us that we cannot be saved by law.
As such, we are still called to live in obedience to the law, even if we are not called to live the letter of each and every ceremonial rule in the law.
A great example of this in education is “line-time”. When we were kids we would get in a line and walk from room to room, holding hands, or following a painted line on the floor. Today, when I visit a school I don’t grab another parent’s hand and put my finger over my mouth as we march single file through the halls. But the principles of walking orderly, and quietly, of being respectful of others and not being rude still apply.
The law, while it does not “rule” does instruct, and does call us to obedience, calls us to holiness, calls us to live lives that reflect Christ and his character and God’s nature.
So while I can thankfully eat crawfish and shrimp and catfish in my polyester blend shirt I would do well to remember the principles of healthy eating, and of simplicity espoused in these truths.
So while for us who are in Christ the law does not condemn us with the curse of death, for the curse of death has been swallowed up in Christ, it does condemn, correct and instruct us.
So what about you today? Are you free from the condemnation of the law? Can you say, just like Paul that God’s wonderful grace has became more abundant? Does God’s wonderful grace rules rule in your heart giving you right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord?
If not, he can today.