3. The law held the world accountable for their actions. He defined what sin was and showed that man could not be justified by the law – Romans 3:19-20 How does understanding the purpose of the law lead us to think of God? Where Israel was required by law to keep and do it (Deuteronomy 4:6), we are bound by the law of Christ, which frees us from the requirements of the law because Christ fulfilled the law for us. His sacrifice was what the Old Testament sacrificial system indicated. We do not come to God now through ritual sacrifice and purification, but through faith in Christ. Through faith in Christ, we are sanctified and set apart for God, we receive forgiveness of our sins and we are cleansed. Neither Israel nor we can obey God perfectly. Israel eagerly awaited the Messiah to fulfill God`s promise to deliver and restore His people. We look back at what Christ did to free us from the kingdom of darkness and place us in the kingdom of His Beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).
For Israel and for us, the law points to Christ. When Adam and Eve failed, God intended to create a new nation of a man, Abram, and his wife Sarai, who would live under His rule. This young nation, commonly referred to as “the children of Israel,” grew up, but was captured by a ruthless ruler. God delivered them from their oppressors and led them to the place of promise, where He would dwell with them as their God if they loved and obeyed Him. He presented them to a chief, Moses, who was to be his spokesman before the people. Just like the Easter eggs scattered throughout the Marvel movies, the individual stories and chapters of the Bible are carefully curated, gradually revealing broader aspects of who Christ really is and what He has accomplished for humanity. It is not Thanos who snaps his fingers blindly on humanity in some kind of ethnic cleansing. Jesus is our Savior, who sovereignly and patiently refuses to judge a world that deserves it because of our sin, so that some may be saved through repentance of sin and trust in Christ. When we read the Law or any other kind of scripture, it is our duty to discover which Easter eggs are scattered and how they contribute to the metanarrative (great story) of the Bible. If we look at the content of the law, we will see recurring themes that we should pay attention to, such as sovereignty, holiness and God`s grace; the form of worship; and how seriously God takes sin.
The law shows us that God cares about every aspect of our lives, our bodies, our attitudes toward family members and neighbors, our celebrations. God doesn`t just impose arbitrary laws to trip up His people. When we read laws about what Israel can and cannot eat, we learn that God is holy and requires His people to live holy lives. God does not want them to be like the nations around them who did not know or worship God. He wanted his people to stand out and be made for him. When we read what would make Israel unclean, we learn that God requires purification for His people from within. From their inner attitude to their outward behavior, the Israelites were to be a holyzed people, so that all nations would know that they worshipped the one true God (Leviticus 20:26). People knew that this was impossible for them to achieve alone, so they needed the symbolic substitute to help them anticipate and aspire to the Messiah, who would come to do everything new, reverse the curse of the Fall and bring humanity back to a righteous relationship with God. Before we continue, it would be helpful to clarify what we are talking about. What is this law? He refers to the first 5 books, and God gave Moses these instructions and decrees to communicate to His people. These 5 books are commonly called “Pentateuch”, literally “5 scrolls” in Greek, or the Torah as the Jews know it. These were given so that Israel could be ordained as a holy nation to God! Paul tells us that the law is good and holy (Romans 7:12), but it was also a standard that people could not reach.
The law required complete and absolute obedience from the people of Israel. The law does not have the power to give life. 1. I Pi 1:10-12 – God revealed His purpose through the prophets, although they often did not understand B. Jesus` purpose was to fulfill the law – Luke 24:44 The law exhorts us to see that the only way to obtain life is to be united with God, as has always been intended. And the only way to be united with God is to receive Him as a gift. A life-giving relationship with God can only be formed if we stop trying to establish it on the basis of judging what is right and wrong. It can only be concluded when we place our full trust in God`s ability to make us good and abolish our evil in Jesus Christ.
The phrase “because of” in the verse could mean either the cause or the purpose. This could mean that the law was added to curb man`s deeds and sins. This seems plausible because we knew that evil was on earth and that evil was constantly in their hearts (Genesis 6:5). It could also mean that the law was also added for the purpose of something. Romans 5:20 tells us that the law “increased trespassing.” But that`s not all. “But where sin increased, there was all the more grace.” There is a grace greater than all our sins. Paul speaks here with full apostolic authority. Stick to this insurance! We know that we will never be sinless on this side of eternity, but we never lack God`s grace. Grace does not exist as a license to sin, but as a path to Jesus Christ.
B. The Old Law also testifies to God`s purpose: “Then what is the use of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the seed came, to whom the promise was given. the law was our master to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:21–24 The law of the Old Covenant served a purpose and was blessed, but is this true in the New Covenant? How should we see it today? If you watch a lot of Marvel movies, you`ll notice that the overall individual movies are a larger narrative that ties all the individual movies together. We discover what fans call “Easter eggs” scattered throughout each film. These Easter egg clues form a common thread that helps us see how the larger story unfolds. Many moviegoers will watch the movies again, sometimes in chronological order, in order to find the Easter eggs and better understand the larger narrative. The more you watch the movies, the more Easter eggs you take, the more you can see how each movie is connected and how they fill the larger plot. Similarly, the law was also intended to protect Israel, prevent it from sinning, and forsake God. This was the true purpose of the whole Mosaic law! The law was added to prepare God`s people for the coming of the Messiah. He points to Christ.
Jesus came to fulfill all aspects of the law. Christ is the end of the law of righteousness for all who believe (Romans 10:4). But what about the moral law—the 10 commandments? 9 of the commandments are repeated in the New Testament – the exception being the 4th commandment, which refers to the Sabbath. Once we are in Christ, our righteousness comes within us from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. So we don`t really need the moral law. Abraham obtained righteousness even though the law did not yet exist in his day (Romans 4). 2. Notice that faith does not nullify the Old Law – Romans 3:31. It always serves a purpose.
Colossians 2:17 teaches that many Old Testament rituals were given to anticipate what Christ would do later. It was one of the tools used by NT scribes to advocate for Christ. Paul, who, despite his best efforts, failed to keep the law of the Old Covenant, but when he “died” for Christ to become his life, then the purpose of the law had been fulfilled in Paul`s life. The law is for transgressors, but now the offender was dead. Now he had been freed from the law, having died for what he was accused of, so that he could serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the old of the letter (the law). (Romans 7:6) Now it was no longer obedience to the law that counted, but obedience to the laws of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ.
