The Benefits Of The Law

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be!
–Romans 7:7

Beginning in Romans 7:7, Paul showed that there are several benefits of the Law, especially to non-Christians. Paul described three of these benefits in Romans 7.

First of all, the Law is good because it describes sin. Without the Law, we would never know what rotten sinners we were. In verse 7, Paul said, “Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’”

Second, the Law arouses sin. There is something about the Law of God that stirs up sin. It is like a leaf blower. The leaf blower does not remove leaves; it just stirs them up. It is the same way with the Law of God. The Law stirs up sin and makes us aware of our need for a Savior.

Third, the Law reveals sin. Just as an MRI does not cause a tumor but reveals a tumor, so the Law reveals the tumor of sin that is in each one of us. Paul concluded in verse 13 by saying, “Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.”

In verse 14, Paul transitioned the discussion from the role of the Law for the nonbeliever to the role of the Law for the Christian. Paul talks about a new law. There is a great misunderstanding about grace. In Romans 6, Paul explained that believers are no longer under the Law; we are under grace. As Christians, we are no longer under the Old Testament Law. But Paul was not saying we are under no law. We are now under grace.

A few years ago, I wrote a book called “Grace Gone Wild” about the perversion of the doctrine of grace in the Christian world today. In that book, I made two statements about grace. First of all, grace does not free us to do what is wrong; it empowers us to do what is right. Second, grace does not release us from any law; it places us under a new law. We are no longer under the Old Testament, the old agreement. We are under the New Testament, the new agreement. And that new agreement has requirements in it just as the old agreement did. The reason we keep the New Testament laws is not to earn our salvation, because that is impossible. The reason we obey the New Testament laws is to please the One who has redeemed us.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Victory in the War Within” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2014.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.