We Uphold the Law

Jesus' Fulfillment of Scripture
Jesus' Use of Scripture
Jesus Teaching on the Law

Romans 3:21-31

The Message

God Has Set Things Right

^21-24 But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

^25-26 God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it’s now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness.
^27-28 So where does that leave our proud Jewish insider claims and counterclaims? Canceled? Yes, canceled. What we’ve learned is this: God does not respond to what we do; we respond to what God does. We’ve finally figured it out. Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.
^29-30 And where does that leave our proud Jewish claim of having a corner on God? Also canceled. God is the God of outsider non-Jews as well as insider Jews. How could it be otherwise since there is only one God? God sets right all who welcome his action and enter into it, both those who follow our religious system and those who have never heard of our religion.
³¹ But by shifting our focus from what we do to what God does, don’t we cancel out all our careful keeping of the rules and ways God commanded? Not at all. What happens, in fact, is that by putting that entire way of life in its proper place, we confirm it.

For Reflection

What is the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law?  Can someone obey the letter of the law without obeying its intent?  I was once given a traffic ticket following an accident at an intersection.  The officer cited me for failure to follow the intent of the stop sign.  Even the judge was confused by the citation.  "Did he stop?" he inquired of the officer at my hearing.  "Yes,"replied the officer.  "Help me understand," replied the judge.

Jesus came to help us understand that at times the letter of the law is not equal to its intent.  Christ did not come to rescind the law, He came to help us understand the intent of the law and to extend that intent beyond the Jewish culture to the world. 

Pray

that  you will follow the laws of Moses.  Pray that you will have the wisdom to also follow the intent of the law as Christ has shown us.  Pray that we of faith will not use the law in judgment, but rather, as an opportunity to offer the reconciliation in a life lived in the hollow of God's hand.