I reacted without thinking.
“Whoa! You can’t leave me hanging! Where do you think you’re going?”
He turned back at me and smiled saying, “Why… to get us some more lemonade. The rest of this can be a lot to swallow. You will need more to drink if you are going to wash down such a hot topic.”
Chapter 3
Heritage
His question was perplexing as I recalled his words in exact detail.
“Therefore, the purpose of the Law of Moses could not have been to get God’s people to Heaven. There had to be a different reason for God to give them the Law! What was God’s reason for establishing this law?”
I sat in moderate confusion.
Following every aspect of the Law was their ticket to Heaven, but they didn’t have the ability to do this?
This was a spiritual conundrum, and I had no good answer. I restated his question as he approached with full glasses in hand.
“Okay, Joshua, if the Law was not going to lead them to Heaven, what was the purpose of the Law?”
He smiled and set the sweating glasses on the table between us. He began writing on the board as he recited the verse.
“Romans 3:20—Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”
Needless to say, I was quite surprised. I had read most of the Bible in my life but could not understand how this seemed so straightforward in meaning.
How had I missed this concept all of these years?
“The purpose of God’s law is to show me that I am a sinner?” I stated with questioning confirmation. “Is it really that simple?”
He turned to me with a smile and said, “Yes, John, simple…but not easy. You see, God’s law shows you that if you continue to do certain things that break his law, you are sinning. And this rule applies to every law that God has ever established with mankind. In the pre-saved state, the law of God makes you aware of the fact that if something does not change in your life, you cannot attain the closest possible relationship with him. Do you recall, when we spoke earlier about the meetings at Alcoholics Anonymous?”
I turned in my chair to face him and said, “Yes, I do.”
“And what is the first thing they all stand up and say at every meeting?”
“I am an alcoholic!” I recalled learning the answer while doing my Psychology rotations in medical school. We were required to observe these meetings to discover the mental aspects behind the problem these patients face.
“In essence, Joshua, they are stating the following;
“I recognize that I have a problem, I am an alcoholic.
“I need help to solve my problem.
“I cannot do this alone!”
Joshua nodded in agreement before asking, “Does this sound familiar?”
I sat back in my chair before I spoke, “Are you referring to the spiritual problem we have been discussing?”
“Absolutely! The purpose of God’s law is to show you that you are a sinner, because you simply do not have the ability to keep his law. You see, in the pre-saved spiritual era of your life, you need to stand up and say;
“I recognize that I have a problem, I am a sinner.
“I need help to solve my problem.
“I cannot do this alone!
“During this early phase of your spiritual life, it is important that you realize you have a very big problem, which you cannot solve on your own. No matter how hard you try with your physical actions, you will not get into Heaven without help. Fortunately, you are not alone. God has provided a sanctifying rescue through faith in Christ. The solution to your problem is believing in Jesus!”
He wrote on the board as he spoke, “The capability of the Law was not to lead them to Heaven. The purpose of the Law was to lead them to Jesus!”
“Very cool, Joshua,” I said with recognition.
“Very cool, indeed! Please understand, that according to the law of Moses, sins were forgiven through the shedding of blood. Something, or someone, had to die for their sins. His name was ‘Jesus’.”
He opened his book to the exact page and began to read as he wrote.
“Galatians 3:23-25—Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So, the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”
He wrote the verse and listed the facts, line by line, as he continued to teach.
“They were held prisoner under the Law before Christ came.
“The Law was established by God to guide them to Christ.
“They became justified in the Law through faith in Christ (Believing!)
“Because of their new belief, they no longer lived under the old Law.
“If you recall, Abraham was justified by his faith in God’s promises. The new Christians at the time of Jesus were now also justified by simply having faith in Christ and became joint heirs to God’s promises. They fulfilled their obligation to the old law by believing in Jesus. They could not be sanctified by complete obedience to the Law because they could not be one hundred percent compliant with that law. Therefore, something had to change. Jesus had to die for their sins and pay their debt which prompted God to create a new law! And the beauty of the new law, under which they lived, and you currently live, is that it applies to all who believe. God not only established his new law with the nation of Israel, he also established it with all who believe in Jesus. And since everyone has the ability to believe, all mankind has the capability to become baptized as a child of God.
“Galatians 3:26-29—You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
“You are a child of God by faith in Christ, not by physical lineage, as was previously required by Jewish descent. All Christians are one in Christ Jesus, no matter what their heritage may be. All believers are heirs to the promise of God, just like Abraham and his seed, who were God’s chosen people. You are currently baptized and clothed in Christ. You belong to him. He has done away with your old self and its previous bondage and given you a new beginning. Once you have learned that you are a sinner and need Christ in your life, God’s law has fulfilled its purpose! Jesus paid that debt for you and because of your faith in him you have been released from living
