What about you? Have any similar challenges under the law?
16. If the law can't save us, why did God give it to Moses in the first place?
That answer is pretty easy. Paul outlines it in the next verses:
15Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. 17What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
19What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. 20A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
21Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
In a nutshell: the law makes us aware of our sin and need for salvation, our utter inability to do it ourselves.
Abraham's covenant is better than Moses' law and Abraham was saved 430 years before God gave Moses the commandments (and isn't it just another sign of Paul's superiority that he has that fact at his fingertips?). In God's covenant with Abraham, God said "I Will" but the commandments said "Thou Shalt"...dooming them to failure! The responsibility for the covenant was on God who does not fail. Only 1 part was required to do anything for success and that party was God. Unlike the commandments which was more of a 2 party agreement...that totally depended on you and me for success. And here's the truth about that: man can't succeed and God can't fail.
So then why did the tablets come down?
They lead us to Christ. They show us our sinfulness, our inability to please God through our own works, our need for mercy and grace. Grace means nothing unless you know you gotta have it. Thanks to the "Thou shalts" we know we must have grace.
Are people inherently good? Are there any laws that you routinely break? Can anyone keep the perfect law of God?
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