The Law Incites Disobedience

Alfred Nobel sought to create a safer and more controllable explosive than nitroglycerin, aiming to improve mining and construction. He hoped his invention would reduce accidents and save lives. The result? Dynamite became a weapon of war, causing immense destruction and suffering. Nobel was deeply troubled by the military applications of his invention and, in a way to atone, established the Nobel Prizes to promote peace and scientific advancement.

The Law is a lot like dynamite. With good intentions we use it in an attempt to produce one thing (righteousness) and soon find it produced the opposite (sinfulness).

Not only can the law not produce what it requires (see Romans 3:20) it actually does worse and produces the opposite.

At first, this may seem outrageous. "How dare you say that! The law is perfect and beautiful!" you might protest. And the response, of course, is: "Exactly!" This is, in essence, Paul’s argument in Romans 7.

In Romans 7:7–8, Paul writes:
"I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness."

Did you catch that? “Sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness.” Here’s the critical distinction: the law is not sin, but it does provoke sin within the sinner. Why is this the case? Because it demands only perfect obedience always and we are incapable of producing that. But that doesnt keep us from trying, which is where the problem lies. The more we attempt to satisfy the law the more the law condemns us with its rigidity.

The problem lies in how we view the law. If we see it as something soft, a gentle guide that rewards our efforts, we might convince ourselves that we can obey it and thereby prove ourselves righteous. But the law does not play the percentage game- It is not proud of you for obeying 78% of its demand. Neither does it play the progress game- it is not satisfied if you are at least improving your “obedience” from year to year. The law will not relent in its demand. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount “Be perfect as my Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). That is the requirement and there is no flexibility. The law is rigid, demanding, and requiring complete obedience in word, thought, heart, and deed, period.

The law does not say, “Try not to covet” nor “As long as you don’t covet more than you do covet…” It says, “Thou shalt not covet.” Period. No coveting. Not even a little. None. Never. And what happens when we try to obey that command? We say to ourselves, “I am going to be completely content with what God has given me. I won’t want anything that belongs to anyone else. I will believe that what God has provided is all I need, and it's what is best for me.” Then, suddenly, our friend pulls up in his beautiful new black Ford Raptor R truck (totally hypothetical situation). Without trying or even deciding to covet, our heart immediately longs for that truck and “Boom goes the dynamite,” we might say. The very same thing happens when we see our neighbor’s success, their children’s achievements, their spouse’s beauty, their well manicured lawn—you name it. We covet it all.

In our conviction, we decide to rehearse the law, thinking we will pull ourself together if we hear the command again…."Do not covet, do not covet!" But what does that do? Does it curb our coveting? No. It only makes us more aware of it, and we see the mountain of covetousness that exists in our hearts. Now we realize all we do is covet! The more we meditate on the law (if we truly understand its demands), the more we find sin.

In frustration, we join Paul in crying out,
"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24)

And then, in grace, Jesus responds:
"I will!"

The comfort we hoped to find in the law, through our own effort, is now found in a savior standing with his nail-scarred hands open who receives us in the broken state, shattered by his perfect law. Jesus is the righteousness we can never attain through any amount of effort. He forgives all of our self-righteous attempts to be saved by our obedience to the law. He saves us from the inescapable condemnation of the law.

The law was never meant to make us righteous. It was never designed to create in us the righteousness we need. Its true purpose is to destroy any hope we have of saving ourselves so that Jesus could offer us Himself. Let the law do its proper work in you. Just like dynamite let it destroy you completely. And once you are blown to smithereens, Jesus Christ will come and resurrect you from your helpless state. Hallelujah! Amen.