The Law is a Pain

You should see what happens, from my vantage point, when I announce in church that the topic for the day will somehow relate to The Law. Jaws drop. Eyes roll. Someone starts to text, probably to find out what the sermon is over at the Methodist church.

Whenever a sermon or Bible study is centered around the Ten Commandments or most anything from Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy I run the risk of perceived boredom. Even though insiders know the relevance of the Law, to the average pew packer I may as well speak about the advantages of writing in Egyptian hieroglyphs.

In other words, the Law is a pain.

I'll take that assessment. But allow me to make it an acronym. The Law is a PAIN, just not the sort you were thinking.

P ronouncement
- The Scripture has shut up all men under sin (Galatians 3:22).
In other words, an honest reading of the Law leaves us all guilty of sin.

A wareness
- Until the seed should come to whom the promise had been made (Galatians 3:19).
From the giving of the Law until the incarnation of Christ the Law served to raise awareness of our need for salvation. Come to think of it, the Law does the same thing today.

I ntensification
-It (the Law) was added because of transgressions (Galatians 3:19).
Not only does the Law bring knowledge of right and wrong, it stirs up sin. What happens to you when someone says you can't do something? "Thou shalt not" works the same way.

N ecessity
- If a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law (Galatians 3:21).
For thousands of years people have tried to keep God's law. No one has succeeded. No one has been able to achieve spiritual life through the keeping of the Law. The righteousness we seek/need cannot be achieved by our works/effort.

While it can't be achieved, the righteousness we are after can be received through faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, the Law may be a pain, but allow it to be a PAIN, the kind that will bring you to Jesus.