Law versus Love

 

I was reading this week in 1 Timothy, when I ran across this passage concerning the law and its application to Christians:

1 Timothy 1:8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

Taking this passage along with Paul’s teaching in Galatians about the purpose of the law confirms that the law was given for unbelievers, to convict them of their sin and to point them to the only true source of righteousness, Christ Jesus.  Unbelievers live under the law, which was written on their hearts in addition to being given to Israel through Moses, and it should be leading them to realize their inability to obey the law and their need for a Savior to fulfill it for them.

For believers, the law serves as a standard of living that conforms to God’s moral attributes and points believers towards holiness and holy living through Christ and the power of the Spirit within.  For believers, the law does not bind us, as it does unbelievers, but shows us that what we could not do on our own is now possible through Christ.

Dave Black echoed this thought in his commentary on 1 Thessalonians.  He wrote, “The basis of Christian ethics is clearly spelled out here. For Paul, Christian moral duty is above all pleasing God. We're not to think of our Christian duty as law but as love. Hence the Christian life is not primarily about obeying rules and regulations (though Paul does lay down quite a number of instructions in chapters 4-5). The Christian life is primarily a relationship. It's about pleasing a person. The God who made me, loves me, sent his Son to redeem me, adopted me into his family, and placed his Holy Spirit in me, is my loving Father -- and I want to please him. This is the essence of Christian holiness. Our greatest desire in life is not to please ourselves or to please others. It's to please our God.”

So, while the law is still important to us because it shows us what God demands, our righteousness and salvation are not based on the law nor on what we do.  Our righteousness and salvation are solely based on what Christ has done for us, as our atoning sacrifice who paid the price for our sins and fulfilled the law with His life.

The take home message for us, then, is to not strive to obey the law, but to seek to please our God.  To not just try to live righteous lives because the law says we must, but to live righteous lives because this is what pleases our Father.