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Laws only describe sin
When young people ask me why such and such a policy exists on our campus, I tell them, “Every rule has a name.” By that, I mean rules are made because someone did something that caused someone else to make a rule. Over time you get countless rules that way, but somehow people keep doing bad things.
Jesus explained this phenomenon as he was explaining why he was disagreeing with Moses regarding divorce in Matt 19:
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking,
“Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”
He answered,
“Have you not read that he who created them from the
beginning made them male and female, and said,
‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother
and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
They said to him,
“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce
and to send her away?”
He said to them,
“Because of your hardness of heart
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
Paul echoes this with just a few words in Galatians 3:9.
Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions,
Laws are a response to evil; they do not prevent it. Laws do not change hearts; they only describe evil and its consequences.
Laws are essential in governance. They educate and warn people of the consequences of bad behavior. When justly applied, they can bring order to society. But they don’t change the human heart.
The source of evil is internal, so the solution to evil must begin at the source, the human heart. This reality is one of the sources of modern desperation. The world wants an answer that doesn’t require a change of heart. They want an external answer that can be forced on others regardless of what they think or desire. Such solutions will always lead to tyranny. The only lasting answer, the only answer that leads to true freedom and justice, is the answer God has provided in Christ Jesus. Paul describes it this way in his letter to the Romans.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus
from the law of sin and death.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.
By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,
he condemned sin in the flesh,
in order that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For those who live according to the flesh
set their minds on the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the Spirit
set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
For to set the mind on the flesh is death,
but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:1-6 [ESV]
Laws deal with evil behavior, but only after the fact. God has dealt with human evil at its point of origin. The human heart. This change of heart is offered as a gift from God to all those who are willing. As Christians, we sometimes want to force Christian behavior on the world, whether they want it or not. For their own good, mind you. But when we do this, we find ourselves in unholy agreement with the tyrants.
Our instructions are clear. We are to preach the gospel and demonstrate what obedience to the gospel looks like to a lost and dying world. We are called to repentance and faith in Jesus and to love one another—and love our enemies too. This is a costly calling, but it is a strategy that deals with the real sources of evil. It gives hope and freedom to the human heart and reminds the spiritual forces of evil driving this world that their days are numbered. By doing this, we demonstrate the current reality of the kingdom of God and prepare for the return of the King.
This week
If you live in the U.S., I don’t have to tell you that we live in a state of constant uproar regarding the law and how it should or shouldn’t be applied. As Christians, we need to be careful who we join hands with, and we need to think carefully about what we are agreeing with. Slogans are chanted by all sides as if they were scripture. They’re not. The actual scriptures will not excuse those that would mask hate with self-righteous slogans.
Let’s remember the encouragement of Paul to Timothy this week:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
Remember, Paul was writing this during the reign of Nero. Let’s not be distracted by the noise of this present age, and let’s stay focused on the things that really matter. That is—accurately reflecting Jesus to this lost and fallen world.
Have a great week!
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
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By Tom PossinWhen young people ask me why such and such a policy exists on our campus, I tell them, “Every rule has a name.” By that, I mean rules are made because someone did something that caused someone else to make a rule. Over time you get countless rules that way, but somehow people keep doing bad things.
Jesus explained this phenomenon as he was explaining why he was disagreeing with Moses regarding divorce in Matt 19:
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking,
“Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”
He answered,
“Have you not read that he who created them from the
beginning made them male and female, and said,
‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother
and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
They said to him,
“Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce
and to send her away?”
He said to them,
“Because of your hardness of heart
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
Paul echoes this with just a few words in Galatians 3:9.
Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions,
Laws are a response to evil; they do not prevent it. Laws do not change hearts; they only describe evil and its consequences.
Laws are essential in governance. They educate and warn people of the consequences of bad behavior. When justly applied, they can bring order to society. But they don’t change the human heart.
The source of evil is internal, so the solution to evil must begin at the source, the human heart. This reality is one of the sources of modern desperation. The world wants an answer that doesn’t require a change of heart. They want an external answer that can be forced on others regardless of what they think or desire. Such solutions will always lead to tyranny. The only lasting answer, the only answer that leads to true freedom and justice, is the answer God has provided in Christ Jesus. Paul describes it this way in his letter to the Romans.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus
from the law of sin and death.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.
By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,
he condemned sin in the flesh,
in order that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For those who live according to the flesh
set their minds on the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the Spirit
set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
For to set the mind on the flesh is death,
but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:1-6 [ESV]
Laws deal with evil behavior, but only after the fact. God has dealt with human evil at its point of origin. The human heart. This change of heart is offered as a gift from God to all those who are willing. As Christians, we sometimes want to force Christian behavior on the world, whether they want it or not. For their own good, mind you. But when we do this, we find ourselves in unholy agreement with the tyrants.
Our instructions are clear. We are to preach the gospel and demonstrate what obedience to the gospel looks like to a lost and dying world. We are called to repentance and faith in Jesus and to love one another—and love our enemies too. This is a costly calling, but it is a strategy that deals with the real sources of evil. It gives hope and freedom to the human heart and reminds the spiritual forces of evil driving this world that their days are numbered. By doing this, we demonstrate the current reality of the kingdom of God and prepare for the return of the King.
This week
If you live in the U.S., I don’t have to tell you that we live in a state of constant uproar regarding the law and how it should or shouldn’t be applied. As Christians, we need to be careful who we join hands with, and we need to think carefully about what we are agreeing with. Slogans are chanted by all sides as if they were scripture. They’re not. The actual scriptures will not excuse those that would mask hate with self-righteous slogans.
Let’s remember the encouragement of Paul to Timothy this week:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
Remember, Paul was writing this during the reign of Nero. Let’s not be distracted by the noise of this present age, and let’s stay focused on the things that really matter. That is—accurately reflecting Jesus to this lost and fallen world.
Have a great week!
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe