READ: EXODUS 20:1-20; ISAIAH 53:5-12; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21

Are you ever confused or discouraged when you read the Old Testament and see the Ten Commandments or all the long lists of laws God gave His people? It seems impossible to follow every single one of those rules. And as humans in a fallen world, it is. God did not give the Israelites all these commandments because He thought they would follow them perfectly. He knew beforehand they would fall short. So why did He give them the law?

God wanted to show us we can never measure up to His perfection. We’ve all sinned, and we could never earn His forgiveness. And because God loves us, He wants us to realize our desperate need for a Savior. We need Jesus! Everything in the Bible points to Jesus, including the Old Testament laws (Romans 3:23-26).

So flash forward to the New Testament, when God the Father sends God the Son, Jesus, to earth to do what we could never do. Jesus becomes a human and lives a perfect life, embodying all of God’s good ways. Because Jesus is sinless, He is able to give up His own life as an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of all people in all time. When Jesus died on the cross, He took all our sin upon Himself (1 Peter 2:24). And then He rose again, defeating the power of sin and giving eternal life to all who trust in Him as their Savior.

So, whenever we read the law, let’s remember it shows us how much we need a Savior. We can’t do it on our own. And because of Jesus, we don’t have to! God saves us through faith in Jesus, not through any works or good deeds we do. Praise God! • Elizabeth Cooper

• Have you ever tried to please God by doing good things and trying to do everything right? How could it be freeing to know that we’re not perfect, but Jesus has already done everything that was needed to save us?

• The law points to our need for Jesus. We don’t need to do anything or clean ourselves up before coming to God. Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, we can come to God just as we are. If you want to know more about what it means to trust in Jesus, see our "Know Jesus" page.

• Once we know Jesus, God the Holy Spirit lives inside us. The Holy Spirit works to transform us to become more and more like Jesus, helping us turn away from sin and walk in God’s good ways instead. What might it look like to obey God, not out of fear, but out of love and gratitude?

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)