By Grace Alone: Why the Law?

I am going to break from blogging about the Psalms for a little bit, although I'll still be studying them on my own. I've just finished an incredible book called "By Grace Alone" and I really want to share some thoughts from the book. I think it contains extremely important concepts for Christians and some misbeliefs that nonbelievers may hold. Please join me on this journey and share with your friends. If there is anything you want to look more in depth about, please consider purchasing the book. "By Grace Alone" by Derek Prince is available at most bookstores and on Amazon.

So the question now is, if the Law doesn't really apply to us today and it was impossible for us to keep from the beginning, why did God even give the Law in the first place? Here are six reasons:

1. Not as a means to righteousness.
First, we have to realize that God did not give the Law as a way to achieve righteousness.


Romans 3:20 - "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

Other than Jesus, no other human being will ever achieve righteousness by keeping the Law.

Galatians 2:16 - "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law..."

Galatians 3:11 - "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God..."

2. To reveal sin.
The Law makes us aware of sin. 

Romans 7:7 - "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law."

The only thing that revealed sin to Paul was the Law. Until we really see the nature of sin we are not going to see fully our need of salvation. God gave the Law so that we would see this force of sin in all its horrible working and with all its deadly effects.

3. To reveal man's carnal nature.
Our problems are the result of two forces at work within us. The first force is sin. The second force is human nature that comes under the influence of sin and turns away from righteousness.

This nature is easily affected by sin. The Bible refers to it as "the old man", "the flesh", "the body", "the body of sin", and "the body of the sins of the flesh". Not referring to the physical body, but rather to the nature we inherited with our physical body.

Romans 7:14-15 - "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I."

I'm sure a lot of us have felt like that before. The Law brings out into light the two root problems in my life.

4. To foreshadow Christ.
Although the Law diagnoses the problem, it foreshadows the solution. In Luke chapter 24, Jesus talks to the disciples, explaining the scriptures and showing how He has fulfilled the things in the Law and other Old Testament scriptures. He says all this scripture foreshadowed Him.


5. To bring us to Christ.

Galatians 3:24 - "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

The Law was to teach us the basic principles of righteousness, of obedience, of right and wrong, and then take us to the real teacher, who is Christ.

6. To keep Israel a separate people.

Numbers 23:9 - "For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations."

Even after Israel has been driven out of her own land, this prophecy has been fulfilled. The Jewish nation is still a separate indentifiable group of people after being dispersed from its own land for centuries, scattered among at least one hundred countries.

So that is why the Law was given. So how does it affect me if I try to keep it? That's what we'll look at next time.