A Higher Law

The law cannot make you do the right thing. It cannot make you free.

Isn’t this true? Even though there are signs all over the freeway reminding you of the law, if I hold to the speed limit, I'll be passed by every other car! The law says the speed limit is 55? I’m assuming people can read. They see the signs. Yet there are people everywhere driving over the speed limit. More signs aren’t the answer. The law itself cannot make us do the right thing. Consequences can slow it down but it can’t free you from the desire.

"The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do..." (Rom. 8:3 NLT)

For those who are breaking the commandments (the law) which says, “Don’t covet.” Yet you do covet. You’re not happy with the car you have, the husband you have, the wife you have, the kids you have. You don’t need another reminder of the law. I don’t need to remind you not to covet. You don’t need more signs.

For those who are breaking the commandment “Don’t lie.” Yet someone asked you to pray but you forgot. Then they ask you, “Did you pray for me?” What you need is not someone else to add to your guilt by giving you more law or reminding you of the commandment.

What we need is to be free to do what the law says. What is the reason behind not loving the wife you have, the kids you have? It isn’t knowledge of the law. It isn’t, “Well I just didn’t know the commandment.” There must be someone or some thing that can free us from that cycle of commandment, law, breaking the law, guilt.

It’s like the law of gravity. What goes up, must come down. That’s the law. You can try hard to jump high enough but what goes up will come down. Our sags are proof. There’s no way to be free from that. But there is another law. The law of aerodynamics that says with the right amount of power and thrust, a tube of metal, a jet, can lift you up where you weren’t before, where the law of gravity doesn’t pull you down. It’s not that the law of gravity is not there. It’s that it doesn’t control you. I am freed from the power of it. There is another higher law that is in control when you fly.

That is the way it is with the law of the flesh and the law of the Spirit. The law of the flesh says, “Don’t covet.” And if you do covet, what you need is more reminders, “Don’t covet.” Do you need someone to get in your face? “If you covet, you are a no good, bad person.” No, that won’t help you do the right thing. But there is another law that can free you, the law of the Spirit. "And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death." (Rom. 8:2 NLT) Through Christ’s death and resurrection, there is another law that says to you, “You can be free from covetousness even though the law of the sinful nature says you can’t.” The Spirit will do in you what you cannot do by yourself. That’s another reason why we call the gospel the POWER of God unto salvation. It can free us from what we cannot free ourselves from. The law of sin is still there but it doesn’t control us anymore. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

So as we come to the table of the Lord, we come knowing that we don’t have the power in ourselves to obey God. We don’t need another sermon to remind us that. What we need is a greater power than our own, that can lift us up to where the law of sin doesn’t control us.

“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." (Lu. 22:20) Jesus is saying, “I give you a new meaning to the cup…” The new meaning is this: 'This represents my blood, my body which will give you supernatural life.' The law of sin, the temptations will be there. But if you will drink to this and place your faith in Christ, that law will not control you. I will lift you up where those things will not control your life. So we come again to the table to say, “I can’t free myself. But you can free me.”

Blessed good Friday!