Living For God

When I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God.

Galatians 2:19

MARTIN LUTHER FAMOUSLY WROTE: “Virtually the whole of the Scriptures and the understanding of the whole of theology depends upon the true understanding of the law and gospel.” If Luther is correct, it’s obviously important that we get this “true understanding,” and it starts with understanding that God’s law is good and perfect but that we are unable to keep it perfectly. This led Luther to conclude: “We do not abolish the law; but we show its true function and use, namely, that it is a most useful servant impelling us to Christ.” Or as the apostle Paul writes in Galatians 3:24: “The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.”

The primary purpose of the law in the Bible is to drive us to Christ. And not just for salvation, but to sustain us as we go about living the Christian life. That’s what Paul was talking about when he wrote, “I died to the law . . . so that I might live for God” (Galatians 2:19). The law shows us our sin and our desperate need for a Savior. When we see the law rightly, recognizing it as the perfect expression of God’s holy will, we don’t imagine that we can somehow live up to it. Instead, we turn to Christ, the one who has lived up to it for us. And as we do that, our obedience grows. It’s in trusting God that good fruit is produced.

BOTTOM LINE

The law is designed to lead you to the gospel. Progress in the Christian life occurs as we look to Christ, not to ourselves.

Moment of Strength: Galatians 2:19-21