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God knew that man could not keep or fulfill His divine law |
Now, all along God knew that man could not keep or fulfill His divine law. He had instituted the law to bring order to the human race, lest we destroy ourselves. The law was for our own protection; it was to make us realize that in our own strength and righteousness, we could not stand before a holy God. The law was a mirror God held up to us, saying, "Let me show you what I expect, what My justice requires. Here is My law -- and here is where you've failed -- where you're living in sin! You've failed at this point, this point, this point.... No one is righteous enough to fulfill My law!" The Pharisees tried to fulfill the law. They observed more than 600 regulations, from the washing of hands and pots to refusing to touch a Gentile. They tried to keep all the law -- believing that one day they could stand before God and say, "I kept all Your laws. I did this, this and this. Now You are obligated to save me." But no one can expect his good works to merit justification. God's Word answers, "If you've failed just one point of the law, you've failed the whole law!" If you expect God to accept you for your good behavior -- your good deeds, your self-denial, your sufferings -- forget it! You'll never be able to keep the whole law. Because we couldn't meet justice's demands to fulfill God's law, Jesus came to earth -- and He perfectly fulfilled the law of God, to the very letter. He never failed one point of it -- and He did it all out of pure motives of love. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil" (Matthew 5:17). When Jesus ascended to the Father, He presented to Him an absolutely perfect righteousness. His perfect obedience had fulfilled all the demands of the law. And His blood was presented in full payment for our sin. Here stood a Man in the presence of God whose righteousness was perfect -- and therefore acceptable to the Father. So, Satan had no accusation against Jesus: "...the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me" (John 14:30). Jesus said, "The devil can't point at anything in Me. I fulfilled the law -- I paid the price of sin with My own blood -- and I now stand before the Father in perfect righteousness!" And now, because of His sacrifice, none of the charges of the law can be held against us! |