What The Law Could Not Do

David Eldridge

Some individuals today seek to justify their religious practices from the Law that God delivered to Moses. In so doing, they are seeking to follow that which was not intended for them today. The apostle Paul declared, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). In light of this, note that the Law of Moses could not…

Be Borne – In Acts 15:10 Peter speaks concerning the attempts of some to bind the Law of Moses on the gentile converts. He states, “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” By his statement Peter attests to the fact that no one, except Jesus Christ, kept the Old Law perfectly. All had transgressed the commandments of the Law at some time or another, and then were found guilty before God. The Hebrew writer identifies this as the reason for the Second Covenant being established in Christ. In speaking of the Old Law, he says it “found fault with them” (Hebrews 8:7, 8). All the Law could do was pronounce you guilty when you violated it. This fact brings us to our second point.

Provide Forgiveness – As we have already seen, a violation of the Law brought sin. The fault with the Law was that when man sinned under it, no provision was made for true forgiveness. The Law commanded animal sacrifices as a sin offering, but as Hebrews 10:4 states, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (cf. vss. 1-4). Those who seek justification for their practices in the Old Testament are seeking justification where no provision was made for true, immediate forgiveness. The Law could not provide forgiveness of sins.

Make One Righteous – One must seek after righteousness (1 Corinthians 15:34). Righteousness is obtained by knowing and doing those things that are right in God’s sight, which results in God acknowledging you as being right before Him. In Galatians 2:21 it is written, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” We can infer from this statement that righteousness cannot be found through the Law. Why? Because all the good you might do under the Law is ruined by the sins you committed. That is why Jesus did not die in vain. His death proclaims God’s grace – that though we have sinned we can have forgiveness and can be righteous before Him. But the Law, by itself, could not make one righteous before God.

Give Life –Galatians 3:21 says, “For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.” The Law, in and of itself, could not offer life to man. Why? Because man violated it in his failure to bear it. The Law, in itself, could offer no true, immediate forgiveness of sins. Because of the remembrance of man’s sin in the mind of God, no one could be righteous before Him. Therefore eternal life could not be found in the Law alone. The Law of Moses could not give life.

Obviously we can see the fallacy in attempting to be justified in any of our actions by those things written in the Old law. Thankfully, under the New Covenant we can be forgiven of our sins, be righteous before God, and have life eternal in the after while. Seek to be justified by the words of Christ as revealed in the New Testament. And remember, “You who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4).