Daily Lesson for Wednesday 27th of May 2026
Jesus Himself explained very powerfully and succinctly what His relationship to the law was.
In Matthew 5:17-18, what did Jesus say about the law?
In a similar way to how parents’ boundaries for their child reveal what they value, God’s law tells us about His character and what is important to Him. God gave us His law to protect our relationship with Him and with one another, knowing that His law would guide every aspect of our lives as we grow in Him. After all, who hasn’t suffered the terrible consequences of what sin, a violation of the law, has caused to each of us?
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Love for Jesus is at the very center of the law. Jesus said, “ ‘If you love me, you will obey my commandments’ ” (John 14:15, NET). When we genuinely love Jesus, we will be naturally compelled to keep His law. When we see His law clearly, we will feel compelled to love Jesus more. And, even more important, always keeping before our eyes a vision of the Cross and Christ’s substitutionary death for us is the best way to foster our love for God.
That’s why the gospel goes hand in hand with the law. That is, however much we believe in the law and in the importance of keeping it, we must always remember that in terms of our legal standing before God, the law only condemns. The law never forgives, never justifies, and never atones. On the contrary, it points out why we need to be forgiven, why we need to be justified, and why we need atonement. That’s why along with the law—even foundational to our understanding of the law—is the gospel, Christ’s death on our behalf, which does for us what the law can never do: justify us before God.
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Read the following verses: Romans 3:28, Romans 4:13-16, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 3:13, and Philippians 3:9. What do these verses teach us that can help us, as believers, to keep the law, without becoming legalistic? |
