The law cannot prevent bad behavior.
The law cannot eliminate sin.
It can only reveal sin.
Scripture is clear:
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).
Yet the natural man’s solution to the evils of society is always the same: make more laws.
• Want to prevent immorality?
Make a law.
• Want to stop bad language?
Make a law.
• Want to reduce cheating and crime?
Make a law.
But writing laws without dealing with the root problem—sin—is destined to fail.
This is evident in our highly litigious society, which also has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Crime is handled by locking it behind bars—out of sight, out of mind. Yet crime remains, because the source of the problem remains.
You cannot legislate sinners into righteousness.
The best laws in the world cannot separate people from sin:
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin…” (Romans 5:12).
“For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin” (Romans 7:14).
Even God’s own law, holy and perfect, could not eliminate sin:
“…for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law” (Galatians 3:21).
Like a floodlight in a dark alley, the law exposes sin for what it is—exceedingly sinful, ugly, and filthy. As a result, all the whole world stands guilty before God:
“That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).
In fact, adding more law does not curb sin; it intensifies it:
“The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Corinthians 15:56).
Guilty? Yes, every one of us. And yet, the law, despite all its holiness, cannot change a man:
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh…” (Romans 8:3).
God’s Solution: Christ, Not Law
God did what the law could never do.
“God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3–4).
• The law condemns the natural man.
• The gospel creates a new man.
• The law exposes sin.
• Christ puts sin to death.
• The law restrains behavior outwardly.
• The gospel changes the heart inwardly.
This inward, spiritual transformation is what the world desperately needs, not more laws. The law is holy and just, but it can only diagnose the disease. Only the gospel cures it. Sin is not dealt with by legislation, chains, or prison bars, but by the nails of the cross.
We do not need to change our laws. We need to change men’s souls. And no law can do that.
Today is the day to be set free!
“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
The Gospel That Saves
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel…how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1–4).
“In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:13).
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
Sin is conquered by faith in Christ, not by law. Life comes through the Spirit, not legislation.
Trust in Jesus Christ’s finished work today!