Amish Voice - January 2013

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The Amish Voice 4
the law can still be used to convince men of sin and to restrain
them from living loose and evil lives.1
1Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Vol.5 (Old Tappan,
NJ: Fleming H. Revell Co.), p.661.
3. THE LAW WAS NOT BY GOD, BUT THROUGH A
MEDIATOR; THERE- FORE, IT IS INFERIOR (v.19-20).
How do we know that the law does not justify or make a person
acceptable to God? Because the law was not given directly by God,
but through a mediator; therefore, it is inferior. Two arguments
show this.
1. The law was not given directly by God. The law came from
God, but it was given by angels to Moses and then to man (Ga.
3:19; Ac. 7:53; He. 2:2). Moses stood as a mediator between God
and man in the giving of the law; therefore, the law came to man as
a second-hand thing. But not the promise of God. God Himself gave
the promise of grace and righteousness (that is, of His acceptance
and eternal life). Abraham received the promise of God directly
from God. Therefore, the promise of God is bound to be superior to
the law, for it involves a more personal contact (relationship) with
God.
2. The law was between two parties—man and God. In the
covenant of law, man and God both had responsibilities or work to
do. Man had to keep the law, and if he did, God would act and
reward him with the gift of righteousness. The gift of righteousness
was conditional under the law.
However, the promise of righteousness or grace was given by
God alone. No one could break that promise. If man (Abraham)
simply believed God’s promise, he received the promise of
righteousness and grace.
4. THE LAW HAS NO POWER TO GIVE LIFE (v.21).
How do we know that the law does not justify or make a person
acceptable to God? Because the law has no power to give life.
1. The law is only words and rules. It can only inject the idea of
behavior into the mind of a person. It can only demand—demand
that each precept be kept and obeyed. The law is mere words, cold
and lifeless. It is entirely external to man, outside the body of man.
It has no spirit, no life, no power to enable a person to do the law. It
cannot help man to any degree whatsoever as he tries to keep the
law. The law demands obedience, but it leaves man entirely on his
own as he struggles to obey.
2. The law cannot give life to man. It is not a living being with
the power to give life. If it were, then righteousness would have
come by law. But, as stated, the law has no life and it has no power.
It is mere writing, mere words and rules. However, this is not true
of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is both a Person and a life. Therefore,
He is able to put spirit and life to the words and rules of the law. He
is able to live the life de- scribed by the words and rules. As such,
He is able to inject both the idea and the power to behave into a
person’s mind and life. It is now His life that sets the standard and
the rule for the believer; it is His spirit and life that give the believer
power to obey.
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak
through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh” (Ro. 8:3).
ILLUSTRATION:
Doing all the right things and having all the right titles are of no
benefit to the Christian believer. There is only one thing that will
grant us justification. David Seamands ends his book Healing
Grace with this story:
For more than six hundred years the Hapsburgs
exercised political power in Europe. When Emperor Franz
-Joseph I of Austria died in 1916, his was the last of
extravagant imperial funerals.
A procession of dignitaries and elegantly dressed court
personages escorted the coffin, draped in the black and
gold imperial colors. To the accompaniment of a military
band’s somber dirges and by the light of torches, the
cortege descended the stairs of the Capauchin Monastery
in Vienna. At the bottom was a great iron door leading to
the Hapsburg family crypt. Behind the door was the
Cardinal-Archbishop of Vienna.
The officer in charge followed the prescribed
ceremony, established centuries before. “Open!” he cried.
“Who goes there?” responded the Cardinal.
“We bear the remains of his Imperial and Apostolic
QUESTIONS:
1. Even though the law was only temporary, it still
serves a useful purpose today. What does it do in
your life?
2. What does the Bible mean when it says that Christ
came to fulfill the law?
3. What kind of harm do you create if you separate
Christ from the law?
4. Can an unbeliever achieve perfection through the
law? Why or why not?
QUESTIONS:
1. To whom was the law first given? Why does this
make the law inferior?
2. What was man’s responsibility to the law?
3. Exactly what has qualified you to receive God’s
promise of righteousness and grace?