We realize that man's position before God is that of a sinner. Now, let us consider why God set up the law. Once we understand the law, we will be able to understand God's work.
God has always known man's condition, but does man know his own condition? Since sin has been manifested before God, it should also be felt in man's conscience. But is man's conscience aware of sin? Unfortunately, it is not. Because man is unaware of sin, we need the functioning of the law. Tonight we will study this matter.
What is the law? The law is nothing other than God's demand on man that man work for God. In Romans, Ephesians, and Galatians, the apostle Paul shows repeatedly that man is saved by grace, not by the law. In other words, man is saved because God works for man, not because man works for God. It is not a matter of being something before God or doing something for God, but a matter of God Himself coming into our midst to become something and do something for us. This is why the apostle, under the revelation of the Holy Spirit, constantly emphasized that, both for the Gentile and the Jew, salvation is absolutely of grace and not of the law. We want to spend some time to see that it is impossible for man to be saved by the law. I am not using the term law in reference to the law mentioned in the Old Testament. Law, as I use it here, refers to a principle, that is, the principle of man working for God. We will see whether or not our salvation is due to our working for God.
The way I use the word law is not without a biblical basis. The apostle Paul used words in a very precise and meaningful way. In the Bible the word Christ is often used. In the original language, sometimes there is no definite article before the word Christ. At other times there is a definite article, and thus we should understand it as the Christ. Unfortunately, not many versions translate this accurately. Another word that is often used is faith. Sometimes there is a definite article; in these places it is the faith. Similarly, there are places in the Bible where the word law has a definite article, and we should read the law.
The meanings of these words with the definite article is quite different from their meanings without the definite article. For example, when Christ is mentioned, it refers to the Lord Jesus Christ; but when the Christ is mentioned, you and I are also included. When the Bible speaks of the individual Christ, there is no definite article; but when it speaks of the Christ who includes us, we find the Christ. When the Bible speaks of our individual believing, it uses faith, without the article. But when it speaks of what we believe in, that is, our faith, it uses the faith. Bible translators all know that whenever the Bible mentions the faith, it is not referring to our individual believing, but to that which we believe in. What then is the law? In the Bible, the law always refers to the Mosaic law, the law in the Old Testament. But if there is no definite article before law, it refers to the requirement God places upon man.
Therefore, let us keep in mind that law in the Bible does not merely refer to the law given to us by God through Moses. In many places in the Bible, law refers to the principle God applies toward us, or the principle of God's requirement of us. The law does not only mean the Mosaic law, the law given on Mount Sinai, or the Old Testament law. It also means the condition for fellowship between God and man. The condition for fellowship between God and man is God's requirement upon man, what God wants man to do for Him, to accomplish for Him.
Is man saved by the works of the law? Does God save man because man has done things for God? The whole world says we must do good before God will save us. If we put this in biblical terms, it means that we must have the works of the law in order to be saved. Those who talk this way have made two great mistakes. The first is that they do not know who man is. The second is that they do not know what God's intention was when He gave man the law. If we know what we are, surely we will not say that man needs to have works of the law in order to be saved. If we know the purpose of God's giving the law, neither will we say that man can be saved through the works of the law. Because man has made these two great mistakes, he bears the wrong concept and says wrong things.