The headmaster called, The Law
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
-Mahatma Gandhi
Growing up there was always a person in your life guiding you every step of the way. Be it mother, father, elder sibling, aunty, uncle, grandparents, guardians or teachers, spiritual leaders etc.
These people were voices speaking through your life and most times would tell you what to do; what's wrong and what's right.
But lets face it,
We never really obeyed everything they said, every time or never did this and never did that.
Sometimes we even felt like they were blocking our freedom or the punishment was too heavy to bear and many times we couldn't wait to get away from them.
You see darlings, that's exactly our relationship with the works of the law. You have rules and judgments to follow that you can barely keep up!
Why did God give man the Law?
'So we could ask: Why did God give his Law to his people after his promise to Abraham? He gave his Law to show them which things are wrong. It would have authority until Abraham's special descendant would come. That was the descendant that God had promised to bless . God used angels to give his Law to his people. It was Moses who received the Law from God, and Moses then took it to God's people. '
The law was given to us by Moses. (john 1:17KJV). Before he was given the law, man was deep in sin. He was given the law to show man what sin truly was. Paul puts it this way,
'So someone might say, ‘God's Law must be bad.’ No! Certainly, it is not bad! Without that law, I would not have known what sin really is. One rule says, ‘You must not want to take things for yourself that belong to other people.’ Without that command , I would not have known that it is wrong to want other people's things. '
God wanted to set the Israelites apart and show them how to live right. But for God to show you how to live right he has to show you what is wrong.
What is the law?
' “Do for others what you want them to do for you: this is the meaning of the Law of Moses and of the teachings of the prophets. '
Jesus defined the law and the prophets in the words above. The law is summed up in doing to people what they do to you, hence the statement an an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth in the Old Covenant. (exodus 21:24, Matthew 5:38 ).
In the Old Covenant, the Israelites had to do every one of those laws to the letter not forsaking one. It was to show them how sinful they were that they needed God's mercy. You see, the law could not and cannot make you right with God or make you totally clean. That is why through Abraham, God sent his promise of the Seed to save them from the bondage of the law.
Texting teacher, what do you mean?
well, I mean the law was made spiritual, holy, just and good but no one can please Him. And if you break one part of it, you have broken all of them.
In other words, you have to always, always, treat people right as the law demands no matter what you feel, see or think if you want to be right with God by your own strength, just as many Christian try to perform this by their own effort.
HEADMASTER
Paidagōgos Pronunciation (Pahee-dag-o-gos')
meaning a tutor i.e. a guardian and guide of boys.
Among the Greeks and the Romans, the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood.
'Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be
justified by faith. '
The headmaster; the law is like that guardian in your life. They watch over you showing you the right and wrong things to do (with punishments here and there) until you can finally see that you are not a perfect person, we all make a lot of mistakes and we need someone with a much Higher power and authority to save us from drowning in ourselves. The duty of the headmaster is to bring us to Christ. Our Lord and Saving Grace.
By your own strength you just CANNOT keep it.
What happened to the law after Jesus came?
Jesus came to earth as a man born of a miraculous birth in the lineage of David. This clearly shows that He was born an Israelites. Israelites are the people whom God gave the law initially to live by it. So this means that Jesus had to keep the law. Not only did he keep the law but he kept it perfectly. Not one law did He break.
Now when He begun ministry we see how a lot of Pharisees, Sadducees, I mean teachers of the law and doctors of the law in the gospels came to him asking him questions about the law, trying to prove him wrong and He was so on point every time that the bible says from that day they left him alone (Mark 12:34)
After His ministry on earth, he went to the cross he carried sin on himself but not only did he carry sin but he carried the law and destroyed it's power by his flesh as a man.
What do you mean, texting teacher?
The law was not able to make people righteous or live right with God because it was weak in the flesh. Infact it made them more sinful since they knew it was wrong but they flesh just wants to do it again and again (1 Corinthians 15:56).
You know one of the nature of the law is that it is spiritual. A carnal mind ( a person controlled by their fleshly desires) cannot keep a law that is spiritual, there will be hostility (Rom8:7). The flesh will try its best to do the right thing and not lie or fornicate but you find yourself back there.
So for you to keep it, you need to be spiritually alive to God. When Adam fell sin entered into the world and we died. Death here means separation. So for you to keep the law which we have seen is spiritual you will be required to be connected to the one who gave and fulfilled the law.
You see by Jesus keeping the law perfectly, He proved that,
1. He was greater than it
2.He was able to help those who cant keep it too but inside him.
Soo, do I still have to keep the law?
Absolutely.
'What does this show us about God's Law which he gave to Moses? When we say that all people need to believe in Jesus, does that mean that God's Law has no purpose? No! When we believe in Jesus, we are showing the true purpose of God's Law.'
We keep the law in Christ by faith. We don't follow the law by our own strength, We obey God's law under Christ by the help of the Holy Spirit revealing to us and teaching us.
'to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; '
When Jesus Destroyed the old law he made a new law and placed it in our hearts not in scrolls like the old covenant. So when we receive Jesus Christ we are made new and inside our spirit is the law written. That is why as a believer, you would find that it is difficult for you to sin because you have the spirit of God in you which does not make a habit of sinning. Some day we shall in depth look at spirit soul and body of man.
well, how does this relate to me in today's life?
So many of us today both believers and non-believers have a tendency of trying to DIY their lives aaaalll the time including being righteous.
we try formulas to not sin, until we finally fail
we try to keep ourselves holy by how we dress and yet we still suffer the same lustful thoughts
we try to not talk to people to keep form not speaking profanity buuut you probably thinking it already
we try to go to church to soothe our conscious and yet we feel condemned 90% of the time
we try to plead and beg God for mercy and fast to take away your guilt but it is stil there.
you try to do things for the poor to soothe your conscious of your evil deeds but guilt is always knocking at you
you try to pray for hours to feel a breakthrough to feel right with God and in the end you feel frustrated when you dont or you start questionin yourself...
THIS IS BONDAGE
you see friends the Headmaster will run your energy to below zero.
You just cant please him by your own self.
you need HELP!
You need someone who can make you right with God that is more powerful than the law and not only will he make you right with God but he will teach you how to walk in that right way of God.
And even when you sin, He already forgave you so all you have to do it remember you were forgiven the person you were no longer exists.
you no longer need to perform to please God, Faith in Jesus pleases Him. and our faith is in what Christ has done on the Cross for us.
let me put it this way,
the law says, Because of me, you are wrong here and here and here, oh look another wrong, you have to keep performing!
faith in Jesus says, 'because of me you are completely right before God. just believe what I did for you not in yourself and believe that I am helping you in your life every day.
Conclusion
So since the fall of Adam, man had sinned and was inventing new ways to sin. But there was no law to tell them they were doing something wrong or sinful. So in as much as God had already promised us blessings through Abraham, He had to pave a way for a savior who will fully accomplish the law and one who can help us live right without having to feel like its burden.
I rest my case by saying, we, believers now are not looking at the law we are looking at the one who fulfilled the law. He already fulfilled it once and for everyone. Therefore there is no need to perform the law to feel right with God, because even if you try you can't because you can never be perfect by yourself. Therefore our Job is to receive and believe what Jesus has done and fully trust and depend on him and his word by the help of the Holy Spirit.
I will end by saying this, we have been called to share good news. Our job is to point people to Jesus Christ and not to ourselves or their mistakes. The Law beat you to it; it has already made their conscious guilty they know they have fallen short. What we do is point people to Jesus Christ that they may be saved changed and transformed from their themselves. Come to him. Let your faith be in what he has done not what you did Let him carry your load and take care of you and love you.
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