The Way
Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
Have you ever been really convinced something was right only to find that it was wrong?
Saul, who later became Paul, was convinced in the Bible that he was right. He held everyone’s cloak while they stoned Stephen, a just man who loved Jesus. He zealously fought against the church and put believers in prison. Finally, he was given the authority to go further than just around Jerusalem, and while on his way to Damascus, he encountered Jesus. This man who was so convinced he was devoted to God by being zealous for the law discovered he couldn’t have been more wrong.
Saul had spent his whole life preparing himself in one specific direction, but when he encountered Jesus, everything changed. He discovered that what he had been so zealous for had been fulfilled in Christ and that this was no longer the way God operated on earth. This totally changed his perspectives on righteousness and justification. So much was his thoughts changed that he said the following,
Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Attempting to obtain justification or righteousness through the law or maintaining it through that same means is futile.
Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
The law cannot prepare a new creation for the Holy Spirit to inhabit. It can only show us how far short of the mark we are. Thus, if we look to it for any hope of being made righteous or maintaining righteousness, it ministers death and condemnation. Paul was not the only one who understood this.
Consider, if you will, what James stated,
James 2:8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. 10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. 11 For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So, if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.
Offending in just one part of the law is equal to being a violator of the whole law. According to James, as soon as you show any preferential treatment to someone, you have violated the command to love your neighbor. To not love your neighbor as is commanded does not require you to hate them or treat them badly. Thinking that way would diminish the purity and integrity of the law.
If a person lies, they have violated the whole law in a sense because it only requires violating one command to be found guilty according to the law. One single act of selfishness is a violation of the two highest commands.
If we consider the greatest of all the commands, which is to love God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, well, who claims a perfect record of that one other than Jesus? The law cannot give us hope, produce new life, or make anyone righteous before God. It is not the way for a believer to live.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
The law is not the way under the New Covenant. Jesus is the way! It is now by grace through faith in Jesus that we function.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. These three things are worth pondering deeply.
