Wrath
by Law (4:13-17)
One
of the key questions Paul struggled with was this: If righteousness has always
come to people by faith (as it did for Abraham and for David), why then did God
give the law through Moses? If the law is not God’s instrument to make us
righteous (that is what faith is for), then what role does the law perform? There
are many passages in Paul’s writings that seek to answer this question.
First
we must clarify what is intended by the word law. In Paul’s writings, the
word “law” almost always refers to the Pentateuch, specifically the
laws given to Moses in the Old Testament.1 The point in
these verses is that God added the law of Moses to give definition to sin. As
Thomas Schreiner says, “the law provides a standard by which sin can be technically
defined.”2
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Thus,
rather than giving the law to remedy the problem of sin, God gives the law to
define the extent of sin. God’s strategy seems to be to show just how bad
sin truly is before he sends his Son to deal with sin once and for all.
Thus
for those who rely on the law to find forgiveness, the law brings “wrath”
(v. 14). Instead of discovering the unexpected joy of forgiveness that Abraham
and David both found, the person rely-ing on the law discovers wrath.
This
is why Paul urges us to approach God by faith, not looking to earn a credit or
earn a wage, but looking to receive a promise. The open hands of faith are able
to receive the free gift of forgiveness.
Maybe
you’ve seen a monkey try to get candy out of a bottle. So long as the monkey’s
fist is clenched around the candy, it can’t get it’s hand out of the
bottle. The only way to be free from the bottle is to let go of the candy.
The
same is true in our relationship with God. So long as we try to clench to our
actions to merit God’s acceptance, we’re stuck. It is only when we let
loose of our grip and release our attempts to impress God and open our hands in
faith that we receive forgiveness.
This
is the joy Paul experienced in his conversion. It’s the joy he saw in retrospect
looking back on his heroes Abraham and David. Is it your experience as well?
1
Thomas Schreiner, The Law and Its Fulfillment: A Pauline Theology of Law
(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1993), p. 38).
2 Schreiner, p. 75.
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Sermon
brief provided by: Tim Peck, Pastor of Life Bible Fellowship
Church in Upland, CA.