Subtitle: Focus on God, not the accumulation of things that distract.

Excerpt: The law was given because of transgressions, pointing to the need for grace and highlighting the significance of the cross and the empty tomb. It serves to reveal our need for grace, emphasizing that God’s grace is sufficient and that our efforts to impress Him are futile. As we seek Him, we should focus on what He has done for us and discard anything that hinders our relationship with Him.

Author: Rich Holt

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Galatians 3:19, “What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.”

Background

Why? Why not? We ask, think, and hear these questions all day long. So imagine how prevalent they were back in the day when Paul was reminding the new followers of Jesus that the law took a back seat to the grace of God. They had tried to follow and keep these rules their entire lives, yet Paul was showing them how they were really given for only one reason – because of transgressions. And I imagine he had to explain it several ways. Like, the law was not given in case of transgressions. God didn’t list some rules and reveal His character just in case man slipped up and sinned. He knew what would happen. He didn’t have to revert to His backup plan. He also might have told them it was not given because of somebody else’s sins. We don’t need to look any further than into our own mirrors to see who is guilty. Our desire to convict others or justify ourselves only puts us deeper in debt to His mercy and grace. Paul also knew that it wasn’t added to produce transgressions. We weren’t going along nicely, earning our way to heaven, until God came along and gave some impossible rules that force us to fall short. But we sometimes feel that way, don’t we?

Application

And Paul might have reminded them it wasn’t added in spite of transgressions. God didn’t see us as lost sheep, but threw us a bone anyway, telling us if we could somehow keep our noses clean for 70 or 80 years, then He might do us a favor and let us in. And they also needed to know that God didn’t add the law because of His disappointment in us. He wasn’t hoping to redeem a bunch of saints and then had to settle on trying to fix us up with His rules and regulations. No, He got exactly what He bargained for. So why the law? Why the 10 commandments and all those other codes? Amazingly, it came – because of grace. Every word, every intent, was for us to realize that He does it all. The law shows us how much we need grace. Nothing less, and certainly nothing more. His law points to the cross and the empty tomb. Because of grace, that’s why. Because we can’t, that’s why not.

Charge

As we seek Him today, look closely at what value and motivation you are putting on the things you think are impressing God. Strip everything down to what He did for you, and then see what needs to be discarded.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words