Law Can Be Good

(Pro 13:13 KJV)  Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

Everywhere I go I hear Christians talking about how we are saved by grace.  That is a good starting point but then they dive into the deep end without checking to see if there is any water.  Often they like to act like grace is floating around in the cosmos with nothing else ever mentioned by the Bible.  We need to keep reading and expanding our understanding without doing away with the basic concept that our salvation is a gift of God and cannot be earned.

One of the Biblical realities we need to grasp has to do with “commandments” (4687).  Note that it is actually singular not plural.  A synonym would be the Law.  Paul is always making comments about the danger of trying to keep the law.  His real thrust is not that the law is bad but that our arrogance makes us think we can earn our way into heaven, or, just as bad, that we must earn our way into heaven.

Put that aside.  We can’t do it.  At the same time the commandments of God are there for our benefit.  They are to help us understand what is right and what is wrong.  It is good to know those things so that we can live lives that glorify God.

So?  In an ideal setting we will always be joyfully obedient, not because we feel it depends on our performance but because we want to show our love for the holy nature of God.