Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse" Day 68

May 4;   Romans 7:7;   124/260(I);   ‘The Law Reveals’

Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." 

Paul teaches us that the Law reveals sin.  God created the Law to reveal to us that we are sinners.  The Lord did not do this to condemn us, but to show us that we had a problem.  When we are honest with ourselves, we look at what the Law says and realize that we cannot keep it.  That is exactly what the Law was created to do.  The Law was not meant to be kept, but to reveal to us that we could not keep it and that we desperately needed Someone to help us.  That is why the Lord Jesus Christ came.  He was the only One who could and did keep the Law.  Deuteronomy 28:1-14 lists all of the blessings one would be entitled to if they keep the Law.  No one did or could until Jesus came.  He kept the Law and all of the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 belonged to Him legally.  We know that the Lord Jesus Christ did not take those blessings that were His, He took the penalty of not keeping the Law (Deuteronomy 28 15-68), and gave us those blessings.  When we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we receive all of the blessings that Jesus did not take for Himself.  The Law did its job.  It pointed us directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. The devil uses religion to enslave people.  The evil one takes the very Law that was given to show us we could not keep it and demands people to keep all of the requirements that no one can keep.  Ad sincere people try to do all of the things the Law requires (it is over 600 requirements in the Jewish Law), they fail, become frustrated and often walk away.  Their spirit that longs for the Lord many times are seduced into new age lies.  Jesus kept the Law for us. Love frees us.