LAWBREAKERS

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.  James 2:10

The Old Testament, or the Jewish Bible, is full of laws. There are 613 Mitzvot in the Torah. Even through there are many laws, in James 2:10 we are told that if we break one, we are guilty of breaking all of them.

Has the farmer left part of the field unreaped? Do we wear fringes on the corner of our garments? Have we ever worked on the Sabbath? Have we ever told a falsehood, said something bad about someone, eaten pork, taken out a loan with interest, made a promise not kept, eaten catfish, and so on and so forth. I admit, I am a self-proclaimed lawbreaker.

The point is, we are all guilty in the confines of the law, but we are not hopeless. God provided a way to escape. There were 101 laws on just sacrifices and offerings, but thanks be to God, there was a final sacrifice made which covered all of these. The offering was the blood of Jesus Christ. He was known as the Son of God, the Messiah, but He was also God in the flesh. The creator of the universe would spill His holy blood on His perfect creation, made imperfect by our wickedness. He would be the sacrificial lamb to make the broken law, whole.

To live within the restraints of the law would be maddening. Living to constantly reach a pinnacle of purity yet never having hope of obtaining it, seeing the prize but never grasping it, and attempting to win yet striving in vain, we would need to study all the laws every day. We would have to memorize them, have them in little leather pouches tied on our heads or hands, have the strongest willpower ever to apply all of them, and live within the fear of breaking just one. If we fail, then it is up to us to make a remedy for it. The whole process would depend on self, instead of living in the grace of God.

I questioned a Jewish friend, “Now that the temple is gone and you can no longer make sacrifices, how do you make restitution for your sins?” My friend’s answer was, “We pray a lot.” There again was an imperfect plan that places the solution on self instead of Him. We have two options:  we can try with all our might and willpower to be incarcerated in the law, or we could have freedom by giving it all to God and allow Jesus to be the Redeemer. In Him, we obtain His righteousness. Personally, I think it’s an easy choice.

Dear Savior, Jesus Christ, I accept your sacrifice for me. Redeem me to Yourself  and make me perfect in You. Amen