Did God Give His Law to Man to Show he Cannot Keep it?

God’s moral law is eternal since it is a reflection of His own character. Before mankind fell, Adam and Eve were simple regarding possessing knowledge of violating the law in their unfallen, innocent state. Not eating from the tree which the Lord told them not to eat from was enough to prevent them from doing anything else that is evil.

This changed after they fell. They became conscious of other ways to transgress after their initial act of unbelief. That is obviously why they became terrified of not having clothes on and sought to clothe themselves. Rather than telling them to relax and not feel guilty for their nakedness, the Lord instead made them better clothes which covered their bodies more.

Mankind’s fall into sin did not bring man under God’s moral law. Man was already under God’s moral law. Man is inherently bound to walk in the ways of His Creator who never changes. Man’s fall rather made people aware of ways to transgress the law. And as a general rule, mankind becomes more aware of ways to transgress as it progresses in sin.

Many also teach that the Lord never intended for man to keep His law. They rather teach that it was only given to show man how sinful he is so we can see our need for Jesus. Though it is right to say that the law reveals man’s sin and demonstrates our need for a Savior, believing in Jesus doesn’t relieve man of the need to keep God’s law. If it did, the Gospel of Christ would not confront man’s wickedness and demand that it be forsaken. Many see it that way. Yet that outlook is a lie. Jesus was never intended as a substitute for man’s obedience to God’s law.

Though preachers and churches sometimes blatantly lie and tell people they do not have to turn from their sins, many teach the same in a more subtle way. They’ll tell people they need to repent of their sins to believe in Jesus- while they also say that Jesus releases those who believe in Him from the law. People are thus given the impression that the gospel is “repent of your transgressions of the law to believe in Jesus so you are not obligated to keep the law anymore.”

That is contradictory and insane. If this were actually reality, the gospel would be one strange, wicked, and satanic deal.

Many who think they believe in Jesus Christ will go to hell for practicing lawlessness. No one can obtain forgiveness through Jesus ‘ atonement who does not die to self and submit to the requirements of the law. You must repent by forsaking your transgressions of the law and bring forth works fitting for repentance (i.e. works demonstrating agreement with God’s law) in order to exercise faith in Jesus Christ. Those who seek His forgiveness without this cannot be justified. It is also a great error to assume that works demonstrating agreement with God’s law are simply a by-product of faith in Christ. They are rather a necessary expression of faith in Christ which one is responsible to walk in and endure in.

1 John 3:4: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

Since sin is the transgression of the law, then sinning not and doing righteousness equal abiding by the law (since these are synonymous terms which are put in contrast to transgressing the law).

1 John 3:5-8: “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

Beware of those who say “you can’t do that” regarding any moral requirement found in the Bible. They are teaching rebellion against the Lord. This claim of inability is essentially Gnosticism (which John was contending against as he wrote 1 John). The claim of inability assumes that man’s mortal body renders him helpless to comply with God’s commandments and thereby overcome sin. The claim also likely involves, when it is made under a Christian label, the related claim that God sees Jesus’ own personal righteousness when He looks at a Christian. This is essentially a variation of the Gnostic belief that man possesses inherent divinity within. Those who say things along the lines of “God gave His Law to show man he cannot keep it” are really just teaching Gnosticism.

God’s law shows us our need for Jesus’ atonement and High Priesthood. It is also the only proper reference for exercising and walking in a living faith before the true God. The following examples show that people can indeed acceptably keep God’s commandments by faith.

Genesis 26:4-5 (God is speaking to Abraham’s son Isaac): “And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Deuteronomy 32:45-47: “And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel: And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.”

1 Kings 15:1-5: “Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah. Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless for David’s sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem: Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”

People were not saved in a different way in Old Testament times. The Apostles of Christ used Old Testament examples (including directly using Abraham and David) to illustrate salvation by grace through faith in the New Testament.

Proverbs 3:5-7: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.”

This shows the true boundary between a living faith which justifies and unbelief which leads to death and condemnation. The proper reference or compass for trusting in the Lord with all one’s heart, not leaning on one’s own understanding, and acknowledging Him in all one’s ways is His law. The law of God will be used on Judgment Day to prove whether we did, or did not, enter into and continue in a living faith in Christ.

Revelation 22:14: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”

In relation, we read in Exodus 23:7: “Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.”

Though the law was never intended to be a means of earning justification, the thought that faith in Jesus is disconnected from submission to the law’s demands is a soul destroying lie. God’s grace was accounted for as He gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. He has not changed. He remains a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Him, and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Him and keep His commandments. The Lord will really not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.

The principles in the Law of Moses (and throughout the Bible as a whole) of morality, redemption, and of properly relating to God through the chosen Redeemer (whom the law also testifies of) are 100 percent in force. To contend against the Christian’s need to obey God’s law is to endorse and advocate for sin. Everyone who teaches that God gave His law to show man that he cannot keep it is doing this exact thing.