THE GOSPEL OF GOD
Meditations in St. Paul's Letter to the Romans
THE HOLINESS OF THE LAW

"So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”
Romans 7:12.

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NOW Paul draws his conclusion from the argument and explanation of verses 7 to 11. He has been answering the question posed in verse 7 - "Is the law sin", and after all the explanation, he gives his conclusion in this last verse of the section. Far from the law being sin, it is in fact holy and good. It is this conclusion that we must now enlarge our understanding of in this sermon.

In the phrase of the verse before where Paul says that the law is holy, Paul is speaking of the law as it is in itself and in its essence. In the rest of the verse where Paul speaks of the commandment being holy, just and good, Paul is speaking of the action of the law in our lives as the commandments are directed towards us.

THE LAW IS HOLY

Paul first of all looks at the law as a whole and declares that it is holy. Holy is a word that encompasses and describes the whole character of God. It declares his purity, and purity has both a negative and positive side to it. God is totally opposite to any form of evil and wrong, and God is holy in that he is absent of all sin, and opposite to all sin. He is pure. But there is the positive side to holiness which declares the essence of holiness, and this is the goodness and love and mercy and graciousness of God. Perfect love is a true expression of holiness, because love is the antithesis of all wrong. In perfect love evil can't exist in any form, and love is an expression of the beauty of holiness.

The law is holy because it comes from God. It may seem, when we think superficially, that the law promotes sin, but this is a conclusion that comes from an impure mind. God gave the law and so it is holy through and through, because God is Holy. When we view the commandments they may seem only negative, but the negative presumes the positive, and so when the law says 'thou shalt not ..." it is also declaring the positive of what should be done. So in the 'you shall not's' of the law is bound up the positive of perfect love in all things.

The Law is also holy because it is opposite to evil. The law condemns evil. The law may seem to promote sin, but it is not the law that is at fault, but the fault lies in those whom the law censures. The law can't be evil, otherwise evil would be fighting against itself. No! the law is the enemy of sin, not sin itself.

The law is good because it is an expression of the character of God and so reveals God to us. The law is in fact a mirror of the love of God, because love opposes all evil as that which denies love. If I am selfish, then I deny love. If I am proud, I can't be loving. The law promotes selflessness. The law is holy.

The law is holy because it exposes sin. Whenever the law speaks it is a light which shows up the dirt of sin. It is because the law is light in this way that the evil nature inside us hates the law, and fights back causing us to sin.

The law must be holy because if it is sin, then sin is divided against itself, and therefore would not be able to stand. The law must be holy because far from encouraging people to sin, it denounces sin. 

THE COMMANDS OF THE LAW ARE HOLY

Now Paul looks at the commands themselves which are embodied in God's law. He looks at them from the point of view of their effect upon us, and draws the conclusion that the commands are holy; and they are just; and they are good. We will look at each of these things in turn.

a. The commandment is holy.

When the commands of God are applied to our heart and mind they have an holy effect upon us, and by this show they are holy.

When the command is applied to us, we see first of all the nature of sin, because the command, in its forbidding, shows us what is wrong and is contrary to the holiness of God. Although we have something of the knowledge of right and wrong in our conscience, our conscience needs to be instructed and enhanced, and this is what the law does. The law's holy action is that it gives us the knowledge of what is wrong.

The law has this action, not just in outward actions which are sinful, but in the searching of our heart to expose the sinfulness of our thoughts and feelings from which sinful actions flow.

This is an holy work which can not be done in any other way. This is still a holy work even though the sinfulness of our fallen nature reacts in opposition and causes us to lust after the sin more and more.

The law is holy also because in every prohibition which the law applies to our hearts and minds, there is implied and enforced the contrary good. So when the law says we must not steel, it also implies that property is sacred to the owner and must never be violated or harmed, but that it must be treasured and cared for in order that it may be for the owner's greatest blessing.

In all the commandments is this positive expression that they are designed to show us where true joy and happiness can be found, and to show us the true extent of the love that is in God, and teach us what that love is.

Every time a command is applied, all this is embodied in the application, and if we heed the command as we should then this is the holy outcome. So the law is holy. The wonder of our being dead to the law through Christ, and so not under the condemning power of the law, is that the spirit of life in Christ not only gives us the desire to fulfil the law, but also the power as well.

b. The commandment is just.

The commandment when it is applied to our heart and mind is entirely honest with us, and this is the justice of the law. So often when we apply the law to ourself or to others, we water it down, or we seek to mitigate its force. We do this because we are afraid that if the law is presented in all its stark reality, then people will reject it, or react against it, or be crushed by it.

The law is never like this. The law comes with perfect honesty and tells us exactly what is holy, and does not withhold either the terrible penalty or consequences of disobedience, and also shows us the joy which is found in obedience. This is not altered by the fact that we are unable to achieve the joy in our natural state because we are fallen human beings.

The justice of the law goes further. Because of this honesty, when the law is applied to our heart and mind, it honestly reveals to us what we are truly like. It shows us the terrible condition of our inner being, that we are fallen and corrupt, with every faculty effected by this sinfulness. No human being will ever tell us honestly what we are like. Firstly, because we are afraid to be totally open with others because we know the pain and devastation of mind and heart this would cause; but secondly, because we are not able to honestly assess the true nature of other's faults and failings. This is because we are fallen and corrupt ourselves, and so our thinking and understanding is effected by this sinfulness, and can never make truly just judgements.

The law is holy and just, and so each command exposes the truth about the corruption of our heart.

The law is just also because it does not hide the condemnation that we are under by virtue of our falling short of the command, nor does the command hide the death that falls from failure to obey.

c. The commandment is good.

After considering all this we may rightly say that though the commandments are holy and just, they fill us with terror and so it would be better if we did not know the truth so clearly. At least we could have some happiness until the time of our final condemnation. If we think this then we have failed to appreciate the goodness of the commandments, or understand the good the commandments do for us.

The problem with all human beings is that in our natural state we are unaware of the terrible danger we are in, and the doom that awaits us because of our sin. Because we are unaware we go on through life with a peace that is no real peace at all. It is only if we know the truth will we ever seek a way of escape. 

It is a fact that because most do not know the extent of the evil of sin, and the sinful depravity of our heart, that we imagine that we are quite able to earn our salvation by good works. Because we do not understand the nature of sin and our corruption, we fail to appreciate how sinful are even our best actions, and how much they fall short of the demands of the holy law of God. In this state we rely on what Jeremiah called 'broken cisterns' which cannot hold water. By this the prophet meant that Israel was trusting in things for God's favour that were useless, just as a tank to hold water is useless if it is full of holes.

The law is good because it shows us our desperate state as sinners, and shows us the terrible end to which we are going. It also tells us the impotence of our own efforts to remedy this situation.

The law is good because it shows us that we can't forget all our past sins as if they did not happen, because the law tells us that every broken law has to be accounted for and punished, and no good in the future can cancel this debt. It is a folly of some religious thinking that works of supererogation are possible. Supererogation is the idea that something can be done that is over and above what is owed, and so can be put to pay off debts in the past. This may be possible in earthly activity, but as far as breaking the commands of God, works over and above what is our due are impossible. This is because the law of God demands perfection from start to finish.

The law is good because it is honest and just and tells us all this, and so drives us to seek a way of escape, and in this drives us away from ourselves and what we can do, to look for our salvation in another.

As Paul tells us elsewhere, the law is our school master to lead us to Christ. When we are taught by the commandment that we are lost and hopelessly lost, then we cry to God for mercy. Then we repent in dust and ashes. Then we humble ourselves truly before God. Then like the prodigal son, return to God and say 'Lord I have sinned', and plead for grace.

This is a good state to be in, even though it is so painful and humiliating. It is a good state because we find like the tax collector in the temple, who cried 'God be merciful to me a sinner' that we find mercy. We find that Christ in all his beauty is revealed to us. We view him on the cross, not simply dying for the world, but dying for me. We are given the ears to hear the gracious words which the thief on the cross beside Jesus heard ' today you will be with me in paradise'.

CONCLUSION

The law does excite our fallen nature to rebel and grow violent with terrible lusting, but it is still holy, and the commands as they are applied to our heart are holy, just and good, because without the law and its application by the Spirit to our heart, we fallen and sinful beings would never repent and never cry for mercy, and so never see the beauty of Jesus crucified for us.

Let us bless God for his law, and for the Spirit of God who applies the law to our souls, so that it may do its perfect, though strange, work, and so cause us to flee to Christ, the lover of our souls.