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The Law Was Powerless, The Word Is Flawless
by John Bishop, Director of Spiritual Formation
Knowing the right thing to do and doing the right thing are not the same thing at all!
“I shouldn’t eat pastelitos,” is very different from, “I didn’t eat any of the pastelitos sitting on the table.”
Just like, “Thou shall not covet,” is very different from, “I’m totally fine parking my old, beat-up car, next to your sweet G Wagon.”
As teachers, we spend a lot of time helping kids learn and understand information. We want them to know the information we’re trying to teach them. We’re constantly on the lookout for those moments with students where we can tell they’re getting it (the Ah-ha moment). But we all understand that knowing the information for a test often doesn’t translate into a passion for the subject, i.e., everyone takes English, most people do well, not everyone goes on to love reading and writing.
In other words, there’s something more profound, maybe even mysterious happening as we help students move from knowing to doing. It is certainly much more than just transferring information. It’s like we’re trying to unlock a self-motivated, self-perpetuating drive to pursue progress. We don’t just want students to know it, we want them to want to go do it.
So why, despite our greatest efforts, do we so often fail at this? It’s not like we’re not trying our best!
Romans 8:3 says, “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Here's two things we can glean from this profound verse: 1) There is a connection between knowing and doing 2) Sin interrupts that connection.
The law can be written down, memorized, hung on the wall, and even understood but still be powerless to help us live lives that honor God. And if that’s true even for the information God is trying to teach us, what hope do we have trying to teach English or Math, or Art?
In the second half of the verse, we discover the solution, however, when we read, “…sending His own Son…”. Yes, the law is powerless, but Jesus, since He didn’t have sin as an interruption, was able to make the connection between the law and a life that honors God. He was a perfect student of the law of God he was flawless!
We can never really bridge the gap on our own because we can’t overcome our sin, and sin interrupts the connection. But we can trust in God’s plan to overcome our sin through Jesus.
And when we do trust in God’s plan, we become capable of bridging the gap too. We become capable to not just knowing the law but doing it. Isn’t that what Paul is telling us in Ephesians 2:8-10?
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
We were never created to just settle for the law. God’s plan of grace was put in place so we could bridge the gap and live lives that honor Him. Trusting in Jesus allows us to make the jump from information to revelation and ultimately revelation to good works.
This week in chapel we’re going to present Jesus, the Flawless Word, as the hope for living a life that honors God. Please be in prayer for your children who need to trust in Him rather than keep on trying to do it in their own strength.
Westminster Christian School, located in Palmetto Bay, Florida, is a private, college-preparatory school for children from preschool through twelfth grade.