Previous Post of the Week: 5:23-29

This week's highlighted previous post: Whatever Happend to Sin?

When we preach the Law, people come to see their own sinfulness. They see they are liars, thieves, murderers (at least in their heart, cf. Matthew 5:21-22), adulterers (at least in their heart, cf. Matthew 5:27-28), coveters, blasphemers (they use God’s name as a curse word), idolaters, and in fact, completely worshipers of false gods (at least when we show them the spirit of the Law as Jesus did, and not just the letter). We can then show them that “whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23), that “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Hebrews 11:6), and that they have not done anything for the glory of God (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:31), so all their works were done in vain. When they see this, it is a relatively small step for them to go from, “Wow, I sin all the time,” to “I’m a slave to the power of sin and in need of someone to raise me from the deadness of my sinfulness!” They’ll see they have broken the whole Law, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” Why is this so? Because “He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not commit murder.’” If a person does not commit adultery but does commit murder (or does not steal but does tell a lie), such a one “has become a transgressor of the Law,” God’s perfect Law (James 2:10-11). The Law is a unity of ten; it is one. This person has not broken an inanimate Law, but has figuratively given God the middle finger and has said, “No, I will not keep this one law.” They have transgressed the holiness of God and have spat in His face, calling Him imperfect.