Can the Law save us?


Jesus used parables to explain things plainly so the people could understand, and I was struck as I worked on my fence this morning, by how the fence was like Gods law, and I thought I would share it. I have many animals but none have given me more grief than my goats. When I first got them, they were a few weeks old and I put up a fence to keep them safe from the various panthers, bears, bobcats and other wildlife that share the woods with us. The fence was more of a marker for the goats as they soon learned to go under it and wander out in the woods were dangers lurked. They got out and indulged in all their little goat desires and ate lantana and other things which wasnt good for them, then at night they would come home through the front gate and lay on the warm hood of my car or the top, causing me great grief. Then I lost some of them from bloating from what they ate and to wildlife, so I did everything I could to save them from the real dangers in the woods. I put a second fence around them so they were in sight of the house so I could go get them if they got out. I sank the bottom of the fence deeper, but they jumped over it. I made the fence higher, so they stood on top of stumps or logs so they could get over it. I told my wife we would have to get rid of the goats because they would not stay withing the fence, so she said to let her try.

She went and sat with them and gave them alfalfa hay to clear out their tummys of the bad stuff they had picked up. She talked to them and rubbed their bellies when they were sick and gave them charcoal for the bloating. Soon the goats stopped jumping the fence and waited for my wife in their pen, and let her hold them and clean their fur or between their horns as that is the one place they cant reach. Now they listen for her voice and come running when she calls and sit with her and listen to her little goat stories she tells them.

Something happened that changed the goats, I couldnt put my finger on it but on one thing I was clear, the fence didnt save them from the dangers. Did it help, yes as far as it delineated the cleared land of the farm and their little goat pen where it was safe. But somehow the goats changed in their little goat desires and behaviour and they no longer wanted to jump the fence and leave the farm, but instead to stay within the safety of the fence and share their happiness with someone who loves them......

In our present sinful state, obeying the Law of God can't save us, however, not obeying it can keep us lost.

Does this make sense?

The way I see it, the law tells us the boundaries of God's character and will. However, it doesn't have the power to enable us to stay within those boundaries or even to make us want to stay within those boundaries.

A beautiful story, Richard. We just really stay within the boundaries of the fence out of love.

And Matthew chapter 5 tells us that the law doesn't even succeed keeping boundaries.

The law can't keep us within the boundaries; it just tells us where the boundaries are. However, as Jesus pointed out in the Sermon on the Mount, people are generally too blind and destitute of discernment that we often cannot understand what the law is telling us. God has not fallen short in teaching His will; rather, we have fallen short in listening to His Spirit.

Many look at God's law as a list of prohibitions, something we can keep by conforming our actions to a certain standard of behavior. But if we see it as Paul describes in Romans, particularly the 10th commandment, we will comprehend more fully the depths of our depravity and the heights to which God calls us.

Can the law save us? No, it can't. But, like a mirror, it is really good at showing us where our problems are. Only after we are convinced that we are sinners doomed to death can we truly appreciate and accept God's gift of His Son, resulting in everlasting life. God's law, rightly understood, leads us to see clearly the wretchedness of our sin and the glory of His Son.

Nice post, Arnold.

EGW speaks of the law of life for the universe in DA chapter 1, which is to receive from God and give. The law of death is to receive from God and not take, which is to say, live for self.

To live for self is death, while to live for others (God and neighbor) is life. I see the law as describing this truth, so we could see more clearly what this looks like. Jesus Christ did the same thing, but much more fully.

Also, the law could describe what right living looks like, but doesn't describe how God treats those who choose the wrong path; IOW the mercy, compassion, patience, kindness, and gentleness (to name a few things) of God are not described. Thus the law does not reveal all aspects of the character of God, including the very ones we need to know most when we stray from the law of life. I.e., it provides no way to restore one who has strayed to the wrong path to get back on the right one.

Anyone who reads the law will come away believing that one of the boundary marks says, no murder, or perhaps, no killing. But on the mount Jesus says that this boundary is crossed already when you get mad at someone. Thus it may be that generations of people have lived their lives fully convinced to be squarely on the safe side of this border line while more or less occationally raging against some or another person.

I was actually looking for a similar verse in Deuteronomy, but this works. Moses also spoke against hating your neighbor in your heart.

There's also the Holy Spirit who convicts of error, such as hating our neighbors in our heart.

While this is true, it only applies to the thread title if you use the wider definition of the Law=Torah, something which adventists are usually not doing.