Have you ever realized that God’s law is absolutely wonderful? Psalm (19:7-11) shares these high praises for the law:
“The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
There is only one problem with the law of God – We can’t always keep it. And herein lies the problem. In order to maintain a right relationship with the Lord we must keep his law at all times. Before we come to know the Lord many of us have little desire to keep the commandments of the Lord. And as a result, we can’t expect for us to have any relationship with God. But even after we come to know the Lord always obeying his commandments isn’t always easy. In fact, it is downright impossible to always obey his wonderful laws all the time. But the wonderful thing about knowing the Lord is that we now don’t have to always obey his moral laws to have a great relationship with him. He just wants us to follow his commands as best we can with the right attitude and the grace of the Gospel will carry us through even when we fall short of complete obedience.
I have learned on my journey with the Lord that without God’s grace we would be a total wreck always wondering what God might do to us if we didn’t keep his commands. You see grace allows us to mess up and then repent and fess up in order to remain in sweet fellowship with the Lord. Grace is not a license to sin – far from it. Grace allows us to miss the mark and stay in right relationship with the Lord because of the good news of the Gospel – that Christ died for all of us sins – past, present and future. I am so grateful for God’s laws because I know they are just the right thing to do. But I am even more grateful for the Gospel and grace because without them I would be lost in my sin and separate from Jesus. The law is beautiful but grace is necessary, to not only help us keep the law, but to help us stay close to the Lord even when we sometimes fall short.