The Law - What Was The Point?
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Romans 5:12-14
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 5:18-21
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:20 (ESV)
This led me on a big fat rabbit trail...ending with being chosen???
The main reason I think is because there were many references to the fact that Christ died for all sin - everyone's sin. And there were a lot of verses that stated that.
But then the word election appeared in one of my wanderings and created another list that indicated that everyone is called but few are chosen.
Matthew 22:14
John 13:18
John 15:19
Acts 13:17
Romans 9:9-23
Romans 11:28
Romans 16:13
1 Corinthians 1:26
Ephesians 1:4
2 Thessalonians 2:13
James 2:5
1 Peter 2:9
1 Peter 2:10
Revelation 17:14
Never-the-less, I think that we can see from Romans 5:12-21 & Romans 3:20 that the law was created to show that, what man was already doing and would continue to do, was sin. And that not one person was free from it. It showed us how we could never clean ourselves up enough to be in the presence of a Righteous - Clean God.
It reminds me that the prize is God and not the freedom from sin or going to heaven instead of hell.
We are saved and clean when we put on Christ's Cleanliness and only then can we stand in the presence of God who is the “what we are saved for.”
A Couple of new t-shirt ideas
