Jesus once told a parable about a slave who owed his king millions of dollars. He told his lord that he would pay back every cent, yet it was clear that he could not. The king felt compassion for the slave and was willing to cancel the entire debt (Mtt 18:23-27).

We are in that same position before God. We cannot make right all our wrongs, so God takes pity on us and grants forgiveness of our debt. He does this through Jesus his Son, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (Jhn 1:29).

When Jesus died on the cross, he took away not only our sins, but also the things that are associated with sin, namely the law and death. Paul explains to us how the law gives sin an opportunity, and then sin brings about death (Rom 7:4-13). Notice carefully in this passage how Paul links the three things, law, sin, and death.

In this lesson we are going to see that Jesus took away the law that gave sin an opportunity, took away the sins that we committed, and took away the condemnation and punishment of death.

Jesus Took Away the Old Law

Let us now focus on the first of these three elements, namely the law.

God’s law is just

When we consider God’s law, we must understand first of all that God’s law has always been perfectly right and just and merciful. This was true of the law he gave to Adam and Eve, and it is true of every law and commandment he has ever given to anyone. It was true of the Law of Moses. In the passage we looked at previously, Paul claims that law was "holy, righteous, and good" (Rom 7:12).

The problem with law

Paul is aware, however, that when God makes a law, he makes an opportunity for sin. Had God not forbidden Adam and Eve to eat of a certain tree, the devil would not have had an opportunity to bring about sin, because where there is no law, there can be no trespass (Rom 5:13). Therefore "the law brings about wrath" (Rom 4:15). and "through the law comes the knowledge of sin" (Rom 3:20). That is the problem with law.

The need for grace

When people transgress God’s law, they fall into a situation like that of the slave in the parable we mentioned at the start of this lesson. Under law he was condemned. However his king forgave the debt out of compassion, mercy, and grace. This meant that the king himself paid the debt owed to him, for that was the only satisfactory way that the debt could be cleared. Jesus Christ has done that for us, "having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled the certificate of debt... he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Col 2:14)

God wins the contest

We have been given here a wonderful insight into the battle between good and evil.

"The law came in that transgression might increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom 5:20-21).

Law abolished

The Law of Moses especially demonstrated these things. The law of Moses was so often broken, that its priests were daily conducting animal sacrifices in an attempt to atone for sins. However it is plain that those sacrifices accomplished atonement only because they symbolised the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross (Heb 7:27, 10:1-18). Without that sacrifice, the law of Moses brought about wrath and condemnation, yet left its priests impotent to solve the problem, for "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins".

So when Jesus died on the cross he abolished all law that preceded his death. There was "annulment of a former commandment (the Law) because of its weakness and uselessness" (Heb 7:18), and the establishment of a new law or covenant,"a new and living way", based upon his death. He "takes away the first that he may establish the second" (Heb 10:9,20).

Jesus Took Away Sins

Now we look at sin, the second element in the law-sin-death triad. Because we cannot redeem ourselves from sin, God has compassion on us and pays the price himself, cancelling our debt to him. The price paid, and the sacrifice made, to accomplish our redemption, was nothing less than the death of his Son, Jesus Christ.

The one effective sacrifice

All former sacrifices for sin would have have been ineffective had they not foreshadowed and anticipated the death of Christ. It was necessary that Christ "put away sin by sacrifice of himself" (Heb 9:26b). "He himself is the atonement for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world’s" (1Jn 2:2).

Sin forgiven

Once the death of Jesus took place, all the transgressions committed under the former law were at last able to be taken away for ever. The former law did not provide such redemption. Those who were under the law had to believe in something apart from the law and beyond it, to gain forgiveness. The law itself could not accomplish it. Only the death of Christ could take away sins (Heb 9:15). The new law or covenant is better because it is self-contained, being based on Christ’s death, and on his blood, as the atoning sacrifice. So the new law of Christ is able to provide forgiveness (Mtt 26:28).

Jesus Took Away Death

Finally we look at the third element, death.

Death Through Sin

Paul compares Adam with Christ as opposites. When Adam allowed sin to enter the world, he caused death to enter the world through sin. On the other hand, Christ brought grace into the world and life through grace (Rom 5:12-15,21)

Spiritual Death

The death that comes through sin is eternal and spiritual death. Paul told the Ephesians, "You were dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1,4-5), Obviously they were not physically dead.

Since "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1Co 15:50) physical death is not a great problem, and it is taken care of when we address the real issue, eternal life.

Death Abolished

Jesus"abolished death... brought immortality to life" (2Tm 1:10).

In his own case, Jesus arose from the dead and ascended into heaven where he "ever lives" (Heb 7:25). Thus he demonstrates his power to conquer death for us. He became "the firstfruits of those who slept" (1Co 15:20).

So Paul concludes, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law" (1Co 15:56). Notice again how Paul links the three things, law, sin, and death. The next verse says, "But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Co 15:57). Christ sets us free from the law-sin-death tyranny.

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