Wednesday: From Adam to Moses
Read Romans 5:13-14. What is Paul teaching us here about the law?
What is Paul talking about here? The phrase “until the law” is paralleled with the statement “from Adam to Moses.” He is talking about the time in the world from Creation to Sinai, before the formal introduction of the rules and laws of the Israelite system, which included, of course, the Ten Commandments.
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“Until the law” means until the detailing of God’s requirements in the various laws given to Israel at Sinai. Sin existed before Sinai. How could it not? Were lying, killing, adultery, and idolatry not sinful before then? Of course they were.
It is true that prior to Sinai, the human race generally had only a limited revelation of God, but they obviously knew enough to be held accountable. God is just and isn’t going to punish anyone unfairly. People in the pre-Sinai world died, as Paul here points out. Death passed upon all. Though they had not sinned against an expressly revealed command, they had sinned nevertheless. They had the revelations of God in nature, to which they had not responded and thus were held guilty. “The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen . . . ; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).
For what purpose did God reveal Himself more fully in the “law”? Rom. 5:20-21.
The instruction given at Sinai included the moral law, although it had existed before then. This was the first time, however, according to the Bible, that this law was written and widely proclaimed.
When the Israelites began to compare themselves to the divine requirements, they discovered that they fell far short. In other words, “the offense” abounded. They suddenly realized the extent of their transgressions. The purpose of such a revelation was to help them to see their need of a Savior, and to drive them to accept the grace so freely offered by God. As stressed before, the true version of the Old Testament faith was not legalistic.
| How do the laws in your own country reveal to you a human conception of right and wrong? If human laws can do that, then what about God’s eternal law? |
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What I drew from Romans 5:13-14 is that regardless of whether the law is written down or not, the consequence of breaking it is still the same - death. It seems clear from Paul's discourse in chapter 1 that God was expecting we would see right from wrong and hoped we would follow the right. It should be clear enough that God is God and He should be first; that taking His name in vain is a bad idea; That nothing we make can adequately represent Him; that spending time with Him is a good idea and He, as God, sets the time for that to happen; that mistreatment of parents, lying, stealing, adultery, and murder cause pain; and that it would be best if we didn't have any desire to do those things. Not only so, but when people started on a course of sin, they kept dying off. After so much evidence had accumulated, the rest of the universe must have just been shaking their heads and wondering how foolish we must be that God would have to write it down and explain it to us.
The law is God's explanation not only of His character, and how He does and will behave, but an explanation of how He has set up the workings of the universe. Break these rules and you will experience pain and eventually you die. Those who want to throw out the law and say it was nailed to the cross have only to look around them to see more than ample evidence that whether or not the law has been nailed to the cross (another in depth discussion), the consequences of breaking it remain. steve
What a loving God we serve. He stepped in and took the initive. He provided a way to have hope, feel loved, and accept His Grace even though we don't deserve it. "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." 1John 4:9. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1John 5:3-5. Lets also not forget the text we all know from memory. John 3:16. God is a God of love. He loved us so much He gave us His laws of love.
Thank God for the contagiousness of GRACE is more than sin
I was a sitting in a prayer meeting one time several years ago. We were discussing how many more sins we could be tempted with in this day and age. With all the drugs, pornography and other things that are out there to tempt us. A wise person said to me they’re still only one sin and that sin is failure to trust God. I think he had a valid point… Royce
Absolutely agree. God essentially said to Humanity when he created it, trust me when I say that life is best lived when you walk in harmony with the way/'laws of reality' that I have outlined to you because that's how abundant life works. Satan said, trust me, for if you follow instead what seems good in your own eyes, you will attain an even better state of existence.
Walk in harmony with the 'laws' which enable abundant life (aka, obedience which produces abundant life) or do what seems good in our own eyes even when it violates that which enables abundant life (aka, sin which produces non- life). That is our bottom line choice.
What did the giving of the law at Sinai change with respect to our salvation? Absolutely nothing! Salvation still is the same as it always was - by faith in Jesus Christ alone. The giving of the law changed nothing in that regard. It was simply the way in which God reintroduced Himself and His standard to a people who had forgotten; the same way that he introduces Himself in every generation now. He says, look at my laws and you will see me, my character, my will and my love for you. What a wonderful God and Saviour we have!
Since sin is a deceiver, it is impossible for us in our sins to fully realize our condition unless God reveals it to us. This is what He has done by giving the law. He never intended the law to be a means of salvation or for it to deal with sin. Because of our sinful condition, the law cannot produce righteousness in us [see Romans 8:3]. We are sold under sin, and the only way we can be saved is in Christ. “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law...” [Romans 3:20; cf. Galatians 2:16; 3:21,22; 5:4]. God gave the law to us to teach us. “The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith” [Galatians 3:24]....
Even though it seems that the Law was introduced at Mt Sinai, God had His commandments written clearly in nature... Nature which exists within human beings, has full traces (instincts) of what is good and bad. Moses got the hard copy while humans carry around (insticts) soft copies within them. No way can we do away with the Law in this sense.