The Law and Conviction – The Kingdom Curriculum IV (2)

The Law and Conviction

Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7:7

The one who has believed into Jesus Christ stands free and clear of the judgment of God’s Law (Rom. 8:1).  The Spirit of God has set us free from the condemnation of the Law and has clothed us with the righteousness of Him Who kept the Law completely and endured its judgments wholly (Rom. 8:2). We stand justified before God by grace through faith, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, hoping in glory (Rom. 5:1, 2).

In spite of this, we remain sinners, and we continue to sin. If we deny this, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 Jn. 1:8). Worse, if we deny that we continue to sin we make God a liar, for He Himself says that we do (1 Jn. 1:10; Jms. 3:2). The law of sin continues to work within us, and will until the day we are glorified, making us vulnerable to temptation and likely, indeed, certain to fall into sin from time to time (Rom. 7:21-23).

But even here the Law of God comes to our rescue. For apart from knowing the Law of God, having it firmly planted in the depths of our souls, we shall not be able to know when we are in sin. The Spirit of God, Who convicts us of sin, righteousness, and judgment, does so on the basis of the Law of God, as Paul explained. But if we remain ignorant of the Law we will continue to sin without benefit of conviction, and, thus, without possibility of reformation. And be sure of this, in such a person, ignorance of the Law will be no valid excuse before the eyes of the living God with Whom we have to do (Heb. 10.31).

We must not allow ourselves to be overcome by evil. The Spirit of God strives mightily within us to convict us of sin, to show us the way of righteousness, and to warn us of judgment to come, in the form of God’s discipline, if we do not repent (Jn. 16:8-11; Heb. 12:9-11). In response to His convicting work we must resolve to overcome the evil of sin that affects us with the good teaching of God’s Law (Rom. 12:21), repenting of our sin and turning our feet once again to the path of righteousness marked out in that holy and righteous and good resource (Ps. 119:59, 60).

The believer in Jesus Christ needs to grow in knowledge and understanding of the Law of God or he will not be in a position to hear the Spirit convicting him of sin when it begins to find safe harbor in his soul.

Order your copy of The Law of God today. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, click Publications, Waxed Tablet, to place your order and take up the Kingdom curriculum of our Lord.

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.