In any civilized society, laws are in place to protect the innocent and punish the guilty. Yet when it comes to God's law -- the law above all others -- there are only guilty people who have sinned and therefore fallen short of God's righteous standard. After all, it wasn't spikes that held Jesus to that tree; it was the sins of the world, your sins and mine.

The Jewish religious leaders orchestrated the crucifixion of Christ and the Romans (Gentiles) were the ones who actually did the dirty work and carried it out (Matthew 20:19), so both of the world's people groups played a role in His execution. Indeed, Scripture says the law was given "that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (Romans 3:19).

As sinners before a holy God, we all stand helpless (guilty) and hopeless to do anything about it in and of ourselves. Furthermore, the punishment for rebellion against our Creator is spiritual death, eternal separation from God. The good news is that although "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), the second part of this verse assures us that "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Whereas God's law brings only condemnation and death, the fact is that the law was never meant to save us. Only Jesus can do that, He is the One who gives forgiveness and life: "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).

When it comes to trying to be saved by the law, to be good enough ourselves by obeying its precepts, to merit God's favor and earn heaven by our own works or personal goodness, there's one big problem. Because God is perfectly holy, the law requires perfection on our part -- not just some of the time, but at all times and in all ways, in everything we ever do or say or even think! As we read in James 2:10: "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." Thus, Jesus declared: "Be ye therefore perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). As someone once said, this is Plan A for salvation, and thank God for Plan B!

Plan B is of course the only real way any of us can be saved, which is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone on the basis of His finished work on the cross alone (Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:8-9, etc.). By grace, we mean God's unmerited, undeserved favor and His forgiveness because of what Christ did for each one of us personally in lowering Himself as God the Son to take the form of man and become our substitute on the tree, paying our sin debt in full (1 Peter 2:24) so we can be saved through faith in Him alone (John 3:36, Acts 4:12, Acts 16:31, etc).

God's law was meant to be a spiritual mirror of sorts, to show us that we can never live up to its standards of righteousness and can only be saved by receiving (as a gift) the perfect righteousness of Christ. Galatians 3:24 reveals "the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith [in Him alone]." Titus 3:5 tells us that it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us."

In our Scripture Reading from Romans 3, the Apostle Paul makes the argument for biblical (true) salvation by pure grace through faith alone in Christ. He points out that if we could be saved by the law, by works or sacraments or goodness or any other means, then the cross was a gross overreaction on God's part and makes Him to be a masochist! But the truth is there was no other way: "Therefore by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin...Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law." And in Galatians 2:21, Paul exhorts: "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

So now all true believers in and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ can rejoice with gladness: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death!" (Romans 8:1-2). And we know that "whom the Son sets free is free indeed" (John 8:36), free to live for Him and serve Him all of our days by the power of His Spirit alive in us!