God’s Law Leads to Christ
Jesus declared, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt 5:48). What does “perfect” mean to God?
God demands that we have no other gods but the triune God, that we do not take His name in vain but hold it sacred, and that we keep the day of rest holy by hearing His Word and living holy lives according to it. God also has set boundaries around our lives, requiring that we honor and obey parents and the government, forbidding us to murder or hate others, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, and covet what is our neighbors. God also requires that we protect the lives of others, live chaste lives, help others keep their property, protect the reputation of others, and be content with all that God gives us.
Whenever we step over the fence God’s law has set up, we have sinned against God and deserve His eternal wrath. Thus, “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). And God said through Moses, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them” (Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10). Therefore, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
During Lent, we meditate on these truths—not to drive us to despair, but to understand how God views our lives: far from perfect. The more we acknowledge our sins, the more we will understand how impossible it is for us to gain heaven by good works or anything we do.
Like a sledge hammer, the Law destroys our self-pride so that we seek healing from another source. St. Paul states, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us” (Galatians 3:17). On the cross, Jesus endured the curse of God over sin and the wages of sin—death. He paid the wages in full that we earned so that God now proclaims forgiveness of sins and the gift of heaven. King David received that forgiveness from God and wrote, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity” (Psalm 32:1-2).
Under God’s holy Law, we repent of the evil we have done and our failures to do God’s holy will. With God’s gracious Gospel, we cling to Jesus as our only hope to rescue us from the punishment of death. Through faith in Jesus, God forgives our sin, declares that we are perfect because of Jesus, and promises to give us heaven. May God bless us with this faith and confidence in Jesus, our Savior.