Always Righteous

The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. Romans 7:10–11

D.L. MOODY
A friend in England was telling me that an acquaintance of his, a minister, was once called upon to officiate at a funeral in the place of a chaplain of one of Her Majesty’s prisons who was absent. He noticed that only one solitary man followed the body of the criminal to the grave. When the grave had been covered, this man told the minister that he was an officer of the law whose duty it was to watch the body of the culprit until it was buried out of sight; that was “the end” of the British law. 
And that is what the law of God does to the sinner; it brings him right to death, and leaves him there. I pity deep down in my heart those who are trying to save themselves by the law. It never has, it never will, and it never can save the soul.

ERWIN LUTZER
As I’ve mentioned before, God’s law is like a plumb line, showing that a wall is crooked, but it can do nothing to straighten it out. God’s standards have not changed; all the demands of the law are continuously upon us (Romans 8:2; 10:4; Galatians 3:10–14). Living under grace does not mean we can flaunt the law; it means that Christ meets all of the demands of the law for us. And as believers with a new nature, we are to strive to keep the inner meaning of the law. To paraphrase Martin Luther, “O God, I am thy sin, and thou art my righteousness.” But that righteousness must now be wrought within our hearts.

PRAYER
Father, thank you for using the law to show me I need a Savior; now, Lord, work your righteousness in me.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How does the illustration of the plumb line help explain the function of God’s law?

What sins or weaknesses regularly remind you of your need for God’s grace?