Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians, Part 2预览

God’s Law and Sin

The law is the second issue of Christian theology that shapes our understanding of grace—God’s spiritual and moral law. I know, law is not a positive word for many of us. Think of it here not as an arbitrarily set policy but rather as a manifestation of what is right or wrong: God’s standards and his dictates—the very expression of God’s person and God’s will. 

The law is God, and God is the law. It is his very nature and his character. As a result, it is God we either obey or disobey. When we obey it is an act of love, and when we disobey it is an attack on God’s very nature. And the penalty is serious—the most serious of all—which is why in the New Testament book of Romans, the Bible offers these words: “for the wages of sin is death” (Roman 6:23). We are familiar with the reality of physical death, but the Bible also teaches the reality of spiritual death, which is separation from God. 

Sin causes spiritual death. It breaks the relationship. It destroys the intimacy that God intended to take place between himself and his creation because at its heart, sin is rebellion against God and his character. So punishment or consequences are not simply a possibility but an inevitability.

This brings us to the third issue of the human condition—all of us are sinners. We all have this sin condition and we cannot save ourselves or lift ourselves out of our sinfulness. The word sin is an archery term, and it literally means to “miss the mark.” In archery, if you shoot an arrow toward a target and miss—by an inch or by a mile—it is called a sin. 

With that image in mind, the Bible describes the human condition: “For everyone sins; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). When it comes to living life the way God intended, all of us “miss the mark.” Sin isn’t just about a failure to be perfect. It is the choice we make with our very soul to go against the moral law and will of God. So whether it’s murder or malice, lust or lying, stealing or slander, it’s falling short. And we can’t change or fix it. Salvation by works is impossible. There’s nothing we can do to right ourselves before God.

Have you ever thought of your own shortcomings and failures as missing the mark of God’s holy, perfect, and moral law?