Looking back to when I was a young Christian I believe I fell into worshiping the law rather than the law giver. Like the crippled man at the pool of siloam looking to the pool to "save" him, I looked at the law. It was a very stern master finally whipped me into dispair. It is too long of s story to share here but I came to the point of letting go of any kind of God concept and then I met the law giver and relized what He did to procure the gift He was offering me. This is how I have come to undestand where his law fits into His boundless Grace and unconditionsal love.
1. The Law’s True Purpose
Paul never said the law was bad — he said it had a
specific role:
The law reveals God’s holiness and our sinfulness — it
drives us to God for mercy. But once faith comes, the believer’s relationship with the law changes:
The law shows what righteousness looks like; Christ provides the power and forgiveness to live it.
2. Law-Keeping “by the Flesh” — Self-Righteousness
When Paul speaks of “the flesh,” he means human effort apart from God’s Spirit.
That’s what Paul calls
law-keeping by the flesh — obeying rules to earn favor, to prove oneself righteous, or to feel spiritually superior.
This was his own past error:
He had kept the letter of the law, but he didn’t yet know the heart of the Lawgiver. Once he met Christ, he saw that all his efforts without faith were empty.
3. Law-Keeping “by Faith” — Spirit-Empowered Obedience
When we come to God by faith, the Spirit enables us to walk in obedience from the inside out.
This is law-keeping
by faith: not to earn salvation, but as the fruit of a heart transformed by grace. It’s what Jeremiah and Ezekiel foresaw when they spoke of the law written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26–27).
The believer’s obedience flows from love, not fear:
4. Worshiping God, Not the Law
Paul’s entire gospel defends worship of
the Lawgiver rather than the
law itself.
- The law worshiper says, “I will prove my loyalty by keeping every command.”
- The God worshiper says, “Because I love Him, I want to walk in His ways.”
Both might look outwardly obedient — but only one is inwardly free.
Paul put it beautifully: