I'm sorry for the way you've taken it. I'm not sorry for saying it. What you're doing is wrong and that's unchangeable. How do I know? The Bible says it. Read it for yourself.
You say that the law of the Old Testament is strict. It holds us to standards which are impossible for anyone to achieve and it's ridiculous for anyone to ever think that they could.
You're right. And that's how it's supposed to be. The law is the instrument of justice. Harsh, immoveable, absolute, perfect justice. Punish the evildoer and reward those who do well. The purpose of the law is to strip every inch, every single little speck of unrighteousness from us and make us to be wholly without blemish. And if we fail, well, too bad. Wickedness is not to be tolerated in any form, in any amount.
That's justice. That's the law. The Israelites failed time and time again and the results were drastic.
But then we get into the New Testament. Suddenly, there's a shift towards love and mercy, compassion and kindness. The story of salvation, of the way made for us to heaven through Jesus' supreme sacrifice. It's beautiful.
So one might then suppose that the Old Testament is unnecessary. We have the new covenant between us and God. Why do we need this old one hanging around? What was the point of it in the first place anyway?
The answer is this. To be a reminder. A reminder that no one can fulfill justice. Only one Man did that and His name is Jesus. He's the one you have to look to. Imagine if Jesus had come directly after the Fall of Adam and Eve. No Old Testament law, no failure of the Hebrews, nothing. Straight to the path of mercy. What would the result have been?
Without the law to show them how impossible it is to reach perfection, think of all the people who would say that they don't need Jesus. Much like how today people argue, "I'm a good person. Of course I'll go to heaven." Everyone would say that. They wouldn't know how sinful they are without the law. That's why the law was given. The law was not given to show us how we can be perfect; the law was given to show us how we can't possibly be perfect.
That's what Paul is referring to in Romans chapter seven. He says "What shall we say then? Is the law
sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except
through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law
had said, 'You shall not covet.'" (NKJV)
Let me translate this in my own words: "Is the law sinful? Of course not! I wouldn't have known what sin was except by the law. For I would not have known covetousness as being what it really is - wrong - unless the law had said it was wrong."
Paul is saying what I am trying to say. The law provides the standard for perfection and when we compare ourselves to it we see how far we have fallen short. When we see this, when we see our filthy, disgusting selves - that's when mercy has the opening to come and do its work. After all, how can someone receive mercy unless they know they need mercy? That's where the Gospel comes in. We recognize that there is no way we could ever attain perfection on our own, and as such we are condemned as we deserve, as all unrighteousness ought to be. We realize that we need a Savior. That Savior frees us from the chains of guilt that the impossibly high standard of the law has given us. We are free from the law because it has served its ultimate purpose.
You see, the Gospel isn't just the New Testament. It's the Old Testament too. The Gospel first shows us the reality of justice to make a way for mercy. Christians are supposed to be the same way. We have a responsibility to live the Gospel - to be the Gospel. That's why we can't just ignore the sin that we see. We point out how the sin in the world contradicts the Bible so that the world can see how much they need mercy. We're not judging - we're only pointing out the judgement which has already been made by the only One who is worthy to judge. Yes, you are an evil sinner. So am I. So is everyone else. We deserve to be eradicated. That's what justice says. Mercy says "I can help you. I can save you." But you won't grab the rope until you know you're falling.
Love isn't blind. Love sees clearly and loves anyway. We don't know how much we are loved until we know the truth about ourselves and how much we don't deserve to be loved. Justice doesn't contradict mercy. In the same way, mercy doesn't oppose justice.
Mercy can only be beheld through the eyes of justice and justice can only
be fulfilled through mercy's way.
So please forgive us if we seem harsh. Forgive us if we are blunt or rude or careless with our words. Our wish is not to be better than you. We've extended the hand of love and mercy to you time after time, but you refuse. You say you don't need it. Sometimes it makes us want to groan and weep. Sometimes that makes us want to scream in your faces about what a horrible person you are and how you need to repent. Sometimes we don't know what to do because we offend you if we say something and we betray you if we don't. We just want to show you that you're falling and you need to grab the rope. We want to show you the infinite depths of God's great love and mercy. But you won't, you can't, until you see the infinite heights of his justice and purity. And that's all we're trying to do.
