The Law and Grace

           What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.  I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. (Romans 7:7-12)

          For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, (Titus 2:11-12)

          I doubt we think about it as much as we should, but we know the law is a teacher. It helps us learn what is wrong. We bristle about the law because it gets in the way of our doing what we want, but if we think about it, we know that the rules God has given us are for our own good. They guide us into health lifestyles and improve our relationships with God, the universe, and one another.

          But while we may say, “Of course!” about the law as a teacher, do we think of grace in the same way? My reaction to reading the verses from Titus this morning suggests that I don’t. I think more in terms of “a sinner saved by grace.” I think in terms of grace making up for my failures.

          If, however, God’s goal is for us to learn to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, it makes sense that both the law and the grace are the teachers God puts in place for us. We tend to like to think in simple terms, that the law might be a teacher, but grace is when we get to sing, “Schools out …for the summer!” Isn’t it?

          Helen Keller told a story of a day when her tormentor, Anne Sullivan held her hand under water and repeatedly spelled, “W.A.T.E.R.” We see the law as Anne Sullivan. I’ve said before that sin separates. Helen Keller’s blindness and deafness were not because of her sinfulness, but they illustrate sinfulness well. They separated her from her world. Anne’s forcible restraint and repetition led to Helen’s grasping that what the hand holding her and the hand spelling into hers meant was a moment of grace. The “law” didn’t change. But her understanding of what the law was doing did. From then on, what had been law was grace and more grace; words and more words, connecting her to the world around her. Law and grace serve the same purpose. Could they be two sides of the same coin?