Keeping the Law?

I read 2 Kings, chapter 2, as part of my quiet time with God this morning. It includes an account of Israel's King David on his deathbed, speaking with his son Solomon, who will succeed him.

David says, “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’" (1 Kings 2:2-4)

Now, if read in one way, this passage is almost laughable. If walking in obedience to God's Laws and commands means conformity to them, David himself failed. He notoriously committed adultery and murder.

But if obedience to God's Law means to turn back to God in repentance when that Law shows us to be the sinners we are, then David's words to Solomon are sensible and good.

We are all sinners. The Bible teaches that we all sin and fall short of God's glory. David himself admitted to having been born a sinner before having perpetrated his first sin (Psalm 51:5). Our entire inborn orientation is to ourselves and our own agendas. Recognizing that truth is important. It drives us to the God we meet in Jesus. Jesus, God AND human, was what C.S. Lewis called, "the perfect penitent." By His death on our behalf, He makes it possible for sinners like me to turn to Him in repentance and faith and be set free of the death I deserve so that I can receive the life only Jesus can give to me.

The only way we can keep God's Law is to recognize that it's right to condemn us and then hide ourselves in the gracious forgiveness of God.

That was true for David and the people of ancient Israel in Old Testament times.

And it's now true for all people today as we call on the God Who throws open His grace and forgiveness to all people in the crucified and risen Jesus.

You and I deserve death and condemnation. But Jesus has borne that for us. He has obeyed God's Law perfectly and covers the human race with the favor of God the Father earned by His perfect obedience.

Trust in that and live in freedom.