Beyond the title 'Law', May 29
Contents
2005.5.29.
Romans 3:21-31
Beyond the ‘law’
limits of the law
We often say, "Let's do it according to the law!" when there is a conflict between people. This means that ‘the rule of law’ is the best. It makes sense to argue that society is in trouble because people do not obey the law. It is clear that acts such as cheating (cheating) by students taking exams, tax evasion through bribes, and illegal real estate speculation are all making our society sick. Of course, there is no place in human society without such illegality, but in view of the economic level, there are too many such irregularities and illegalities in our country. Perhaps the reason for this is that the military regime, which seized power by any means, and the economic supremacy that all you need to make money regardless of cost have dominated this society for too long. In this respect, it is correct to argue that at least the ‘law’ should take center stage if this society is to function soundly.
However, if you take a little look inside this legal positivism, you can see how empty that argument is. Isn't the problem in our society right now that legal acts are far more serious than illegal and unscrupulous acts? The Yushin Constitution was also a law. As seen in the Inhyukdang case, the Supreme Court justices sentenced people to death for unfairly falsely falsely accused of being a spy. It's not so far off that judges who hold laws sacred have imprisoned or killed people for the rest of their lives in the name of those laws. Even today, the illegality disguised as such a law continues. Other than that, according to the Employment Promotion Act for the Disabled, companies with more than 300 (?) employees are required to employ more than 3% (?) of the disabled. However, very few companies adhere to these laws. Instead, they act legally by paying a fine.
I am not here this morning to accuse this society of corruption or to lament the inhumane behavior of our society. The act of blatantly disregarding the law or evil anti-social behavior disguising the law is not that the law is wrong, but rather that there is something fundamentally wrong with humans. It is necessary to make good laws in the National Assembly, but that does not solve human problems. This is because the law is only the minimum safeguard for running this society, but it is powerless to change human beings themselves. If we take the law as absolute, which has little power on a fundamental level, we will end up in a vicious circle.
limits of the law
Paul, who knew the Jewish and Roman laws more accurately than anyone else, also pointed out the limits of these laws, that is, the limits of the law. “But now the way has been revealed through which God puts man in the right relationship with him. It has nothing to do with the law. The Law and the Prophets prove this very fact” (verse 21). It is surprising that Paul, who was particularly devoted to the law among the Pharisees, and who was familiar with the greatness of Roman law that made many colonies on the Mediterranean coast systematically moved, insisted on the limits of the law in this way. What does Paul mean by this claim that the law is meaningless in gaining a right relationship with God?
But Paul is convinced that the laws that such model students must follow have no meaning in their relationship with God. Don't you think it's a bit strange? Does this mean that Christians are free to live their own lives regardless of the law? It can't be. Paul is not talking about the use of the law, but pointing out its fundamental limitations. Laws are, at best, of relative value. Still, you might think that the law is far better than nothing. Of course, it does look like that. Exemplary and worthwhile conduct is encouraging because it warms our hearts and sometimes touches us all. However, if such an act is made absolute, it becomes worse than nothing. It is saying that if we absolutize things that are not absolute, our lives will eventually be distorted.
Do you know why the law is relative? This means that human behavior itself cannot escape such relativity. Let's think about prayer. Which prayer is the most beautiful? In some churches, believers pray in a relay system, either year after year or over several years, just because they do not turn off the prayer fire on the altar. Or, we hold all-night prayers and even fast. Which prayer is the most precious? What's the difference between praying for one minute a day, praying for an hour, and praying for five hours a day? Such time differences are only relative. Thinking of such a relative difference as an absolute will only undermine the essence of prayer.
Shall we explain this problem in connection with our daily life? Students struggle to get good marks on midterm or end-of-semester exams. 1st and 10th and 30th are different. I deserve praise for putting in a lot of effort and getting better grades than my other friends, but the difference is also only relative. Graduating from Seoul National University and graduating from an unnamed local university is only a relative difference. In this way, human behavior is only slightly better or slightly worse.
However, since God is absolute, his relationship with Him is also absolute. In other words, God is the source of life and the perfection of life. In front of him, there is no big difference between praying a little more or a little less, a little healthier or weaker, a little good or a little bad. Although my two daughters are different, in my view they are the same, so God is with us on an absolute level.
God's righteousness
In this regard, our relationship with God is an event that only God can lead and cause, not an event that we can create. The law has no meaning in God's righteousness because it is just a righteousness we make. The righteousness of God is revealed by God Himself. In other words, the way we can enter into a normal relationship with God lies not in our efforts, but in God's own actions. Paul explains this fact with amazing precision. “For the forgiveness of sins to those who believe in Christ, God offered Christ as a sacrifice to shed blood. In this way God has revealed his justice. In the past, God revealed his justice by patiently overlooking human sin, and today he has shown his justice by asking sin. In this way, God shows that you are upright and that whoever believes in Jesus will put you in a right relationship with you” (verses 25, 26).
It is at this point that we must think and make a decision. Will I depend on my righteousness or will I depend on God's righteousness? If you become a Christian, you may think that you depend on God's righteousness to live, but in reality, living like that is not so simple. Take a look at ourselves. We show all kinds of passion because we want to be recognized by people. He works hard enough to burn himself because he wants to show people that his church is reviving. All of these things are focused on our righteousness. I will not go into detail here about how seriously the church life takes an interest in what is visible to others.
A far more important problem is that Christians try too hard to be recognized by the world. They say that they are the glory of God, but in reality, are there one or two church leaders who show off their children? If he can go to a good university, he is so vicious that he will even make his children fall in love with worship. In this way, whether inside or outside the church, we live by strengthening human righteousness rather than God's righteousness.
righteousness through faith
If God's righteousness, not ours, puts us in a right relationship with God, what should we do now? There is not a single Christian who does not know the answer to this. There is only one thing we can do, 'faith'. Listen to Paul's voice. “So what do we have to offer? Nothing. How did we get our right relationship with God back? Was it because you kept the law well? no. It was done through faith. We are convinced that a person is brought into a right relationship with God through faith, irrespective of the keeping of the law” (vv. 27, 28). Isn't that an amazing confession? Only by faith can we have a right relationship with God. In that sense, justification is a gift, a grace of God.
Although they know the answer to establishing a right relationship with God through faith, few Christians know exactly what it means. Even if they say they know the meaning, there are even fewer people who actually live like that. Because they have no idea what 'faith' is, and they don't even think to know.
Faith is our epistemological decision to accept that we are justified through God's righteousness. It is an attitude of life that actually accepts the fact that God's righteousness, His life, and His rule are in one's life, and entrusts our lives completely to His rule. Doesn't that seem like an easy explanation? It may be easy to say, but entering into that world is not. Because we try to trust ourselves, not the Spirit of life. A lot of people deceive themselves into believing they just believe.
During the year 2000, my family went through many things while traveling in Europe. Sometimes I couldn't find a place to sleep, so I parked my car at a highway rest area and slept in the car. In the rain and thunder and lightning all night long. As I heard later, Ji-ye, who was in high school at the time, was worried about various things, but Ji-eun, who was in 4th year of elementary school, was not worried at all. It was because he believed that all problems could be solved by having father and mother by their side.
This illustration does not accurately describe our belief in God, but it does provide a basis for it. Solving problems on my own is always limited. What's more, the attitude of life that achieves or sets yourself up only makes us frustrated in the end. That is the essence of the law. It is only God who saves us, that is, draws this life away. Faith is a life in which we understand and believe what he has done through Jesus Christ, and surrender ourselves completely to the righteousness of God. However, as Paul points out in verse 31, we are not deconstructors of the law. It is our Christian faith that we do not ignore the law, but invest all of our lives in the world beyond that.