"Therefore [is] the law against the promises [of God]? May it not come to be! For if law given the being able to make alive, indeed out of law ever was the righteousness.’
-An excellent question, this. Given the current line of reasoning, one might conclude that the law might somehow be at cross purposes with the promise of God. The law results in a curse, not a blessing. It is not of faith in any way whatsoever. Yet Paul’s emphatic response? May it never be! No way! Paul as much as says here that in fact, if there was any way that a law could have given life, then righteousness would have been based on (achieveable through) law, on keeping that to the best of one’s ability. But therein lies the ultimate difficulty - even on our best days we fall way short. The problem is not with the law - it is me. Left to my own devices, my own efforts, I will forever fall woefully short. Because life, the life of God, life lived with Him in paradise, requires perfection. Perfect love, perfect peace and patience, perfect joy and gratitude and mercy - this is not within the scope of my abilities to attain by keeping any law in a thousand million lifetimes. But the law is not bad or in any way contrary to the purposes and promises of God. The law highlights in stark relief how high is the standard of righteousness and how great is my need for a Savior. It points us to the promises...! We just need to be reminded that our ultimate objective is not to try and perfectly keep the entire law but rather to trust fully in the One Who fulfilled it perfectly. The baby is not bad at all in other words, we just have to change out the bath water...
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