Begin with two minutes of stillness and silence before God.

Judas Priest released their song, “Breaking the Law”, in 1980. If you breathe oxygen, you can probably relate to at least 70% of this song. For mankind, it is just as easy to break the law as it is to write a song in 1980 about breaking the law. Judas Priest just needed long hair and some cool guitar riffs to break the law and mankind just needs a pulse. Our sinful nature makes it impossible.

Paul is trying to explain that the promise we spoke about yesterday delivers us from the bondage of the Law. Wait, aren’t laws a good thing? The Law in the Bible had two roles. In one way, it acted as a magnifying glass on Israel’s sin. The Law exposed how Israel shared in the sinful human condition and constantly rebelled against God’s Law. The Law, which is good, ended up declaring Israel guilty and all humanity with them. It also acted as a strict teacher that kept the Israelites in line until the coming of the promised offspring, Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus came and fulfilled the Law on our behalf because we, like Judas Priest, could not stop breaking the Law.

In verse 24, he says, “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith”. Justified? Is that one of those church words we hear every Sunday and don’t fully understand? Why yes, it is. To be justified is to be made right with God. Again, Jesus handled that for us by fulfilling the Law with His perfect, sinless life, becoming the perfect sacrifice and dying for our sins. Paul personifies the Law as a jailer of the guilty, condemned, sinners who are on death row awaiting God’s judgment. Only saving faith unlocks the prison door that keeps men bound. We are no longer under that strict teacher since faith has come.

In verse 29, we see the part about all the families being blessed from yesterday. It says, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” The Gentile believers didn’t necessarily have a bloodline in common with a great, great, great to the 9th exponential grandfather Abraham, but we're like his spiritual children in the sense that they followed the example of his faith. We are adopted into the family by this very faith. Thank God for a perfect Jesus to come and save us!

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• Remember we are called to follow the teachings of the Bible, but recognize we can’t uphold the Law. We have a Savior who did so perfectly, and it is in Him whom our faith resides.
  
• Read Romans 8:1-11.
  
• Prayer: God, we put our faith in You and You alone. We were never worthy, but You sent Your Son to pay a debt He did not owe because we could not. May we never forget that truth and may You strengthen our faith through Your Word daily. We love You. Amen.