The Law Of Grace

If you've spent much time at all reading the Bible, you've probably experienced reading a passage you've surely read before but gotten a completely new insight into it's meaning than you've ever gotten before.

I've been reading through Paul's letters during my daily reading over the past few days and there is much talk of The Law of Moses vs. Grace. He talks about the fulfillment of The Law at times and seems to talk like the law no longer applies at others. As I have read it, I've found myself being able to understand the different sides of the argument but I finally found a passage that spells it out pretty clearly.

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from 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. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. -- Romans 7:7-13

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. -- Romans 7:21-25

What this means to me is this:

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the law, but because we can't possibly go without sinning we are incapable of meeting the demands of the law which puts us directly in line with God's wrath. That's where Jesus comes in. Because Jesus took human form and accepted punishment for crimes he didn't commit, our belief in Him means we are set free from that wrath and, instead, in line with grace.