Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 4 Study # 2
April 29, 2012
Dayton, Texas
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<169> Thesis: The Law actually distorts the "truth" about God and, thus, must not be the "defining" message. Introduction: In our first study of this paragraph, we noted that the essence of "Law" is its identity as a revelation of the Justice of God and man's abysmal lack of conformity to it. The purpose of this identity was to force men to return to the ancient promise(s) so that a real relationship could exist between God and men. This evening we are going to look into Paul's description of the origins of that "Law" and ask ourselves what his point may be. Clearly, it is Paul's intention to downplay "Law" as a handmaid to "Promise" and to make any use of "Law" for the purpose of enabling a healthy relationship between God and man a bad idea. But, the "Law" did have an extremely impressive beginning (thunder, darkness, lightning, and terror -- Hebrews 12:21) and a long run historically, while "Promise" obviously came off as weak and ineffective once the memories of Abraham's exploits as a believer dimmed. Paul's argument is that inheritance in the Eternal Kingdom of the Great God of Glory is rooted exclusively in "Promise" and that "Law" not only strips one of such an inheritance, it positively destroys any who would seek to gain such by its means. So, how does he address the human default to "obedience" and "Law"?