On my way to Roanoke the other day, while approaching Boones Mill, I noticed the police officer for that town was heading the opposite direction. As most of you know, that town has only one officer, who is notorious for giving speeding tickets. Well, now was my chance. I knew he was not going to be in town and I could travel through there just as fast as I wanted to go. There was no danger of being apprehended by the law, and I was free to break it. Now, that little town is a congested place and the speed limit is 45 mph. As I began to drive a little over the limit, it occurred to me that 45 was a good and safe speed. I judged the law to be a fair and just one, created for the good and safety of all. So I slowed down to the legal limit; and as I did so, this scripture came to mind, "THE LAW IS HOLY, AND THE COMMANDMENT HOLY, AND JUST, AND GOOD" (Rom. 7:12).
Every command and precept of God's law is holy, just, and good. There is nothing unfair or unnecessarily strict about God's law. Just because we have a hard time keeping it doesn't make the law unfair or too strict. "Was then that which is good made death to me? God forbid" (v13). The problem lies in the "weakness of the flesh" (8:3). The believer "delights in the law of God" (7:22). And the believer endeavors to keep the law of God, BUT NOT IN ORDER TO BE SAVED. The law is too strict and requires absolute perfection in thought, word, and deed. Therefore, "with man it is impossible" (man is too sinful) to be saved by keeping the law. And to "offend in one point is to be guilty of all" (James 2:10). This is why Paul said, "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?" (Gal. 4:21). While the law is holy, just, and good, it is a "curse" to every human being. The law itself is not a curse, but it curses our inability to keep it. It condemns us and sentences us to death. Thank God, He "sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (3:13).