Consistency And The Law

Pastor Bill Farrow

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Some might argue that the idea that we must be consistently obedient & fulfilling the requirements of spirituality is a function of law rather than of grace. On the surface & from a certain point of view, they could, arguably, be correct.

Obeying the command of God, any command of God, is a function of Law. God is indeed God & He is the supreme authority in the Universe; there is no escaping that. He is in control of His universe & there is nothing that occurs that is not a part of His plan. This being so we must conclude that anything that we do is a part of that plan (thouqh not all is  that which His preference desires). If we do that which God has commanded, then what we do can be termed obedience. As such, our interaction with Him can be thought of in terms of obedience.

There are at least two avenues we need to explore in this regard. First, one may suggest that the motive for doing a thing is a determiner between the two. This, however, cannot be as that particular knife would cut both ways. If obedience is tempered or qualified by motivation, that is not a work of law if we don't "mean" it to be, then the force of the law is lessened tremendously & there is great excuse given for sin & disobedience to those who "meant well" or whose sin was not motivated by deliberate intent. This is clearly denied in the Scripture.

Second, one could suggest that intent is a determiner. If our intent was to obey, but we were prevented for one reason or on other, or by one cause or another, then some would argue that ultimately any failure to obey is mitigated or even negated entirely. The problem here is two-fold in nature. First, it doesn't view the nature of the Law as absolute, but rather as relative to another standard. For the Law to be the Law, it precisely must not be relative. It must be absolute and inflexible. If it is not, then we are not talking any longer about Law, but about principle or ideal. The Law, by nature, cannot allow for intention to obey.

Also, if fails to recognize the flawed nature of man. We are such complex creatures that we virtually never are motivated by a single thing. Very often, conflicting motives war within us and one wins out over another that conflicts. Men frequently are motivated by more than one intention. Often, one or more of these intents are selfish. It is very often the case that we do the right thing for all of the wrong reasons. For these and other reasons we are forced to see that intentions are not the standard by which we ought to measure such things.

The bottom line is that motivation and intent are irrelevant as far as the Law is concerned. The Law is an objective statement of the definite character Of God. Because God's character is absolute, and never changes; so also we must view the Law as being absolute and unchanging.