Can anyone keep the law of God perfectly?
Since the fall, no mere human has been able to keep the law of God perfectly, but consistently breaks it in thought, word, and deed.
It is apparent that we are in trouble! God demands perfect obedience to His revealed will, but we are unable to comply. We are transgressors, sinners. What are we to do? There is only one human being who perfectly obeyed God’s law: Jesus Christ. Jesus took his perfectly obedient life and offered as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve. Now there is a new commandment that supersedes all others: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (forgiven, acquitted, welcomed).
Belief is part fact and part posture. The facts to be believed are summarized in the words of the Apostle’s creed: I believe “in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.” These are the facts of faith, the things that happened in history, but by themselves they cannot save us. We must not only give mental assent to the facts of the Gospel, we must also trust ourselves to the Gospel. Think of the example of a couch. If the parts of a couch represent the facts of faith, stretching out on the couch, trusting it to support our weight, is the posture of faith.
You can’t obey God’s law perfectly, but you can trust in Jesus who obeyed perfectly for you. You can stretch yourself out and rest on Him. Friends believe the good news! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Amen.