Paul Stewart knew the law. He taught criminal justice at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He held a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. Fellow professors described him in sparkling terms. Stewart even kept law in the family, marrying the assistant dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law.
However, his arrest revealed that years ago he had left behind in New York eight felony convictions from the army! At last report Stewart, his impressive credentials and his spotted past, were united in a Nebraska jail cell.
Interesting situation – Stewart knew the law, he taught the law, he even married the law – the only problem was that he didn’t keep the law.
The Pharisees of Jesus’ day had a similar problem. They knew the law of God and taught it to others. In fact, one could say that in their single-minded devotion to the Torah, they had married the law. But they didn’t keep it, and Jesus branded them “blind guides of the blind.”
Paul, the apostle, knew the law, but he counted everything else as loss “compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” (Philippians 3:8). Knowing Jesus is more than just having a knowledge of Him. It is having a personal relationship that is based on faith. Paul wanted to be found in Christ and have His righteousness, not his own righteousness based on keeping the law (3:9). He concludes that section of Scripture by saying, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in death.” (3:10)
People today know the gospel, can quote scripture, and will even endeavor to teach others, yet they have never personally acknowledged their inadequacy to keep the law, renounced their own self-righteousness and sought the imputed righteousness that faith in Christ brings. Don’t be content to know the law. Know Jesus and seek the borrowed righteousness of the One who fulfilled it, the Savior Jesus.
….Borrowed