Anarchy

Romans 4:15 (NIV) "because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression."

(NLT) "For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)"

(ESV) "For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression."

Three ways to say the same thing: Without law, there would be no sin. Everything would be acceptable because nothing would be unacceptable. The word "anarchy" comes to my mind when reading this verse. I looked it up on dictionary.com. It says (among other things): "confusion; chaos; disorder". The origin is "lawlessness, lit., lack of a leader, equiv. to ánarch(os) leaderless". Yet another says: "Absence of any cohesive principle, such as a common standard or purpose."

When God created the universe, He also enacted the laws of the universe. Like....gravity - we stay on earth and don't float away because He created gravity. He created the laws of physics, mathematics, relativity, scientific, nature, etc so the planets don't bump into each other, and so there is human life on Earth. Whatever laws govern the universe were created, implemented, instituted by God. Try to think about any bit of creation without some laws governing it. For example, what if parents came after children? What if the melting mountain snow didn't flow down hill to the rivers below? Wouldn't there be chaos, confusion, disorder?

Okay, now think about this: what if God hadn't given humans any laws? When we walked in the Garden, we didn't need more laws than "stay away from that tree". But after the tree (or Law) was violated, human chaos flourished. Read the Old Testament. People were bad. Orgies. Human Sacrifices. Prostitution as a form of worship. Lots of really ungodly things. So God handed down laws so we'd know. It was a short list, just ten things having to do with a relationship with Him, each other and ourselves. Obedience to these laws will keep us from chaos, disorder, and confusion. Laws are the way to have a common, universal sense of what is acceptable and what is not.

He gave us the list for two reasons (maybe more). 1) so we would know what is Godly and what is not. 2) to put some order to the human chaos that was rampant. If God had not told us what the laws were, we would be clueless. We would have no idea how to get to God. We wouldn't know who or if to punish because there would be no standard to look to. Because of the Law, and then later because of Jesus, we know how to treat God, ourselves and one another.

Law (according to dictionary.com) is "the principles ......by some authority and applicable to its people...", "the controlling influence", "an act of the supreme....", "a rule or principle of proper conduct...", "a rule or manner of behavior". Which came first the chicken (Law) or the egg (sin)? I'd say that the Law was already there - because God was already there. Because there is God, there is a standard of behavior, a standard of good versus bad, a standard of love. God simply told us what that Law or standard was. At that point, we then knew that to do the opposite was sinful.

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Forgive us our trespasses and help us forgive others who trespass against us. Be merciful despite our unlawful ways. Teach us. Lead us. Open our eyes to Your standard. Amen.

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