The Law and Judgment

James 2:12    Santiago 2:12
    “Hablen y pórtense como quienes han de ser juzgandos por la ley que nos da libertad,” NVI

    “So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.” NKJV

    We know as Christians that whatever we do and no matter how hard we try we will never be able to achieve righteousness in God’s eye’s. What’s worse is that the sin we all have committed against God is deserving of death and eternal damnation. The miracle of grace is that we are redeemed from the penalty of the grave by the blood of Jesus, the son of God. Instead of a law that condemns we now have a ‘law that gives us liberty’ (NVI) and that is a law of mercy and love. It’s the same basic law as before, except now that the old one was fulfilled with the perfect sacrifice, we live our lives looking back toward that substitutionary atonement instead of looking forward to it. Instead of coming to the alter with a sacrificial lamb, we come to our knees and beg forgiveness though we have nothing to offer but ourselves, --but God has mercy and us and promises to forgive us again and again.
    But here we are told to act as if we were to be judged by that law--a law impossible for us to keep.

    So before I get into the reasoning behind this statement, how do I obey this? Here James is clearly talking about an old testament law that was there to prove our unrighteousness in the sight of God. This righteousness is impossible to attain and yet we need to strive for it. Not for the sake of saving ourselves, but because God first loved us, and we should now love Him by showing ourselves loyal.
    Aside from the redemptive analogies woven into it (the animal sacrifices, the uncleanness, ect.) which was fulfilled, I need to pay close attention to the law in the old testament and find applications in my own life today.
    I'm going to write down an application from the old testament for at least two times this week.