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"The law brings about wrath..."

Text: Romans 4:15

TWO ASPECTS OF THE LAW

The Laws Moses gave to Israel had two aspects. In Deuteronomy both aspects were carefully delineated (Cf. Leviticus 27; Deuteronomy 27-28).

1. Blessings

a) Great blessings were promised

b) These blessings were promised:-

i) To the individual

ii) To the family

iii) To the nation

c) Nature of these blessings

i) Physical and material

ii) Spiritual

2. Curses would befall those who disobeyed the law

a) No one was exempted

b) Progressive punishment warned if Israel kept disobeying God (Cf. Leviticus 27)

A FEARSOME ASPECT OF THE LAW

Paul had to highlight an aspect of the law that was often downplayed by Jewish scholars who advocated and insisted in the slavish keeping of the law of Moses.

“Because the law brings about wrath;
for where there is no law there is no transgression.”
Romans 4:15

To those who advocated the system of keeping the law as a means of obtaining justification from God, Paul had these solemn words of warning- “the law brings about wrath”.

Israel should know this for a fact! The nation had experienced the wrath of God time and again, because of transgression of the law. There was no escaping the fact that the nation had been disciplined by God because it violated Divine laws. These laws served to highlight the transgressions of the nation.