¹³ And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Temptation to go back to living by the law is a temptation toward vainness. What an absolute irony! Think about it for a minute. The readers for some reason felt that Christ was not enough, they still needed human efforts to keep the Law. After so many hundreds of years of exalting the Law of Moses, (which did in fact come from God), and having it so ingrained in both Israel’s national psyche and the individual Jew’s DNA, how do Jewish believers just walk away from the Law as though it no longer matters. Surely they need the Law all the more, now that Christ has set the example of righteousness to follow.

The irony is that the Law exposes them more and more to the reality that they are absolute failures in living the life that Christ so perfectly exhibited. So, the author intones, why in the world would you want to go back to a system that has caused your failure to begin with? It is through the piercing action of God’s communication (“The Word” in the immediately prior verse) that the human condition is exposed and laid bare before God.

Going back to the Law would be like going back into a boxing ring against an opponent whose blows continually knock us to the canvas. Embracing it is like stepping back into the line of fire. If it shows us that we are sinners and failures in God’s eyes, how do we think that living by the Law, even as Christians, will somehow help our quest in finding spiritual rest. The Law still does the work the Law was designed to do. It shows us the holy standard God expects of us, and shows us that we are failures in that regard. And the Law shows us we need another way to find peace with God, for the Law itself cannot make it happen.

Going back to the Law is like going back to a doctor who only gives us the diagnosis. “You are sick, but sorry there is nothing I can do to help you.” Christ is the solution, the cure. Living by the law is like memorizing the medical books, studying diseases, cures, medicines, herbs, remedies – but not having any of those medicines or remedies on hand. The knowledge of sin and holiness doesn’t help us. What we need is holiness.

Holiness is what Christ provides. The Law exposes our need, it cannot provide the rest of God. Apart from Christ, we are spiritually naked in His eyes. But Christ, the living Word, shows us our need and also provides for our need.