²⁰ The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Why in the world did God give the Law, if Jesus’ obedience was all that was required for the basis of our justification? Most people (both in Paul’s time and in ours today) have assumed the Ten Commandments (the popular name for the summary given in Exodus 20 of the complete Law of Moses) were given as a means for living a life good enough to be acceptable to God, in hopes that one’s good deeds will outweigh the bad at the final judgment and make him worthy of entry into heaven. Other religions have a similar standard to determine a person’s worthiness for the afterlife.

Ironically, God gave the Law “so that the transgression would increase”! What’s that all about? Why would God want that? The point, in context of everything Paul has shown so far, is that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). The Law serves to demonstrate that no one is good enough. The Law is like a straight edge or a plumb line, which shows how out of alignment we are with God. “Transgression” refers to overstepping the law, and this is identified with “sin” (vs. 20). The transgression of the Mosaic Law unflinchingly, dispassionately, objectively shows the sinfulness of humanity. When the measure is applied, we are all found wanting. The specific instances of being aware of sinful behavior increased because of the Law. In that sense, sin “increased.” It is not that sin occurred somewhat less before the Law came than after it came. The Law came to make us fully aware of our sin, by showing that when God’s requirements are spelled out in detail, we fail.

A man built a house without bothering to check local zoning ordinances. When the floods come, the house was destroyed by water. He wasn’t aware that he built in a flood zone, but his ignorance didn’t prevent the catastrophe. Had he checked the appropriate town codes, he may have discovered that problem before he built. Then, had he gone ahead and built the house, the results would have still been the same, but he would have been without excuse. In the first case, he would have been guilty of not even caring about gaining a knowledge of the town ordinances; in the second case he would have been guilty of disregarding the town ordinances. Either way he is the type of person who disregards the building code. So also with sin, the Law came so that we would have no excuse.

Lord, thank You for freeing me from the slavery of the Law which condemns.