Does having rules make us better people?
The Jewish people have always valued the law of Moses very highly. It is seen as eternal and perfect, the guide for how we are to honour God. This appreciation for the law can logically lead people to think that simply having the rules will make us better people. After all, if we have God’s guidelines for life in front of us, surely that means we will live better lives!
This is not only a Jewish line of reasoning. It is something that was very prominent in the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries. A significant outcome from this period was the importance of education. If only we increased the literacy and education of the world’s population, the world would move closer and close to the humanistic ideal. The big problem with the world was seen as people simply not knowing any better.
The modern self-help movement continues this theme. Do you have a problem in your life? This website of life-hacks will help you. This podcaster with their sage advice will put you on the right track. If only you find the right life coach or blogger who can give you the information you need, you will be a better person.
Yet there is a problem with what seems so logical. It is not true. Having more rules and more information does not make you or I any better.
Paul argues in this way in Galatians:
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
(Galatians 3:21-22 ESV)
Paul points out that the law does not actually lead to life, to being right with God. Instead, the law imprisons us. It makes us realise how bad we are and how we need help to be free and to be better.
Let me explain. The Jewish people of the Old Testament had the law of Moses for most of their history. Did that mean they were the perfect people who lived really well in God’s eyes? Well, no. The Old Testament is a story of disappointment and unfaithfulness so often, with God’s people turning from Him and doing what they wanted instead of what God wanted. The issue was not the rules; the problem was something deeper.
Similarly, the increase in education of the world since the Enlightenment has not led to a peaceful utopia. The world is full of disagreements and poverty and corruption and war, and not because people are unaware that these things are bad.
It is the same with Christians today. Most of the time we don’t sin because we don’t know any better. Often we do know better. Christians who fall into lust or greed don’t do this because they are ignorant. We know better, yet we sin anyway. The rule show us how far short we are from God’s standards. They show us, to use the language of Galatians 3, that we are imprisoned. We cannot get out to be free and have a better life by having more or better rules.
The deeper, more profound problem is sin. All of us are sinners. We are incapable of being right with God through our own actions. So often, our thoughts lead us to selfishness and greed, not godliness and faithfulness. Knowing God’s rules helps us to see our problems more clearly.
And more than this, the law makes us realise that we need help to be free from the prison of sin. We need Jesus. It is only Jesus who can fulfill the law perfectly and rescue His people from our distress. It is only the work of God that makes us better people, not a better education.
God’s rules are good. The law is perfect. The problem is us; we are not perfect, not by a long way. We must not focus on the rules, for they can never save us; they were not designed to do that. Instead, we should focus on Jesus whom the law leads to. It is only Jesus who can save lawbreakers like us.