{"id":5395,"date":"2013-01-31T01:00:49","date_gmt":"2013-01-31T09:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/?p=5395"},"modified":"2013-01-30T23:56:56","modified_gmt":"2013-01-31T07:56:56","slug":"the-law-as-a-door-to-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.doorposts.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/31\/the-law-as-a-door-to-the-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Law as a Door to the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAll have sinned and fall short of the glory of God\u201d <\/em>(Romans 3:23). <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.\u201d<\/em> (Romans 6:23)<\/p>\n

\"\"Are you teaching your children the Ten Commandments?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those ten concise commandments encompass\u00a0every sin we or our children could ever think of committing.<\/em><\/p>\n

The same commandments also make it quite clear that\u00a0we will never please God in our own strength<\/em>. We will never measure up to God\u2019s perfect standard.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wish we had more purposefully pointed our children to the Ten Commandments as we were instructing and disciplining them.<\/strong> I think we missed a prime opportunity to drench them in the gospel.<\/p>\n

Taking our children to the Ten Commandments when they sin gives us endless opportunities to lead them to the cross<\/strong>. We can show them what God requires. Then, as we lovingly help them see how they have transgressed or neglected to obey God\u2019s holy requirements, we can joyfully point them to Jesus, their only<\/em> hope. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus did what they can\u2019t do. <\/strong>He lived a perfect life, <\/strong>and then, on the cross, He paid the penalty that we deserve for our sin. His perfect sacrifice satisfied God\u2019s justice, and through faith in Christ\u2019s death, we<\/em> are made perfect in God\u2019s sight. \u201c<\/em>For our sake he made him to be sin<\/em> <\/em><\/strong>who knew no sin, so that in him we might become<\/em> <\/em><\/strong>the righteousness of God\u201d <\/em>(2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV).<\/em><\/p>\n

When God looks at us, He sees Jesus. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Our children, just like their parents, will sin again and again. We can scold and discourage them as we simply tell them what they have done wrong and punish them for it. This will probably lead them to try harder (in their own self-righteous strength) or to just give up.<\/p>\n

Or we can point them to God\u2019s holy standard, correct them, encourage them to put their faith in Jesus, and then help them remember their position in Him<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Try this over the next few days as you discipline your children:<\/strong><\/p>\n