Free From the Law

Today I began reading Pilgrim's Progress and was struck by something before I had even finished the first page. "I saw a man dressed in rags standing in a certain place and facing away from his own house. He had a Book in his hand and a great burden on his back. As I looked, I saw him open the Book and read out of it, and as he read he wept and trembled. Unable to contain himself any longer, he broke out with a sorrowful cry, saying, "What shall I do?"

This reminded me of part of Romans 7:7, which says "Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin." Here stands Pilgrim reading the law, a burden on his back that he has no power to remove, and clothed in filthy rags. It is the law, and the realization that no one is capable of keeping it, that causes unregenerate men to become conscious of their burden of sin and their filthy rags. Weeping, trembling, and sorrow follows, for they now know that something must be done about the burden, the rags, and the broken laws. Their hearts cry out as Pilgrim did, "What shall I do?" All men must be brought to this point before repentance, regeneration, and justification can follow. I am so glad that Pilgrim's story and the Gospel don't end there! "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2

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Free from the law--O happy condition,
Jesus has bled, and there is remission;
Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,
Christ has redeemed us once for all!