The purpose of the law

Prior to the fall man had a moral ability. He was able to keep the law of God in order for his acceptance. Thats why it says in Gal, that those who live by the law will die by the law. So the law was the standard for mans being qualified to share in the relationship with God in the garden. Man was always under that obligation to keep the whole law. There was a tension as if it was a test to see if man could continue to keep the righteous standard of Gods requirements in order to obtain eternal life by upholding the standard and continuing in his obedience. When the serpent came on the seen man was fully able to resist that temptation by the power of his will in order to pass that test and fulfill his obligations. But man chose to have a knowledge of evil and being under the bondage of evil. The temptation was not wrong, that is having a new knowledge of evil. But being overtaken by the evil in that knowledge was not the design that man was intended to fall into.

If man would have not eaten of the tree, then he would have been able to enjoy the tree of life as being righteous without the ability to sin. But when man gave into the temptation then he became corrupted in all of his parts and died spiritually. And in his new view of himself after his corruption man was self conscious under a new power. He was under the power of guilt ,shame and fear as a result of falling under the power of sin. Instead of seeking God out, man was thought for the first time that he could hide from God. Man was darkened in his understanding and now thought that he could live by the law. Man tried to live by the law apart from Gods forgiveness. Man became self righteous. He was so blinded by sin that he actually thought that he could and did fulfill the requirements of the law by his own works in making his own garments.

This is the state of man in his blindness. He really believes that he can be righteous by keeping the law. But God says that the law only has one function for man since man no longer has the moral ability to do moral good. The law only shows man his sin. The law works death in man. The law is made to show man his sin by awakening his conscience to its requirements condemning him by the conscience voice of condemnation. The law an the conscience bring sin to be alive. Since man really believes that he is good, the law and its requirements bring man to understand that he is not good.

Man tries to feel sorrow for breaking the law, but the law only makes man feel as if his apologies are useless. The law and the conscience work to keep man from seeking forgiveness by grace. Because man is dead in sins and trespasses, then man cannot obtain grace in order to be able to meet the requirements of the law. Man only wants to keep the law by doing something to meet the requirements and then having a view of himself that he is able in himself to receive the good graces of others and of his god by doing the requirement or something to reconcile himself that he made up for breaking it.The more he tries to obey the law the more he must quiet his conscience since the conscience can only be quieted by grace and not by works.

Man is always trying to get into Gods good graces by this work. This work apart from the Spirit of God is the cause of all false religions in the world. Man obtaining righteousness by his own way in his own time. Man cannot obtain real righteousness apart from the saving work of Christ. So that the more self righteous man tries to live by the more he is obnoxious to the work of Christ. If you live by the law you will die by the law.
Thats why man must turn to Christ, or be regenerated and made righteous by grace through faith. The only way man can enjoy true freedom is apart from the works of the law. Christ has come and has made man completely righteous by imputing His righteousness to mans account. There is no work by the law that is good enough to obtain this righteousness. This righteousness is imputed once for all. It is not given out over time, it is not according to each work of man, it is not making man righteous in himself, it does not give man the ability to obey the law. It is only by grace through faith.