Guiltless in Christ

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. James 2:10-11

“The Law” is not “the laws.” What is meant by that is that “the Law” includes all of the laws contained therein. Break one and you have broken “the Law” even though you have not broken everyone of the laws that make up “the Law.”

What difference does that make? We cannot consider ourselves less guilty because we have only broken some laws. Nor are we less guilty because we have broken only [what we might consider to be] minor laws. There is only “the Law,” which, if broken in any way, renders the offender to be guilty of breaking the entire “Law:”

Think of “the Law” as a chain. You are hanging onto the bottom link of the chain. How many links above need to be broken before you fall? One. That is how “the Law” works.

Is the point of this merely to accentuate our guilt? Though it does do that, let us also see how this truth exalts our Savior. Jesus kept “the Law” perfectly—never breaking even one of the laws that make up “the Law.” (He is the only one ever to do this!) He did it not only to be worthy to die for His people’s sins, but also to supply those who trust in Him with His perfect righteousness. When the Father looks at those who are in Christ, He sees us as never having broken any laws and therefore as never having broken “the Law.”

That is why “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” Romans 8:1