WHAT PURPOSE DOES THE LAW SERVE
"MOREOVER, the law entered that THE OFFENSE MIGHT ABOUND. BUT WHERE SIN ABOUNDED, GRACE ABOUNDED MUCH MORE."
Romans 5:20 (NKJV)
The law came in, or was introduced, to create the awareness of sin. Without the law, humans would not know how rotten they are and would not agree that they are wrong or entrenched in sin. Through the law, man knows he has a need, there is a law in him making him to live contrary to God's Will or Word (Romans 7:7-10,15-25).
Where there is no law, there is no sin (Romans 5:13). In other words, If there was no law that created the awareness of sin, whatever wrong done by anyone would be considered a right thing (Romans 7:7,10). However, the defect of the law is that it did create the awareness of sin, that man is a sinner, but proffered or offered no solution to the problem of sin (Galatians 3:19,21,23).
This is where the need for a propitiation or atoning sacrifice (1 John 2:1,2), a redeemer or messiah came in. The redeemer came in the person of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2). Grace to be delivered from the power of sin and live above sin is gotten through faith in the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 4:24,25; 10:9,10; Galatians 2:16; 3:22-25).
Because without Christ Jesus no one can access or get to God the Father (John 14:6). It is through His name that God can be reached or accessed (Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5,6).
Thus, whoever is observing the Old Testament law as they do in other religions of the world—Judaism, Islam, and others—cannot access God the Father, except through Christ Jesus:
1 BRETHREN, MY HEART'S DESIRE, AND PRAYER TO GOD FOR ISRAEL IS THAT THEY MAY BE SAVED.
2 FOR I BEAR THEM WITNESS THAT THEY HAVE A ZEAL FOR GOD, BUT NOT ACCORDING TO KNOWLEDGE.
3 FOR THEY BEING IGNORANT OF GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND
SEEKING TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, HAVE NOT
SUBMITTED TO THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD.
4 FOR CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS TO EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES" (Romans 10:1-4 NKJV).
Those in Judaism and other religions of the world, where they rigidly follow and observe the Old Testament law and pattern of worship, are seeking to establish their own righteousness, but
Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the end of the law of righteousness.
The point is, the coming of Jesus Christ terminated, or brought an end to, the practice of ritualistic sacrifices of the Old Testament that are meant to appease God and be justified by Him (Hebrews 9:9,10).
But, no one can be justified by the practice of the law, except by faith in Christ Jesus:
15 WE WHO ARE JEWS BY NATURE, AND NOT SINNERS OF THE GENTILES,
16 KNOWING THAT A MAN IS NOT JUSTIFIED BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW BUT BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, EVEN WE HAVE BELIEVED IN CHRIST JESUS, THAT WE MIGHT BE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH IN CHRIST AND NOT BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW; FOR BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW NO FLESH SHALL BE JUSTIFIED" (Galatians 2:15,16 NKJV).
Thus, if you claimed to be born-again and you are still living by the Old Testament principles found in the Bible, it means you are trying to establish your own righteousness which rendered the
substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ Jesus for salvation of mankind useless (Galatians 5:4,5; Hebrews 10:29).
Of course God would not want anyone, who claims to be born again, do that. He would want every believer in Him through Christ Jesus to daily live according to His principles that are found in the Bible—particularly in the new testament.
Peace.