The Purposes of the Law

To reveal God's righteous and holy standard
Lev. 19:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 ÒSpeak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ÒYou shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
Lev. 19:37 ÔYou shall thus observe all My statutes, and all My ordinances, and do them: I am the LORD.ÕÓ
Lev. 11:44 ÔFor I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.
1Pet. 1:15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, ÒYou shall be holy, for I am holy.Ó
To provide a principles of life for Israel (individually)
Rom. 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
Lev. 11:44 ÔFor I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. 45 ÔFor I am the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be holy for I am holy.ÕÓ
Lev. 19:2 ÒSpeak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ÒYou shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
Lev. 20:7 ÔYou shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. 8 ÔAnd you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
Lev. 20:26 ÔThus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.
To provide a principles of life for Israel (nationally)
Lev. 23:1 The LORD spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 ÒSpeak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ÔThe LORDÕs appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations Ñ My appointed times are these: 3 ÔFor six days work may be done; but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.
Lev. 23:4 ÔThese are the appointed times of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. 5 ÔIn the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORDÕs Passover. .........
-- the seven holy seasons of Israel is one example --
To set apart God' chosen people
Lev. 11:44 ÔFor I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. 45 ÔFor I am the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be holy for I am holy.ÕÓ
Deut. 7:6 ÒFor you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Deut. 14:1 ÒYou are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 2 ÒFor you are a holy people to the LORD your God; and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
To create a wall to Gentiles
Eph. 2:11 Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ÒUncircumcisionÓ by the so-called ÒCircumcision,Ó which is performed in the flesh by human hands Ñ 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
To reveal sin
Rom. 3:19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Rom. 5:20 And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Rom. 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ÒYou shall not covet.Ó
To increase sin
Rom. 4:15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
Rom. 5:20 And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Rom. 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ÒYou shall not covet.Ó 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9 And I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11 for sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. 12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
1Cor. 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
To display the incapacity of the sinner
Rom. 7:14 For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
To drive one to saving faith
Rom. 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Gal. 3:24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.