Moses's law serves as both grace and conviction, showing believers their continuous need for salvation through Christ. Before Sinai, God responded to Israel's complaints with provision. After Sinai, similar transgressions met severe judgment, revealing how the law exposed sin's gravity.

The law remains vital for believers today for three key reasons:

1. It fights moralism by revealing God's true, unattainable standards rather than watered-down human rules. When we preach God's actual commands in their fullness, it prevents self-righteousness and reveals our dependence on grace.

2. It drives believers to rely on the Holy Spirit by showing the impossibility of obedience through human effort alone. Like the initial path to salvation, ongoing sanctification requires continual repentance and dependence on God's power.

3. It magnifies Christ's beauty by contrasting our sin with His perfect righteousness. Only when we grasp the law's crushing demands can we fully appreciate the gospel's liberating promise.

While believers are no longer under the law's condemnation (Romans 8:1-2), they need its ongoing conviction to grow in grace and appreciation for Christ's work. The law serves as both a gracious mirror revealing our continued need for salvation and a guide driving us to depend on Christ's perfect righteousness.

As Ralph Erskine wrote: "A rigid matter was the law, demanding brick, denying straw, But when with gospel tongue it sings, it bids me fly and gives me wings."

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