How does one abuse God’s Commandments? That seems like an easy question. You abuse God’s Commandments by breaking them. However, there is another way to abuse God’s Commandments—by striving to not break them in an effort to win God’s favor and earn our place in heaven. The second abuse is infinitely worse than the first, as it sets aside God’s perfect plan of salvation for a completely different plan that will never work.

Satan often works by turning a blessing into a curse. God intended for his law to serve as a mirror, enabling us to see our sin and thus our need for a Savior. Satan would have us believe the law is more like a ladder, and that with focused effort we can climb our way up to God. This misguided belief leaves us in one of two undesirable places. Either we are overwhelmed with guilt when we realize we cannot climb that ladder, or we are swelling with damnable pride because we think we are near the top rung. We conclude our Lenten series by calling out: “Lord, have mercy, for abusing your Commandments!” We rest secure in the gospel truth that since Christ was lifted high on a cross, we don’t need to try and lift ourselves up to God. God’s favor, salvation, an eternity in heaven—these things are already ours! Our attempts to obey the Commandments can therefore flow from gratitude, not desperation.