(Only Jesus Can Bring Us to Acquittal and Rehabilitation)
The Law of Moses has no power to rehabilitate or acquit. It can only accuse and judge. Take a look at our penal system in the U.S. today. Most people who get released from prison are destined to return, because, like the Law of Moses, the system cannot absolve those who break the law, and focuses primarily on dispensing punishment for their offences, while doing little to encourage rehabilitation. However, God’s love can both acquit (through His Son Jesus) and rehabilitate (by the power of His Holy Spirit).
Under the Law, we were as prisoners of our desires, and felt driven to do what we inevitably regretted. We lived our lives on a merry-go-round of seeking sinful pleasures followed by guilt and then more pleasure-seeking and more guilt. God wants to bring us to a place where we no longer try to refrain from sinning because it’s “wrong”, or because the “rules” tell us not to sin. Instead, He wants us to begin and continue to seek after Him, so that His growing presence in our lives will eclipse our wicked desires, gradually causing them to lose the grip they once had on us.
God does not want us to be bound by the lawfulness or unlawfulness of our conduct at all. When our focus is on following the law, we push God out, limiting our perspective of Him, which then prohibits Him from operating in our lives. Unshackling us from the law, brings us to a place of freedom. Freedom to what? Freedom to totally experience who He is.
Our earlier attempts at adhering to the Law could never accomplish this. In fact, our attempts to live by the Law resulted only in the seesawing relationship with sin we mentioned earlier. However, when we invite God in, and give Him access to our lives, His presence diminishes our corrupt desires to the extent that our primary focus remains on Him. This results in a more permanent and sustainable departure from the lure of sin.