We may wonder whether this is to annul the law

We may wonder whether this is to annul the law. Please remember that according to the Bible, the Law requires two things from us.

First, the Law says that he who keeps it shall live (Rom. 10:5). The Law demands us to keep and to do something. Once man keeps it, he will have righteousness. If we have righteousness, we will have the reward, which is life.

But there is a second aspect. The Law says that the day we eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, we shall surely die (Gen. 2:17). The Law's punishment is death for all those who do not keep it. All who fail to keep the Law receive the recompense of not keeping the Law. Hence, the Old Testament principle is clear: the Law required man to keep it and be righteous, and those who did not were condemned and punished.

The Problem of Our Flesh

The problem today is simple: we cannot keep the Law. The Law of God requires that we be righteous, and if we are not, we fail. Only by being righteous can we live. But no man of the flesh is able to keep the Law. None among us can gain righteousness before God through keeping the Law. Once man even touches God’s Law, he will fail.

Paul confirmed this in Romans 7:7, noting that man is unable to keep even one single law—the one concerning covetousness (lust). Paul essentially said, "I am helpless. The lust keeps coming back again and again. It is impossible for me not to have lust."

What it Means to Annul the Law

What, then, is truly annulling the Law?

It is when someone pleads with God, saying, “O God, I cannot keep Your Law today. Please let me go free on account of the Lord Jesus. I have done my best. Please do not punish me.”

All who plead for the Jesus to be lenient or for God to have mercy on them are annulling the Law. They want to avoid both the responsibility of keeping the Law and the punishment the Law demands.

The Triumph of Christ

This is why we have to say, “Praise and thank the Lord that we are already judged in Christ!”

We have borne this judgment and been punished in Christ. God has justly punished us in Christ. Since the Jesus has died, resurrected, and ascended, the salvation we receive now is equivalent to what we would obtain if we perfectly kept the Law. The ones who have already been punished are truly free.