Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17 NRSV Bible)
Paul had spent much of his life trying to save himself through strict adherence to the Law. But somehow, this was not enough. It never is.

Robert Ingersoll was a famous agnostic. He enjoyed arguing, particularly with Christian clergymen. One day Ingersoll was conversing with Charles Horace Talmage, one of the great preachers of the day, about Connecticut's blue laws--laws forbidding certain activities on Sunday.

"Would you like to live in a community, Mr. Talmage," Ingersoll asked, "where not one cigar could be smoked and not one drop of liquor could be drunk?"

"Certainly," said Talmage, "that would be a social heaven."

"And you would like to live," Ingersoll continued, "where no one could play on the Sabbath day and where everyone had to go to church?"

"Yes, sir," Talmage declared, "that would suit me. It would be paradise to live in a community where everyone was compelled to go to church on Sunday, where no one could drink a drop . . . and where the law would make every person good . . . "

"And you think such a person would be a good Christian?" Ingersoll asked, "A better man than I am?"

"Why, of course," Talmage responded.

"Then," said Mr. Ingersoll, "I advise you to go to the penitentiary. At Sing Sing there is a community of fifteen hundred men and women governed in precisely that manner. They are all good by law."

Talmage learned a lesson that day. Being good simply because it is required has no saving power. That was a discovery that Paul also made--keeping the Law by itself would never fill his deepest need. Of course, Paul did keep the law. He knew that though the Law was imperfect, it still was necessary.

Dear Jesus, may the commandments of God guide me to your salvation. Amen.

Ron Newhouse

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