Briefing: Can you name all of the laws, policies, procedures, general directives, codes, ordinances and rules you are required to obey?

Dispatch (Assignment): Take some time to list all of the various civil, legal, and moral laws you are under. Read Romans chapter three.

On the Street: Which is easier, to live by a few rules or to live by an overwhelming amount of rules and regulations? As I was thinking on my own list of rules, I thought about the Ten Commandments, the Constitution of the United States, tax laws, the Texas Penal Code, Traffic Code, Family Code, Health and Safety Code, Department SOP, the rules and regulations set out by my jurisdiction and the city ordinances of every town I drive through to get to work. There are civil rules regulating mortgages, loans, car payments, college tuition and so on. In our home we have rules; clean up after yourself, be kind, feed the animals and so on, again. I won’t begin to get into social laws or rules that govern marriage.

With all these rules, would it ever be possible to live a perfect life? I am not suggesting that any one of us is deliberately violating the law but I am saying that it is impossible to follow every rule that hangs over you. In Psalm 19, David was aware that it was possible to unintentionally violate the law. In verse 12 he wrote, “Who perceives his unintentional sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults.” – Psalm 19:12.

We know we are not perfect people. If we were to forget, the law would be there to remind us like a neon sign. This is the message Paul is trying to get across to us. He says, “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” Romans 7:7.

We are sinners in need of a savior. Without Jesus, we are doomed for Hell. Is your salvation secure with Jesus or do you need His gift of grace, mercy and compassion? He is waiting to accept you no matter how many rules you have broken, all you need to do is cry out to Him in prayer, confess your sin, repent of your sin, believe He died and was resurrected for you. If you do this, seek out a Christian and tell them and get plugged into a local fellowship.

Investigational Resources: Romans 3:21-26.

Officer Safety Principle: The law can’t save you, believe it or not, you are not innocent. You need Jesus to save you. He is the only one who can.

from The Book of Romans Through the Eyes of a Cop
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
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