The Law was not God’s master plan. Paul writes that “the Law entered” (Romans 5:20) , not as the main event, but as the necessary spotlight. Grace was always God’s heart. But grace, given before we know our condition, feels cheap. You can’t treasure a gift if you never realise you’re empty-handed.

So God introduced the Law “that the offense might abound” (Romans 5:20) . Not to make you holy, but to make the real problem visible.

Like throwing wood on a fire, the Law is perfect, but man is not. Confront a fallen nature with divine standards and everything hidden starts burning: lust that counts as adultery, hatred that counts as murder (Matthew 5:21–28). The Law raises the bar so high that even your best day collapses under it.

The point was to let you try and fail, bringing you to the cry every honest person eventually reaches:

“The more I try, the worse it gets.”

That’s when grace finally makes sense.

Because right there, where sin spiked and failure multiplied, “grace abounded much more” (Romans 5:20) . God does not avoid your weakness; His grace covers the exact area where sin once ruled.

Preach this Gospel properly and you’ll provoke the same accusation Paul did:
“Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1) .

If no one ever asks you that, you may not be preaching the Gospel at all.