Why do some say it is impossible to keep God’s law, even the Ten Commandments?

 God’s standards and requirements concerning obedience are different from that of man. James 2:10 answers the second question—

“For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws."

You see, the ENTIRE curse of the law is on all those who depend on their works (law-keeping and good deeds) to give them right-standing before God. See Deuteronomy 28:15-

“But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, allthese curses will come and overwhelm you:"

The verse is followed by a host of curses. Notice "obey all the commands"? The "all" isn't there as decor. In order to escape the curse, one has to keep the whole law. Not fair on those who do their best to obey? This brings us to the answer to the first question:

It’s not “so many people” saying it is impossible to keep God’s law. God Himself is saying so in His word. No one better to interpret the word of God than the Word Himself. See Luke 6—

39 And Jesus told them this parable: “One blind man cannot lead another one; if he does, both will fall into a ditch.... 43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

In essence, a good person will produce good like a good tree. Likewise an evil person will produce evil. Like the bad tree, whatever an evil person produces. even though it seems good and is praised by everybody, it is still evil. And herein lies the issue which many churchgoers disagree with God’s word on— Christ says:

"There is none good but God."

Only God is good. There is none righteous but Him. By default, all of mankind was destined to produce only evil and so receive a full measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over of EVIL for any work produced by human effort. No matter how good or righteous a person thinks he is because of his measure of obedience to the law, this is how God sees all of his righteous efforts at keeping the law—

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight." Isaiah 64:6.

Many believe that their “no good” selves can keep at least some of the law and see James 2:10 as unfair. In reality, the potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances make some people think that they can keep the law, like Peter before his copious denials. The arm of flesh or human effort will fail when it comes to keeping the law.

1 Corinthians 10 tells us why you and I who trust Christ to stand and NOT man’s law-keeping prowess as false preachers teach are not wallowing in horrid sins and Job-type calamities that is the default mode of all humanity of right now--

12 "So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

If God were not screening and filtering, we would all be on the wrong side of every single law— devolve into the helpless and sins-ridden mass of flesh that man is of himself. We see an example of someone who thought he was doing a good job of keeping the law by himself (as many churchgoers do today) in the life of pre-denial Peter. He thought he could keep the law and that his Maker was confused and wrong about his then upcoming denials. He had no idea that the only reason why he was not on the wrong side of the entire law was because God was preventing Satan from calling his number to sift him like wheat. That kind of arrogance, superiority and pride in one’s ability to obey the law is what opens the door for Satan to sift a person like wheat for the good he claims to be when Christ says:

“There is none good but God.”

Peter ended up breaking the First Commandment (You shall love the Lord your God…) and the Eighth (You shall not bear false witness…) Plus he was “the fearful and the unbelieving” — the two sins that lead the pack of the hell-bound in Revelation 21:8. See how Christ saves from these two sins in the life of the fearful disciples who were huddled up in fear on resurrection day when Christ appeared to them; and unbelieving Thomas who stewed in unbelief for a whole week until Christ gave Him reason and grace to believe. He is Saviour from sins.

God does not tempt anyone. But God allowed Peter to go through his trial so that he could see the futility of trusting in human effort to obey the law for the attainment of godliness and thus put his trust in Christ our Wisdom from God —

“When swelling and pride come, then emptiness and shame come also, but with the humble (those who are lowly, who have been pruned or chiseled by trial, and renounce self) are skillful and godly Wisdom and soundness.” Proverbs‬ 11:2‬

Peter was humbled. Hence his writing in 1 Peter 5--

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God..."

Beloved it is the "mighty hand of God" that is restraining all from breaking every single law aka devolving into heinous sins and Job-type calamities. Job too thought that it was his obedience that made him prosperous and that his routine sacrifices for his kids after their partying made God keep them alive. He had no idea that it was God’s hedge (suwk in Hebrew which means “restraint”) that kept him well and prosperous. No one is good of themselves. So much to say here. God's word through Paul addresses this truth in Romans 1 where a group who “suppress the truth” of righteousness by faith (verses 16-19) devolved into sin after “God lifted off His restraining hand…” —

“24 This is why God lifted off His restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires…”

Understand that like many churhgoers who smugly believe that they have some good in them as much as to keep even a tittle of the law, Peter was not wallowing in sins before his denials. He thought he was doing a good job of obeying the law by his own strength, like many churchgoers today. He was so confident in his contradiction of Christ that he had the boldness to say this when Christ told him about his then upcoming denials--

"Then Peter spoke up and said, “Even if all the rest lose courage and fall away, I will still be beside you, Jesus!” Matthew 26:33

The other disciples were right there when Peter made his claim of (to paraphrase) “Even if you lot break the First and Eighth commandments, I would never!” I imagine him saying it with a sweeping gesture of his hand, contradicting and disagreeing with his Maker while simultaneously showing his superiority of commitment to Jesus over the other disciples. But we all know how that ended. Beloved, let's not follow the same example of putting confidence in the flesh/human effort to keep even a tittle of the law. It never ends well. It brings to mind the question asked by God Himself in Amos 3--

"Can two walk together unless they are agreed?"

See what God's word says of that will-power that many are being led to repose confidence in for keeping the law or for being good/being like God - a truth that Paul experienced in Romans 7:18-

"For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it."

God's word says human effort aka the arm of flesh will fail, is powerless and cannot. But ignorant of the truth that God’s mercy is the “skeleton” that is preventing him from devolving into his default sinful self, Pride in the arm of flesh (human effort at obedience) that will fail causes the world and even many churchgoers to disagree with God and by implication say:

"No, I can. God must be wrong. I still have some good in me. I can walk uprightly, keep the law from being broken by me and resist temptation to commit sin by my will-power and sheer determination.”

By God's grace, let's not be like the religious Pharisees who trusted their ability to be good (be like God) and so could not walk with Christ, all because man disagrees with God concerning the fallen and "no good" state of man's humanity. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing. Like Peter who would have denied Christ and done much worse long before his trial but for God's mercy, they were unaware that God's mercy is the "skeleton" that is preventing man from devolving into the helpless and sins-ridden mass of flesh/humanity that man is of himself.

In essence, nobody is good much less good enough to keep a tittle of the law. The flesh (humanity) in a pastor is the same flesh in a murderous thief: no good. If you are not wallowing in copious sins right now, seem to be doing a good job of obeying the law or are enjoying good success and attribute it to your hard work aka your "good" when Christ says man has none, understand that it is only by God's mercy that you are not consumed by heinous sins (like Peter) and Job-type calamities. God's merciful and restraining hand is what is propping those who think they have some good in them as to be able to obey an atom of the law from devolving into the worst of humanity. His mercy is the "skeleton" that keeps man from devolving into the sins-ridden mass of flesh that man is of himself.

Any work of the law which man finds himself doing, takes credit for and lifts up as the reason why God should help, save or deliver aka "I obeyed the law and donated to church fund and got a jet," that is a dead work, beloved- like a menstrual rag in God’s sight. It is the MINDSET behind our works that makes the difference between "works of faith" and "works of the law" (dead works) which can never justify anyone before God: is it ME or is it CHRIST in me doing it all? The doer of dead works cannot but boast about how he is able to keep the Ten Commandments by “no good” human effort aka arm of flesh and lords his achievement over others. It is impossible for us to deceive ourselves in this matter:

if we knew and believed that it is Christ in us doing our good works and godly living and not our own might and power, it would be difficult for us to point accusing fingers at others who are still struggling with sin and threaten them with judgment if they don't change. We would agree with Christ who says "There is none good but God" so when we see people struggling with sins, we don't just assume that they love it, as if Peter loved to deny Jesus. Rather, we would see that:

"There I go but for the Grace of God."

Rather than harp on how the sinner will be punished if he does not change himself, we would see how helpless man is to overcome sins and produce good works, and like Moses who pointed the suffering Israelites to the bronze serpent, point such to Christ who saves from sins and transforms the sinner who truly believes to live right and bear much fruit, as it is written of Him in Titus 2:14--

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Beloved, if your life currently reflects you doing a good job of obeying the law or you are "driving" against sins with the skills of Louis Hamilton with a calamity-free life, understand that it is not because of your useless human might and power. Rather, it is because God is hedging you in from experiencing the vagaries of Time and Chance and preventing Satan from sifting you like wheat, just as He hedged in self-righteous and pre-calamity Job who thought that it was his good works and after-party offerings on behalf of his children that made him prosperous and kept his children alive. Job listed his good deeds and how he was "eyes to the blind" as why that kind of calamity should not befall someone like him- until the Lord God answered him. Job's response after he saw that his plenty works were useless to save him and that he deserved worse but for God's mercy:

"I abhor myself"

God's Word says: "There is none good but God."

If you confess (translated from the Greek homologeo- meaning "say the same thing" as God is saying) that you cannot drive and have no car but acknowledge Christ as your Vehicle and Driver, no Satan will bother to come and test your driving skills. They know that He is your new Identity and He can never fail. Should Satan taunt you for your weaknesses or circumstances demand that you drive, Christ your Vehicle and Driver whom you confess and believe will never disappoint.

Many of the sins that churchgoers fall into and the depression, suicidal thoughts (like Judas) as well as the calamities that they experience (like Job) have as their cause that disagreement with God's word called trust in self to obey the law or for the attainment of good- people thinking they have as much as an atom of good in them to keep the law when God's word says differently. Such have replaced what Christ has done to make the sinner who believes godly with what man must do in his own strength. They give no room for Christ to save in their lives. This is why many ask the question--

"Why do bad things happen to good people."

Believer, "There is none good but God." The difference between "the righteous" and the "sinner/the wicked" is NOT how well one obeys the law and does righteous works in order to be godly/be like God which was the Pharisees' lifestyle. Christ called them "brood of vipers" and "Satan is your father." You know why? It is because they followed the seemingly good but actually deathly doctrine of Satan the original viper/serpent who deceived Eve into believing that man can produce even an atom of good/godliness (be good like God) by human effort - the same false doctrine that is being passed off as Christianity in many places of worship today. Proverbs 14:12 says—

“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”

Many people are unaware that this way which Proverbs 14:12 speaks of is the very same way in which some "pastors" are pushing their congregation. It is the same seemingly good but deathly way with which Satan deceived Eve in Eden AKA striving to be godly (be like God) by human effort at obeying the law. Christ says "There is none good but God." His word says "There is none righteous, no, not one." His word says there is no good in man's fallen humanity. But due to false teaching by Satan's pastors who deceive the flock into believing that man can produce even an atom of good (be like God) by human effort, many churchgoers disagree with God on the utter "no good" state of man and strive to be good (be like God) by human effort, just as Adam and Eve tried to do; just like Peter before he denied Christ three times.

That dependence on human effort for the attainment of godliness (be good like God) or trying to obey the law in order to be godly is what opens the door for Satan to sift a person like wheat for the good he claims to be when Christ says differently. The result is always plenty sins as it was when self-confident Peter denied Christ. How can good come from a place that God's word calls "no good?" See the forbidden fruit as a typology for the law which many churchgoers are trying to obey in order to be godly (be like God) in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG)—

“Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me…” Romans‬ 7:8-12‬ MSG‬‬

Satan is still deceiving many in the same manner through his pulpit-manning agents, some unwittingly. Just like the tree, the law gives the knowledge of good and evil. Just like the tree, the letter kills. Just as sin had dominion over Adam after he ate of the tree which is a type of the law, sin has dominion over those who are trying to obey the law/dependence on human effort for the attainment of godliness----

"For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14.

But many church pastors have this verse backwards and are helping Satan do his work of blinding people to God's Grace (Jesus Christ) and deceiving people into eating of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" aka trying to obey the law in order to become godly aka "be like God." That horrid doctrine of Satan is being passed off as Christianity in many places of worship. It is what the very religious and law-hugging but antichrist Pharisees practiced. No one alive today can obey the law as much as they did, but for all their religious piety and striving for godliness, they rejected Christ and sought to kill Him and stop His message which is Grace. It comes with the territory: trust in self-effort cannot flow with trust in Christ. Christ called them "brood of vipers" and "Satan is your father." Why? It is because they were following the same doctrine of human striving at obeying the law in order to be godly/like God that Satan the original serpent/viper sold to Eve in Eden and were ignoring Him the Tree of Life who was right there in their midst- the same thing that many church leaders are doing today. It seems right to man just as the tree seemed to Eve good for food and to make one wise; but at its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12.)

The result of trying to obey the law in order to be godly is still the same as it was in Eden: sin has dominion and it is the way to get cut off from Grace Himself: Jesus Christ who is the Tree of Life----

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's Grace." Galatians 5:4.

Beloved of God, let us take our blessed brains to church and by Grace, be free of antichrist pastors who expose themselves as God-challengers with their boast in human strength to produce an atom of good or to obey even a tittle the law by human effort when Christ says "There is none good but God." Such God-challengers only express their unbelief in Christ's power as Saviour from sins and their utter cluelessness about God's saving Grace. Beloved of God, God's Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:

"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone." Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says:

“He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Beloved, Christ knows you have no good in you much less enough to keep even a tittle of the law in order to become anything before God. Agree with Him. Those sins that you struggle with which Pharisee-type pastors with their sombre faces assume that you love to wallow in, threaten you with God's wrath for and tell you to save yourself from with your useless human effort, Christ came to save you from them all. So let go of your silly efforts to save yourself and let Christ love you into wholeness and peace. He will shock you with His transformation of you to godliness, peace and a doer of good deeds; effortlessly on your part too-- so it becomes impossible for you to boast in that antichrist "God blessed me with a jet because I obeyed the law and sowed my car" manner. You will know that for all your obedience and good works, it is Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour- so you cannot but love and give Christ all the glory.