1. The Law of Moses is a unified whole system
According to the New Testament, salvation is obtained by faith alone - faith in Christ's finished atoning work - without any human works. Subsequently, however, this faith always results in corresponding works - works that correspond to the faith professed. Faith that does not result in these corresponding actions is merely an empty profession of faith - a dead faith - incapable of truly experiencing salvation.
This conclusion naturally leads us to a further question. What actions should we look for in the life of every person who professes faith in Christ for salvation? More specifically, what is the relationship between faith in Christ and the requirements of the Mosaic Law?
The New Testament's answer is clear and consistent: once a person trusts in Christ for salvation, his righteousness is no longer dependent on keeping the Mosaic Law, in whole or in part.
This is a subject on which there is much confusion and confusion among Christians. To clear up the confusion, we must first recognize certain basic facts about the law.
The first big fact is that the law was given in its entirety, once and for all, by Moses.
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and righteousness came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).
Notice this phrase: "the law was given by Moses". Not "some of the law", or "part of the law", but the law - the whole law, complete and entire in its system - was given at one time in history and through the human agency of one man, and that man was Moses.
"And these. /kai tauta - LXX/ The "And" connects the preceding commandments with the following. Just as the preceding commandments were revealed in the Sinai, so the following commandments were given there (Mechilta). The Torah does not recognize a strict boundary between the Ten Commandments and the laws of the following chapters. They all express the will of God." /The Five Books of Moses and the haftarah, commentary on Exodus 21:1/
Everywhere in Scripture, unless some special qualifying term is added to modify or change the meaning, the term "law" refers to the entire system of laws given by God through Moses. Confirmation of this is found in Romans.
"For as long as there was no law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed if there is no law. Nevertheless, from Adam to Moses death reigned even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's sin" (5:13-14).
Note the two phrases that refer to a specific period of time, "until the law" and "from Adam to Moses". When God created Adam and placed him in the garden, He did not give him a complete set of laws, but a single negative commandment.
"Thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden" (Genesis 3:1-3).
When Adam broke this commandment, sin entered the human race, and from that time on, it settled on Adam and all his descendants. The proof that sin has entered every human being from Adam on is the fact that every human being has become dead as a result of sin.
Prior to the time of Moses and the events described in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, there was no divine system of law given to the human race. In fact, nothing further was ever added to this system of law after the close of this era. That the law was thus given once for all, in its entirety, is clear from the words of Moses.
"Now therefore, O Israel, hear the laws and the judgments which I teach thee to keep, that thou mayest live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee. Add nothing to the word which I command you, and take nothing from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." (Deuteronomy 4:1-2)
These words show that the system of laws that God gave to Israel through Moses was complete and final. After that, nothing could ever be added to it, and nothing could ever be taken away from it.
These words show that the system of laws that God gave to Israel through Moses was complete and final. After that, nothing could ever be added to it, and nothing could ever be taken away from it.
2. All the commandments of the law must be kept by him who is under the law.
The law was given to Israel by God through Moses as a complete system. This naturally leads us to the next great fact which must be clearly stated concerning the keeping of the law:
Every man who comes under the law is thereby bound to observe the whole system of the law in its entirety at all times. There is no question of observing certain parts of the law and omitting others. Nor is it a question of obeying the law at certain times and disobeying it at others. Anyone subject to the law is necessarily bound to obey the whole of the law at all times.
"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point is guilty of all. For he who said, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' said also, 'Thou shalt not kill.' But if you do not commit adultery but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law" (James 2:10-11).
This is both clear and logical. One cannot say, "I consider certain points of the law important, so I keep them, but I do not consider certain other points of the law important, so I do not keep them". Any person who is subject to the law must always observe all its requirements. If you break even one point, you have broken the whole law.
The law is a single, complete system that cannot be divided into some points that are applied and others that are not. As a means of justice, the whole law must be accepted and applied, in its entirety, as a single system, otherwise it has no utility or validity.
"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." (Gal 3:10)
Notice this phrase, "abiding in all things". This indicates that one who is under the law must keep the whole law at all times. A person who at any time breaks any point of the law has broken the whole law, and is thus under the divine curse pronounced upon all lawbreakers.
3. The law was only for Israel
The third important point to recognize about the law, and it is an actual historical fact, is that the system of law given by Moses was ordained by God exclusively for a small group of the human race, and that was the nation of Israel after they were delivered from Egyptian bondage.
Nowhere in the Bible is there any indication that God ever intended the Gentiles, either nationally or individually, to obey the Law of Moses in whole or in part. The only exceptions to this are a few individual Gentiles who voluntarily chose to join Israel and thereby subject themselves to all the legal and religious obligations God had imposed on Israel. Such Gentiles who converted to Judaism are called "proselytes" in the New Testament. Apart from them, God never imposed legal obligations on any Gentile.
Thus we can briefly summarize three important facts that need to be recognized before studying the Christian believer's relationship to the law.
1. The law was given once for all by Moses as a single, complete system; nothing could ever be added to or taken away from it after that.
2. The law must always be observed in its entirety, as a single, complete system; to break any part of the law is to break the whole law.
3. in human history, God never ordained this system of law for the Gentiles, but only for Israel.
4. Christians are not under the law
Having established these three facts, let us examine in detail what the New Testament teaches about the Christian believer's relationship to the law. This question is addressed in several different passages of the New Testament, and each passage teaches the same clear, definite truth. The righteousness of the Christian believer is not dependent on the observance of any part of the law.
Let us look at the many passages in the New Testament that make this clear. First, Romans 6:14 is addressed to Christian believers:
"For sin has no dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace".
This verse reveals two important truths. First, Christian believers are not under law, but under grace. These are two alternatives that are mutually exclusive: those who are under grace are not under the law. No one is under the law and under grace at the same time.
Secondly, Christian believers cannot be under sin precisely because they are not under the law. As long as one is under the law, one is under the dominion of sin. To get out from under the dominion of sin, one must get out from under the law.
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law" (1 Cor 15:56).
The law actually strengthens the dominion of sin over those who are under the law. The more they try to keep the law, the more they become aware of the power of sin that dwells within them, exerts dominion over them, even against their will, and thwarts any attempt to live according to the law. The only escape from this dominion of sin is to leave the law and come under grace.
"For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sin, which the law had awakened, were at work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we have been freed from the law, having died to that by which we were made prisoners, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:5-6).
Paul is saying here that those who are under the law are in their carnal nature subject to the passions of sin, which cause them to bear fruit that leads to death; but as Christian believers we have been "set free from the law..." to serve God, not according to the letter of the law, but in the newness of spiritual life that comes through faith in Christ.
In Romans 10:4 Paul says this again:
"For Christ is the end of the law, the righteousness of everyone who believes".
Once a person places his faith in Christ for salvation, that is the end of the law for that person as a means of attaining righteousness. Here Paul is very precise. He is not saying that the end of the law as part of God's Word. On the contrary, the Word of God "endures forever". For the believer, the end of the law as a means of attaining righteousness is over.
The believer's righteousness no longer comes from keeping the law, in whole or in part, but solely from faith in Christ.
5. Christ has abolished the handwriting
Paul asserts that the law as an instrument of righteousness came to an end with Christ's death on the cross.
"But you who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he raised to life with him, forgiving you all your trespasses, having abolished the handwriting of the statutes which was against us, which was against us. And he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." (Col 2:13-14)
Here Paul says that through the death of Christ, God "blotted out the handwriting of the requirements which was against us" and "removed it out of the way...". Paul is not talking about the abolition of sins, but the abolition of requirements. This word could be better translated "requirements".
These regulations are the ordinances of the law that stood between God and those who transgressed them, and therefore had to be taken out of the way before God could give them grace and forgiveness. The word "ordinances" here refers to the whole system of the law which God ordained through Moses, including that particular part of the law which is commonly called the "Ten Commandments".
That this "abolition" includes the Ten Commandments is confirmed by Paul later in the same chapter.
"Therefore let no man judge you in meat or drink, or in respect of the feast, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath day." (Col 2:16)
The word therefore at the beginning of this verse indicates a direct connection with what he had said two verses earlier; that is, the abolition of the ordinances of the law by the death of Christ.
Again, the mention of "sabbaths" at the end of the verse indicates that the religious observance of the Sabbath day is also one of the ordinances abolished. Yet the command to keep the Sabbath day is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. This indicates that the Ten Commandments are included among the Law's set of ordinances that were abolished and taken out of the way by the death of Christ.
6 The law is not for the righteous
We have seen that the religious observance of the Sabbath day was among the ordinances which were abolished. This confirms what we have established: the law, including the Ten Commandments, is one complete system. As a means of achieving justice, it was introduced as a single, complete system by Moses; and as a single, complete system, it was abolished by Christ.
"For he [Christ] himself is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments which was contained in the statutes, that he might make of the two one new man in himself, and so make peace" (Ephesians 2:14-15).
Here Paul tells us that Christ, by his atoning death on the cross, abolished (i.e., made void) "the law of commandments"; thereby abolishing the great dividing line of the Mosaic Law that separated Jews from Gentiles, allowing both Jews and Gentiles to be reconciled to both God and one another through faith in Christ.
The phrase "the law of commandments" indicates as clearly as possible that the whole law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, was no longer enforced by Christ's death on the cross as an instrument of righteousness.
In 1 Timothy 1:8-10, Paul again discusses the Christian believer's relationship to the law and comes to the same conclusion.
"Now we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not for the righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the profane and impious, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for murderers of men, for fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, false witnesses, and if there be any other thing contrary to sound doctrine."
Paul here identifies two classes of persons: on the one hand, there are the righteous; on the other hand, there are those who are guilty of the various sins listed in Paul's enumeration. Those who are guilty of these sins are not true believing Christians; such a person is not saved from sin through faith in Christ.
The one who trusts in Christ for salvation is no longer guilty of these sins; he is justified, made righteous - not by his own righteousness, but by the righteousness of God which is imputed to all and all who believe through faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul affirms that the law was not made for such a righteous man; he is no longer under the rule of the law.
7 God's children are not under the law
In Romans 8:14 Paul says:
"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14)
The true, believing sons of God are those who are led by the Spirit of God - that is what characterizes them as sons of God. Concerning such people, Paul says:
"But
if the Spirit leads you, you are not under the law."
(Galatians 5:18)
So the very thing that characterizes true, believing sons of God - that they are led by the Spirit of God - also means that such people are not under the law.
In short, we can put it this way: If you are a true child of God through faith in Christ, then the evidence is that you are led by the Spirit of God. And if you are led by the Spirit of God, then you are not under the law. Therefore, you cannot be both a child of God and under the law.
Children of God are not under the law. The contrast between the law and the Spirit can be illustrated by the example of trying to find your way to a certain place using two different tools: one tool is using a map, and the other tool is following your personal guide. The law corresponds to the map; the Holy Spirit corresponds to the guide.
Under the law, a man is given a completely accurate and detailed map and told that if he follows every detail of the map without error, it will lead him on the road to salvation. However, no man has ever been able to follow the map flawlessly. In other words, no human being has ever made the road to salvation by flawlessly following the law.
Under grace, a person commits himself to Christ as Savior, and then Christ sends the Holy Spirit to that person to be his personal guide. The Holy Spirit knows the way and does not need a map. The believer in Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, need only follow this personal guide to reach salvation. He does not need to rely on the map, which is the law. Such a believer can be absolutely certain of one thing: the Holy Spirit will never lead him to do anything contrary to His holy nature.
Therefore, the New Testament teaches that those who are under grace are led by the Spirit of God and are not dependent on the law.
From this we conclude that God never really expected men to attain true righteousness by keeping the law, either in part or in whole.
This conclusion raises a very interesting question: if God never expected men to attain justice by keeping the law, why was the law ever given to men?
8. Revealing the sin
Why did God give the law? The first main purpose of the law is to show people their sinful condition.
"Now we know that what the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silent, and the whole world may be guilty before God. Therefore by the works of the law no one is justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:19-20)
Notice first the very emphatic statement, "By the works of the law no man's body is justified in his sight" (Rom 3:20).
In other words, no man will be justified before God by keeping the law.
In parallel, Paul states twice, in two different sentences, the primary purpose for which the law was given. First, he says, "that the whole world may become sinful before God". An alternative translation is, "and the whole world shall come under the judgment of God" (Kaldi, Neovulgate).
Secondly, it says that "by the law is the knowledge of sin". We see, then, that the law was not given to make men righteous, but on the contrary, to make men conscious that they are sinners, and as such subject to God's judgment for their sins.
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Of course not! On the contrary, I should not have known sin but by the law. For I would not have known greed if the law had not said: " (Rom 7:7)
"Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Is that which is good therefore become death to me? Surely not! But sin, that it might appear to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that sin might become sinful above all sin through the commandment." (Rom 7:12-13)
Paul uses three different phrases that all express the same truth.
"I would not have known sin but by the law." (Rom 7:7)
"But sin, to appear sin..." (Rom 7:13)
"...that sin might be made exceeding sinful by the commandment." (Rom 7:13)
In other words, the purpose of the law was to expose sin - to show sin for what it really is - as the subtle, destructive, deadly thing that it is. After that, people had no excuse left to deceive them as to the extreme sinfulness of their condition.
In medical practice, when treating diseases of the human body, the doctor first of all examines the sick person and tries to ascertain the nature and cause of the disease; only then does he try to prescribe a cure. God follows the same order when dealing with man's spiritual needs. Before prescribing a cure, God first diagnoses the condition.
The root cause of all human need and suffering lies in a condition common to all members of the human race: sin. No satisfactory cure for human need can be offered until this condition has been diagnosed. The Bible is the only book in the world that correctly diagnoses the cause of all humanity's needs and suffering. For this reason alone, in addition to everything else it offers, the Bible is invaluable and irreplaceable.
9. Man is unable to save himself
The second main purpose for which the law was given was to show men that, as sinners, they were incapable of justifying themselves by their own power. There is a natural tendency in all men to want to be independent of God's grace and mercy. This desire to be independent of God is itself both the result and the evidence of man's sinful condition, though most people do not realize it. Thus, when man becomes convinced of his sinful condition, his first reaction is to seek some means by which he can cure himself of this condition and by his own efforts make himself righteous, without having to depend on God's grace and mercy.
Religious laws and regulations have therefore always been strongly attractive to the human race in all ages, regardless of differences of nationality or background. By practising such laws and rituals, people have sought to silence the inner voice of their own conscience and to make themselves righteous through their own efforts.This is precisely how many religious Israelites responded to the Mosaic Law. Paul describes this attempt by Israel to establish its own righteousness.
"For not knowing God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God's righteousness" (Rom 10:3).
As a result of trying to establish their own righteousness, Israel failed to submit to God and God's righteousness. The root cause of their error, therefore, was spiritual pride - a refusal to submit to God, a desire to be independent of God's grace and mercy.
Nevertheless, when people are truly willing to be honest with themselves, they are always forced to admit that they can never succeed in making themselves righteous by adhering to religious or moral laws. Paul describes this experience in the first person singular; he himself at one time sought to make himself righteous by keeping the law. He says this in Romans 7:18-23:
"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing; for the will is present in me, but how to do what is good I cannot find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not do, I practice. But if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwells in me. I find, therefore, a law that evil is present in me who will to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man. But I see that another law is in my members, which wars against the law of my mind, and brings me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members".
Paul speaks here as one who sincerely acknowledges the righteousness and desirability of living according to the law. However, the more he struggles to do what the law commands, the more he becomes aware of another law, another power in his own carnal nature that is constantly fighting against the law and thwarting his strongest efforts to make himself righteous by keeping the law.
The central point of this inner conflict is expressed in verse 21.
"I find then that the law is present in me, that evil is present in me, who desires to do good".
This is an apparent paradox, yet all human experience confirms it. One never knows how bad one is until one truly tries to be good. Then every attempt to be good only reveals more clearly the hopeless, incurable sinfulness of his own carnal nature, against which all his efforts and good intentions are utterly futile.
10. The image of Christ
We have seen that the second main object of the law was to show men that they were not only sinners, but utterly incapable of saving themselves from sin and making themselves righteous by their own power.
These words show that the system of laws that God gave to Israel through Moses was complete and final. After that, nothing could ever be added to it, and nothing could ever be taken away from it.
2. All the commandments of the law must be kept by him who is under the law.
The law was given to Israel by God through Moses as a complete system. This naturally leads us to the next great fact which must be clearly stated concerning the keeping of the law:
Every man who comes under the law is thereby bound to observe the whole system of the law in its entirety at all times. There is no question of observing certain parts of the law and omitting others. Nor is it a question of obeying the law at certain times and disobeying it at others. Anyone subject to the law is necessarily bound to obey the whole of the law at all times.
"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point is guilty of all. For he who said, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' said also, 'Thou shalt not kill.' But if you do not commit adultery but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law" (James 2:10-11).
This is both clear and logical. One cannot say, "I consider certain points of the law important, so I keep them, but I do not consider certain other points of the law important, so I do not keep them". Any person who is subject to the law must always observe all its requirements. If you break even one point, you have broken the whole law.
The law is a single, complete system that cannot be divided into some points that are applied and others that are not. As a means of justice, the whole law must be accepted and applied, in its entirety, as a single system, otherwise it has no utility or validity.
"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." (Gal 3:10)
Notice this phrase, "abiding in all things". This indicates that one who is under the law must keep the whole law at all times. A person who at any time breaks any point of the law has broken the whole law, and is thus under the divine curse pronounced upon all lawbreakers.
3. The law was only for Israel
The third important point to recognize about the law, and it is an actual historical fact, is that the system of law given by Moses was ordained by God exclusively for a small group of the human race, and that was the nation of Israel after they were delivered from Egyptian bondage.
Nowhere in the Bible is there any indication that God ever intended the Gentiles, either nationally or individually, to obey the Law of Moses in whole or in part. The only exceptions to this are a few individual Gentiles who voluntarily chose to join Israel and thereby subject themselves to all the legal and religious obligations God had imposed on Israel. Such Gentiles who converted to Judaism are called "proselytes" in the New Testament. Apart from them, God never imposed legal obligations on any Gentile.
Thus we can briefly summarize three important facts that need to be recognized before studying the Christian believer's relationship to the law.
1. The law was given once for all by Moses as a single, complete system; nothing could ever be added to or taken away from it after that.
2. The law must always be observed in its entirety, as a single, complete system; to break any part of the law is to break the whole law.
3. in human history, God never ordained this system of law for the Gentiles, but only for Israel.
4. Christians are not under the law
Having established these three facts, let us examine in detail what the New Testament teaches about the Christian believer's relationship to the law. This question is addressed in several different passages of the New Testament, and each passage teaches the same clear, definite truth. The righteousness of the Christian believer is not dependent on the observance of any part of the law.
Let us look at the many passages in the New Testament that make this clear. First, Romans 6:14 is addressed to Christian believers:
"For sin has no dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace".
This verse reveals two important truths. First, Christian believers are not under law, but under grace. These are two alternatives that are mutually exclusive: those who are under grace are not under the law. No one is under the law and under grace at the same time.
Secondly, Christian believers cannot be under sin precisely because they are not under the law. As long as one is under the law, one is under the dominion of sin. To get out from under the dominion of sin, one must get out from under the law.
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law" (1 Cor 15:56).
The law actually strengthens the dominion of sin over those who are under the law. The more they try to keep the law, the more they become aware of the power of sin that dwells within them, exerts dominion over them, even against their will, and thwarts any attempt to live according to the law. The only escape from this dominion of sin is to leave the law and come under grace.
"For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sin, which the law had awakened, were at work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we have been freed from the law, having died to that by which we were made prisoners, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:5-6).
Paul is saying here that those who are under the law are in their carnal nature subject to the passions of sin, which cause them to bear fruit that leads to death; but as Christian believers we have been "set free from the law..." to serve God, not according to the letter of the law, but in the newness of spiritual life that comes through faith in Christ.
In Romans 10:4 Paul says this again:
"For Christ is the end of the law, the righteousness of everyone who believes".
Once a person places his faith in Christ for salvation, that is the end of the law for that person as a means of attaining righteousness. Here Paul is very precise. He is not saying that the end of the law as part of God's Word. On the contrary, the Word of God "endures forever". For the believer, the end of the law as a means of attaining righteousness is over.
The believer's righteousness no longer comes from keeping the law, in whole or in part, but solely from faith in Christ.
5. Christ has abolished the handwriting
Paul asserts that the law as an instrument of righteousness came to an end with Christ's death on the cross.
"But you who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he raised to life with him, forgiving you all your trespasses, having abolished the handwriting of the statutes which was against us, which was against us. And he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." (Col 2:13-14)
Here Paul says that through the death of Christ, God "blotted out the handwriting of the requirements which was against us" and "removed it out of the way...". Paul is not talking about the abolition of sins, but the abolition of requirements. This word could be better translated "requirements".
These regulations are the ordinances of the law that stood between God and those who transgressed them, and therefore had to be taken out of the way before God could give them grace and forgiveness. The word "ordinances" here refers to the whole system of the law which God ordained through Moses, including that particular part of the law which is commonly called the "Ten Commandments".
That this "abolition" includes the Ten Commandments is confirmed by Paul later in the same chapter.
"Therefore let no man judge you in meat or drink, or in respect of the feast, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath day." (Col 2:16)
The word therefore at the beginning of this verse indicates a direct connection with what he had said two verses earlier; that is, the abolition of the ordinances of the law by the death of Christ.
Again, the mention of "sabbaths" at the end of the verse indicates that the religious observance of the Sabbath day is also one of the ordinances abolished. Yet the command to keep the Sabbath day is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. This indicates that the Ten Commandments are included among the Law's set of ordinances that were abolished and taken out of the way by the death of Christ.
6 The law is not for the righteous
We have seen that the religious observance of the Sabbath day was among the ordinances which were abolished. This confirms what we have established: the law, including the Ten Commandments, is one complete system. As a means of achieving justice, it was introduced as a single, complete system by Moses; and as a single, complete system, it was abolished by Christ.
"For he [Christ] himself is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments which was contained in the statutes, that he might make of the two one new man in himself, and so make peace" (Ephesians 2:14-15).
Here Paul tells us that Christ, by his atoning death on the cross, abolished (i.e., made void) "the law of commandments"; thereby abolishing the great dividing line of the Mosaic Law that separated Jews from Gentiles, allowing both Jews and Gentiles to be reconciled to both God and one another through faith in Christ.
The phrase "the law of commandments" indicates as clearly as possible that the whole law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, was no longer enforced by Christ's death on the cross as an instrument of righteousness.
In 1 Timothy 1:8-10, Paul again discusses the Christian believer's relationship to the law and comes to the same conclusion.
"Now we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not for the righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the profane and impious, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for murderers of men, for fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, false witnesses, and if there be any other thing contrary to sound doctrine."
Paul here identifies two classes of persons: on the one hand, there are the righteous; on the other hand, there are those who are guilty of the various sins listed in Paul's enumeration. Those who are guilty of these sins are not true believing Christians; such a person is not saved from sin through faith in Christ.
The one who trusts in Christ for salvation is no longer guilty of these sins; he is justified, made righteous - not by his own righteousness, but by the righteousness of God which is imputed to all and all who believe through faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul affirms that the law was not made for such a righteous man; he is no longer under the rule of the law.
7 God's children are not under the law
In Romans 8:14 Paul says:
"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14)
The true, believing sons of God are those who are led by the Spirit of God - that is what characterizes them as sons of God. Concerning such people, Paul says:
"But
if the Spirit leads you, you are not under the law."
(Galatians 5:18)
So the very thing that characterizes true, believing sons of God - that they are led by the Spirit of God - also means that such people are not under the law.
In short, we can put it this way: If you are a true child of God through faith in Christ, then the evidence is that you are led by the Spirit of God. And if you are led by the Spirit of God, then you are not under the law. Therefore, you cannot be both a child of God and under the law.
Children of God are not under the law. The contrast between the law and the Spirit can be illustrated by the example of trying to find your way to a certain place using two different tools: one tool is using a map, and the other tool is following your personal guide. The law corresponds to the map; the Holy Spirit corresponds to the guide.
Under the law, a man is given a completely accurate and detailed map and told that if he follows every detail of the map without error, it will lead him on the road to salvation. However, no man has ever been able to follow the map flawlessly. In other words, no human being has ever made the road to salvation by flawlessly following the law.
Under grace, a person commits himself to Christ as Savior, and then Christ sends the Holy Spirit to that person to be his personal guide. The Holy Spirit knows the way and does not need a map. The believer in Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, need only follow this personal guide to reach salvation. He does not need to rely on the map, which is the law. Such a believer can be absolutely certain of one thing: the Holy Spirit will never lead him to do anything contrary to His holy nature.
Therefore, the New Testament teaches that those who are under grace are led by the Spirit of God and are not dependent on the law.
From this we conclude that God never really expected men to attain true righteousness by keeping the law, either in part or in whole.
This conclusion raises a very interesting question: if God never expected men to attain justice by keeping the law, why was the law ever given to men?
8. Revealing the sin
Why did God give the law? The first main purpose of the law is to show people their sinful condition.
"Now we know that what the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silent, and the whole world may be guilty before God. Therefore by the works of the law no one is justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:19-20)
Notice first the very emphatic statement, "By the works of the law no man's body is justified in his sight" (Rom 3:20).
In other words, no man will be justified before God by keeping the law.
In parallel, Paul states twice, in two different sentences, the primary purpose for which the law was given. First, he says, "that the whole world may become sinful before God". An alternative translation is, "and the whole world shall come under the judgment of God" (Kaldi, Neovulgate).
Secondly, it says that "by the law is the knowledge of sin". We see, then, that the law was not given to make men righteous, but on the contrary, to make men conscious that they are sinners, and as such subject to God's judgment for their sins.
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Of course not! On the contrary, I should not have known sin but by the law. For I would not have known greed if the law had not said: "(Rom 7:7)
"Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Is that which is good therefore become death to me? Surely not! But sin, that it might appear to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that sin might become sinful above all sin through the commandment." (Rom 7:12-13)
Paul uses three different phrases that all express the same truth.
"I would not have known sin but by the law." (Rom 7:7)
"But sin, to appear sin..." (Rom 7:13)
"...that sin might be made exceeding sinful by the commandment." (Rom 7:13)
In other words, the purpose of the law was to expose sin - to show sin for what it really is - as the subtle, destructive, deadly thing that it is. After that, people had no excuse left to deceive them as to the extreme sinfulness of their condition.
In medical practice, when treating diseases of the human body, the doctor first of all examines the sick person and tries to ascertain the nature and cause of the disease; only then does he try to prescribe a cure. God follows the same order when dealing with man's spiritual needs. Before prescribing a cure, God first diagnoses the condition.
The root cause of all human need and suffering lies in a condition common to all members of the human race: sin. No satisfactory cure for human need can be offered until this condition has been diagnosed. The Bible is the only book in the world that correctly diagnoses the cause of all humanity's needs and suffering. For this reason alone, in addition to everything else it offers, the Bible is invaluable and irreplaceable.
9. Man is unable to save himself
The second main purpose for which the law was given was to show men that, as sinners, they were incapable of justifying themselves by their own power. There is a natural tendency in all men to want to be independent of God's grace and mercy. This desire to be independent of God is itself both the result and the evidence of man's sinful condition, though most people do not realize it.
Thus, when man becomes convinced of his sinful condition, his first reaction is to seek some means by which he can cure himself of this condition and by his own efforts make himself righteous, without having to depend on God's grace and mercy.
Religious laws and regulations have therefore always been strongly attractive to the human race in all ages, regardless of differences of nationality or background. By practising such laws and rituals, people have sought to silence the inner voice of their own conscience and to make themselves righteous through their own efforts.
This is precisely how many religious Israelites responded to the Mosaic Law. Paul describes this attempt by Israel to establish its own righteousness.
"For not knowing God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God's righteousness" (Rom 10:3).
As a result of trying to establish their own righteousness, Israel failed to submit to God and God's righteousness. The root cause of their error, therefore, was spiritual pride - a refusal to submit to God, a desire to be independent of God's grace and mercy.
Nevertheless, when people are truly willing to be honest with themselves, they are always forced to admit that they can never succeed in making themselves righteous by adhering to religious or moral laws. Paul describes this experience in the first person singular; he himself at one time sought to make himself righteous by keeping the law. He says this in Romans 7:18-23:
"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing; for the will is present in me, but how to do what is good I cannot find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not do, I practice. But if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwells in me. I find, therefore, a law that evil is present in me who will to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man. But I see that another law is in my members, which wars against the law of my mind, and brings me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members".
Paul speaks here as one who sincerely acknowledges the righteousness and desirability of living according to the law. However, the more he struggles to do what the law commands, the more he becomes aware of another law, another power in his own carnal nature that is constantly fighting against the law and thwarting his strongest efforts to make himself righteous by keeping the law.The central point of this inner conflict is expressed in verse 21.
"I find then that the law is present in me, that evil is present in me, who desires to do good".
This is an apparent paradox, yet all human experience confirms it. One never knows how bad one is until one truly tries to be good. Then every attempt to be good only reveals more clearly the hopeless, incurable sinfulness of his own carnal nature, against which all his efforts and good intentions are utterly futile.
10. The image of Christ
We have seen that the second main object of the law was to show men that they were not only sinners, but utterly incapable of saving themselves from sin and making themselves righteous by their own power.
The third chief purpose for which the law was given was to foretell and foreshadow the Saviour who was to come, and by whom alone it would be possible for man to obtain true salvation and righteousness. This was done through the law in two main ways: the Saviour was prophesied by direct prophecies, and foretold by the types and ceremonies of the ordinances of the law.
An example of direct prophecy within the framework of the law is found in Deuteronomy 18:18-19, where the Lord says to Israel through Moses:
"I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which I shall speak in my name, I will require him."
Peter later quotes these words of Moses and applies them directly to Jesus Christ (see Acts 3:22-26). Thus the prophecy foretold by Moses in the Law is fulfilled in the New Testament in the person of Christ.
Many of the sacrifices and ordinances of the law foreshadow Jesus Christ as the coming Saviour. For example, the Passover sacrifice in Exodus 12 foreshadows redemption by faith in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross of Calvary at the Passover. Likewise, the various sacrifices described in the first seven chapters of Leviticus, which relate to the atonement of sins and drawing near to God, all foreshadow different aspects of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
These are therefore the words John the Baptist used to introduce Christ to Israel:
"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
By likening Christ to the sacrificial lamb, the people of Israel were led to see in Christ the one foretold by all the sacrificial provisions of the law.
This purpose of the law is summed up by the apostle Paul in his words in Galatians:
"But the Scripture has made everyone subject to sin, that the promise of faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were under the law, being kept under the law, being kept unto faith which shall be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." (Gal 3:22-24)
The Greek word translated "tutor" here refers to a senior slave in a rich man's household, whose special duty was to give the first elementary grades of instruction to the rich man's children, and then to accompany them to school each day, where they could receive a more advanced education.
Accordingly, the law gave Israel the first elementary instruction in the basic requirements of God's justice, and then it was the means of directing them to put their faith in Jesus Christ, and learn from Christ the lessons of true righteousness which comes by faith without the works of the law.
Just as the educational task of this slave was completed when he delivered the children of his master into the care of the fully qualified teacher of the school, so the task of the law was completed when he led Israel to their Messiah, Jesus Christ, and led them to see their need of salvation through faith in him.
11. Preservation of Israel
Read Galatians 3:22-24:
"But the Scripture has made all under sin, that the promise of faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, he kept us under the law, keeping us under the law, saving us for the faith which was then to be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." (3:22-24)
In these words of Paul there is a phrase that reveals another important function of the law in relation to Israel. Speaking as an Israelite, Paul says this:
"But before faith came, we were under the custody of the law, bound together until the revelation of the faith to come." (Galatians 3:23)
The law kept Israel as a special nation, set apart from all others, set apart by its distinctive rites and ordinances, preserved for the special purpose for which God had called them.
[A few lines omitted.]
12. The law was perfectly fulfilled by Christ
Let us summarize the four main purposes for which the Law of Moses was given.
1 The law was given to show men their sinful condition.
2. The law also showed men that as sinners they were unable to justify themselves by their own efforts.
3. The law was given to foreshadow by prophecy the Saviour who was to come, and through whom alone it would be possible for man to obtain true salvation and righteousness.
4. The law served to keep Israel as a distinct nation throughout the many centuries of their dispersion, so that even now they would remain true to the special purposes God had worked out for them.
No consideration of the relationship between the law and the gospel can be complete without considering the words in which Christ Himself summarizes His attitude and relationship to the law.
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle of the law will pass away until the whole is fulfilled." (Mt 5:17-18)
In what sense did Christ fulfil the law? First, he fulfilled it personally by his own immaculate righteousness and by his flawless, consistent observance of all its provisions.
"God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:4-5)
Notice the words, "born of a woman, born under the law...". Jesus Christ, by being born a man, was a Jew, subject to all the provisions and obligations of the law. He fulfilled them perfectly throughout His life on earth, without deviating one iota from all that the law required of every Jew. In this sense Jesus Christ alone, of all who ever came under the law, fulfilled it perfectly.
13. Christ fulfilled the law by his atoning death
We have seen that Jesus fulfilled the law by keeping the law completely and perfectly. In another sense, he fulfilled the law by his atoning death on the cross.
"Who committed no sin, and was found guilty of no guile in his mouth... who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, so that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness." (1 Peter 2:22,24)
Christ, who was not Himself a sinner, took upon Himself the sins of all who were under the law, and then paid the ultimate penalty of the law, which is death, in their place in full. By the full penalty thus paid by Christ, it was made possible for God, without compromising His divine justice, to offer full and free forgiveness to all who would accept by faith Christ's atoning death on their behalf.
Christ, then, by his life radiating perfect justice, first, and by his atoning death, second, fulfilled the law, thereby satisfying the just demands of the law for all those who did not perfectly obey the law. Third, Christ fulfilled the law by uniting in himself all the attributes prophetically set forth in the law about the Saviour and Messiah whom God had promised to send. Already at the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry we read what Philip said to Nathanael:
"We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law and the prophets - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" (John 1:45).
Again another time, after his death and resurrection, Christ said to his disciples:
"These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which were written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms might be fulfilled." (Luke 24:44)
So we see that Christ fulfilled the law in three ways:
1. by His perfect life.
2. by His redemptive death and resurrection.
3. by fulfilling all that the law foretold and foretold of the coming Saviour and Messiah.
14 Christ is the end of the law
We have seen that Christ fulfilled the law in three different ways:
1. by His perfect life.
2. by His Saviour's death and resurrection.
3. by fulfilling all that the law required and foretold concerning the coming Saviour and Messiah.
Thus we find ourselves in perfect agreement with Paul's words:
"Do we by faith make void the law? Of course not! On the contrary, we establish the law" (Rom 3:31).
The believer who accepts the atoning death of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the law on his behalf is thereby enabled to accept every jot and tittle of the law as fully and unalterably true without compromise or reservation. Faith in Christ for salvation does not set aside the revelation of the law; on the contrary, it fulfils it.
"For Christ is the end of the law for the righteousness of the law to everyone who believes." (Rom 10:4)
The Greek word translated "end" here has two related meanings:
1. the purpose for which something is done.
2. the end of something.
3. in both senses, the law ended with Christ.
In the first sense, once the law has successfully led us to Christ, we no longer need it in that capacity. In the second sense, Christ has ended the law as a means of achieving righteousness with God by his death. Faith in him is now the only all-sufficient requirement for righteousness.
In all other respects, however, the law remains, complete and entire, as a part of God's Word which "abideth forever." Its history, its prophecy, and its general revelation of God's thought and counsel - all these remain eternally and unchangingly true.
15. Appendicitis
A man went to the doctor complaining of a stomach ache. On examination, the doctor diagnosed appendicitis.
"Appendicitis!" said the man. "What is it?"
"Appendicitis", the doctor explained, "is irritation or inflammation of the appendix".
"Well", the man admitted, "I didn't know my appendix was inflamed until now!".
In a similar way, many professing Christians are aware of some deep-rooted trouble in their spiritual experience - trouble that manifests itself in symptoms such as instability, inconsistency, lack of certainty, lack of peace. If such Christians were told that the root of their trouble lies in their failure to understand basic New Testament teachings such as the relationship between faith and works, or law and grace, they would have to confess, like the man with appendicitis:
"Well, we didn't even know the New Testament had anything to say about such things before!"
Let us briefly outline the conclusions we have reached so far on these two related issues.
1.The whole New Testament emphatically teaches that salvation is obtained by faith alone - faith in Christ's finished atoning work - without any human works.
2 Salvific faith is then always expressed in appropriate works - appropriate actions.
3 The actions by which saving faith is expressed are not actions of the law. The righteousness that God requires cannot be achieved by keeping the Mosaic Law.
These conclusions concerning the nature and purpose of the Mosaic Law naturally lead us to a further question: If saving faith is not expressed by keeping the law, what are the works by which saving faith is expressed? What are the proper works that we can expect in the life of every person who professes saving faith in Christ?
The answer to this question, and the key to understanding the relationship between law and grace, is given by the Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Romans.
"For what the law could not do, because it was made weak by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, because of sin: condemning sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (8:3-4)
The key phrase here is "that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us," where "us" refers to Spirit-led Christians. It is not the law itself that is to be fulfilled in Christians, but the righteous requirement of the law.
What does this phrase "the righteous requirement of the law" mean? The answer is given most clearly by Jesus himself, and we will now examine it.
16 The two great commandments
What does the phrase "the righteous requirement of the law" mean? The answer is most clearly given by Jesus himself, when he answers a Jewish lawyer's question about the law.
One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him, and said: "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?". Jesus answered him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself'. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Mt 22:35-40).
In these words Jesus sets out the righteous requirement of the law to which Paul refers. The law of Moses was given to only a small part of humanity at a certain period in human history. But behind this whole system of laws are two great, eternal, unchanging laws of God for the whole human race: "Love the Lord your God" and "Love your neighbour as yourself".
The system of laws given by Moses was merely the detailed application and implementation of these two great commandments - love of God and love of neighbour. These two commandments were the basis of the whole legal system of Moses and the whole ministry and message of all the Old Testament prophets. Here, then, is "the righteous requirement of the law" summed up in two overarching commandments: "love God" and "love your neighbour".
The apostle Paul teaches the same truth in 1 Timothy 1:5-7.
"Now the object of the commandment is charity, which arises out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, from which some have gone astray, and have turned aside into empty talk, seeking to be teachers of the law, neither understanding what they say nor what they assert".
Note this illuminating statement, "the purpose of the commandment is love..."
The ultimate purpose and object for which the whole law was given was to instruct in love - love for God and love for man. Paul goes on to say that all those who try to teach or interpret the Law of Moses without understanding this fundamental purpose of the whole Law "have gone astray into empty talk... they neither understand what they say nor what they claim".
In other words, such interpreters have completely missed the main point of the law, which is love. This law of love - love for God and man - is the law behind all other laws.
17 The law of love is the law of freedom
We have seen that the chief end of the law is love. Paul expresses the same truth in Romans 13:8-10 about this single supreme law of love:
"No one owes anyone anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "Thou shalt not commit adultery", "Thou shalt not kill", "Thou shalt not steal", "Thou shalt not bear false witness", "Thou shalt not covet", and if there are any other commandments, can all be summed up in this saying, "Love thy neighbour as thyself". Love does not harm your neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilment of the law".
And again, more succinctly, in Galatians 5:14:
"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, and that is this, 'Love your neighbour as yourself'."
Thus "the righteous requirement of the law", with all its complexities and all its requirements, can be reduced to a single word: love.
At this point, one might be tempted to say, "You are telling me that as a Christian I am not under the law or the commandments of Moses. Does that mean I am free to break those commandments and do what I want? Am I free to murder, commit adultery or steal if I so choose?"
The answer is that as a Christian, you are free to do whatever you are free to do with perfect love for God and people in your heart. But as a Christian you are not free to do anything that cannot be done in love.
A man whose heart is filled and guided by the love of God is free to do whatever his heart desires. That is why James twice calls this law of love the law of liberty.
"But he who looks to the perfect law of liberty, and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:25)
"Speak and act as those who are judged by the law of liberty." (James 2:12)
James calls this law of love "the perfect law of liberty," because a person whose heart is always filled with and guided by God's love has the freedom to do exactly what he or she wants. What such a man wills to do will always be in harmony with God's will and nature, for God is love itself.
The man who lives according to this law of love is the only truly free man on all the earth - the only man who is free to do what he will at any time. Such a man needs no other law to guide him.
18. The royal law
We have seen how James spoke of the law of liberty in connection with love. In the same epistle, he gives this law of love another title. He calls it "the royal law".
"If you truly fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well." (James 2:8)
Why is this "royal" law? Because whoever lives by this law is truly living like a king. He is not subject to any other law. He is always free to do as his heart dictates. By fulfilling this law, he fulfills all laws. In all circumstances, and in all his dealings with God and man, he rules life as a king.
An analysis of what is meant by the "righteous requirement of the law" leads us to the following conclusion: There is no contradiction or inconsistency between the standard of true righteousness set up in the Old Testament under the Law of Moses and the standard set up in the New Testament in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The standard of true justice is the same in both cases. It can be summed up in one word: love - love for God and love for man.
The difference between the two dispensations - the dispensation of the Mosaic Law and the dispensation of grace through Jesus Christ - lies not in the end to be achieved, but in the means used to achieve it.
In both cases, under both law and grace, the end to be achieved is love. But under law, the means used to attain this end is an external system of commandments and regulations imposed on man from without; under grace, the means is the wonderful and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer.
The law of Moses did not fail in its purpose, not because there was anything wrong with the law itself, but because of the inherent weakness and sinfulness of man's carnal nature.
19. Being sold under sin, then born again and set free
The law of Moses could not achieve its purpose because of human weakness. Paul makes this clear in the second part of Romans chapter 7.
"Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good" (Rom 7:12).
"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin" (Rom 7:14).
"For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man." (Rom 7:22)
"But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." (Rom 7:23)
The law itself is just and good. The man who desires to live according to the law can be perfectly sincere in acknowledging the precepts of the law and seeking to live according to the law. But in spite of all this, the power of sin in him and the weakness of his own carnal nature continually prevent him from living according to these standards.
According to the New Testament, God's grace in Jesus Christ still directs man to the same end - love of God and love of neighbour - but provides him with entirely new and different means to achieve that end. Grace begins with the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer.
The result of this operation is called "regeneration" or "birth of the Spirit". This experience is prophetically described in the Old Testament, where the Lord says to the children of Israel:
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezek. 36:26)
The effects of this inner change are further described by Jeremiah.
"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." (Jer 31:31)
"And this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord, 'I will put My law in their minds and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people." (Jer. 31:33)
This new covenant that the Lord has promised here is the new covenant of grace through faith in Jesus Christ, which we now call the New Covenant.
Through this new covenant the nature of the sinner is completely changed from within. The old, hard, callous heart is removed; in its place, a new heart and a new spirit are implanted. The new nature is in harmony with the nature of God and the laws of God.
Thus it becomes natural for a man who has been recreated by the Spirit of God to walk in God's ways and do God's will. The sovereign law of love is engraved by the Spirit Himself upon the sensitive tablet of the believer's heart, and from there it is naturally enforced in the believer's new character and conduct.
20.God's love pours out in the human heart
Romans 8:3-4 says:
"For what the law could not do, because it was made weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, because of sin: condemning sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:3-4)
The law did not fall short of God's standard of righteousness not because the law was flawed, but because of the weakness of man's fleshly nature. Under grace, God's Spirit changes man's carnal nature and replaces it with a new nature capable of receiving and expressing God's love.
The fundamental difference between the operation of law and the operation of grace can be summarised as follows: law depends on man's own ability and operates from without; grace depends on the miraculous operation of the Holy Spirit and operates from within.
The New Testament tells us that the human heart can only come under this law of divine and perfect love through the operation of God's Holy Spirit.
"But hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom 5:5)
Notice that this is not merely human love in any form or degree, but God's love - God's own love - which God's Spirit is able to pour out into our hearts.
This divine love poured out by the Spirit of God into the human heart produces in its perfection the ninefold fruit of the Spirit. This fruit of the Spirit is the love of God, which manifests itself in every aspect of human character and conduct. This is described by the Apostle Paul:
"Now the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against these there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).
Paul again emphasizes that a life in which divine love is perfectly manifested in these nine spiritual fruits need not be governed by any other law. Hence he says: "Against such there is no law".
This law of love is therefore the end of all other laws and commandments. It is the perfect law, the royal law, the law of liberty.
21. The New Testament pattern of obedience
We conclude that the law of love marks the end of all other laws and commandments. However, we must be careful not to give the impression that God's love is something vague, indefinite, unrealistic or sentimental. On the contrary, God's love is always definite and practical. According to the New Testament, love for God and love for man are expressed in a way that is equally consistent with God's own love - in a definite and practical way.
Throughout the Bible, the supreme test of man's love for God is expressed in one word: obedience. In the Old Testament, God spoke this truth to His people in Jeremiah 7:23:
"Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people."
True love for God is always expressed in obedience to Him.
Likewise, in the New Testament, Jesus emphasised this point of obedience above all other requirements in his farewell address to his disciples. In John 14, he stresses this point three times in succession in a few verses:
"If you love me, keep my commandments." (15. v.)
"Whoever has my commandments and keeps them loves me." (21. v.)
Then he very clearly juxtaposes the two alternatives of obedience and disobedience, for he says:
"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word" (v. 23). And then, on the contrary, he who does not love Me does not keep My words." (24. v.)
In the light of these words, it is obvious that for any Christian to profess his love for Christ by not obeying the will of Christ as revealed in His words and commands is mere self-deception.
Christ's supreme command in the New Testament is love. Without love it is impossible to speak of obedience. But if we look further into the nature and development of Christian love, we find that the New Testament offers us a pattern of life that is guided in every aspect by this love.
It encompasses the believer's own individual and personal life, his relationship with God and with his fellow human beings. It guides and controls Christian marriage and the life of the Christian family, including parents and children. It ensures the life and conduct of the Christian church. It regulates the believer's attitude and relationship to secular society and government.
To follow this pattern in our lives, we must first study and apply all the teachings of the New Testament with a prayerful spirit. Second, we must constantly acknowledge that we depend moment by moment on the supernatural grace and power of the Holy Spirit.
In this way, we prove by our own experience the truth of 1 John 2:5. "By this we know that we are in Him."
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By Derek P.
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