The Law: The Christian’s Proper Relationship with the Law
Nicolas Simon
Table of Contents
The Law
Introduction
There is much confusion in Christendom concerning the right and proper use of the Mosaic law. Some believe that the moral laws are applicable to Christians; others, that none of it applies. A small minority of Christians hold that all of it must be observed. The Westminster Confession of Faith, by way of example, says: Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified, or condemned; yet is it of great use to them, as well as to others; in that, as a rule of life informing them of the will of God, and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk accordingly. That is to say, although we are not saved through the law, it is a good rule to live by. This teaching is a widely promulgated within Christianity.
Let us begin by outlining the Christian’s proper relationship to the law. It may be summarized in three points:
1. We are not saved on the principle of law; neither through our obedience to it nor Christ’s.
2. We are dead to the law. The law itself is not dead—it continues to expose and judge sin.
3. The law is not the Christian’s rule for living; we are not under law.
Although the expression the law frequently refers to the Mosaic Law, the use of the word law in Scripture is more general. In many instances the original text speaks of law as a principle—not the Mosaic law specifically. It is the very principle of law that we are no longer under. There is a new principle which has taken its place—grace and all that it encompasses.
The Historic Context
Before we examine these three points, we must consider the historic context of the law. Abraham was never under the law, nor were Isaac or Jacob. In fact, we can include the twelve sons of Jacob also. The law was given to the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai at Mount Horeb. We find the account in Exodus 19. Up until that time, God had acted towards the children of Israel in pure, sovereign grace according to His own faithfulness (Exod. 6:6-8). He had borne them on eagle’s wings and had brought them unto Himself (Exod. 19:4). Chapter 16 of Ezekiel gives us a graphic picture of Jehovah’s loving care towards Israel. Viewed as an abandoned infant, covered in the filth of its birth, Israel was unloved and rejected. There was nothing in them to merit the favor of God. Deuteronomy confirms this: “The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deut. 7:7-8). God, in His sovereignty, chose Israel and separated them unto Himself to be a holy people: “Ye shall be holy unto Me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine” (Lev. 20:26).
There was a right and proper conduct suited to the relationship in which the children of Israel were brought. It is at this juncture that Jehovah introduces the law. “If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people” (Exod. 19:5). To this Israel responded: “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do” (Exod. 19:8). They repeated this pledge throughout their history, even when they clearly stood in violation of it: “The people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. ... Now therefore put away, said [Joshua], the strange gods which are among you” (Josh. 24:21, 23; see also Neh. 9-10).
It might be asked: Did Israel have a choice? They certainly had a choice as to the language of their reply. Man, however, is confident in his own ability to stand before God. Nothing has changed in this regard. Tell a person that he or she needs a Saviour and they will ask, Why? Moreover, man fails to credit God for getting him to where he is. (Though, if things do not go well, then God gets the blame!) If Israel had for a moment considered the circumstances of their delivery from Egypt, it might have given them reason for pause. Were they better than the Egyptians? The blood of the lamb alone protected the firstborn, not their merits. What about the Red Sea? Before they had left Egypt, they were already complaining and accusing Moses (Exod. 14:11-12). They owed everything to the mercies of God, and yet, they now vowed to do all that which Jehovah had spoken. They did not know their own hearts. There were a few in Israel who believed God and sought to walk in faith; the majority, however, did not: “the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Heb. 4:2).
The law addresses itself to an earthly people. An Israelite is one who can vouch for his or her blood lineage from Jacob. The law is very appealing to the natural man—the solemnity and ceremony of it is very attractive. Moreover, it makes a demand upon man; a demand which he thinks he can meet and thereby prove himself. Man jumps at the opportunity and says: I can do it! It does not, however, take faith to sacrifice a lamb and offer it according to the statues of the law. Though, if offered without faith, it means nothing in God’s sight (1 Sam. 15:22; Prov. 15:8; Isa. 66:2-3). I do not suggest that everything in the law could be expressed as a mere outward religious observance, but even the moral statues, for the most part, seem to be within the reach of a good person. I once heard a Jew give an account of the Ten Commandments. In his view, the first nine were reasonable—the last, however, was out of place. That commandment says, “Thou shalt not covet” (Exod. 20:17). It was this very one which slew the man in the seventh of Romans: “I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. ... For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me” (Rom. 7:7, 11). It is evident that this Jew felt the same difficulty. Like the ruler in Luke’s Gospel, he perhaps could say that he had kept all the law from his youth up, but the last commandment did him in: “Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). The last commandment touches upon the very springs of the heart—that which motivates all else.
The law does not produce righteousness, it demands it. The law presupposes the presence of righteousness to act according to its precepts. If I demand money of another to settle a debt, there is the assumption that the funds can be produced. If they can’t, then the individual is bankrupt. The law probed the heart of man to see if there was anything capable of responding to the character of Jehovah God. What did it find? Nothing!
In the third chapter of Romans, God’s verdict upon man is given: “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). As to the Jew under the law, it says: “We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19). Later in the same epistle the Apostle writes: “Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone” (Rom. 9:31-32). Israel incorrectly supposed that they could gain their own righteous standing before God through the works of the law. In this endeavor, they failed completely. The law showed them that they were sinners. Furthermore, in their attempt to obtain righteousness for themselves, they became blind to their true state (Matt. 15:14; Rom. 11:8). In John’s gospel, the religious leaders say: “This people who knoweth not the law are cursed” (John 7:49). Had they known the law, they would have recognized that they were all cursed: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse” (Gal. 3:10).
Not Saved on the Principle of Law
We are now in a position to consider what the Word of God has to say concerning our first statement—we are not saved on the principle of law; neither through our obedience to it nor Christ’s.
Romans one says concerning the gospel: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). There is much in this verse. In the gospel, God reveals a positive righteousness on His part—positive, because the gospel is the “power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom. 1:16). The law, on the other hand, exposed man’s bankruptcy as far as human righteousness goes. Indeed, God is no longer looking for righteousness in man; instead, He has revealed His righteousness through the gospel. This is a striking observation and one that is contrary to our natural thoughts. What! God is not seeking righteousness in man? Furthermore, how does God display His righteousness through the gospel?
God manifests His righteousness when He, by grace, justifies the sinner because of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24). If God justified us on any ground other than the blood of Christ, He would be unrighteous. And, if we came into the good of it in some way other than grace, received by faith, then that, too, would point to unrighteousness in God—it would suppose some merit in man contrary to God’s own verdict (Rom. 3:24). The righteousness of God is, therefore, revealed “from faith” (or, it could be better said, “by faith”) because it is to be had on the principle of faith. By way of contrast, the righteousness which the law demanded was by, or on the principle of, works. It is “to faith” because it is only through faith that we personally come into the good of it.
This verse would be sufficient to answer our inquiry—salvation is to be had on the principle of faith without works and it is to be received by faith—the Apostle, however, further develops this. In the third chapter he writes: “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). By the law is the knowledge of sin. Law does not produce righteousness but, rather, demands it. When man fails to produce that which it demands, he is at once shown to be a sinner. The law is quite powerless to make a man righteous. Our righteous standing before God must solely be based on faith completely apart from the law. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28).
Now we arrive at a verse which generates some questions. “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Rom. 3:31). Instead of trying to make this verse fit our theology, we receive it in the context of the verses which both precede and follow—it will not contradict them. Quite simply, the law has not been voided by the gospel. Instead, the gospel has established the law as holy, just, and good. And how is that? Suppose for a moment that we were justified (declared righteous) by the law; this could only be possible through a weakening of the law. Humanly speaking, the law is a bar set too high; no-one can clear it. Man says, lower it a little and all will be well. In the minds of many, this is exactly what the gospel of the grace of God has done. Grace, however, has done nothing of the kind. God can show Himself merciful to man only because His righteous nature has been fully vindicated and satisfied at the cross. In the cross, God’s wrath against all impiety and unrighteousness was fully expressed (Rom. 1:18). In no way has God lowered His standards nor has God in any way been reconciled to sinful man. This verse (Rom. 3:31) does not change anything we’ve stated. It does, however, establish our second point concerning the law: the law is not dead—more on that shortly.
The weakness surrounding man and the law has never been with the law but with man. This is borne out by Paul, not only in the verses we have just considered, but consistently throughout his epistle to the Romans: “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good ... but I am carnal, sold under sin” (Rom. 7:12, 14).
What if Christ has fulfilled the law on my behalf? One may agree with all that has been written but still insist that justification is based on Christ’s obedience to the law. While it may be a good theory, it is not supported by the Scriptures. In all these instances, where the hopelessness of man’s obedience to the law is brought out, and where the complete lack of righteousness on the part of man is exposed, not once is Christ’s obedience to the law brought in. Instead, we read of the redemption that is found in Christ Jesus and faith on our part in His shed blood (Rom. 3:24-25). Galatians confirms what we have just seen in Romans. “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal. 2:16). The expression “by the faith of Jesus Christ” may be confusing to some, but it is faith which has Christ as its object as the remainder of the verse confirms. If Christ’s obedience to the law has been imputed to me, then that is the principle upon which I am justified. It is clear from this verse that no one is justified by the works of the law.
The Right and Proper Use of the Law
We now come to our second point: We are dead to the law. The law itself is not dead—it continues to expose and judge sin.
A verse in Romans seven, as given in the King James translation, appears to suggest otherwise: “we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held” (Rom. 7:6). A much clearer rendering is: “we are clear from the law, having died in that in which we were held” (JND). The law is not dead, we are. The epistle to the Galatians confirms this: “I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God” (Gal. 2:19). Since the law is not dead it still speaks.
In Paul’s first letter to Timothy we read: “The law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust” (1 Tim. 1:8-11). This is the right and proper use of the law.
The law is a divine standard against which man may be measured. The law continues to judge behavior and exposes, not just sins, but man as a sinner—it probes the heart of man and manifests his very nature. “Until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law” (Rom. 5:13). This world cannot claim ignorance just as Israel of old could not; God has spoken. “The word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it” (Deut. 30:14). It isn’t that sin didn’t exist prior to the law, for it certainly did: “Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). But rather, “sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful” (Rom. 7:13). The law exposes the true nature of man and reveals that he is utterly sinful. In his second epistle to the Corinthians, Paul refers to the law as “the ministration of death” and “the ministration of condemnation” (2 Cor. 3:7, 9). The law is a principle of dealing with man which necessarily destroys and condemns him.
Sometimes we may hear it said that the law brings us to Christ. This appears to be supported by the verse: “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24). The “to bring us” is in italics indicating that these words were added by the translators; they should be omitted as many translations do. For Israel, the law was their schoolmaster until Christ came. The cross is the end of the law for the believer so that he might be justified by faith. The law may be the means whereby one is convicted of their sinfulness, but the law is quite powerless to bring one to Christ.
Before we move on to our final point, I wish to consider two scriptures which speak of the voiding or annulling of the law. The first is in Ephesians: “Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Eph. 2:15). The Greek word for “abolished” is the same word found in the third chapter of Romans for “make void” (Rom. 3:31). In this instance, if the translators had used “make void”, or better yet “annulled”, it would have been more accurate. The Apostle is speaking of the division which stood between Jew and Gentile. The gentiles were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). It was the law which established this division between Jew and gentile. In the cross, however, this has been entirely set aside in Christ. God has created one new body with no distinction between Jew and Gentile—the church. The church has not been grafted into Israel nor has it replaced it—for this to be true, it must necessarily have been on legal grounds. The church, however, is a body distinct from Israel and quite apart from the law; all who are saved are brought into it—both Jew and gentile. It is in the context of this relationship that the Apostle speaks of the law of commandments having been annulled. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
In the third chapter of second Corinthians the word annulled (made void) appears four times. The chapter speaks of the Old Covenant in contrast to the New. The law was introduced with the Old Covenant. In every respect, the New Covenant is established on an infinitely superior footing compared to the Old. As Christians, we enjoy New Covenant blessings, though not under the letter of it (2 Cor. 3:6). It is a covenant which will be made with Israel and Judah based on the work of Christ at Calvary (Heb. 8:8; Luke 22:20). The foundation for the New Covenant having been laid, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews states: “In that He saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away” (Heb. 8:13). Although Christ did not void or diminish the law in any respect in justifying us, as far as the Christian is concerned, the law has been annulled at the cross. What has the law (any law) to say to a dead person? Nothing! We are not under its curse: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13); and as for righteousness: “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. 10:4). These verses do not contradict Romans 3:31, nor do they require us to revise our understanding. Everything fits together in perfect harmony.
The Law Is Not the Rule for the Christian Life
We now arrive at our third and final point. I may be asked: If the law still serves a purpose in reproving evil then surely it is a good rule for a Christian to live by? The answer is: “Ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Either we are under law or we are not. If I have an obligation to it, then I’m under it. The Christian’s obedience is to the Person of Christ. It is an obedience rooted in love and not duty. It is a willing obedience that the new nature responds to through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 15 takes up the question of gentile subjection to the law. Some from Jerusalem were teaching “that it was needful to circumcise [the gentiles], and to command them to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). Peter speaks plainly: “why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” (Acts 15:10). At a meeting of the brothers in Jerusalem a communication repudiating the error was formulated: “Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: ... For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well” (Acts 15:24, 28-29). The three necessary things spoken of do not form a new law nor, for that matter, do they express the full extent of Christian conduct. They address practices, acceptable among the gentiles, which were contrary to the holy nature of God and the believer. The communication came by divine inspiration (vs. 28); it was not on the whim of the brethren, nor was it in any way a compromise to satisfy the Jewish brethren. Sensitivity among brethren, especially between those of Jewish and gentile background, is taken up in Romans 14-15; it is not the subject here. Three of the four necessary things pre-date the flood; eating meats offered to idols is addressed by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 10:19-20), it was tantamount to fellowship with demons.
If Acts 15 answers the question as to whether the gentiles were to be subject to the law, Paul’s epistle to the Galatians addresses the question for all believers—both Jew and gentile. Influential teachers had come in among the assemblies of Galatia and were insisting that the Christian needs to be subject to the law. Paul’s words to the Galatians are very strong. “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:1-3). The mingling of the law, and more generally Judaism, with Christianity may seem a small thing, but it exalts man at the expense of Christ. As such, it is offensive to God.
For many, who rightly understand that we are not justified on the principle of law, they may still see the law as a necessary part of the Christian walk. But if so, what purpose does it serve? Are we now going to be made perfect through the law? Is God’s work in us incomplete? We read elsewhere: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). Through new birth we now possess the very nature that Christ had.
Perhaps it will be said, we need the law to know right from wrong and to judge the flesh. But we now have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit: “When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” (1 John 2:20). When we walk according to the new nature in the power of the Spirit, the flesh will have no part in our lives: “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). One may reply: Yes, but we still have the flesh in us; don’t we need the law to keep it in check? Again, the answer Scripture gives us is plain: “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under law” (Rom. 6:14). This is a striking verse; the very thing we suppose will keep the flesh in check (the law) brings us under the dominion of sin. And why is that? “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7). In contrast, when we walk in the good of all which God in His grace has given us, we are delivered from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). If there is a rule for the Christian life, it is simply this: “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked” (1 John 2:6). And again: “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him” (Col. 2:6).
Many will relegate all the verses which speak of our not being under the law to a question of justification. And yet, “I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God” (Gal. 2:19). Is this justification? No, it speaks of our present life and it is quite apart from law. “Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God” (Rom. 7:4). Again, this speaks of fruit for God in our lives and not of justification. We are not justified on the principle of law and we cannot produce fruit for God on the principle of law.
When we looked at the historic context of the law, we saw that it was given to a natural people with an earthly inheritance. It was a rule suited to that sphere of things. Galatians, on the other hand, sees us removed from this world altogether: “Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world” (Gal. 1:3-4); “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20); “They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24); “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14). Putting ourselves under law brings us back into this world and its sphere. There is much in the world contrary to Christianity and we should expect it. We don’t go there and say this and that is condemned by the law; we are to be removed from it altogether.
The objection may be made that although we are free from the ceremonial laws, we have an obligation to the moral law. It is true that the book of Galatians has much to say against circumcision—a ceremonial, not a moral, statute. But why was circumcision so devastating? Because it puts one under the entire law—they became indebted to the whole thing: “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). When Christians speak of the law, it is frequently reduced to little more than the Ten Commandments. Although the Ten Commandments hold a unique place—they were written upon the two tablets of stone with the finger of God (Exod. 31:18, Deut. 10:4)—they cannot so conveniently be severed from the remainder of the law. When asked: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” (Matt. 22:36), the Lord Jesus responded: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt. 22:37-39). Neither command is one of the ten; they are found elsewhere (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18). It must be conceded that the Ten Commandments alone do not encompass the so-called moral law.
We ask the question, does the verse— “Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14)—speak of the moral or ceremonial law? How about: “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56). Without a doubt, the Apostle is speaking of the law in its moral nature and essence. He says, “I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Rom. 7:7). This has nothing to do with ceremony; it is moral. Just as surely as these verses touch upon the moral aspects of the law, they remove us from beneath it.
If we are not under law, then this appears to beg the question: “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:15). What does it mean to be under grace? It is a completely new way of dealing with man in contrast to law. God in His goodness has given to us all that we require to walk in practical righteousness before Him. Furthermore, His love in sending His only begotten Son, and the Son’s love in giving Himself for us, teaches us—if we any have affection for Christ—that we cannot walk in our former ways. If one has paid my debts—debts that I could not repay—to take up with gambling would be a most egregious affront to my benefactor. We would, in effect, take our place afresh with those who: “spit in His face, and buffeted Him; and others smote Him with the palms of their hands” (Matt. 26:67). Would we, could we, now take our place with them? Even so, “the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12).
The Righteous Requirement of the Law
When we get to the eighth chapter of Romans, the Holy Spirit appears as the power of the Christian life. It is there that we read: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:3-4). The law itself isn’t weak; the weakness lies with man—the flesh is incapable of keeping the law. The law, once broken, leads to condemnation; having done its work it has nothing more to say. The law knows no mercy; it is powerless to remove the condemnation. This Christ has accomplished at the cross through His death. We can now say: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Viewed as dead with Christ, we are no longer governed by that law of sin and death. Instead, there is a new principle at work within us—the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. When we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, we will fulfill the righteous requirements of the law.
There are most certainly principles expressed in the law consistent with the Christian life. Right and wrong has not changed. Indeed, none of the moral principles found in the law have been set aside—if fact, they have been strengthened. Under the law divorce was permitted, but why? “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so” (Matt. 19:8). Under grace, however, we read: “Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife” (1 Cor. 7:10-11). That portion of the Gospels commonly called the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) is often perceived as a spiritualization of the law. It is not. It gives us those moral principles suited to the kingdom in contrast to the law. It rises to a higher standard. Multiple times the Lord says: “But I say unto you ... ” (Matt. 5:22, 28, etc.).
Of the Ten Commandments all but the fourth (the keeping of the Sabbath) appears one way or another in the New Testament. Once again, to state it another way, the teaching of the New Testament has no quarrel with the moral principles expressed through the law.
“There is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him” (1 Cor. 8:6).
“Neither be ye idolaters” (1 Cor. 10:7).
“Put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth” (Col. 3:8).
There is no exhortation to keep the Sabbath in the New Testament. It was uniquely connected with God’s covenant with Israel (Ezek. 20:12). The Lord’s Day is not now the Christian’s Sabbath—this is what happens when the law is misappropriated by Christians; it must be spiritualized to get around the obvious difficulties.
“Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)” (Eph. 6:2).
“Let none of you suffer as a murderer” (1 Pet. 4:15).
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers ... ” (1 Cor. 6:9).
“Let him that stole steal no more” (Eph. 4:28).
“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour” (Eph. 4:25).
“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5).
A number of these verses relate to our having put off the old man and our having put on the new (that is to say, what we are in Christ). They are not things we are hoping to achieve—a degree of spirituality for which we are striving. The evils spoken of are presented as being wholly incompatible with our new life in Christ. “Having put off according to the former conversation the old man which corrupts itself according to the deceitful lusts; and being renewed in the spirit of your mind; and your having put on the new man, which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 5:22-24 JND). We should never for one moment imagine that living under grace, and the liberty we have in Christ, permits us to do things contrary to the holy and righteousness nature of God. Such fleshly behavior is inconsistent with one who has put off the old man. With a new nature and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, a higher standard is expected of the Christian than the Israelite under law. We recognize that it is possible to turn “the grace of our God into lasciviousness” (Jude 4), but subjection to the law is not the solution.
Closing Remarks
One under the law is focused on self. We see this at work in Galatia. The law called for love, but it did not produce love (Lev. 19:18). The Galatians found that subjection to the law resulted in their biting and devouring one another (Gal. 5:15). Love, on the other hand, is the very expression of the new nature. “Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God” (1 John 4:7). One walking in the power of the Spirit of God cannot help but show love: “The fruit of the Spirit is love” (Gal. 5:22). It is the “law of liberty” (James 2:12) to the believer—there is no obligation or drudgery associated with it. If my son enjoyed running, then asking him to run to the store would not be an imposition. No, it would be a joy to him.
The law cannot produce love, but love, on the other hand, will result in fruit which fulfills the righteous requirements of the law: “All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Gal. 5:14). And again: “He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, 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 be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:8-10). The last part of the verse might be better rendered: “love therefore is the whole law” (JND). Love encompasses the entire law; we cannot say the converse.
Perhaps some will feel that we are quibbling. I trust not. So much is written in the New Testament concerning the law and the Christian that we cannot question the importance of the subject. On the surface, the difference between our being under the law, versus, walking in the power of the Spirit so that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, may seem small, but they are truly profound. The law came in so that offences might abound (Rom. 5:20); it addresses itself to the flesh and thoroughly condemns it. What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God has done another way. If we set aside what God has done, we put ourselves on dangerous ground. Grace is an altogether different principle to law (Rom. 10:4-10). No longer are we pursing our own righteous standing before God. We are freely justified by His grace and we stand before God where Christ stands. We have a new life in Christ and we are to live in the good of that life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our object is no longer self but Christ. Whereas the law said do and live; grace has given us life that we may live and do.
The early believers were lured by others from the liberty that was theirs in Christ: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1). This remains true today. Our being under law, either for justification or as a rule to live by, is part of a much larger problem, the confounding of the church with Israel. This is not merely a doctrinal issue; it is a heart problem. Man wants a religion suited to the flesh with earthly aspirations. This, Christianity most emphatically is not.