Law vs. Grace

Topics ...

The Purpose of the Law

Keeping the law sounds admirable. But contrary to what most of us have heard in church for years, attempting to follow the law is not intended to make us closer to God. Rather, its purpose is to show us how far we are away from Him!

The Old vs. The New

The Old Testament (or covenant) told us how to live life focused on God's standards. Then the New Testament came into effect and God's grace and mercy became the target. Assuming that's all true, why is it so hard to find a substantial difference between what is taught in the Gospels and that in the Old Testament? The difference is that God's New Testament with mankind (that's what we would call a "will" today) actually begins in the book of Acts!

It Is Finished

When Christ cried out from the cross "It is finished!" He did not mean that His life was over. He was telling the whole world --both Jews and Gentiles-- that the law was completed; it was fulfilled; and it no longer stands between man and God.

The Solution to Mans' Real Problem

Mans' real problem is not his sinfulness and need for forgiveness. Since the time of Adam, man has needed life --spiritual life-- because the punishment for Adam's sin in the Garden was spiritual death. When God took away Adam's spiritual life, that life was not able to be passed down from one generation to another as physical life is. But God provided a permanent solution to the problem.

What Part Should It Play In Our Lives?

After receiving God's gift of eternal life, doesn't the law help us to understand His desires for us? Doesn't it at least show us where to ask God to help us improve? Not according to the Bible! There is passage after passage telling us to give up trying to follow the law --and instead to live by faith.

Enter Into God's Sabbath Rest

The true Sabbath is not a day of the week. It's a description of resting from our own efforts of trying to please God. There is only one way to please Him and it's not by performing good deeds or avoiding bad ones. It can only be accomplished by learning to trust and rely upon Him more each day.

Who Teaches that We Should Keep It?

The teachers of the law might have good intentions, but the Bible doesn't have anything good to say about them. A pair of passages in 1 Timothy reveal the motives of those troublesome teachers in Paul's time that are just as relevant today.

In Summary ...

There is nothing more frustrating in a Christian's life than trying to do all the right things to please God and realizing that the life we want to live can't be achieved. While striving to make a good performance, our shortcomings become all the more obvious. It's because the very thing we use to measure our life successes is what God designed to show our failures.

The Purpose of the Law

It Shows Just How Good We Have To Be

The law was given so that man could see the condition of his relationship with God. To be acceptable to Him, we must be perfect, holy and righteous. The law shows just how imperfect, unholy and unrighteous we really are.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

Contrary to what most of us have heard in church for years, attempting to follow the law is not intended to make us closer to Him. Rather, it’s to show us how far away we are from God. That’s why there were all those rules and rituals for offerings and sacrifices in which blood had to be shed. They demonstrated the severity of the consequences of our sins.

It Only Condemns and Nothing More

The law was designed to condemn us by pointing out our faults, our guilt, our sins. It is supposed to stop us from bragging about how good we are and to show us how desperately we need God’s mercy. The law's goal is to break through our stubborn pride and lead us to Jesus Christ for salvation.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3:19-20)

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. (Galatians 3:23-25)

It Was a Covenant Given to the Israelites

Actually, the law that we usually refer to was only given to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai in the form of the Ten Commandments. More laws and statutes and regulations were added to govern their conduct, worship, and even their diet. All the laws had the one very special purpose: It was to show God’s greatness to the nations around Israel by what He required of his people.

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? (Deuteronomy 4:7-8)

But the Gentiles Have a Similar Law

Although, it was specifically given to the Israelites, we Gentiles have our own version of the law written on our hearts. That’s so that everyone can recognize their spiritual condition and their need for God’s gift through His Son.

Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them. (Romans 2:14-15)

We all --both Jew and Gentile alike-- know what it is that God desires for us. He wants us to have eternal life with Him. And to do that we have to be perfectly righteous and completely sinless. The law leads us to Jesus Christ who is the only One who can make this become a reality.

The Old vs. The New

The Old Covenant

There have been two ways that God has been dealing with mankind since the beginning. The first --the Old Covenant-- was based our ability to be good and to do good; and success was measured using God's standards.

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:29-32)

Romans chapter one provides a practical summary of those standards along with the penalty for failing to fully comply with them. It's death! Can you honestly say that you haven't committed at least one of the sins in that list? (I haven't met anyone else who can either --including me!) So as long as we're living under the old covenant, we're waiting for judgement day when our punishment will be declared.

The New Covenant

Knowing our inability to live up to the strict requirements of the law, God provided a new way --a New Covenant-- that does not rely on our goodness, but instead relies on His mercy. The new way doesn't just improve or add to the old one --it's a complete replacement. The new covenant is spelled out in the book of Hebrews.

Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. (Hebrews 10:13-18)

Did you see that? He made us perfect and holy by his sacrifice, not ours --and he made us that way forever! "After that time" refers to the when the perfect sacrifice --Jesus-- was put to death. Now we're perfect and holy because He refuses to bring our sins into His mind. He remembered them once when His Son was sacrificed on the cross and He will never think about them again!

The Day It Changed

The modern term for testament (or covenant) is what we call a "last will and testament" --or more commonly, a "will." And of course, a will only becomes effective after the person who made it is dead. For that matter, only the last will that the person makes is the one that actually goes into effect.

In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. (Hebrews 9:16-17)

The gospels document Christ Jesus' life and death, but the "new will" hadn't gone into effect yet --since He was the One who made that will and He hadn't died yet. In the Bible, the results of the "new covenant" begin in the book of Acts (which starts after Jesus' death)!

Did you ask yourself "So what does that mean?" It means that the page that separates the new and old testaments in your Bible really ought to be placed between John and Acts! That way, when you want to read about how you should live according to God's new testament, you would begin reading the book of Acts rather than the gospels.

Why Do We Gentiles Want the Ten Commandments?

The Israelites were shown to be set apart from all the other nations of the world because God had given them the law. The legal aspect of the law (based on the Ten Commandments) set up a system to determine offenses, rules about the testimony, and the punishment associated with the offenses.

The law laid down in the Bible says that if we break any one of these commandments, we are guilty of breaking them all. Breaking "one commandment" doesn't mean one today and another tomorrow; it means we are guilty if we ever break even one commandment in an entire life time!

The punishment for breaking any of "the Ten" is death. It's not the sacrificing of an animal or begging for forgiveness; it's being stoned to death at the city gate! Isn't it strange that we want so much to be under the law that we forget that God says that anyone who is under the law is under a curse?

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." (Galatians 3:10-13)

Why do we Christians hold up the Israelites' Ten Commandments like a banner to set us apart from the rest of the world when we have something so much better? We have the law of love written on our hearts and minds along with the Holy Spirit to lead us every step of our lives!

It Is Finished!

You've Been Told to Keep the Law, But Can You?

As Christians, we continually hear about the need for us to follow the law and we also hear that Christ fulfilled the law. Does that sound like a contradiction? It should!

More often than not, we're told that we need to try to keep the law, but don't worry, because when we fail we can ask God to forgive us. This cycle of failing and asking for God's forgiveness has become a way of life for most of us. Jesus' words from the cross "It is finished!" were meant to break that religious cycle.

Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4)

Both of these Scriptures state that coming to faith in Jesus Christ ends the need for the law. We no longer need to compare our goodness to God's commandments. We've been humbled and have seen our unrighteous, unholy selves for what we were --dead and in need of His grace and mercy so that we could receive eternal life through His Son.

The Law Is Only a Shadow of Something Better

Like the parables, the true meaning of the law is hidden. Obviously, the law describes the strict requirements for a person to live a perfect life and it also describes the penalty of death for not doing so. Yet the law uses pictures to tell us about Jesus' perfect life and about His death for our sins!

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming-- not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. (Hebrews 10:1)

These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. (Colossians 2:17)

The entire system of sacrifices showed that if we wanted to live, we needed to find one who is perfect to take our place with the executioner. And the order of the priesthood showed that someone needed to stand between us and God. That high priest had to be someone that knew what it was like to be a man and also someone righteous enough to stand before God. These were foreshadowings of what Jesus was coming to fulfill.

Are You Living Under Law or Grace?

Whenever the statement is made that the law's only purpose is to lead us to Jesus, the response is nearly always the same. "Well then, if the law doesn't apply to us any more, then we have a license to sin --right?" (As if we ever needed a license to sin!) That conversation must have been one that even Paul heard because he recorded that question and his response in Romans chapter 6!

For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! (Romans 6:14-15)

Nearly every one of Paul's letters reveals a continual battle that plagued him wherever he ministered. He taught about the grace of God and following right behind him came teachers of the law. He taught about the freedom we have by living in a trust-faith relationship with God --we are holy and righteous because of Jesus' sacrifice for us. They --the teachers of the law-- taught that after salvation, a Christian remains holy and righteous by following the law.

He Didn't Come to Abolish It, or Did He?

There's nearly always another discussion following the one about having a license to sin. It goes something like this: "You say that the law came to an end for believers --that it doesn't apply to us anymore. But didn't Jesus say that He didn't come to abolish the law? And didn't He also say that the law would never disappear? If He abolished the law like you say, then how do you explain Jesus' words?"

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18)

Did you notice that He said that the law wouldn't disappear "until everything is accomplished"? The solution to this dilemma is found by understanding what it was that Jesus came to accomplish. His purpose was to be the Father's first-hand witness about the plan for mankind. God wants us all to live eternally with Him. Yet in order to do this, it requires living a perfectly sinless life --or finding someone who is sinless that can qualify as our substitute. It's one or the other.

Are You Sure It's Abolished?

Jesus lived the perfectly sinless life that we can't so that He could become the perfect sacrifice in our place. Now, because of what He did, the law can disappear since He has accomplished His purpose! He fulfilled the law. "It is finished!"

This passage in Ephesians should settle the matter about whether Jesus abolished the law or not:

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:14-16)

Some might say: What about Romans 3:31 (Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law)? The response is this: We can only "uphold" (fulfill) the law through faith in Christ Jesus' sacrifice, burial and resurrection --never by any works of our own.

At the Cross, the Law Was Canceled, Taken Away, Replaced ...

Take a close look at what was accomplished for all mankind when Jesus died on that cross.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13-15)

He disarmed the powers and authorities --that's the Devil and all of his helpers-- by nailing the law to the cross --canceling it and replacing it with a new and better guide to life: God's love! We were forgiven at the cross. We were made alive --"It is finished!"

The Solution to Man's Real Problem

Needing Forgiveness Isn't the Real Problem!

It isn't that man needs forgiveness of his sins. It's much worse than that! The problem is that he is DEAD --he lacks spiritual life. Although we inherit physical life from our parents, that's not how we get spiritual life. Jesus explained it when He was talking with Nicodemus; He called it being "born again."

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' (John 3:3-7)

Everyone has been "born of the flesh"; born physically from human parents. That's what being "born of water" describes. The first step in the physical birth process is the bursting of the mother's water sac just before a baby emerges from her womb. Being born of the Spirit occurs when the person accepts Jesus for salvation; they are emersed completely in the Spirit. It is then that he receives spiritual life --not merely forgiveness!

Sin Is Only a Symptom

According to this Romans chapter 5 passage, sin hasn't been the problem facing mankind because sin doesn't count against us unless there is a law to measure it against. But what does matter --and has mattered from the beginning-- is death.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-- for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. (Romans 5:12-14)

Death has been passed down through our parents along with the tendency to disobey anyone who sets up a law dictating proper actions and attitudes.

The Single Deadly Sin

Remember, there is one sin that God holds every man accountable for: It's simply for not believing in His Son. Believing in Him means trusting Him for life in the hereafter and also relying on Him for life in the hear-and-now. The world's sin (or guilt) is described in chapter 16 of John and that sin is the only thing standing between God and man. Every other sin was dealt with at the cross!

But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. (John 16:7-11)

Forgiveness was accomplished on the cross --once and for all.

The Question Remains

Now the question is: Will you accept the gift of eternal life that God offers? That question was even presented in the Old Testament.

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

That very same decision was presented to Adam and Eve. They were warned about choosing between two trees in the garden of Eden: One was the tree of life; the other was the tree that brought death. Now the decision is presented to you and to me as God continues to ask us to "Choose life through My Son!"

What Part Should It Play In Our Lives?

Isn't It Good for Correcting Us?

Can't the law at least point out the flaws and weaknesses we Christians have so that we can ask God for help in correcting them? No! The law has only one function, it's to tell dead people that they are in need of life through Jesus Christ. That's it and nothing more!

There are three great passages that illustrate what relationship the Christian should have with the law. In First Timothy we are told that the law is only for those who are unrighteous --not for the righteous!

They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers-- and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. (1 Timothy 1:7-11)

When you became a Christian you were clothed with Christ and clothed in His righteousness through faith. You were washed and sanctified and made alive in Christ. Why would you continue to put yourself under the law? This passage says that those who teach that you need to keep the law don't know what they are talking about or at least how it relates to the gospel!

The Law Brings Death, Not Life

This next passage is from chapter two of Galatians. It's here that Paul relates what happened to him when he realized that the good and perfect law --that which he was so dedicated to-- was now condemning him. The law is what he lived for, but it essentially killed him.

"If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:17-21)

Paul died to the law and he wasn't going to rebuild his relationship with it again. It's only purpose was to open his eyes to the fact that he needed to be saved God's way. His own efforts --as great as they seemed-- were not sufficient to meet the righteous requirements of the law. The law he thought he knew so well was full of examples showing the need for a substitute to take on the death penalty that he --a law breaker-- deserved. Once Christ became his savior --took the death penalty for him-- there was no need more for the law!

Have You Died to the Law Yet?

This third passage is from Chapter 7 of Romans. It's an illustration presented to the legal experts of the time using the law of marriage. The law says that marrying someone else while still married is adultery. However, it is quite legal to marry again after a spouse dies.

Do you not know, brothers-- for I am speaking to men who know the law-- that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man. (Romans 7:1-3)

So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:4-6)

Based on these Scriptures, what is required in order for us to belong to Jesus? We must die to the law! And what is necessary before we can bear fruit to God? Die to the law!

What Makes Sin Such a Powerful Enemy?

Sin is an enemy, right? Of course it is --and we battle it continuously! Would you knowingly give your enemy any weapons to overpower you? No way! As you read the following passages, think about how you are doing just that --helping to defeat yourself-- by just trying to follow God's law!

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56)

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. (Romans 7:7-8)

Could it possibly be that God's holy, righteous, and good law can be fuel for sin? --Yes! Is it because the law is bad? --No! It's because we have a fallen nature which is naturally disobedient. And the law is God's mirror to show us that nature. (You can read the rest in chapters 7 and 8 of Romans.)

For a Christian to truly live a victorious life, he must die to the law --like to a dead spouse. The law has no place in a Christian's life. And when that becomes a reality, then sin has lost its power!

Which Law Are We Talking About?

Let's set the record straight here before we get any deeper. The law that we've been talking about up to this point --and will continue to talk about-- is the law of sin and death. It's that set of rules which point out our sins. For the Jews, it's the laws, statutes and regulations wrapped around the Ten Commandments. For the gentiles, it's basically the same thing but written on our hearts (Romans 2). And in both cases --for Jews and Gentiles-- the penalty for breaking even one is death. There is another law that we've been hinting at --it's referred to as the law of love or the law of the Spirit of life.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)

We have been freed from the law of sin and death. Simply put, whoever sins is to be put to death. We now serve God based on a new law. Whoever has the Spirit has been made alive!

Enter Into Gods Sabbath Rest

The Sabbath Is Not Just a Day of the Week

The Sabbath is a state of being! Living in the Sabbath rest is relaxing in what God has done and what He is doing. In fact, the only way to live a life that's pleasing to God is to live by trusting (having faith in) Him.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

To stop a Christian from living in the Sabbath rest, the enemy's battle plan consists of a two wave attack. The first wave is successful as long as we remain ignorant of the fact that God doesn't expect us to live by following a set of rules and regulations anymore. His purpose for the law was to get our attention --to show us that we were lost --dead in our sins and transgressions --in need of the Savior!

The second wave is much more subtle. It comes disguised in the form of religious expectations of a Christian. They are the familiar set: church membership and participation; being the spiritual leader of the family or submissive wife; having a regimented prayer time; consistent tithing and giving; daily devotional reading. There is nothing wrong with any of these, but if they are done to appear more pleasing to God, to other Christians, or even to ourselves, then they effectively become a law --a law of religious performance.

Living a religious life --trying to follow rules or living up to expectations-- is an attempt to reach up to God. On the contrary, living a life of faith is trusting God --who reached down to us through His Son-- to be at work in us.

If Not the Law, then What Is Supposed to Lead Us?

The way we are to live is by faith, --trusting God, --relying upon Him for all things. According to 1 John 4, God is love. So when we love one another, we are following where the Holy Spirit is leading us.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. (1 John 4:16-17)

Loving is what God is about. He demonstrated His love through Jesus who lived among us, give up everything for us, and died in our place. So loving others --as He loved us-- completes His purpose for us here on earth. This passage goes on to explain that loving one another can't happen as long as we continue to live under the law.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:18-19)

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. (Galatians 5:18)

God wants use to fulfill our purpose of loving each other. But that can only happen if we aren't fearful of being punished. That's where law comes in; the power that the law has over us is the fear of punishment for not living up to His expectations. Remember Romans 8:1?

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

True Obedience Is Not Religion; It's Trusting

Living by faith is trusting God to be and do what He said. The obedience referred to throughout the New Testament is not following a set of rules to live by; it's the natural response to believing and trusting God. We are urged many times in the Scriptures to gain an intimate knowledge of God's love for us as it was expressed through His Son Jesus --and to grow in that knowledge. After learning how much He loves us, we can then respond with our love for Him.

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

As His love grows in us, we can then grow in trusting Him. The more we trust Him after experiencing His love, the more we can love others because we won't be afraid of potential consequences --getting hurt. His love heals and covers over the troubles that others can and will cause us. Isn't that all He asks us to do: Love one another? Loving others must be very important to Him for He says:

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Galatians 5:6)

Love opens its heart to others. It's open for joy, but also to be wounded. That's what happened to Jesus when He lived here as a man. The shortest verse in the Bible describes His tender heart: "Jesus wept." (John 11:35) It's a picture of a wounded heart. And He asks us to do the same.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34)

Who Teaches that We Should Keep the Law?

Ignorant or Looking for Something to Gain?

According to the Bible, a person who teaches that a Christian is to follow the law either lacks understanding or he is desiring some kind of personal gain. Gain can come in various forms such as financial wealth or control over people through power or status.

Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers-- and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. (1 Timothy 1:5-11)

Did you find yourself, or at least some of the things you've done, in that list somewhere? Don't worry, it's intended to indict everyone of some point in their life. Remember, as you read the list of sinful acts in the passage above, that the lawbreakers, rebels, etc., are those who have not asked Christ to be their savior and their life. What changed when He saved us? Was it the fact that we've never sinned again since that day? Of course not.

Now, Is the Law Really for You?

The same basic list is also shown in the passage below, but notice how it concludes with a description of the new identity we were given when we became "in Christ". As a Christian, we have been washed, sanctified, and justified in His name and by His Spirit!

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Our righteousness is found in Christ. He completed the law which stood between God and us. He made us holy. He took away all our sins after paying the required death penalty. God has chosen to never remember our sins again; they are behind His back, never to be seen again. He did call them all to mind once though --all of them --even those in the future. And He put them all on His Son who was then crucified in our place. Now our sins are as far from us as the east is from the west. We are new creations in Christ.

Was One Death Enough or Do We Demand More?

So if a person tells you that you need to try to keep the law --and the law can only show you that you are a law breaker-- then he's also telling you that Jesus' sacrifice was not sufficient for you. You're not washed, not sanctified, and not justified in His name or by His Spirit. You're once again dead and in need of life. That would mean that God wasn't able to grant you eternal life if you died again!

So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

When you hear a teacher of the law, try to examine his motives. Is he just ignorantly following what he has heard from religious people? Or is he identified in the passage below?

If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-6)

Or is the person trying to get into your wallet to finance his ministry or build a larger building or ...? No matter what the teacher of the law has for a motive, he is wrong! The gospel is about God's undeserved grace and limitless mercy which has been granted to all men who receive Jesus as their Savior! The law was just to get us onto the path of life.

In Summary ...

An Example of How Law and Sin Work Together

Tell a child "Don't touch that stove! It's hot!" You know that at his first opportunity, he will touch it. It doesn't matter how much effort you put into your explanation about the hurt that the stove will inflict or what you might threaten in order to deter him from the pain. He will still try to touch the stove.

In this case, the law consists of the words "Don’t touch!" The sin is simply the child touching the hot stove. Ironically, the child wasn't tempted until you gave him the law! Once we recognize that the law is no longer a part of our Christian life, we are free from the power of sin. Because the law makes us want to sin due to our fallen nature.

For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:5-6)

The Law Just Doesn't Do What We Expect!

The law can not produce holiness nor give life nor cleanse the conscience nor make anyone righteous. It can only point out fault and guilt and sinfulness.

The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. (Hebrews 7:18-19)

It has no power (being weak and useless) to actually change a person’s heart. The best it can do is to affect his external actions. And the law continues to give power to sin!

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!" These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. (Colossians 2:20-23)

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56)

We Have a New Way to Live

The way God leads a Christian is not by His Old Testament law; He leads by His Spirit through love.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope-- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14)

We look at ourselves and at others and see faults and sins, but God has already dealt with those sins, He punished His Son for them. Jesus was given the wages of all our sins --he died!

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28)

The removal of our sins through Christ was even prophesied in Isaiah and the Psalms.

Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back. (Isaiah 38:17)

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:11-12)

Still Trying the Same Old Way?

Trying to live under the law will only make a Christian frustrated at his inability to please the One he wants to please most. He can not respond with love to a God who appears to be continually pointing out every wrong action or thought. Instead, we are left with a guilty conscience and sense of fear in approaching God. But we have been set free from all that!

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:18-19)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)