To the Law
To The Law
There are three phases of the plan of redemption. The first phase is the Law of Moses. The second phase is Divine grace. The third phase is redemption, or deliverance from the bondages of sin. God's people have experienced the first two phases. The third phase is beginning today.
The purpose of the Law of Moses was to make provision for transgressions. It never was intended to be a permanent solution to the forces that invite disobedience.
Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. (Galatians 3:19)
"Until the Seed should come." The final solution to the problem of the bondages of sin is the conception and forming of the Seed, Christ, within us. The new covenant is the writing of the Word of God, the Law of God, Christ Himself, in our mind and heart.
When the Seed is conceived and formed in us, we obey by nature the eternal moral Law of God. This is the rising of the Day Star in us. The Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, serve in an advisory capacity, guiding us like the Star of Bethlehem until we come to Christ, who Himself by His Divine Nature directs and enables us to serve God acceptably.
The Law of Moses is a guardian who brings us to the Teacher, Christ. Christ then takes charge of us.
This leaves a big hole, doesn't it? We no longer are under the Law of Moses, but the bondages of disobedience retain control over us.
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (Romans 7:14-20–NIV)
Can you see that the above is not speaking about the guilt of sin but about disobedience itself? Disobedience to God is a force in us. Guilt is God's attitude toward our behavior when we obey the force of evil in us.
That the Law of Moses cannot possibly deliver us from our disobedient nature is made clear by the Apostle Paul.
What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting.
For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. (Romans 7:7-11–NIV)
We can understand from the above the reason why Paul referred to the commandments of Moses interacting with a sinful human being as the "law of sin and death."
If the Law were effective in delivering us from our sinful nature, when Paul read in the Law that he was not to covet, Paul then would have striven successfully to overcome coveting.
But because the Law could only proclaim what sin is, and did not have the power to remove intense sinful desires, Paul's reaction to the Law that commanded him not to covet was: "But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead."
We realize from Paul's words here that the Ten Commandments, while a perfect although incomplete summary of the eternal moral law of God, was not an eternal solution to the problem of sin dwelling in the heirs of salvation.
Sometimes we say, "Christ has taken away my sins." What we actually mean is, Christ has taken away the guilt of my sins. Many of us have not experienced Christ taking away the compulsions of disobedience in us.
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 7:6–NIV)
"The new way of the Spirit." Does that remind us of Ezekiel: "I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees"?
It appears to me that we Christians have regarded "grace" as the means of lifting the guilt of our sins from us. But we have not known how to serve God in "the new way of the Spirit." Actually, the eighth chapter of the Book of Romans tells us how to serve God in the new way of the Spirit.
When we tell people how to get "saved," we inform them only how to get rid of the guilt of their sins. But this does not provide a house for God to live in and find rest, which is a major aspect of His purpose in redeeming man.
The second through the fifth chapter of the Book of Romans is an exhortation to Jewish people, advising them that now that the promised Seed has come, they can obtain righteousness through faith in the Seed.
By faith in the Seed I do not mean merely believing about Christ, but embracing Christ to the point that He is able to deliver us from the bondages of sin.
Below is a passage that sums up Paul's exhortation in the second through the fifth chapter of Romans:
However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. (Romans 4:5,6–NIV)
When Paul uses the term "works," in this section of Romans, Paul means the works of the Law of Moses. I think this has not been understood in Christian theology.
We Gentiles, not particularly understanding that Paul was speaking to Jews in this part of Romans, may think Paul was saying that the one who does not behave righteously is justified by faith. What Paul actually was stating is the person who does not obey the statutes of the Law of Moses can be justified by faith in Christ.
Is there a difference between striving to lead a righteous life according to the Law of Moses, and striving to lead a righteous life by following Christ?
There is a very great difference. Paul pointed out that our attempt to lead a righteous life according to the Law of Moses will not be completely successful because the Law makes no provision for deliverance from our sinful nature.
However, our attempt to lead a righteous life by following Christ can be completely successful because of the power and Virtue contained in the grace given to us in Christ.
Since we do not understand what "the new way of the Spirit is", and believe that God is ready to consider us as righteous even though we do not obey His eternal moral laws that always must govern the behavior of the righteous, we Christians are in destructive moral confusion.
By "works," in this part of the Bible, is meant the works of the Law of Moses, not the behavior of people apart from the Law. The purpose of Divine grace enables us to turn away from the Law of Moses and fasten our attention on Christ. We Gentiles, in many cases, are teaching that the purpose of Divine grace is to permit us to behave in an ungodly manner and still have fellowship with God.
What a truly awesome error in interpretation this is! It has destroyed the moral strength of the Christians in the United States. Divine judgment even now is falling on us with the intention of bringing us to faithful obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Divine grace provides freedom from striving to obey the Law of Moses, not freedom to live in an ungodly manner!
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)
It is obvious that in John's mind, it is grace and truth that replace the Law of Moses, not immoral behavior.