Do We Need The Law?

Most believers know they are not under the law, but under grace (cf. Rom. 6:14); however, they are not lawless and do not have contempt for the law, but know it has its place.  The law was never given to be a way of salvation, but only to show our need, to measure us.  The law was given to show us we cannot keep it!  The Hebrews vowed they would keep all the law when it was given, but they should have asked for mercy, knowing such a law was impossible to keep.  The Christian life is not hard, it's impossible too!  We must live by faith and express it through love, for love is the fulfillment of the law.

The law of love is harder to satisfy than any code though!  Thank God Jesus lived it and the law's righteousness is credited or imputed to our account in the Divine Ledger up above.  We all fall short, and perfection is only the standard, the direction is the test as we grow in expressing faith through love (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV).  In essence, the law is for the lawless and the lawbreaker (cf. 1 Tim. 1:9)!  We don't only have the law to guide us in right and wrong, we also have a conscience, the Holy Spirit, and the totality of Scripture as our plumb line to convict us of wrongdoing.

There are several purposes of the law for the believer (its purpose was formulated in the first Lutheran confession of faith known as the Formula of Concord in 1577):  a mirror to show us what we are like inside with all our guilt, insecurities, sin, and uncleanness--wrinkles and all; a sword to divide soul from spirit; a whip that drives us to the cross for mercy, and a hammer to smash our self-righteousness! The moral code is a guide to enlighten us to the Way, for morality never changes. It's a perfect standard of righteousness that only Jesus fulfilled.

The law was also ordained to restrain evil in society and provide for orderliness. To the Christian, it never loses its ability to convict of sin and to be a light unto our path.  But we must realize that the whole law is summed up in loving God and our neighbor as its fulfillment. The whole idea is to make us realize we cannot save ourselves no matter how righteous we think we are and no matter how good we are to our standards--we always fall short of the divine standard in Christ.

There are four types of laws that I want to mention, and disobeying each one has its consequences,   BUT WE ARE NOT ANTINOMIANS OR AGAINST THE LAW!  NB:  Nowhere in the NT are we exhorted to obey the Law, or to become somewhat Jewish--we must use it righteously--it's only a shadow (cf. Heb. 10:1)!

The first is the law of nature (SOME FIFTY UNIVERSAL CONSTANTS), e.g., the weak and strong nuclear force, the force of gravity, the speed of light, the speed of sound, the freezing of water, the charge on the electron, and even the nuclear weight of the proton and neutron, et al., and there are some fifty of them to consider and are uniform and consistent throughout the universe.  The laws of motion also come to mind:  an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion; each force exerted is met by an equal and opposite force; force equals mass times acceleration. 

The second law to consider is the moral law:  there is a moral compass in man's heart and conscience given by God, and guilt is meant to signal that we break it, there are consequences for wrongdoing to our soul's health, we don't toy with sin and get away with it! What was right in Moses' time is still right and what was wrong is still wrong--morality is absolute, universal, and also timeless.  If you ignore your conscience it may go away but this may lead to becoming perverted, degenerate, destitute, criminal, psychopathic, or worse!  It doesn't pay to ignore the signals of what God has ordained to restrain evil in man.

The third type of law is governmental (THE POWERS THAT BE), which is instituted by God and meant to keep evil at bay and provide for the public welfare--we no longer can survive with tribalism or patriarchal society.  Government, according to Augustine, is not a necessary evil, but necessary because of evil.  We are to fear government and submit to it unless it contradicts God and it has been given the power of the sword to enforce its laws--under God!

The last and probably most important law to bear in mind is the spiritual one (THE FIVE ONLY'S):  the way of salvation is only by grace through faith in Christ and saving faith must go hand in hand with repentance--one can imagine this as either penitent faith or believing repentance, but they must bear fruit to be genuine and not bogus.   Faith is manifest by trust in Jesus as Savior and embracing Him as Lord.

The savvy preacher knows how to discern and demonstrate law and gospel: the law is what God requires from us and God's expectations or standards; the gospel is the good news about what Christ has done for us in the cross and resurrection--solving the sin problem or the breaking of the law. NB:  Christ is the end of the Law for believers unto righteousness (cf. Rom. 10:4); Christ abolished the law (cf. Eph. 2:15).

What does this all mean in essence?  What can we take away from this going forward?  Laws couldn't exist without a lawgiver, right?  All these laws are indicators of a Supreme Lawgiver far superior to anything we can fathom!  Law implies a Lawgiver--this is reasonable to believe!  We all must beware lest we violate any of God's laws that apply to us, for God disciplines and chastens His children and they don't get away with sin or lawlessness.  Also, each law has its natural consequence which cannot be avoided any more than we can avoid gravity--we violate at our peril!     Soli Deo Gloria!  

Law And Gospel In Their Proper Domain

"And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws"  (Ezek. 36:27, NIV).
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them he is the one who loves me" (John 14:21).
"The law is given to convince us we don't keep it."--Dr. D. James Kennedy
"No man can justify himself before God by a perfect performance of the Law's demands--indeed it is the straight-edge of the Law that shows us how crooked we are" (Romans 3:20, Phillips).
"... [T]hrough the law we become conscious of our sin" (Rom. 3:20, NIV).  
"[F]or by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20, NKJV).  

Real theologians can distinguish law and gospel, works and faith, law and grace like the Judaizers didn't, faith and repentance (cf. Acts 20:21; 26:20; there is no genuine repentance without saving faith: we are saved by believing repentance or penitent faith), merit and grace (like the Romanists don't, cf. Eph. 2:8-9; the Reformers taught sola gratia or grace alone), fact and feeling (the divine order should be "fact, faith, feeling"), faith and faithfulness (the same Hebrew word, ethics or practice of faith must be fruit).  They know that you cannot divorce certain doctrines:  faith and works, faith and faithfulness, assurance of salvation from the eternal security of the believer, or perseverance with the preservation power of God.  Law lays down what man must do; gospel proclaims what Christ has done.

It is by the law that we have a consciousness and knowledge of sin--it condemns but does not exculpate--it adjudicates and brings guilt (points the finger), but no freedom of conscience.  The evangelist must learn to get the person lost before getting him saved, and making him aware of his own sin, not sins (for that is the problem when people get hung up on some certain sin that offends them and doesn't realize the problem is the whole sin nature itself). The Law has a purpose: "So then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good" (Romans 7:12, NIV; cf. 2 Tim. 3:16).

We must also realize how bad we are to be made fit for salvation, Jesus didn't come to seek nor save the righteous, we come as sinners!  The sinner is enslaved to his old sin nature and has no power over it, and what is separating him from God is the fact that he doesn't believe in Christ, and for this reason he is in sin and God can have no dealings with sin in His presence.  We find out how depraved we are by trying to be good on our own and end up in failure.  We are not born free as free spirits, but into slavery and servitude to sin and our sin nature and must be set free by the regenerating work of the Spirit.

We must distinguish law and gospel ("For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came [were realized] through Jesus Christ," John 1:17, NIV), but not separate them unduly, we must never divide asunder what God has joined together (cf. Mark 10:9; Matt. 19:6).  In similar fashion, you can have no assurance of salvation without joining it to the security of that salvation (if one can lose it, how can he be assured?), and you cannot divide faith and faithfulness, nor faith and works, for we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone--that kind of faith doesn't save.   Saving faith is not achieved, it's received; it's not conjured up but a gift (cf. 2 Pet. 1:1; Acts 18:27)!

Likewise, the abundant life isn't something we achieve or merit, but receive as a gift with our salvation and it begins instantly.  Grace is antithetical to merit, for salvation is by grace alone and we have no merit to boast of in God's presence--we cannot earn it, don't deserve it, and cannot pay it back, but are forever indebted to God.   Whenever the Bible tells you to repent or commands you to act, it is law, and whenever it tells you what God does on your behalf and to save you, it's gospel.  Obeying the Law out of gratitude, not necessity nor obligation, is law, but having faith that we will be rewarded by God is gospel.  The Christian doesn't "have to" but "wants to" do good deeds, for you can never reduce the faith to do's and don'ts or a to-do list.

We speak of what we do for God, but actually, we do nothing for God, He just uses us as His vessels of honor and we are honored and privileged to be in His service for glorifying Him. Paul did not venture to speak of anything but what Christ did through him (cf. Rom. 15:18).  All that we have done, He has accomplished through us (cf. Isa. 26:12; Amos 6:13; Hos. 14:8).  God isn't looking for our achievements, but our obedience and faith, for faith alone pleases Him and is demonstrated through obedience alone (cf. Heb. 3:18-19).  We don't impress God with our good works because no one can boast in His presence.

Some churches emphasize what God can do for them as if they are cashing in on God and getting something in return for worshiping Him; but we must see ourselves as His servants who are willing to do His will and obey Him in faithfulness--the Christian life costs, in this sense, but our reward is meant to be in glory; we are not meant to always have our portion, reward or comfort in this life like the wicked do

"Law and gospel go together hand in hand and complement each other and can not be divorced, but must be distinguished--not separated;  we are not under the law but under grace and the day we are set free from the law is one of heaven on earth!  Christ is the end of the law for them that believe (cf. Rom. 10:4; Eph. 2:15).   We are not under some performance standard as if we have to measure up or we will fail God, we have a relationship with HIm and learn to depend on Him and walk in the Spirit by faith.  That's why we can not compare ourselves with each other (cf. 2 Cor. 10:12), for only God knows where the goal is for us and our measure of so-called success.  God doesn't call us to success, though, but to faithfulness (cf. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1979 and now canonized).  

The spirit of the law is good and we follow that, but the letter of the law kills and we cannot obtain the standards nor become perfect, but we must obey the law better than the Pharisees, who were hypocrites.  Perfection is still the standard, but the direction is the test!   We are constantly being shaped into Christ's image as icons of Him on earth.  The old nature knows no law, the new nature needs no law!  We will do by nature what is required because we have the Spirit, for one who doesn't have the Spirit of Christ is none of His.  We are not under the law, but we are not lawless, we must rebuke the so-called antinomians who think that they can presume on God's patience and goodness and live unrighteous lives with impunity--God disciplines His own and holds them accountable.

We are never to become legalists and major on the minors nor overemphasize some minor sin while ignoring major flaws in our character,.  Remember, the legalist sees sins (plural), not sin (singular or the sin nature).  The problem we have is our sin nature which can be changed as we are made into Christ's likeness and grow in grace.  Regeneration, as God's work of grace, changes us from the inside out; we don't just sign an AA pledge or turn over a new leaf of trying to be a better person.  The miracle is that God changes us and makes us new creatures in Christ.

The only way to avoid the two errors of Antinomianism and legalism is by studying the Bible and growing in Christ--being illumined by the Spirit.  Two other errors are emphasizing what God can do for you like He's a genie or good-luck charm versus thinking we can do something for God independently of just surrendering to His will and being used by God for His glory--we are to enjoy God in this life as well as in glory.  To obey is better than sacrifice or following the letter of the Law.  We can do nothing apart from Christ's power working in us "both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (cf. 1 Sam. 15:22; Phil. 2:13).

God just wants us to know Him, for this is the essence of faith and eternal life (cf. John 17:3; John 5:24). "I desired ... the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (Hos. 6:6, NIV).  We are to avoid both extremes:  exalting law above grace, with adherence to the letter of the Law while excluding its Spirit; and moral liberty run amok or thinking our works don't count for anything.

We are not to become somewhat Jewish before or after salvation, and not to despise the Law either, for it serves its purpose.  For as many as are seeking justification by the Law or who rely on it are cursed! (Cf. Gal. 3:10)  The Jews had the so-called yoke or burden of the Law to submit to, but Jesus promised an easy yoke (cf. Matt. 11:29), which is knowing His will and following it, and we are privileged to know because all believers are priests and we don't need the Urim and Thummim to enlighten us for we have the Spirit as our Counselor! "Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother" (Mark 3:35, NIV).

Christ didn't give us the Law to keep, but to break, it was never meant to be the way of salvation but to show us our need for it.  We don't break God's law when we sin--it breaks us--we break God's heart!  In the final analysis, we realize that other religions say, "Do!" and Christianity says, "Done!" There is no limit to God's grace, for "where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more" (cf. Rom. 5:20). As John Bunyan pertinently wrote:  Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.  No one is too sinful to be saved and shouldn't be written off as untouchable by grace!  We are bad, but not too bad to be saved.  The law is good if used righteously and is not sin, though it foments what it prohibits or forbids, instilling in us all the more desire to disobey, but sin could not be reckoned without the law and not fulfilled in Christ either, who lived for us as well as died for us. In sharing the gospel or witnessing, we must be sure to present the bad news of their sin along with the good news of salvation through faith in Christ all by grace alone!

The Christian actually lives under a higher standard than the Law of Moses, the law of love, and realizes that love is the fulfillment of the Law, for the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (i.e., all that we have!), and likewise the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Jesus added another commandment to love one another even as He loved us! He who loves has fulfilled the Law (cf. Eph. 2:15).  Christ by no means abolished or abrogated the Law of Moses, but kept them perfect for us, and the law we are obliged to be the mere law of love.  Caveat:  Rome adds works to faith, merit to grace, the authority of the tradition to Scripture, and the church to Christ's glory and power.   It is indeed our privilege to know His will and with this comes responsibility as the flipside (cf. Acts 22:14).    Soli Deo Gloria!

Do We Need The Law?

"So the Law itself is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good"  (Rom. 7:12, CEV).
"All those who rely on the works of the Law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone is cursed who does not keep on doing all the things that have been written in the scroll of the Law"  (Gal. 3:10, CEV).
"Blessed condition, freed from the Law, now I can sin all I want and still have remission!"  (Old antinomian ditty.)  [We are free to obey the Spirit of the Law, not to disobey.]
"We know that the law is good when used correctly" (1 Tim. 1:8, NLT).  

Does the Law serve a purpose?  Yes, if one uses it lawfully!  Don't desire to be a teacher of the Law or to lord it over others by putting them under the Law (cf. 1 Tim. 1:6-8).  The main usage of the Law is to make us realize we don't keep it, and to convict us of sin, for "by the Law is the knowledge of sin"  (cf. Rom. 3:20).  The Phillips renders it:  "...indeed it is the straightedge of the Law that shows us how crooked we are."  It was "for freedom that Christ set us free," and we are not to be entangled in a yoke of bondage again (cf. Gal. 5:12).   Israel had promised to keep the Law (cf. Ex. 24:3), when God expected them to beg for mercy and realize they could never keep it.

Scholars, including Martin Luther, have mentioned that the Law is a whip to drive us to Christ, a mirror to show us our real self, and a hammer to smash our self-righteousness.  The Law's Ten Commandments, known as the Decalogue, as the guide of moral principle has not been rescinded; because morality is not relative, but absolute, and doesn't change with respect to time or dispensation;  murder is always wrong with all its implications--character assassination, anger, bullying, pushing your weight around, et cetera.

There are many misuses of the Law:  Judaizers added law to grace and works to faith (Romanists follow suit today).  We are not saved by the works of the Law (cf. Rom. 3:28), but saved so that we can keep the Spirit of it; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (cf. 2 Cor. 3:16);  we are not under any obligation to keep the Sabbath day holy as Christians, though the principle of periodic rest from our labors still stands and for regular spiritual renewal.  The Sabbath was merely a sign for Israel (cf. Ezek. 20:9-12, 20; 31:13-17; Neh. 9:12-15).

We don't judge by this precept: see Col. 2:16; Romans 14:5!  Where in the NT is the believer told to keep the Law?  For the New Covenant means that the Law is written in our hearts and we know right from wrong (cf. Heb. 10:16).  Even the pagan has the Law in his heart as a conscience (cf. Rom. 2:15).  One could argue for the keeping of the Decalogue but note that the only precept not repeated in the NT is the Fourth or the Sabbath.

The Law is merely a shadow of things to come (cf. Col. 2:17) and looks forward to being guided by the Spirit in our hearts because Christianity is not performance-based, but relationship-based.  Paul said repeatedly (cf. Rom. 13:8, 10; Gal. 5:14) that love is the fulfillment of the Law or that the Law can be summed up in love. The Law was merely our schoolmaster/tutor to show us the way and to lead us to Christ (cf. Gal. 3:23-24)--but as adults, we no longer need one and are emancipated, as it were.

We weren't given the Law to keep, but to break (cf. Rom. 5:20), for it made sin worse and aroused sin in us; people always have a tendency to violate prohibitions and to give in to temptation, not to keep regulations and rules.  As believers, we are dead to the Law and it has no power over us (cf. Rom. 6:14).  "If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law" (cf. Gal. 5:18)--in fact, there's nothing more musical in God's ears than to hear a sinner realize he cannot keep God's law and to beg for mercy, because he realizes the futility of saving himself and needs God's grace.   The Law wasn't given to show us how to get saved or that we were good enough to be saved, but that we needed to be saved and couldn't save ourselves.

And so you are slaves to the one you choose to obey (cf. Rom. 6:16); the Law has no power over you (cf. Rom. 6:14) as believers set free in the Spirit of the Law.  But we still thank God for the Law, since it gave us the knowledge of sin and made us realize we are sinners.  Its purpose is not to give us the impression we're good enough to be saved, but bad enough to need salvation!  The Law was never intended to be a guide or way of salvation, but only to show us the need for salvation.  "Now we know that the Law is good if used appropriately.  We understand this:  the Law isn't established for a righteous person but for people who live without laws and without obeying any authority.  They are the ungodly and the sinners.  They are people who are not spiritual and nothing is sacred to them..."  (1 Tim. 1:8-9, CEV).

As believers, we are no longer under the yoke of the Law, but under the yoke of God's will; Jesus said that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light (cf. Matt. 11:30).  "For Christ is the goal of the Law, which leads to righteousness for all who have faith in God"  (Romans 10:4, CEV).   In other words, Christ is the end of the Law for believers.

We are not under the Law, are we lawless?  "Sin is lawlessness."  No, we keep the Law in the Spirit.  Jesus bemoaned the fact of the Pharisees being entangled in the Law legalistically, and were neglecting the "heavier matters of the Law," which were "justice, mercy, and faith" (cf. Matt. 23:23, NLT).  The immediate purpose of the Law was to put a restraint on sin, and to convict of sin--a diagnosis of sin, not its antiseptic or panacea! The Law was never meant to be the way of salvation, but to show us our need for it!

In contrast:  the Law lays down what we must do; the gospel what God has done!  We show that we know Him by obeying His commandment; "This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other as he commanded us"  (1 John 3:23, CEV.  We are bad, indeed.  But not too bad to be saved!  Rejoice that Christ kept the Law on our behalf, living for us! 

In summation, Christians live by a higher law, the law of love and this law's requirements can never be fulfilled; one can meet the demands of a law, but never pay back, earn, nor deserve the demands of love (we hold a debt of gratitude forever!)--Christ raised the bar!  "You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'--but not everything is good for you.  You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'--but not everything is beneficial'" (1 Cor. 10:23, NLT).  "You say, 'I am allowed to do anything'--but not everything is good for you.  And even though 'I am allowed to do anything,' I must not become a slave to anything" (1 Cor. 6:12, NLT).   Soli Deo Gloria! 

The Ultimate Yoke

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light"   (Matt. 11:28, ESV). 
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you"  (Isaiah 43:2, ESV, italics added).

Jesus invited all to pick up His yoke, which would not become overbearing and burdensome, like the yoke of the Pharisees had been (adding hundreds of laws to the Law of Moses and even making a fetish out of the Sabbath).  Jesus did indeed announce His yoke would be easy and His burden light in Matt. 11:30.  No one could bear the yoke of the Law, which was not meant as a way of salvation in the first place, but only to prove us sinners and make us realize our need for grace, (cf. Ex. 24:7: "...All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." ) though Israel had promised to obey it despite this.  The rule-obsessed Pharisees had become legalistic and lost track of the concept of grace (for the Law came through Moses and grace and truth came through Jesus, per John 1:17).  People who make up rules always decide on ones they think they can keep!

We don't need a Law to obey but grace and mercy because we cannot keep any law!   God gave us the Law to show us we cannot keep it!  When we have a law we are always wondering if we measure up and we end up comparing ourselves to others, as to how they keep the Law.  We can be too hard on ourselves and not be merciful to others by the same token.  The whole purpose of salvation is that we need a whole new heart, and this was no new concept to Israel (cf. Ezek. 36:26), not a code to keep or credo to believe.  We need the heart to know and love the Lord, not to bind us and keep us from enjoying our freedom in Christ.  Paul warned the Galatians that they were trying to finish with the Law what Christ had begun by grace, and they had insulted the Spirit of grace in the process.

So what is our yoke?  Do we have any law to abide by ourselves, or are we antinomians (i.e., against the Law)?  No, we are not under the Law, and it has no power to condemn us nor to enslave us, yet we are free to be under the yoke of God's will as believers, which is a far easier task and can only be accomplished because we have the resident Spirit to testify His will to us.  We have a heart to delight in God's will as David did in Psalm 40:8, ESV, which says, "I desire [delight] to do your will, O my God..." In fact, if you don't have an inner supernatural yearning to do God's will, you have reason to doubt the reality of your profession, as to whether it's genuine or bogus.

God's "commands are not burdensome" (cf. 1 John 5:3) and our love for God is measured in obedience, not ecstasy, for some people can get overly emotional and sentimental, or even maudlin and all over the spectrum going overboard. We can be sure that when we go "through the fire" God will be with us (cf. Isaiah 43:2) and that He accompanies us along the way, even lifting and carrying us through the difficult trials, and we are never alone in our fight for His will in our lives:  God's best plan is not overwhelming but can be accomplished when God is with us, as He promised.

The yoke of His will is perfectly custom designed, adjusted, and fitted to our needs and abilities and God will certainly use us to His glory as instruments of grace.  In sum, it isn't some code of honor, creed, or ethic to learn, but a relationship to gain in Christ as we matriculate in the school of Christ and become learners, or students, that is, of Christ via the Word of God--His disciples at heart.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Preaching Law And Gospel

"But, if in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too are found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin?  Certainly not!"  (Gal. 2:17, ESV). Though we are referred to as saints, we never cease to be sinners.

"...[Repent] and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).  This is Jesus preaching the Law and the Gospel.

"[A]nd that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations..." (Luke 24:47).  This is the Great Commission with Law and Gospel.

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ:  (John 1:17).  A proper dichotomy of the Word between Law and Gospel.

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling [dividing] the word of truth"  (2 Tim. 2:15).  The Bible is mostly divided between Law and gospel or promises and we need to differentiate them in view of grace.

Luther said, "He who masters the art of distinction between the Law and the Gospel should be called a real theologian." Get them lost first and tell the bad news before the good news.

An anticipatory synopsis:  The purpose of the Law is to point out sin, restrain evil in the world, and to reveal God's will and how to live.  Note well:  "[Through] the law comes the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). The Gospel is to provide forgiveness and grace and to re-orient our lives ("Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" cf. Gal. 3:3).  By way of definition: The OT contains the Gospel (promises and pertaining to Christ), and the NT contains the Law (what God demands to convict and a code of conduct).  The whole of Scripture is one or the other in general. When the Law is preached people are "cut to the heart" (the accusations of the Law leads to repentance) like in Acts, and when the gospel is preached their hearts are turned from stone to flesh and renewed (it is the power of the Gospel that saves).  Caveat:  It is ill-advised to preach Gospel minus Law, as it leads to spurious faith, easy-believism, shallow faith, pseudo conversion, and worst of all: False assurance.

It is imperative that we distinguish these concepts and know when to apply them.  "[Preach] the Word; be ready in season and out of season" (2 Tim. 4:2).  Preachers need to preach the Law and the Gospel well enough to be rejected as well (the average convert has rejected the Gospel 7.8 times before acceptance).  We are not under the Law, but we are not lawless!  The "Law is good," according to Paul, "if one uses it lawfully" (1 Tim. 1:8).  Too many preachers preach what the congregants want to hear or what is popular and gathers a crowd. This is a sign, though not proof, of a false teacher.  Some preach to scare people into the kingdom and some to make an emotional appeal that leads to an altar call--faith pleases God, not emotions according to Heb. 11:6. Preachers should preach both the Law (what God requires of us and shows us how far we fall short), and the Gospel (the good news about how God solved the sin issue through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ).

But the problem is that some don't preach in the proper sequence, perspective or balance--some people are already convicted and know they are unsaved and need to be comforted with the gospel; others are secure in their sins and may be self-righteous and need the Law preached to make them realize they do indeed fall short and need the gospel.  God says in Isaiah 40, "Comfort ye my people..." and this is because they have suffered double for their sins and are ready for it. Martin Luther called the Law the hammer of the Bible that shatters our self-righteousness, a mirror that shows us what we are, and a whip that drives us to God--he that is forgiven much loves much.

But we all need some Law and some Gospel because we need to keep on our spiritual toes and have spiritual checkups.  The power is in the Gospel to change our lives and the power is in the Law to show us our need.  To some, it may seem that the Gospel is too good to be true, but goodness is not the criteria for truth--it is either true or false.  We cannot be convicted too much (we are at the same time saint and sinner) by the Law; in fact, the worse off a sinner realizes he is, the more ready he welcomes the Gospel.  Paul thought of himself as the "chief of sinners" in 1 Tim. 1:15 and the author John Bunyan penned Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners!  This is resultant of preaching the Word, and the whole counsel of God and the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit.  When the Law was given, Israel promised to keep it, rather than sue for mercy ("...We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey" in Exodus 24:8)--they were clueless!

One reason preachers don't preach this sequence is that they are not aware of it (God doesn't sanction nor place any premium on willful ignorance as an excuse),  and think the only way to save people is to scare them into the kingdom, talking about hell or the rapture. There is always a mix of terrified, convicted sinners and secure sinners in a church and that is why both must always be preached and the preacher must never assume his parishioners are all saved.  The Gospel washes, cleanses, heals and sanctifies, not the Law.  Most people, apart from the Law, think they are not quite so bad after all ("Woe to those who are at ease in Zion," says Amos 6:1).  The Law is our "guardian until Christ came" (Gal. 3:24) and after we are saved and have faith we are no longer "under the Law" and it has no power over us, to claim nor condemn us.

Many preachers get too bogged down with the Law and are not "grace-oriented" and have had no "grace awakening" to distinguish the two and if people think they are justified or even sanctified by the Law, they have "fallen from grace" or have become legalists and aren't being saved by grace, but by their own efforts.  We are saved by grace from beginning to ending and we don't need to become somewhat Jewish to be saved.   We use it unjustly to see it as a means of salvation or sanctification. Paul said in Gal. 3:10 that if we rely on the Law we are under a curse! We must realize what Jesus said ("Apart from Me you can do nothing..," in John 15:5) and not rely on the energy or power of the flesh to be saved ("Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit" says Zech. 4:6), but recognize that it is from "faith to faith" that we are saved (Rom. 1:17).

Now, "the law is holy, righteous, and good" (Rom. 7:12) and it must be used correctly--is meant for the sinner to convict him (2 Tim. 1:9 says:  "for the lawless and disobedient, for  the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane."  We never can say we don't need the Law to show us right living, God's will, morality, and ethics (I am not speaking of the ceremonial Law of Moses, but of the moral Law that God requires of us).

You cannot dichotomize the Bible so simplistically and say that the OT is Law and the NT is gospel because if that were so the Old Testament saints couldn't be saved, and the New Testament saints couldn't be convicted and know right from wrong.   There is Law everywhere (if I say this is a free park and it has no laws or rules, how free is it? It's chaos).  John Clare said that "in a madhouse, there exists no law."   We do need the Law and cannot lose track of it or become disoriented--but we must always learn to distinguish the two.  Rom. 10:4 says, "Christ is the end of the Law," and this means He fulfilled it and we are not under its authority to condemn anymore.  "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," according to Rom. 8:1.

The curse was in Deut. 27:26 (ESV) et alia:  "Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them...."  We come to the realization that "the letter [the Law] kills, but the Spirit [the Gospel] gives life, when we get saved and realize that we have a lighter yoke than the yoke of the Law to fulfill, and that is the yoke of the Spirit and being led by the Spirit.  "...For the letter [the Law] kills, but the Spirit [Gospel] gives life"  (2 Cor. 3:6 showing Law and Gospel again).  The Law has the power to kill according to Romans 7:11 because it can seize the opportunity and overcome us. We need to learn to live in the power of the Spirit and be free form the burden (we obey because we want to, not because we have to) of the Law:  "You shall, therefore, keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD" (Lev. 18:5, ESV).

The whole point in preaching is to make everyone, even the saved, realize their need for the Law and the gospel and not to lose track of these, but keep oriented and make regular spiritual checkups.  We don't want to get too comfortable or complacent and we don't want to despair. If people think they need to hear it that is good but if they think it was just interesting or "worth a few moments of their time," as if being entertained,  then they failed--preaching is meant to change lives.  Preaching is the methodology or M.O. of saving souls and it is "by hearing, and by hearing" that a person receives faith (Rom. 10:17).

Ovid was right about human nature:  "We strive after the forbidden things and always lust after the things that are denied us."  When the Law came, it aroused desire just like Eve desired of the forbidden fruit--this is the essence of sin. We wouldn't want to step on the wet paint if no sign said, "Do not step on wet paint." The nitty-gritty of the Law and the gospel is that it is the power of God unto salvation and it is a mystery, i.e., not self-evident.

The answer to the inquiry "What must I do to be saved?" is our fixation.  Man is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation.  Jesus answered this question in John  6:29:  "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."  We can do nothing--that is the point!  It is God's work in us and we receive salvation as a free gift we didn't deserve, cannot earn, and can never repay."   This is welcome news to those wholly convicted of their sins and having spirits prepared by God to receive His grace message.   If we had to do something most people could accept that, but they cannot understand how salvation can be free.  God just wants us to believe in Him ("...he greatly helped those who through grace had believed" in Acts 18:27).  The statement "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved" is nonsensical apart from the conviction of the Law.  Christ came to save sinners, and if you do not regard yourself as a real sinner, then Christ may not seem like a real Savior!  As for me, I am a great sinner, but I have a great Savior.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Against The Antinomians

That's from the title of a book by Martin Luther in 1539 to combat the heresy of his student Johann Agricola (who denied a place for the Law in the believer's life) that you can actually take advantage of your salvation and live according to your own rules, making them up as you go along. This issue wasn't resolved about the purpose of the Law until the Formula of Concord in 1577.  Antinomianism means "against the law" or "anti-lawism (also called libertinism)." Their "distaste for the law" was proclaimed in the slogan:  "Freed from the law, O blessed condition: I can sin all I want and still have remission."  They believed that since we are not "under the Law" that we have the "right" to be a law unto ourselves and live according to whim or our own standards.  Scripture says in Rom. 6:1: "Do we then make the law void through faith?  Certainly not!  On the contrary, we establish the law." This is what God accused Israel of during the theocratic days of the judges when "every man did what he saw fit" (Judges 17:6, NIV)  or "what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25, NIV).

The Bible never sanctions believers to do what is wrong or what is right in their own eyes or to do what is wrong, and right and wrong are absolutes that never change since we believe in absolute and not relative values and standards.  Our conscience is curtailed by that of our brother's.  And we are to do what is right in the eyes of all people, and just like Paul said, "I strive to have a conscience void of offense toward God and man." Christ is to be the "Stumbling Block and Rock of Offense," not us--we don't want to be "offensive" Christians.  Our freedom is indeed limited freedom and not absolute in that we make up our own rules and are "lawless."  We are given freedom in Christ according to Galatians 5:13 but we are not to take advantage of it as an opportunity for the flesh, but to be able to serve the Lord.  We are free from sin, not free to sin, you could say!

If we are walking according to the Spirit we will not bear the "fruits of the flesh."  Real freedom is given in three modes in our common salvation:  we are free from the penalty of sin at the moment of salvation; we are free from the power of sin during our Christian life; and finally, we are free from the presence of sin in eternity.  We never do have an absolute free will in the sense that we can do what we want--in heaven, for example, we will not be free to sin and we cannot say, "From now on I will be good."  However, we don't want to and that is freedom in the ultimate degree.  God is not free to sin, but it is not His nature and He doesn't want to.  We are only free to act according to our nature as God's creatures (He is the Potter; we are the clay--"woe to him who quarrels with his Maker" says Scripture in Isa. 45:9).  We did not choose our nature no more than a dove chose to eat seed and vulture carrion (i.e., we may be born choleric, phlegmatic, sanguine, melancholic, bipolar, extroverted, etc.).  We have to play the deck of cards we're dealt!

And so, we are free to overcome sin, not to sin; this means that when we sin we are proving our slavery, not demonstrating our freedom.  If we do approve of something that is doubtful or questionable and the Bible is not clear on the subject, we are to keep it to ourselves and as private as possible--not to flaunt our freedom and make a show of it so as to offend a weaker brother, who thinks we are sinning.  We don't eat meat offered to idols, as it were, in front of a vegetarian.  The weaker brother does indeed need to grow in knowledge, but the stronger one in love!

In summation, Christianity is not a system of ethics or praxeology, but a living relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ and not involving a given set of dos and don'ts or list of rules to keep--therefore we do not have the right to judge our brother in what he approves or to make him comply with our standards, and if God has convicted us of something, that is between us and God and let the Holy Spirit do the convicting--it's His job. "Who shall bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?  It is God who justifies"  (Rom. 8: 33).  But we live by a higher law:  The law of love; we do not want to displease God, but to obey His commandments willingly, not because we have to, but because we want to.  We are not afraid God will hurt us in some form of punishment because He never does (He disciplines and prunes us instead), but the motive is that we don't want to hurt Him!    Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is The Place Of The Law?

The moral code has not been rescinded which is summarized by the Ten Commandments, except for the Sabbath requirement which is a principle more than a legalistic burden (cf. Romans 14:5; Col. 2:16).  The law was made for lawbreakers and rebels according to 1 Tim. 1:9. We obey the law out of gratitude and not out of obligation: because we "want to" not because we "have to." Obedience is a "therefore" not an "in order to." The law is holy, righteous, and good if one uses it righteously. So, we don't have to become somewhat "Jewish" to be good Christians. Judaizers are wrong missing the point and want to burden themselves with the law.

Does the law of Moses serve any purpose today? There were 613 laws in the books of Moses. They were of three classifications: ceremonial (ritual); governmental; and moral. Only the moral laws are still in effect and are fulfilled in the command to love our neighbor as Paul said. "The entire law is summed up in one single command: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal. 5:14).  We are under a higher law:  the law of love  The law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ as Paul said in Galatians 3:25. "If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law." "Cursed is everyone who relies on the law for righteousness" (Gal. 3:10). Paul said in Rom. 6:14, "...You are not under the law but under grace."

The law has been set aside as a way of life, either justification sanctification, or obedience. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for those who believe" (Rom. 10:4). "For if justification were through the law, Christ died for nothing" (Gal. 2:21). "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming not the realities themselves..." (Heb. 10:1). The law is obsolete for Christ "by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and ordinances" (Eph. 2:15) has made it irrelevant to us as a way of life, except for the moral code (it is still wrong to murder, for example).

Our relationship to the law is like a husband and wife and when one dies the other is free from the union. We are free in Christ and shouldn't be yoked again in bondage. The Law adjudicates or declares a man to be a sinner and does not exculpate him or free him from guilt. Only in Christ can we be free even though we say, "Mea Culpa" (I am to blame).

Romans 3:20 says that by the Law is the knowledge of sin. Paul wouldn't have known himself as a sinner unless he heard that he shouldn't covet. It is by the Word of God that the Holy Spirit convicts and it is His job to convict of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (Isaiah 55:11; cf. John 16:8). One law that is not repeated in the New Testament is the Sabbath law (cf. Neh. 9:14). This law was given as a sign (cf. Ezek. 20:20) to Israel that they were His people and comparing Rom. 14:5 and Col. 2:16 we see that this is not commanded or re-instituted in the New Testament. Finally, we serve not in the old written code of the law but in the new way of the Spirit (cf. Rom. 7:6). Watchman Nee said that the day he was delivered from the law was like heaven on earth.

The Formula of Concord (1577), the Lutheran confession of faith, established the so-called three-fold purpose of the law: To reveal sin; to establish decency in the society at large, and to provide a rule of life for the regenerated through faith in Christ. (this is according to R. C. Sproul). On the other end of the spectrum is Martin Luther's Against the Antinomians which refuted those who thought the law had no purpose (literally "against the law"). Sproul says that the law (here the moral law) does not sanction the idea that everyone has the right to do as they please in their own eyes or the right to do wrong just because we are not "under the law."

The law prepares us for grace and if we love Jesus we will do His commandments. "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). The law is a mirror according to Luther that shows us our true selves. The Hebrews, upon receiving the law, didn't pray for mercy but said they would obey it--what a mistake! Legalism is mainly adherence to the letter of the law and exclusion of the spirit of the law according to Sproul. He says, "The antidote to legalism and antinomianism is a serious study of the Word of God."

The law should be used in witnessing because the "law is perfect, converting the soul" (Psalms. 19:7). Billy Graham says that the law is not a panacea but a diagnosis. "It condemns but does not convert, it challenges but does not change." Charles Finney says, "By a convicted sinner, I mean one who feels condemned by the Law of God as a guilty sinner. I remark that this [the Law] is the rule and the only just rule by which the guilt of sin can be measured." Psalm 19:7 says, "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the sinner."

D. L. Moody says, "God, being a perfect God, had to give a perfect law, and the law was given not to save men, but to measure them...They try to save themselves by trying to keep the law, but it was never meant for men to save themselves by...This, then, is why God gives us the law--to show us ourselves in our true colors." John Wesley says, "The first use of [the Law], without question, is to convince the world of sin." Yes, when He comes He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (cf. John 16:8). John Bunyan says, "The man who does not know the nature of the law does not know the nature of sin. The world at large is under the law until they are redeemed from its curse. 

The Law was given to convince us we cannot keep it!     Soli Deo Gloria!

Cutting It Straight

We are told to "rightly divide the Word of Truth," which literally means "cutting it straight" or rightly interpreting according to proper hermeneutic principles. I have heard that we should interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament or vice versa. Well, you can sometimes interpret the Old in light of the New and sometimes the reverse. All Scripture is profitable for doctrine and so forth. Examples are Jesus talking about the abomination of desolation and referring to Daniel and about Isaiah talking about the virgin birth and Luke saying Christ fulfilled it. Or Peter saying that Pentecost was the fulfillment of Joel 2.

We have teachers that say, "Where in the New Testament are we told to obey the law?" Is this fair? We are not under the law as it says in Rom. 6:14 (the ceremonial and governmental institutional law) but still must obey the moral code. Morality doesn't change, but Christ said that all the law is fulfilled in loving God and our neighbor. "Love is the fulfillment of the Law." The messianic Jews, though sincere, are plainly wrong, seeking to put themselves under bondage again when they have been set free (cf. Gal. 5:1).

There is the argument that we don't have to obey the sabbath laws because this is the only commandment not repeated in the New Testament. We ought to live in the New Testament and not in the Old Testament. I realize that the only Scripture the early church had was the Old Testament but they also had the prophets and apostles. There are 613 laws in the books of Moses and the only ones that apply to us are repeated in the New Testament. The New Testament is to be looked upon as the fulfillment of the Old. The law does have a purpose: to convict of sin and lead one to Christ. Paul said that if it wasn't for the law to not covet he wouldn't have considered himself a sinner. It is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ says Paul in Galatians.

So, one must be very careful to know the place of the law when interpreting the Scriptures. "For by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). Or "Indeed, it is by the straight edge of the law that we realize how crooked we really are" (J. B. Phillips).

Christianity was a break from Judaism and not another sect of that religion. Thus the New Testament stands alone as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, just as Christ is the fulfillment of the Law. The Old Testament looks forward to Christ while the New Testament presents Christ. The Old looks forward to Christ and We look back to Christ; the important thing is that we are both looking at Christ.   Soli Deo Gloria!