Last week we started a new series that's focusing on how to live under the New Covenant so that we're fully positioned to enjoy the entire benefit of God's GRACE. The main point to be made is that perhaps MOST of us have a tendency to mix our wonderful new GRACE-through-FAITH Covenant under Christ with the previous Mosaic Covenant under the LAW and that usually causes us to fall short of the fullness of having Christ living in and through us. Indeed, we need to deal with this following two-part question: what is the purpose of the LAW and how much should it figure in to Christian life?
Over my years as a Believer I have heard many different answers to this question. Some people think that God is impressed by our good works and that we need to work as hard as we can to be holy. Others say that only the ceremonial part of the LAW has been removed but that we're still accountable to the moral part. There are Messianic Believers who want us to observe all the Old Testament festivals including the Jewish Sabbath. Some others insist on observing the dietary laws. A whole bunch of Church folks tell us that if we don't tithe we open a door to a Curse. And, there are many that limit their Old Testament advocacy to saying that we should just try to keep the Ten Commandments as much as possible.
In sum, the Body of Christ allows the LAW to enter into their lives in a number of different ways and all of them to one degree or another seem to contradict Scripture. Following again this week is a summary of what the Word says about the status of the LAW for a Believer:
Galatians 3:25 = now that faith has come we are no longer under the LAW.
Hebrews 7:18 = the covenant of the LAW has been set aside.
Hebrews 8:13 = the New Covenant made the LAW obsolete.
Romans 3:6-9 = we are servants of a New Covenant that brings life instead of death and condemnation.
Romans 6:14 = we are not under the LAW but under GRACE.
Romans 7:4 = we are dead to the LAW.
Romans 7:6 = we have been released from the LAW.
Galatians 5:18 = those who are led by the Spirit cannot be under the LAW.
Romans 10:4 = Christ is the end of the LAW.
Matthew 5:17 = Jesus has fulfilled the LAW.
And here are a couple of additional scriptures for this week:
Romans 8:2 = the law of the Spirit has set us free from the Law of sin and death.
Galatians 3:13 = Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us.
A Brief History
To better understand this subject, let's first review some history. The earth and mankind were already 2,500 years old when God gave the LAW to Moses. Remember that Jacob was the grandson of Abraham and he had twelve sons. One of the sons, Joseph was betrayed and sold into slavery by his brothers who were jealous and hated him (Genesis 37:4-5, 28). Joseph wound up in Egypt and, after experiencing a few hardships, he was eventually made Prime Minister there, the second in command of the entire country under only the Pharaoh. A few years later, Joseph's father and brothers were forced by a famine in their own land to seek relief in Egypt where they decided to relocate permanently after they discovered that their long-lost relative Joseph was the man in charge.
The Bible says that these Jews through their descendants stayed in Egypt for 430 years (Acts 7:6, Galatians 3:17 and Exodus 12:41). After a period of time they became slaves of the Egyptians and were forced to perform hard labor which they cried out to God about. By the time God finished arranging for them to depart from Egypt with Moses leading the way, it's estimated that there were about 2.5 million of them of which 603,550 were fighting men of war between the ages of 20 and 50 (Numbers 1:45-46). As most Bible students know, they went into the wilderness and turned an eleven-day trip to the Promised Land into 40 years of wandering because of their complaining, lack of faith and unbelief (Hebrews 3:19, 4:2). But God had a plan for them anyway because He had CHOSEN the Jewish people to perform a particular service for the Kingdom of God. Indeed, He instituted the LAW through them knowing that they would never be able to meet all its requirements.
Understanding the Purpose
Why would God do such a thing? Why would He call people that He loved (Deuteronomy 7:6-8) to do something that He knew they couldn't do? The answer starts with the fact that from the Fall of Adam in the Garden, the Lord began implementing a plan of redemption, a plan that would require the coming of a Messiah to take care of a sin problem on behalf of mankind. The purpose of the LAW my friend was (and still is) to show people for all time that we're all incapable of living without committing sin and that we NEED a Messiah, an anointed Savior to help us be reconciled to God.
In other words, the purpose of the LAW is simply to lead people to Christ so that we can be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24). That is what your Bible actually says. And, it goes on to say that once faith has come, we no longer have a need to live under the LAW (Galatians 3:25). That's also what your Bible actually says. What this means is that it was NEVER God's intention for the LAW to prescribe or impose a code of conduct that we're supposed to actually be able to live under. The truth is, the LAW is IMPOSSIBLE to live under and that's why we need Jesus. WHY THEN ONCE WE COME TO FAITH DO SO MANY OF US TRY TO LIVE UNDER SOMETHING THE BIBLE SAYS IS IMPOSSIBLE?
The truth is even with Jesus, we're not able to live successfully under the LAW. And the Bible is telling us to STOP trying to live under it. The LAW is for non-believers to try to live under so they can find out the same as we already have that's it is impossible and that we all need Jesus. The LAW is NOT for people of faith even though we can use principles of wisdom from there as long as we learn how to use them correctly BY FAITH. More on that in future studies and I hope that you're seeing tonight the main conclusion straight from the Word of God that the LAW IS DEFINITELY NOT FOR BELIEVERS.
Thanks for joining our discussion tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on September 27. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), pushing you to VICTORY in every area of life!
