Many Christians are confused about our relationship to the
law. Romans 8:1-tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what
the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” As
a result, many have concluded that the Law is no longer relevant.
Jesus contradicted such an idea in Matthew 5:17-20. “Think
not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to
destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say
unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these
least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the
kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be
called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye
shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus literally said that as long as this earth remains, the
Law will remain in effect, exactly as written with no changes whatsoever. He also said that anyone who breaks those
commandments or teaches others to do so will be considered one of the least in
heaven, essentially losing his rewards. Fortunately,
because Christ has died for us, he has freed us from that old law as Romans 10:4
tells us. “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth.” Only those who believe
have been freed from the law. Everyone
else is still under the law.
Although we have been freed from the Law, we ought not go
back and do the things the law forbids, as Romans 6:12-18 tells us. “:12 Let
not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the
lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your
members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto
God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for
ye are not under the law, but under grace.
What then? shall we
sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves
servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto
death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants
of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was
delivered you. Being then made free from
sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
After the Civil war, there were slaves who did not
understand what it meant to be set free, and continued to serve their former
masters just as they had before. While
they were legally free, in their own minds they were still slaves. When we became a Christian we were set free
from sin, as Romans 6:6-7 tells us. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should
not serve sin. For he that is dead is
freed from sin.” For the Christian
to continue in sin implies he is still a slave to sin just as those slaves were
to their master, even though they had been set free. We
need to realize that our salvation means we are not longer slaves to that sin,
as Romans 6:11 tells us. “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” why continue as a slave when you don’t
have to?
For the Christian, the Law is just a set of warnings about potential
danger, which only become a problem as we get farther from God. For those who are living far from God, Those
same Laws become very restricting.
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