THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL

THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL

                “Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified. Gal. 2:16

                Having grown up in a culture where the Law was very big and Jesus was quite small, I was shocked and scandalized by Paul’s words in the book of Galatians.

                There are two seemingly ironclad truths in the Bible that seem to oppose each other. We have the very words of Jesus when He said in Mt. 5:17, 18.

                “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law until all is accomplished.”

                This is pretty clear is it not? The Law is not done away and it can never be done away as long as there is life on this planet. Jesus Himself drove this stake into the ground and there is no way to refute it.

                But on the other hand we have the apostle Paul saying just the opposite, or so it seems:

He says:  “… but the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came we were kept in custody under the Law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. BUT NOW THAT FAITH HAS COME, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER A TUTOR.” Gal. 3:22-25

                What on earth is Paul saying here and by what authority can He say it? And the writer of Hebrews concurs with Paul when He talks about the new priesthood that Jesus entered into. Jesus did not come from the line of Levi. He didn’t even qualify as a Levitical priest, but He came to us bringing a new priesthood… or not really new, but a priesthood that existed long before the Law was given. It was a priesthood to which Abraham had paid tribute and tithes. (The Melchizedek Priesthood.)

                But here again the same message comes through saying. “For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. Heb. 7:12

                For the Jew, born and bred under the Law, it must have been very difficult to wrap their minds around the fact that in Christ the entire Levitical priesthood, and the Law and the sacrifices and all of it was now, as Hebrews 8:13 says, “obsolete.”

                And even to this day, many fail to understand what is being said in these seemingly paradoxical statements.  Which way is it Paul? Are we to keep the Law that cannot ever pass away, or are we to ignore the Law since we now live under a new priesthood?

                Well Paul deals with this paradox in Romans chapters 7 and 8. In chapter 7 Paul talks about a woman who was married to a cruel and demanding  husband and she had no escape from him for the only way of escape according to the Law would be for her to die. If she quit keeping the Law while her husband (the Law ) was still alive and she was joined to another man she would be called an adulteress. There was seemingly no escape from the Law as long as she lived and her husband kept making stringent demands of her that she could not fulfill.  And he would never help her. What was she to do?

                But this is where we come to understand the power and the purpose of the cross and Paul now explains how this paradox is solved saying:

                “Therefore my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God. Romans 7:4.

                The paradox can only be solved by death and so Jesus provided that death for us, so that we might enter into a life wherein the Law no longer plays a part.  And this is where the famous pivotal text comes in:

                “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave His life for me.” I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” Gal. 2:20, 21.

                What Paul is saying here is so powerful and all- consuming that the legalist fails to comprehend it and the liberal misapplies it.

                This transformation does not do away with the Law, since Jesus said that the law can never be done away, but neither do we live by the Law any longer since we have died.

                But as always, Romans 8 comes to the rescue for it says that the requirements of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:4

                What this tells us is that if we try to live by the flesh that has died, then we are still under the Law, but if we live in the Spirit, then the Law is fulfilled in us because we are now walking in the Spirit and in the Spirit we are under the new Priesthood of Melchizedek that came before the Law and that is exactly why it is through faith that we become Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise and not according to the Law. WE do not become offspring of Moses, but of Abraham.

                No one will be justified by living by the letter of the Law, for that means we are living in the flesh again and trying to please God with our works under the Law. Paul says it like this:

                “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, to perform them. Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith. However the Law is not of faith; on the contrary He who practices them shall live by them. “

                Wow, that is a strong statement and one to which we must pay attention. In fact Paul goes on to say that if we attempt to keep even one of the Laws, then we must keep them all and as such Christ is of no benefit to us.(Gal. 5:3, 4.) And yet in Romans 3:31 Paul asks: do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.”

                 Okay Pau, now you’ve got us all messed up. You have now given us proof texts for both the legalist and the liberal and what are we to do with them?

                What we need to understand is that this is not so much a matter of law verses grace as it is a matter of flesh verses Spirit. If we live by the flesh, that is supposed to be dead, then we are still under the Law, but if we live by the Spirit, then the requirements of the Law will be fulfilled in us who walk by the Spirit. Loving God and loving our fellow man fulfills the Law and if we live by the Holy Spirit we will produce the fruit of the Spirit against which there is no law.

                And as we live by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by the weakness of our flesh, we enter into the rest that the Sabbath of the Law talks about. And now we understand what the Law is saying when it says that in it we shall not do any work. In other words, anything that we seek to do in the flesh by keeping the Law in the flesh will defile the “rest” that we have in Christ.

                In other words, we must absolutely abide in Galatians 2:20, 21 being crucified with Christ and raised up in newness of life to live by the Spirit. We have a new High Priest after the order of Melchizedek and because we do live under this new priesthood, we are no longer governed by the Law that is of the flesh, but by the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. We walk in newness of life and it is in this new Holy Spirit empowered life that we are now called “Sons and daughters of God.”

                “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” We do not go back to the letter of the Law to please God, but now we are growing up into Christ: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the first-born among many brethren.” Romans 8:29.

                As long as we keep preaching the Law to people we are keeping them in the flesh. And it was hard for the new Jewish Christians to comprehend that the power of the Holy Spirit was far greater than the power of the Law, in causing us to please God.

                We come to God with our list of good deeds saying: “I don’t worship idols. I don’t take Your name in vain, I keep the Sabbath. I don’t kill. I don’t steal. I don’t commit adultery. Lord, are you pleased with me now? And He would say to us: “I died for you so that you might by faith enter into My death and then be raised up by the power of My resurrection so that you can live by My Spirit and not by your flesh. So why are you still trying to please me by the works of the flesh?

                If this is not true, then Paul was a false prophet and we can strike his writings from the Bible. In fact there are Messianic Jews on the extreme edges of the movement who because of their faith in the Law and the Sabbath and the Feast Days, believe that Paul should be stricken from the New Testament.

                Today there are people and religions that fall on all sides of this paradox. But Paul explains that if we will live by the Spirit we will not carry out the deeds of the flesh. Romans 8:13.

                We all need a Romans 8 understanding of what it means to live by the Spirit and we also need to have a better understanding of the goal of the Gospel. It is not that we will all become nice little obedient children who try to do everything God says. The goal of the Gospel is that we will be conformed to the image of Christ, by the very power and Spirit of Christ, therefore bearing the fruit of Christ and against this fruit there is no Law. Galatians 5:22-26.

                “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Gal 5:24

                Here is the problem as I see it in the body of Christ today.

1.       Many who claim to believe in Christ are still trying to please Him by the works of the Law and as such they are living in the flesh.

2.       Many who claim to live by the Spirit are really living by the flesh and satisfying the lusts of the flesh.

                And so, this second group, in order to justify the fact that they are living in sin, they have redefined grace as tolerance rather than power to overcome. In other words they are justifying their lives in the flesh and saying that it doesn’t matter to God.

                To these rebellious people some from group one offer them the Law as a solution, but the Law is of the flesh as well. It cannot help them. What they really need to do is to die to the flesh and be born again by the power of the risen Christ, thus putting to death the deeds of the flesh as they live by the Spirit.

                As long as we are living in the flesh we are under the Law and all that the Law can do is to shepherd us back to the foot of the cross and to repentance so that we can once again live by the Spirit.

                This kind of faith does not make void the Law and in fact it establishes the Law… that is as long as we understand the Law’s purpose. The Law was not given to us to keep. It was given to condemn us to death. And Jesus came to die that death for us so that by faith we may enter into His death and then be raised up in newness of His resurrection life to now live by His Spirit under the High Priesthood of Melchizedek rather than the Levitical priesthood set up under the Law.

                If we seek to please God under the Law, then even our best righteousness is as a filthy rag. But if we will live by the Spirit, then we will not carry out the deeds of the flesh. And so I will close with this statement by Paul found in Gal. 5:13-18.

                “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another; for the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another take care lest you be consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh... for the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.”

                Now some may argue that the Sabbath was a part of creation and therefore remains in effect even apart from the Law and that is true. But it is best understood by the issue of circumcision. Circumcision came before the Law too, for it was first given to Abraham who was under the Melchizedek priesthood. The truth is circumcision was not done away with but it changed from circumcision of the flesh to a circumcision of the Heart by the Spirit.

                In the same way, the Sabbath has become a symbol of our rest in Christ rather than a requirement of the Law. If we have entered that rest in Christ then we are fulfilling the Sabbath by the power of the Holy Spirit rather than by the works of the flesh.

                It is extremely important to understand where our true rest comes from, for the Sabbath, like circumcision walks a fine line.

                Of circumcision Paul said: “I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been cut off from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” Gal. 5:3, 4

                This is serious business then, for if we seek to please God by our Sabbath keeping as required by Law, then we must keep the entire Law and Christ is of no benefit to us. The Law says that in it you shall not do any work and again Jesus says that apart from Me you can do nothing. Nothing is a big Zero with a whole bunch of zeros on the end of it. Therefore the Sabbath must represent our rest in Christ and not a work of the Law.

                “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14

                We are no longer living by the flesh but by the Spirit, and if at any time we begin to fall away and to live by the flesh, the Law is there to lead us to repentance and back into life in the Spirit.