law

The law is the rule established by authority. Montaigne wrote that "the laws maintain their credit, not because they are just, but because they are laws. They are often made by fools and more often by men who, out of hatred for equality, are lacking in equity, but always by men: vain and unstable creators."

There are laws that govern the universe. God is bound to these laws only in the sense that they are immovable, He is the one that set them into motion. God is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent, these are laws for God simply because He is God and never changes. His will for us may change, His mind may change depending on certain circumstances but His essential nature never changes, He is always a God of love, justice and righteousness, sees all, knows all and is all powerful. God is not however, bound to man made laws or to the laws that He gives to man, but He will keep His word to us. The Old Covenant demanded that sin be cleansed through the sacrifice of blood. The law was a tutor and the animal sacrificed was given as a type to point us to the sacrifice for all time that was to come through Jesus.

The law of grace is much evident in all times. There are many Christian precepts and actions in the spirit which are subject to these laws. Paul teaches of the “law of faith,” but he also knew that there was a “law of sin” that wars against it. He served the law of God with his mind and the law of sin with the flesh.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Leviticus 17:11

God's law to man was to require a sacrifice for sin and loved the world enough to allow His Son to become that. The action of Jesus dying on the cross did as much to the Ten Commandments as Moses did by breaking them except now we are the living stones and He has written His law upon the tables of our hearts. All Ten Commandments are replicated in the various Christian graces and virtues except one and that is the Sabbath Day. The Sabbath will be fulfilled when we enter into the day of man's rest in the millennium.

We fulfill the law by acting in love. The writer of Hebrews contrasts the law of the commandments with the power of an endless life. Saint James gives us a glimpse into the perfect law of liberty. All of these are laws of God are unchangeable except through the distinct experiences of those that conform to them. Fulfilling these laws are as simple as being led by the Spirit toward another and are especially blessed when God gets the glory for them.

The Ten Commandments are just part of the Law of Moses. There are myriads of lesser commandments, principles, governing systems, laws and by-laws, judgments and ordinances. Is it now better for a Christian? We have the danger of legalism on one hand and licentiousness on the other. The big difference is that under grace, we find that the righteousness of the law can be fulfilled in us rather than by us. The spirit in us changes everything when it comes to the law. The Spirit is a helping power, not a forcing one; we must decide to make the choice freely through our liberty in Christ to allow this spirit to work effectively within our lives.

With the shed blood of Christ, there was remission of sins and by dying on the cross, He fulfilled the law. Sin demands a guilty verdict, every sinner forfeits his life and the law requires death, we die to ourselves, thereby fulfilling the law. Each time we sin, it is another guilty verdict but Jesus has still gone to the cross for us and as Paul says, His grace is sufficient for us. By going to the cross with Him, we join Jesus in His death. He gave His life for us, now we must give our lives for Him and that means giving our lives unto our brothers and sisters through love because God is love, this is how we come into union with Him.

The first table of the 10 commandments enjoins the duty of God; the second, with five commandments,

For the pious of Jesus' day, the law was in general not a burden, but a matter of pride. While obedience to rabbinical regulations is not the only way to obtain merit in the sight of God, the faithful observance of the law and ceremonies is not unimportant. The laws and observances were given to obtain merits, by performing the commandments, man is entitled to a reward. Against this idea Jesus presented the parable of the servant not expecting thanks.

Jesus does not destroy the Law but renews, in part abrogating and in part retaining and perfecting it. The letter of the law, even in its smallest and most trivial enactment’s, must be obeyed at all costs, the problem was that mankind could not adhere to it fully. And this minute and literal observance of the entire law was not left to the scribes and Pharisees alone; it was demanded of all the people, the demand was met but not fulfilled. Christianity was something more than a law, it was a promise as well, the gospel of Eternal Life. The law was not an end unto itself, it was simply a means to the attainment of salvation, and it was a message of salvation that Christianity was preached to the world at large with the law of love. Now the church is under grace, not the law. We have the spirit and not the letter, if in fact you do have the spirit. James writes "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." We have to be able to fulfil our Christian existence in grace because we cannot possibly fulfil the law.

Now, through Jesus, we have the law written on our hearts.

Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. 2 Corinthians 3:3
We fulfil the law by walking in the Spirit. To this end was the epistle to the Galatians written by Paul to answer the questions concerning the law. and the question was of prime importance in the first ecumenical gathering of the church at the Jerusalem Council. So how do we lead a Christian life if we do not adhere to the law?
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that ye would. But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.


[64, 138, 315, 324, 12, 377, Galatians 5]



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