Subject: Raven, do you want ALL the Law? |
Bible Note: Joe, Actually, I did partially answer your question. The Law is made for the unrighteous not the righteous. It still has a purpose and a function. But believers are no longer under it as a moral constraint or under it's punishment for failure to obey it. Children need to be taught the Law so that they will see that they are indeed sinners and turn to Christ. This is the Law's purpose. The law that James refers to is not the Mosaic Law (the 10 commandments), it is the law of Christ - love. James calls it the perfect law - the law of liberty. Hebrews 8:7 makes it clear that the Mosaic covenant was not perfect - it was "faulted." Why? Was there something wrong with the Law? No, of course not. There was something wrong with the ones who were supposed to keep it. So God has made a New Covenant and fulfills His righteous requirements in us through the Spirit instead of through external commandments. Galatians further does not call the Law "the law of liberty". To the contrary, Paul calls it a "yoke of slavery" - Gal 5:1. Paul even calls the Mosaic covenant the "ministry of death" in 2 Cor 3:7. Galatians demonstrates that we are no longer under the Mosaic covenant or the Mosaic Law. All the verses I listed from Galatians are quite clear with little room for "interpretation error." Now, does the Law reflection the moral character of God. Certainly. It thereby reflects the sinner's fallen nature also. But the Jews could never keep the Law, could they? Neither can we. In fact, apart from Christ Himself, we cannot measure up to God's actual moral character as reflected in the sermon on the mount and 1 Cor 13. But under the New Covenant, God has put His Spirit in us and we walk by faith in Him, trusting Him to lead and guide us as Christ lives through us. This will cause us to fulfill the law of Christ - loving God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. This is something that the OT Jew could never do because their hearts were not changed. So though we are no longer under the Mosaic Law for guidance or punishment, we have Christ's law fulfilled in us. As He does this, it will certainly look like the OT Law is being fulfilled, but it is from an internal motivation, Christ's love in our hearts - Rom 13:8; Rom 13:10; Gal 5:14. The Law could never cause the Jews to reflect God's moral character - they couldn't keep it. The Spirit of Christ in the believer does fulfill God's character and requirements - Rom 8:4. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |