From our last Bible study, we explored the law. Centuries ago, God wrote His law in stone, and you’re still supposed to keep it today! Indeed, violating any part of God’s law always brings negative consequences. However, in connection with the New Testament, this seems to have come to an end. In this study, we shall consider some of the most difficult questions that are found within the New Testament context. The first question would be.
Doesn’t the Bible say the law was (or is) faulty? (Hebrews 8:8)
No. The Bible says the people were faulty. God found “fault with them.” But people read this verse as though it says, God found fault with the law. Hebrews 8:8. And in Romans 8:3 the Bible says that the law “was weak through the flesh.” It is always the same story. The law is perfect, but the people are faulty, or weak. So God would have His Son live within His people “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Romans 8:4) through the indwelling Christ. THen the next question is.
Galatians 3:13 says we are
redeemed from the curse of the law.
Can you explain this? (Galatians
3:13)
The curse of the law is death (Romans 6:23). Christ tasted “death for every man.” Hebrews 2:9. Thus He redeemed all from the curse of the law (death) and in its place provided eternal life.
Don’t Colossians 2:14-17 and
Ephesians 2:15 teach that God’s law
ended at the cross? (Ephesians
2:15)
No, these passages both refer to the law containing “ordinances,” or Moses’ law, which was a ceremonial law governing the sacrificial system and the priesthood. All of this ceremony and ritual foreshadowed the cross and ended at Christ’s death, as God had intended. Moses’ law was added till the “seed should come,” and that “seed … is Christ.” Galatians 3:19, 16. God’s law could not be involved here, for Paul spoke of it as holy, just, and good many years after the cross (Romans 7:7, 12).
The Bible says, “Love is the
fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:10.
The Bible also, in Matthew 22:37-40,commands us to love God and to
love our neighbors, and ends with
the words, “On these two
commandments hang all the law
and the prophets.” Do these
commands replace the Ten
Commandments? (Matthew 22:40)
No, the Ten Commandments hang from these two commands like our 10 fingers hang from our two hands. They
are inseparable. Love to God makes keeping the first four commandments (which concern God) a pleasure, and love toward our neighbor makes keeping the last six (which concern our neighbor) a joy. Love fulfills the law by taking away the drudgery and by making law-keeping a delight (Psalms 40:8). When we truly love a person,
honoring his or her requests becomes a joy. Jesus said,” If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15. It is impossible to love the Lord and not keep His commandments, because the Bible says, “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:4.
Doesn’t 2 Corinthians 3:7 teach
that the law written and engraved in
stone “was to be done away”? (2
Corinthians 3:7)
No. The passage says that the “glory” of Moses’ ministration of the law was to be done away, but not the law. Read the whole passage of 2 Corinthians 3:3-9 again, carefully. The subject is not the doing away with the law or its establishment, but rather, the change of the location of the law from “tables of stone” to the “tables of the heart.” Under Moses’ ministration the law was on stones. Under the Holy Spirit’s ministration, through Christ, the law is written upon the heart (Hebrews 8:10). A rule posted on a school bulletin board becomes effective only when it enters a student’s heart. Christ’s ministration of the law is effective because He transfers the law to the heart of the Christian. Then, keeping the law becomes a delight and a joyful way of living because the Christian has true love for both God and man.
Romans 10:4 says that “Christ is
the end of the law.” So it has ended,
hasn’t it? (Romans 10:4)
“End” in this verse means purpose or object, as it does in James 5:11. The meaning is clear. To lead men to Christ–where they find righteousness- is the goal, purpose, or end of the law.
Why do so many people deny
the binding claims of God’s law?
(Romans 8:7)
“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So
then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” Romans 8:7-9.
Were the righteous people of the
Old Testament saved by the law? (2
Timothy 1:9)
No one has ever been saved by the law. All who have been saved in all ages have been saved by grace. This
“grace … was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” 2 Timothy 1:9. The law only points out sin. Christ
alone can save. Noah “found grace” (Genesis 6:8); Moses found grace (Exodus 33:17); the Israelites in the wilderness found grace (Jeremiah 31:2); and Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and many other Old Testament worthies were saved “by faith” according to Hebrews 11. They were saved by looking forward to the cross; we, by looking back to it.
The law is necessary because, like a mirror, it reveals the “dirt” in our lives. Without it, people are sinners but are
not aware of it. However, the law has no saving power. It can only point out sin. Jesus, and He alone, can save a person from sin. This has always been true, even in Old Testament times. (Acts 4:10, 12; 2 Timothy 1:9).
Why worry about the law? Isn’t
conscience a safe guide? (Proverbs
14:12)
No! A thousand times, no! The Bible speaks of an evil conscience, a defiled conscience, and a seared conscience- none of which is safe. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12. God says, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” Proverbs 28:26.
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