“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become
dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another
to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when
we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at
work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from
the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the
newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” Rom7:4-6
THE LAW HAS
BEEN PUT TO AN END; JESUS FULFILLED IT
In
dealing with the righteousness of the believer the issue of sin and the Law
always arises and understandably so. This is obviously because even Christians
sin and sometimes they sin A LOT. As a result it is difficult for many of us to
accept what the bible plainly states. In Romans 6 the Holy Spirit seeks to lay
this to rest once for all. Here God presents His opinion on the relationship
between sin, the Law and the Christian. Sadly for many of us, the opinions of
men and our doctrinal beliefs and experiences are more important in determining
what we believe, no matter what the bible says. I beseech you to “let God be true but every man a liar.”
This man includes you and your experience and your beliefs!
“What shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound?” Rom6:1
Obviously
this was a question that Paul faced a lot. Many people interpreted what He was
saying as encouraging people to just sin after all they were saved by grace. In
Romans alone he answers this question 3 times. See Rom3:7-8 “If my lie increases the glory that God
receives by showing that God is truthful, why am I still judged as a sinner? Or
can we say, "Let's do evil so that good will come from it"? Some
slander us and claim that this is what we say. They are condemned, and that's
what they deserve.” GW And Rom6:15 “What
then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God
forbid.”
His answer indeed is an emphatic GOD FORBID!! We don’t teach
people grace so that they can sin, we teach people grace so that they are
empowered to live a holy life that glorifies God. Living holy glorifies God.
However
there are key points to note here; Paul the apostle spoke clearly by the revelation
of the Holy Spirit and with incredible authority and anointing and yet He was
misunderstood many times by his listeners. It should not be a surprise
therefore that even today many of us teaching grace are often misunderstood.
Anybody teaching grace that does not have these kind of arguments and questions
arise is probably not teaching the same Gospel that Paul preached!
If in
seeking to be acceptable to all people we preach grace in a way that never
offends anybody or causes people to accuse us of encouraging sin or giving
people a license to sin, then we aren’t preaching the true grace of God that
Paul preached. We are preaching a perverted gospel.
“I marvel that ye are so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the
gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto
you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men,
or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be
the servant of Christ.” Gal1:6-10
To
properly preach the Grace of God, you need to make a decision. Will you be
pleasing to men? Or the servant of God? The two cannot go hand in hand.
Jesus too dealt with this question of law
“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.” Mat5:17-19
Now why
would Jesus tell the people not to think that He had come to abolish the law?
Obviously because there were people that were thinking that and interpreting
His teachings as saying so. This didn’t drop from nowhere. The Pharisees were
accusing Him of doing just that.
Secondly
He said that the law would never pass away until it was all fulfilled.
Question;
Who was to fulfill this law?
There
are some who teach that this law was to be fulfilled by men. The Bible doesn’t
say so.
“And when there had been much
disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how
that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth
should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the
hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now
therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able
to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we
shall be saved, even as they.” Acts15:7-11.
Nobody
was ever able to fulfill the law apart from Jesus, nobody will ever be able to
fulfill the law outside of Jesus. Peter called it a ‘yoke’ which they were
never able to bear! We can’t either.
“Wherefore the law is holy, and
the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made
death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in
me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding
sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I
hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law
that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in
me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for
to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in
my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh
the law of sin. ” Rom7:12-25
Paul
ably describes the impossibility of keeping the law. The flesh is incapable of
keeping the law of God. Anybody that seeks to fulfill the law of God is going to
have the same experience highlighted in Romans7. Continual frustration and
condemnation. If you are under law and
you are not condemned, you are not paying attention!
HAS THE LAW BEEN FULFILLED?
Yes the
law has been fulfilled. Jesus fulfilled the law for us and has provided for us
justification freely without obedience to the law first;
“Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of
sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye
could not be justified by the Law of Moses. Beware therefore, lest that come
upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; Behold, ye despisers, and wonder,
and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe,
though a man declare it unto you.” Acts13:38-41
What a
scripture! Sadly many Christians today are fulfilling the prophecy of that
scripture. They have refused to believe the work God has done even if it is
being declared plainly.
“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.” Rom8:3-4
Who are
those who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit? Is it those who live a
sinless life? (which is impossible). No, it is those who have the Holy Spirit,
are aware that they have Him and then as a result are walking in Him. Look at
these scriptures;
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is
dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
Rom8:9-10.
So you
have to be aware first that the Holy Spirit lives in you. And then after
knowing that He lives in you and you live in Him then you can walk in Him;
“If we live in the Spirit, let
us also walk in the Spirit.”
Gal5:25.
First
you have to know that you are in the spirit and living in the spirit. Only then
can you walk in the spirit. The walking is the result of knowing and living.
How did Jesus fulfil the law?
Jesus
fulfilled the law by fulfilling the demands of the law. This is how He did it;
1) By
keeping it. All of it. He lived a perfect, sinless life.
God
demanded that the Law be kept perfectly. That we live a perfect, sinless life
without breaking any of the commandments. Breaking even one commandment was as
bad as breaking all of them. Look at these scriptures
“Cursed is the one who does not confirm all
the words of this law by observing them.' "And all the people shall say.
Amen…” Deut27:26
“For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who
does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do
them.” Gal3:10
“Now it shall come to pass, if
you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all
His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you
high above all nations of the earth.” Deut28:1
“If someone obeys all of God's
laws except one, that person is guilty of breaking all of them. After all, the
one who said, "Never commit adultery," is the same one who said,
"Never murder." If you do not commit adultery but you murder, you
become a person who disobeys God's laws.” Jam2:10-11GW
“So then, be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect.” Mat5:48
Only
Jesus was able to live such a life without breaking a single commandment. He
fulfilled the requirement of God to obey the law fully and be sinless and
perfect. Jesus was sinless and perfect.
The following scriptures say so;
“God made the one who did not
know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of
God.” 2Cor5:21 NET
“For we do not have a high
priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been
tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.”Heb4:15
2) He
fulfilled the Law by dying for our sins on our behalf;
The Law
demanded that whoever broke it must die. No one was exempt from this.
“The word of the LORD came unto
me again, saying, What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of
Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth
are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any
more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of
the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall
die.” Ezek18:1-4
We can
see therefore that we all deserved to die. The Law demanded that we die, and
this demand had to be fulfilled. Jesus fulfilled it for us by dying on the
Cross on our behalf.
“For the wages of sin is death…”
Rom6:23a
We all
had to earn this wage for our sins. Jesus earned it for us. He took upon Him our
death for our sins.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and
with his stripes we are healed.” Isa53:5
We who
believe in Him died with Him at the Cross and thus fulfilled the demand of the
law for death to the transgressor. In this way Jesus fulfilled the Law. Look at
how this verse is translated in God’s Word Bible
“Jesus, our Lord, was handed
over to death because of our failures and was brought back to life so that we
could receive God's approval.” Rom4:25 GW
3) He
fulfilled the law by rising from the dead and providing for us justification
and righteousness
“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.” Rom8:3-4
When
Jesus rose from the dead, it was a sign that He had paid the full penalty for
our sins and thus had brought the demands of the law to an end. His
resurrection was an indicator that God had accepted His sacrifice on our behalf
and was therefore reconciled with us. His
resurrection became our justification.
“Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to
us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was
delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our
justification.” Rom4:23-25
Jesus
died because of the penalty of the law upon Him as our representative. Now that
He is risen, He is no longer under the law because He has perfectly fulfilled
all of its demands. Now He is free from the law. And all of us who are in Him
are also free from the law because all of its demands towards us have been
fulfilled.
Note1: The fact
that Jesus died on the Cross means that God punished Him for all of us. God
treated Him as our sacrifice and substitute. He was ‘delivered up because of our offenses’
Note 2: The fact
that Jesus resurrected from the dead means that God accepted His sacrifice
on the Cross, took away all our sins and declared us righteous. If Jesus hadn’t
resurrected from the dead God would never have declared us righteous and justified.
He was ‘raised because of our
justification’
We can therefore conclude that
Jesus fulfilled the law by 1) Keeping it (through living a perfect, sinless
life), 2) Dying for us who had broken the law (and deserved to die) and finally
3) By resurrecting from the dead free from all its demands. And we who are in
Him have this true of us as it is of Him.
“Love has been perfected among
us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is,
so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out
fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect
in love. We love Him because He first loved us.” 1Jn4:17-19
So Jesus having fulfilled the law, has the law passed away? Has it come to its end?
Yes the
law has passed away. It has come to its end for the Christian. Jesus said it
would never pass away UNTIL it was fulfilled. He fulfilled it and thus brought
its dispensation to an end. I know many of us struggle to believe this. You
might say I am blaspheming.
Does the bible say that the law has passed away or come to an end?
Yes it does. Is there any scripture that says this? Look at these verses;
“For Christ is the end of the
law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.”
Rom10:4 NET
In
other words, having come to Christ and to righteousness in Him, it is no longer
necessary to be under the law and its demands.
The law was a shadow or picture of Christ, now that you have Christ the
person why would you still want to hug the shadow and fellowship with His
shadow? This is what Paul asks the Colossians;
“Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of
the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of
Christ. Let no man beguile you of your
reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those
things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not
holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having
nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as
though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste
not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the
commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in
will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to
the satisfying of the flesh.” Col2:16-23.
Indeed
it is pointless to be under the law when you have Christ. Look at this next
verse
“But before faith came, we were
kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be
revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might
be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a
tutor.” Gal3:23-25
The law
was a teacher to bring us to Christ; now that we have reached Christ we no
longer need this teacher. HIS JOB IS DONE!!
Read that scripture again, ‘the
law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith’.
The law was a teacher whose job was to take us to Christ SO THAT WE MIGHT BE
JUSTIFIED BY FAITH. Did you see that? The purpose of the Law was to bring you to Christ.
And yet he continues ‘But after faith has come, we
are no longer under a tutor’. This is amazing. The law was a teacher whose job was
to take us to Christ. Now this teacher has taken us to Christ and we have
arrived and been justified by faith. This means that the teacher’s job is
finished, his contract has ended. You have arrived at the set destination which
was Christ. Now why on earth are you refusing to disembark from the Law? You have
arrived. Awake to your righteousness!
“Therefore, my brethren, you
also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be
married to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear
fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were
aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now
we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so
that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the
letter.” Rom7:4-6
How
plain does this have to be? He clearly says that we have become dead to the law
and that we have been delivered from the law. I didn’t say it, God said it.
It’s in your bible. You are dead to the Law of Moses. That’s the Word of God. Believe
it.
“And you, being dead in your sins
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,
having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to his cross;”
Col2:13-14
He says
that God has blotted “out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us”. What is this handwriting of ordinances?
The 10 commandments that God wrote with His own finger and gave to Moses. Notice
that it also says that they were against us. This says that at the Cross God
blotted them out and hang them with Jesus! The word blot (exaleiphō) means to
whitewash or plaster, to wipe off, wipe away, to obliterate, to erase, to wipe
out and to blot out. Can you believe this? That this is in scripture? It’s
almost like blasphemy isn’t it? If you are like me this stuff is almost scary
to believe. But it’s the Word of God. I choose to believe it no matter how I
feel or what I think. Or what you say!!
“For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going
before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh
unto God.” Heb7:18-19
Now He
uses another word. He says that the law has been disannulled (athetēsis) which
means to abolish, to put away, to reject, to cancel, to cancel officially. Then
He continues;
“For if that first covenant had
been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because
finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the
LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the
LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on
their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of
them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'
for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I
will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless
deeds I will remember no more." In
that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now
what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
Heb8:7-13
Did you
see that? That God has made the first covenant (which contains the law)
obsolete. The word obsolete means no longer in use, old, worn out,
expired. Not only that but also that
being obsolete, it should VANISH away!!! And still He continues;
“Therefore, when He came into
the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body
You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no
pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come; In the volume of the book it is
written of Me; To do Your will, O God.' Previously saying, "Sacrifice and
offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had
pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law), then He said,
"Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second.”
Heb10:5-9
Therefore
beloved, this may be hard for us to accept. However the scriptures are clear,
God has taken the law away. The Christian is not under the law anymore. We are
now married to Christ. You are going to have to make a decision today. Are you
going to believe the Word of God? Or your opinions? Or your pastor? Or your
reverend? This is a matter between you and God. Choose for yourself whom you
will believe.
I urge
you to read these verses again and again. Look at them over and over. Study them,
meditate upon them. Let this be revealed to your heart.
THE LAW HAS BEEN FULFILLED
AND GOD HAS TAKEN IT AWAY. WE ARE NOLONGER UNDER THE LAW. Glory to God.
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