The Law
The Law
What is it? What is its purpose? Why are we no longer bound by it?
First let’s define what the law is. The law is the set of rules revealed by God through Moses. The first five books of the bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are known as “The Law”. The purpose of the law was to point out man’s unrighteousness.
· Leviticus 18:4-5 You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God. If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them . I am the Lord.
· Romans 5:13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.
· Romans 3:20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
Why are we no longer bound by the law?
· Matthew 5:17 Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.
When Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice he completed what the law was pointing to – righteousness. We are no longer in need of the law to make us right by God, but we still must understand how sinful we are. We now depend on grace through faith for our righteousness.
· Galatians 3:23-25 Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came: it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
· Galatians 5:1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
What about the 10 commandments? Do we no longer have to follow them? If Christ came to fulfill the law and we are free from it then why do we still have to abide by certain commandments? The central theme behind the laws and commandments is love. The first 4 commandments deal with loving God. The remaining 6 commandments deal with loving people. (Exodus 20)
· Matthew 22:37-40 You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.
The first and greatest commandment deals with loving God, and the second deals with loving people. You can see the connection here between the OT commandments and the 2 commandments of Jesus found in Matthew.
This is by no means meant to be an exhaustive answer on this topic. It is simply a brief overview. Please feel free to respond with any comments or additional questions you may have.
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