Christ's Law

People who quote one or two verses at a time and casually read the Bible sometimes miss a basic truth. We do not keep the Sabbath or eat kosher for a reason. We are not under the Law.

I hear all the time by skeptics, "Why don't you follow *insert random law from Old Testament* anymore?" The answer is simple. I'm not under the law anymore.

Paul makes this quite clear through out almost all of his epistles:
"Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." -Romans 6:13-14

"Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law." -1 Corinthians 9:19-20

"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." -Galatians 5:16-18

This is why we do not follow the Levitical laws established in the Old Testament. Those are covenants with the Jews and I, personally, am not a Jew. I am not circumcising my child because it holds no value for him (Galatians 5:2).

We are now under a new law, Christ's law (1 Corinthians 9:20). In Mark 2:18-20, we find Jesus speaking of his disciples in terms of new wineskins with new wine. The most widely accepted interpretation of what Jesus is describing is his new disciples and his new message. The old Law could not contain what Jesus was bringing.

Grace is at the forefront of Jesus' message. An undeserved and unearned pardon from our crimes. In the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7), it is very clear that we cannot live up to God's law and perfection.

The Levitical law was not bad and anyone not under Christ's law is currently under the Levitical law's judgement, but the purpose of the Levitical law was to show us that we needed a savior. Christ's law is our salvation from the law that brings death.

At this point, I have generally given why we no longer live by the Law, but there is the other extreme that we should guard against as well. That is to sin all we want because we are not under the Law anymore. This was also never the intention of Paul's teachings.

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" -Romans 6:2

We should live by the Spirit of the law and not the letter of the law (Galatians 5:16-18). While all is technically permissible because of grace, not all is beneficial (1 Corinthians 6:12). At this point we are to study God's word and be transformed by it so that we are able to test and approve of what God's will is (Romans 12:2) without merely following rules.

Jesus said many profound things while he was here, but the one that relates to why we should not go on sinning is one of the simplest things he said. "If you love me, keep my commands." -John 14:15

He did not say, "If you want to go to heaven", or "if you want to look good in God's eyes" or "if you don't want to go to Hell", he simply says "If you love me..." and that is reason enough. If we love Jesus then we will bear fruit.

When confronted with the adulterous woman, Jesus had ever right under the law to stone her, but instead he chose grace and created new command. Only someone without sin can caste the first stone. Therefore, under Christ's law he did not get rid of any of the commands, but instead added to them. So we do not stone or kill anyone for breaking commands anymore because we ourselves deserve to be stoned as much as they do. We are all sinners who need a savior.

We are not saved by following rules. We are not saved by anything at all that we do. We are saved by the grace given to us by Jesus. And if we love Jesus and are grateful for that salvation, it can be seen in our following his commands.