If a law restrains evil, it is a good thing. If the law
against murder is enforced, it will limit, to a greater or lesser
extent, the occurrence of murder. The point of laws is to restrain
evil, unless its the law that forces payment of taxes or other such
laws, which facilitate government. Not every law is good, but the
assumption is that the concept of law itself is based on good
intentions. When God gave a written law on Mount Sinai, it was to
prevent the Israelites from idolatry, blasphemy, murder, theft, deceit,
other such things, and to compel them to honor the Sabbath, honor father
and mother, have a standard of cleanliness, and other such things. The
law represents a certain standard. It is a line that must not be
crossed, and there is a punishment for crossing the line. That is how
the law operates. It punishes anything below the line; it does not
require anything above the line. And societies have operated by law for
several thousands of years.
We know that the Old Testament is a system of laws. We know that
that's how the Israelites operated. But we also know that Christ
introduced something new. Most Christians are not fully aware of what
Christ introduced. We have a vague idea that freedom is associated with
the New Testament. But most Christians do not clearly understand the
fundamental difference between the Old Testament and its system of laws
and the New Testament and its system of freedom. First, let me prove
that Christians are free from the OT law, since not everyone is
convinced of that. There are many verses I could share; I will share
just a couple. Jesus makes it plain that He is doing something new when
He declares all foods clean, flatly contradicting the OT kosher laws.
And He said to them, "Are you also as lacking in understanding?
Don't you realize that nothing going into a man from the outside can
defile him? For it doesn't go into his heart but into the stomach and
is eliminated." (As a result, He made all foods clean.) Mark 7:18-19
(HCSB)
He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was
against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing
it to the cross. Colossians 2:14 (HCSB)
Jesus came and erased the OT law, but does that mean that there is no
Christian law? The Christian law is very different from the OT law.
It is a law in a completely different sense. It is an internal law, not
an external law. An external law is the speed limit. An external law
is the Ten Commandments. An external law is the regulations of the
sacrificial system. An external law is specific, because it must tell
you specifically what to do and what not to do. An internal law is
something that is held in the heart. If the internal law is written
down, its not written down with specifics, unless its specific examples
to illustrate the point. An internal law is what we might call an
'ideal'.
"Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after those days" - the LORD's declaration. "I will place My law within
them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will
be My people. Jeremiah 31:33 (HCSB)
What is the law written on the heart? It is a much higher ideal.
Whereas a traditional law is a certain standard, and it doesn't require
anything more than the standard, the law that is written on the heart is
an infinitely high standard. No matter how well a person is doing, he
can do better. With a law, lets say the law "Do not covet", once the
law is met - a person does not covet - there is nothing else required.
But now, consider all that is required of this standard:
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. -Jesus in Matthew 5:48 (HCSB)
When is the standard of the higher ideal met? At what point does "Be
perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" not require anything more?
Our heavenly Father is infinitely perfect, so to be perfect as He is
perfect requires infinite perfection from us. It is an ideal, not a
law. It is not a law in the traditional sense of law - a law written on
paper. It is a law written on the heart. It is a much higher ideal,
which drives us to a much higher level of righteousness. The Israelite
under the OT law only had to not covet, not murder, not lie, and other
such things. Once he met the standard of the law, he did not have to do
anything more. The Christian is commanded to be perfect as the
heavenly Father is perfect. There is no written law for the Christian.
Why would that be? A written law, such as the Israelite had, would be a
hindrance to the higher ideal. Anytime there is the presence of a law,
whoever the law applies to will look at that law as his standard of
good conduct. If the OT law were still in effect for Christians,
Christians would do what the law requires, as best they could, and do no
more. Even if the higher ideal were present, the old law would be a
distraction. The law, which had been a help in that it restrained evil,
would then be a hindrance in that it restrains good. To prevent the OT
law from restraining the good, which is a result of the higher ideal,
the OT law had to be abolished. It was abolished at the cross. In its
place was put something much much better.
I already made mention of the higher ideal, that is, the teaching of
Jesus Christ. I summed it up with the words "Be perfect as your
heavenly Father is perfect", but there are many other words of Jesus
that confirm this higher ideal. His commands, which are open-ended like
"love your neighbor as yourself", are endless. We are endlessly in a
debt of love towards one another, as Paul writes. Then we ask this
question, how are we to obey the higher ideal? If the Israelites are
constantly falling short of the OT law, how are Christians going to live
up to a higher standard? In the external Christ gives us the
commands/teaching. Internally He gives us the Holy Spirit. He purified
us by His blood to make us acceptable vessel for the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power which enables us to live up
to the higher standard. That is very much the new thing that Jesus did
on the cross. That is the new thing of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is
the law written on the heart.
One thing we should notice about Christ is that He really cares about
the progress a person is making. If a person is righteous but they are
heading in the wrong direction, that person is rebuked by Christ (see
church in Ephesus, Revelation 2:1-7). If a person is sinful but they
are heading in the right direction, that person is justified before God
(see the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, Luke 18:9-14). The
trajectory that a person is on makes a very big difference. If a person
is righteous, but they are heading in a downward trajectory, that is
worse than the sinner who is on an upward trajectory. The lost sheep is
celebrated when he is found more than the 99 that were never lost...
the lost coin the same, and the prodigal son.
Now if trajectory is really important, then the law is not enough to
save a person. The law does not have the ability to sustain a person on
an upward trajectory. The higher ideal does, but the law does not.
The law can restrain evil, but it cannot lead to heaven. If a person
never murders because of the law, it makes him less evil than he might
have been, but it does not make him a son of God. He has met a certain
standard, but there he is, simply not a murderer. He is stagnant at the
level he is at; he is not progressing any higher, not becoming any more
righteous. In fact, since he trusts in the law and bases his life upon
it, he will refuse to be any more righteous, because he has already met
the requirement of the law. In effect, the law restrains the evil of
the sinful nature (he does not murder), but it also restrains the good
of the divine nature (he does nothing any more righteous than not
murdering). In order for the divine nature - the Holy Spirit - to
produce good works it must be free from the law. That is why the New
Testament talks about freedom. That is why James mentions the "perfect
law of liberty" (James 1:25). If a person lives by the divine nature,
he has zero need for a law. He does not have to be told not to murder,
because murder is the furthest thing from his mind; it is contrary to
his nature. For the person that is born of the Holy Spirit, who has
that divine nature, a law does not, and cannot, make him any more
righteous. Instead it becomes a hindrance. This is why Christ's law is
not a law. It is a higher ideal; it is commands that require
discernment to obey: commands like "love one another". He does not say
how we are to love one another, He simply says to do it. We are left to
answer the question of how, and it is the Holy Spirit that answers the
question for us, or to be more precise, gives us the wisdom to know the
answer in each unique situation. This is why the apostles say that the
law of Christ is to love. It is such an open-ended statement, it cannot
be considered a law, not in the traditional sense of a law. It is a
higher ideal, a perfect ideal, which has no end in meeting its
requirement. Its the only kind of law that can continuously keep us on
the upward trajectory.
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God will come, He
answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with something
observable; no one will say, 'Look here!' or 'There!' For you see, the
kingdom of God is among you." Luke 17:20-21 (HCSB)
The kingdom has been coming to the earth; it has been forcefully
advancing since the days of John the Baptist. Today, though its not
obvious to most people, the kingdom of God is bursting forth all over
the world. Its bursting forth inside of people. Now is the time. Fan
the flame of the Holy Spirit. Give full expression to your faith. Now
is the time!
