Apart
from the Law
By Brian Hennessy
Part 2
Paradise
Lost
The real danger
of pursuing the Law in some vain attempt to further sanctification -
is that it puts your very inheritance at risk! “For the promise to Abraham
or his descendants that he would inherit the world was not
through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith…because if those
who are of the Law are heirs, than faith
is made void and the promise nullified.” (Rom. 4:13,14) Paul reiterates
that warning to the Galatians when he asks them, “You who want to be under
Law, do you not listen to the Law?” (The second use of “Law” in that
sentence has the broader meaning of “Torah,” referring to the first five
books of the Bible). He goes on to explain to them, that as believers, they are
like Isaac, children of promise. But if they insist on being under Law they
identify themselves instead with Ishmael, and declare themselves to be sons of a
slave woman, Hagar. And then Paul reminds them of what happens to slaves. “You
shall cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not
be an heir with the son of the free woman.” (Gal. 4: 30)
But as I pointed
out earlier, those who are wedded to institutional Christianity are in no less
bondage (or danger) than those bound to the Mosaic Law. Both groups fail to
realize that the key of “faith righteousness” is not something to be used
just once for obtaining
justification, and then hung on a nail. It is also the key needed for
successfully finishing the race and collecting our promised inheritance! And if
we put it down and go back to a form of religion, we will be doing what the
Israelites did who after leaving Egypt returned to its ways in worshipping the
golden calf. About whom God said He “was angry for forty years...whose
bodies fell in the wilderness...to whom He swore that they should not enter His
rest.” (Heb. 3: 16-19)
It is this
gospel of faith righteousness that provides the enabling and the assurance that
faith alone - apart from works - will bring us safely into our reward. “For I
am not ashamed of this gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Rom. 1:16)
I am certain
that the false hope of the Law would be readily obvious to all those Jewish and
non-Jewish Christians who insist on clinging to it, if they understood precisely
why God gave it to us in the first place. And understood what was wrong with it
so that it needed to be replaced by a better covenant, which we call the New
Covenant. “For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former
commandment because of its weakness and
uselessness (for the Law made
nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope,
through which we draw near to God...for if that first covenant had been
faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.” (Heb.
7:18,19; 8:7)
So lets take a
look at that purpose before moving on to the one commandment from God that
supercedes all His commandments, and to which we shall all be held accountable.
Law
is for the Lawless
Those who are
now mistakenly embracing the Law are doing so because they see it as a good
thing designed by God for our blessing. And indeed it was. Paul clearly
describes the Law as “holy and righteous and good.” (Rom. 7:12) But there is
also a condition which Paul explains in a letter to Timothy. He says, “For we
know that the Law is good, if one uses it
lawfully, realizing the fact that Law is not made for a righteous man, but
for those who are lawless.” (1 Tim. 1:8,9)
This is an
amazing statement. Paul is telling Timothy that the Law is a good thing only
when it is used lawfully – i.e. correctly. In effect he us saying that if it
is used in an unlawful manner, it is a bad thing. But how can the Law be used
unlawfully? The answer is given: whenever it is applied to a righteous man.
Because a righteous man is a lawful man by nature so he doesn’t need it. Only
a lawless man needs the ministry of the Law, which Paul describes as “the
ministry of death” and “the ministry of condemnation.” (2 Cor. 3: 7,9).
The matter
becomes clear once we see how God used the Law in the history of His people.
Its primary
purpose was not, as some presume, to make men holy (it was incapable of doing
that, “for the Law made nothing perfect” Heb. 7:19) But rather it was to
bring the lawless ones into full awareness of their sinful condition. It did
that by imposing a standard of righteousness so high that no one could keep it.
That’s right, it was deliberately designed to cause all men to fail in their
attempts to keep it. It was so tough, no one but Jesus was ever able to do it.
To keep it required total obedience to all 614 laws (as the rabbis count
them). Break one – even in your thought life, as Jesus said - and you were
guilty of breaking them all and deserving of punishment. (James 2:10; Matt 5:28)
So, as the
lawless tried to keep it and failed repeatedly, they were continually brought
face to face with their own sin problem. “For through the Law comes the
knowledge of sin.” (Rom. 3:20) To relieve the ensuing guilt and condemnation,
the Law provided the Levitical priesthood and animal sacrifices to atone for the
breaches. But the Law couldn’t deliver our forefathers from the sin problem
itself. It wasn’t supposed to. Anymore than a mirror has the ability to clean
the dirt from your face. Its only function is to reveal the problem, not solve
it. “I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would
have not known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not
covet.” (Rom. 7:7)
Once we come
face to face with our genetic lawlessness, hopefully we will repent and, upon
hearing the Gospel of faith righteousness through Jesus Christ, believe, and
become one of the righteous. That’s why Paul calls the Law “a tutor to lead
us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. And now that faith has come, we
are no longer under a tutor.” (Gal 3:24,25)
But there’s
even another aspect to the Law that is often overlooked. Especially by those who
are so dead set on keeping it. And that is the Law also has a directly adverse
effect on us. The Law literally causes us to sin more in order to make our
lawlessness really stand out. God wanted to make sure we didn’t miss seeing
how impure we REALLY were! “And the Law came in that the transgression might
increase...” (Rom. 5:20) “Through the commandment sin became utterly
sinful.” Rom. 7:13) It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with the Law
(it’s a good thing, remember?), it just set off sin within us the way
switching on a light stirs up a room full of cockroaches.
Another
important way in which the Law ministers to the lawless is by revealing how
powerful sin is - and how unable we are to control it. Because even when we know
God’s requirements as expressed by the Law, we soon discover that sin has a
mind of its own. ”For the wishing (to do the right thing) is present in me,
but the doing of the thing is not.” (Rom. 7:18) This discovery, of course, is
a blessing if it causes us to finally give up all illusions of being able to
dominate sin through our own efforts, and we cry out, as Paul did, “O wretched
man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24)
So we can see
that the Law was a very effective tool indeed that God used for a time to show
Israel (and all mankind through Israel) the truth about ourselves. It
brilliantly uncovered our sinful condition and at the same time convinced us we
don’t have what it takes to overcome it in our own strength. Which left us
nowhere else to go but to Messiah for our salvation (once He was revealed). And
that, of course, was the plan all along.
Which takes us
to the other category of people in the world - the righteous ones. “For just
as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, resulting
in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness,
resulting in sanctification.” Rom. 6:19
The
Righteous Brothers
Now we all know
that the Bible declares the lawless to be everyone born into this world,
“...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)
“For there is none righteous, not even one.” (Rom. 2:10/ Ps 14:1) However,
when someone finally discovers his lawless condition, either through the Law’s
“ministry of condemnation” or straight-out conviction by the Holy Spirit,
and receives forgiveness and redemption through faith in Messiah, presto! - they
immediately are transferred from the Kingdom of Darkness into the ranks of the
Righteous.
The righteous
then are all those who have been justified in God’s sight through faith in the
shed blood of Jesus. Which means, among other things, they will never again be
subject to the requirements of the Law, “realizing the fact that Law is not
made for a righteous man.” (1 Tim 1:8) And that includes the Ten Commandments
as well! Christians have no more business trying to keep the Ten Commandments
than any of the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant! “For Christ has become
the end of the Law for righteousness to every one who believes.” (Rom. 10:4)
But let’s look
more closely at this righteousness, because there’s more involved here than
just being “reckoned” as righteous, although that is certainly true. It also
involves a complete change of nature in which we go from having a lawless nature
to a lawful nature. Which is why it is no longer necessary to apply the Law to
those who are righteous.
First, let me
say that righteousness is not equivalent to being sinless. That is, you can be
righteous and still sin. Abraham was declared righteous, and he still sinned.
And the same is true for Christians. Not that we would ever want to sin, but
when we do, it is good to know that “there is therefore now no condemnation in
Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). And immediate forgiveness is available to us through
faith. “For if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sin, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). As televangelist
Pat Robertson likes to say, “it’s good to keep short accounts with God.”
That is, deal with it as soon as the Holy Spirit convicts you of it.
But here is the important thing to understand. In spite of the fact that
the righteous can still sin, THE RIGHTEOUS DO NOT HAVE A SIN NATURE. We used to
have a sin nature BEFORE we “died” and were born again. But now we have a
brand new nature that is not prone to sin. A righteous nature. A miracle of
recreation took place in the core of our being when we first believed.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone,
behold the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5: 17) “Neither circumcision or
uncircumcision means anything (now); what counts is a new creation.” (Gal
6:15)
Conversely, we should never think that because we still sin, ipso facto,
we must not be righteous. That lie really messes up many Christians. Instead of
accepting God’s word by faith that the matter of our righteousness is settled
forever, they keep looking at the evidence of their failures and drawing the
wrong conclusion. They cultivate what is called a “sin-consciousness,” a
feeling of always being in God’s doghouse. It hovers over them like the Los
Angeles smog, blocking out God’s sunshine in their lives, making them feel
unworthy and guilty in His sight. Their sense of intimacy with God withers and
dies. That leads them to embark on some regimen of religious activity to make up
for the obvious lack of perfection in their lives. And before long they’re
attending mass in St. Patrick’s cathedral, lighting candles, genuflecting and
submitting their spiritual life to men who walk around in satin robes.
Only Jesus ever lived a perfect life that was both righteous and sinless.
Although we are made perfect in our spirit immediately upon conversion, our soul
is still in the process of being perfected. Our soul, which includes our mind,
will and emotions, is still on the potter’s wheel. And He is not going to quit
working on us until it too is fully redeemed. “He that began a good work in
you will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6) “We are His
workmanship.” (Eph. 2: 10)
The final step in our redemption, of course, is when our mortal bodies
are gloriously transfigured and united with Him on the day that He is revealed
in us. That’s when we’ll be as sinless as He is, “for we know that when He
is revealed, we shall be like Him.” (1 John 3:2) Then we shall be redeemed
body, soul and spirit. But that day
has obviously not yet arrived.
One Nature.
Two Mindsets.
In the meantime, those who want a “religious work” to do in this
lifetime have one. It’s called walking in the Spirit. It is a work in which we
cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He helps us puts to death the deeds of the
flesh resulting in our “sanctification, without which no one will see the
Lord.” (Heb. 12:14) Justification has to do with our spirit. Sanctification is
for our soul. Glorification is for the body.
Practically speaking, when we are in union with our new righteous nature,
who is “Christ in us the hope of glory,” (Col. 1:27) we discover we can walk
in obedience to God. We realize that the power of the law of sin and death that
held sway over our lives has actually been broken! “For the law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom.
8:2) How does this work?
With our new righteous nature established at the core of our being, in
our spirit, we are now free to step into our “new man” and walk with Him. As
we flow in the Spirit of Christ within us, we demonstrate the character and
holiness of Jesus in all that we do. When we are operating in that state - which
is our natural state now - it can be said that we are sinless. “In Him there
is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins.”(1 John 3:5,6)
However, we can
also allow ourselves to be drawn back into the lawless activities of our old man
again, which are listed in Galatians 5:19-21. That doesn’t mean our old
lawless nature is still alive because we are again acting carnal. Scripture
assures us that our old sin nature was nailed to the cross with Jesus:
“...knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of
sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” (Rom.
6:6)
The explanation
for our persistent carnal behavior lies in the fact that we are still living in
these bodies in which our old nature controlled our thinking for so many years.
So we are still in the habit of acting with Pavlovian reflexes to the lusts of
the flesh under certain conditions. Like a chicken running around with its head
cut off, our old self can appear to be very much alive and in control. But
it’s not. It’s dead. Like the chicken, it’s just old reflexes, habits and
mindsets that are keeping it “alive.” But
we don’t have to obey it. We don’t have two natures. We just have to know
that and refuse to submit to those old, familiar lawless impulses. “So dear
brothers, you have no obligation whatever to your old sinful nature to do what
it begs you to do.” (Rom. 8:12 LB) Sometimes there are also demonic
strongholds present that might require deliverance.
Unlike our situation before we came to Christ, when our lawless nature
pushed us to sin and we had no choice but to obey, now we do have the power to
choose correctly. Now we can refuse to backslide into the lawlessness of our old
nature. Having renewed our mind by the Word of God, we can call on the power of
the Holy Spirit to help us “put to death the deeds of the body.” (Rom. 8:13)
The battleground is always in the soul - the mind, will and emotions. It’s there where we must decide whether or not to obey the old familiar commands coming from a deposed carnal nature. And to obey instead the life-giving voice of the Spirit resident within us “to overcome.” Our response is crucial. “For the mind set on (pleasing) the flesh is death, but the mind set on (cooperating with) the Spirit is life and peace.” (Rom. 8:6)
The Shadow
Knows
There is one other important aspect to the Law’s purpose that needs to
be addressed. And that is that the Law with all its commandments, statutes, and
stone tabernacle, should be thought of simply as God’s blueprints for His
future home with a scale model thrown in.
To use Biblical terms, they were “types and shadows.” That is they
pointed to a greater spiritual reality to come, which we know was Messiah Jesus
in the fullness of His manifestation in us. “For the Law, since it has only
a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very form of things....”
(Heb.10: 1) “Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink
or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day - things which
are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to
Christ.” (Col 2:16,17)
Interestingly, if you go to Jerusalem today you will see a large replica
of Herod’s Temple on display there. It helps us visualize the magnificence of
the original, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. But as I say, even the
original tabernacle was but a model of the spiritual temple that God would
introduce later, which we call the Body of Christ. “For we are the temple of
the Living God.” (2 Cor. 6:16) That’s why it is written in the Book of
Hebrews concerning the physical temple that “the Holy Spirit is signifying
this, that the way into the holy place (the true spiritual tabernacle in heaven)
has not yet been disclosed, while the
outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the time
present... (with) regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.
But when Christ appeared...” (Heb. 9:8-11)
Soon after the New Covenant temple of the Body of Christ was introduced,
God allowed the Romans to remove the old stone building. That eliminated all
confusion about having two temples.
However, the “temple” as it exists today, that is
the Body of Christ, should really be equated with the portable tabernacle rather
than Solomon’s grand permanent structure. Like the tabernacle that was used to
transport the Presence of God throughout the 40-year wilderness wandering, we
too are carrying about His Presence in these physical flesh-and-blood
tabernacles, as we go from century to century. Therefore it can be said that the
Church Age parallels the wilderness journey of the Israelites. Like them, the
promise of the completion of our salvation still lies ahead. We have not yet
entered our promised rest.
When the time
comes to enter in, the “living stones” will be brought together at Jerusalem
(I have no idea how) and assembled. “I will return to Jerusalem with
compassion; My house will be built in it.” (Zech 1:16 and 6:15) There we shall
be spiritually fused together into the finished temple of God, which is what the
permanence and glory of Solomon’s edifice foreshadowed. And the cloud of
God’s shekinah glory will fill this completed temple, just as it did
Solomon’s temple on the Feast of Tabernacles! (2 Chron. 5:3-14). That is when
the prophecy of Haggai will be fulfilled, that “the latter glory of this house
will be greater than the former.” (Hag. 2:9)
These
flesh-and-blood tabernacle stones will be instantly glorified and transfigured
in the “twinkling of an eye.” Jew and Gentile believer alike will become
“One New Man” (Eph. 2:15) in a way that we cannot yet imagine. And the world
will finally see Jesus. This event will also answer the prayer Jesus prayed that
we would “all be one.” (John 17:2) The poles that were used to carry the Ark
will no longer be needed. We will have found our permanent rest in Him, and He
will have found His rest in us. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.”
(Rev. 21:3)
That’s when I
believe the real evangelization and healing ministry of the Church, who will
then become Israel, will start. The real work and battles of Israel didn’t
begin until they got INTO the Promised Land. Disease, sin and rebellion must be
wiped out, and the kingdoms of this world must become the kingdoms of our God.
“For the Lord said to my Lord: Sit at My right hand until I put all your
enemies under your feet.” (Mk 1236; Ps 110:1)
But right now we
are still a corporate work in progress. But even so, the Mosaic blueprint which
was initially needed to point Israel towards Messiah, has been retired. Its role
now at best is as a reference tool to look back and check the validity of New
Covenant truths, both present and yet to come. If our forefathers had done that
more often, many false teachings of the organized church would have been exposed
when it was seen that they did not square up with Old Testament typology.