The Law of God

There is great confusion on this subject at the present time. To be completely clear, there are 5 points which should grasp.

• By "the law" we mean God's expressed will.
  • The word "law" is used in many senses - of the old testament or part of it (Rom 3 vs 19, Matt 5 vs 17) - of the Pentateuch (Luke 24 vs 44) - of the laws that came through Moses (Rom 5 vs 13) - or the whole Scripture (James 2 vs 8). "The law", then, is used to define those demands which God makes upon us (Rom 3 vs 20, Gal 3 vs 13).
    - The law springs from God's right to command His creatures (Gen 2 vs 16). It is holy, just, good, spiritual and royal. (Rom 7 vs 12,14, James 2 vs 8)
  • The Ten Commandments are a comprehensive summary of the law, telling us what is our duty to God and to our fellow men (Ex 20 vs 1-17). These were further summarised by our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 22 vs 34-40).
• The law is meant to be kept - but we can't do it.
  • God requires that we should keep the whole of His law perfectly (James 2 vs 10-11, Gal 3 vs 10), with the heart as well as outwardly (Matt 5 vs 27-28)
  • This we cannot do. It is impossible to fallen men and women (Rom 8 vs 7). We have all transgressed the law, and stand guilty before God (Rom 3 vs 9, 19)
• The law does not bring life, but condemns us to death.
  • All who are not perfectly obedient to the law are under God's curse (Gal 3 vs 10), and are condemned to death (Rom 7 vs 10, 2 Cor 3 vs 6).
  • The fault does not lie in the law, but in our sinful natures which cannot, and do not, keep it (Rom 7 vs 10-13). It shows us our sin (Rom 3 vs 19-20) but has no power to give us eternal life (Gal 3 vs 21).
  • Nobody, then, can be justified by the law (Rom 3 vs 20-22, 28, Gal 2 vs 16, 3 vs 11).
• The law shows us our need of Christ - and He delivers us from law-keeping as the way to be saved
  • The law brings us to recognise our sin (Rom 3 vs 20), and shows us how crooked we are (Rom 7 vs 7).
  • We see that, left to ourselves, we can never earn our way into God's favour. So we start looking outside of ourselves for a righteousness which will commend us to Him (Rom 3 vs 10-28, Phil 3 vs 8-9).
  • We are then glad to hear that the penalty we deserve for breaking the law has fallen on Another (Gal 3 vs 13).
  • Coming to Christ means the end of struggling to get right with God by keeping the His law (Rom 19 vs 1-4).
• The law of God is the rule of life for the Christian believer
  • We are not saved by law keeping. But right is still right. The law is written on every believer's heart (Heb 8 vs 10, Jerem 31 vs 31-34), and he does not find it burdensome (1 John 5 vs 3), but his inexpressible delight (Rom 7 vs 22).
  • The Christian sees that the law is good, and that it is directed against everything which contradicts the wholesome teaching of the Gospel (1 Tim 1 vs 8-11).
  • Sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3 vs 4) and the Christian has been saved so that he will not sin (Rom 6 vs 11-23). Because he loves God, he seeks to keep His commandments (1 John 5 vs 1-3). Law keeping is thus one of the marks of a genuine Christian.