Hi all,
Last week I shared the scripture that 'the law was not made for a righteous person'. The rest of that verse is:'but for the ungodly sinners, lawless and disobedient...'
I shared that the purpose of the law according to Romans 3:19 is that God gave the law to show mankind we were sinners. Paul explained that he would not know coveting except the law says 'you shall not covet'. Paul's point in Romans 7 is that the law is good because it defines sin for us - which means it wasn't made for the righteous, but for sinners to show them what sin is. He wrote the Galatians saying that if God could have given a law that would have given eternal life, then righteousness would have come by the law.
We pick it up from there
In James 2:10 he said "If you live by the law and break just 1 law, you are guilty of breaking all of it." To the Jew, if you broke 1 of the 613 laws, you still had to go and make a sacrifice no matter how tiny the infraction. Guilt is guilt, whether for picking up firewood on the sabbath, or murder. You break 1 you have broken them all.
Anyone who has lived under some form of 'the law' or legalism can relate to that statement. Whether you had a very strict parent who expected you to perform perfectly, or a church where you were expected to 'perform' but received guilt and condemnation, you know legalism. The characteristic of legalism is that it never sees the good you are doing, it only sees what you did wrong. Last week I shared how my dad jerked me out of sleep at 11pm (23:00) to make me empty the trash, but he didn't see that I had done my homework, cleaned my room, fed the dog, and helped my brother fix a toy. He only saw that I violated that 1 'law' so I was guilty of all. I wasn't a perfect son.
A pastor may ignore your giving, volunteering, the fact you are a good person trying to live a holy life as best as you can, to only see you weren't there at the Wednesday night service and condemn you for lack of attendance. That is living under the law. If you break 1 rule, you are guilty of everything. Nothing good is acknowledged, the focus is on what you did wrong according to that law - of your parents, of your church.
The law is only good to show us that we sinned. In Galatians 3:11-12 Paul says the law only condemns a person, therefore 'the law is not of faith'. This is why you can't be strong in faith, have the peace of God and feel close to Him while living a legalistic Christian life. Living by a legalistic external structure isn't faith. Faith flows from the spirit within.
Paul continues to write in Galatians 3 that the law then has acted as a teacher, a tutor, to bring us along, showing us we can never be perfect, pointing us to perfection found in Christ. When a student takes tests, the goal is 100%. But at some point between kindergarten and graduation as a teen or early 20's, a score of less then 100% will be what is achieved. Whether that be by testing, attendance, behavior, failure in some form or fashion will happen while being tutored. That in the NT is called 'the curse of the law'. You sin, you're guilty and you can't get away from it. You are trapped. It's a curse to live like that, never perfect, the good never seen or acknowledged, the test 'marked up' by the tutor.
Galatians 3:13:Because no one is perfect, and Jesus was the first man to live perfectly, He is worthy and able to do away with the penalty of failing the law - the curse being the penalty for disobedience. So if you have Christ you have the remedy. The law wasn't made for the righteous.
In v24-26 Paul writes the law is therefore a tutor, but after faith in Christ has come we are no longer under the tutor, because we have been made God's own children. In modern terms we might say a child is in school learning the trade of his father, but when he graduates he is welcomed into the family business, leaving this schooling behind but using lessons learned while under the authority of the tutor. The law showed us how we need Jesus, but once we have Jesus we don't need the law to show us the way - we have Him!
Christians going back under the law
In Acts 15 when the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem met to consider Paul's claims that God was pouring out His Spirit on Gentiles even though they were not obeying the Mosaic law, they considered whether they should require them to become 'messianic believers' - obeying the law of Moses. Peter strongly objected to that stating in v10:"Why would you test God by putting a yoke upon them which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear?" He also reminded them God Himself poured out His Spirit on the Roman household of Cornelius in Acts 10. Why would they fight against God?
Why test God by putting a yoke on their necks which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear? Are you Christian living under legalism? You can't bear it and you test God's patience for He provided His son as the remedy for external law, which changed our very nature so that we want to walk with God in obedience. Obedience moved to living from the inside out instead of obeying from the outside in.
In Galatians 3:1 Paul calls those in Galatia who having started in the Spirit by faith in Christ, turned back to the Mosaic law 'foolish' and that they had been 'bewitched' (manipulated) by those who brought them back under the Mosaic law. Paul asks in v5:When God does miracles among you, does He do it by the hearing of the law, or by faith and the Spirit?
Paul's great revelation, confirmed by God doing amazing miracles in his ministry which was discussed in Acts 15, was that Christ fulfilled the law. The debate of Acts 15 however, has been revived and debated ever since:To what degree if any should a Christian live by the Law? How does a Christian balance law and grace? The short answer is the law is no longer our tutor, grace is.
How to do that and walking in that freedom, balancing the law and grace, is next week. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
Last week I shared the scripture that 'the law was not made for a righteous person'. The rest of that verse is:'but for the ungodly sinners, lawless and disobedient...'
I shared that the purpose of the law according to Romans 3:19 is that God gave the law to show mankind we were sinners. Paul explained that he would not know coveting except the law says 'you shall not covet'. Paul's point in Romans 7 is that the law is good because it defines sin for us - which means it wasn't made for the righteous, but for sinners to show them what sin is. He wrote the Galatians saying that if God could have given a law that would have given eternal life, then righteousness would have come by the law.
We pick it up from there
In James 2:10 he said "If you live by the law and break just 1 law, you are guilty of breaking all of it." To the Jew, if you broke 1 of the 613 laws, you still had to go and make a sacrifice no matter how tiny the infraction. Guilt is guilt, whether for picking up firewood on the sabbath, or murder. You break 1 you have broken them all.
Anyone who has lived under some form of 'the law' or legalism can relate to that statement. Whether you had a very strict parent who expected you to perform perfectly, or a church where you were expected to 'perform' but received guilt and condemnation, you know legalism. The characteristic of legalism is that it never sees the good you are doing, it only sees what you did wrong. Last week I shared how my dad jerked me out of sleep at 11pm (23:00) to make me empty the trash, but he didn't see that I had done my homework, cleaned my room, fed the dog, and helped my brother fix a toy. He only saw that I violated that 1 'law' so I was guilty of all. I wasn't a perfect son.
A pastor may ignore your giving, volunteering, the fact you are a good person trying to live a holy life as best as you can, to only see you weren't there at the Wednesday night service and condemn you for lack of attendance. That is living under the law. If you break 1 rule, you are guilty of everything. Nothing good is acknowledged, the focus is on what you did wrong according to that law - of your parents, of your church.
The law is only good to show us that we sinned. In Galatians 3:11-12 Paul says the law only condemns a person, therefore 'the law is not of faith'. This is why you can't be strong in faith, have the peace of God and feel close to Him while living a legalistic Christian life. Living by a legalistic external structure isn't faith. Faith flows from the spirit within.
Paul continues to write in Galatians 3 that the law then has acted as a teacher, a tutor, to bring us along, showing us we can never be perfect, pointing us to perfection found in Christ. When a student takes tests, the goal is 100%. But at some point between kindergarten and graduation as a teen or early 20's, a score of less then 100% will be what is achieved. Whether that be by testing, attendance, behavior, failure in some form or fashion will happen while being tutored. That in the NT is called 'the curse of the law'. You sin, you're guilty and you can't get away from it. You are trapped. It's a curse to live like that, never perfect, the good never seen or acknowledged, the test 'marked up' by the tutor.
Galatians 3:13:Because no one is perfect, and Jesus was the first man to live perfectly, He is worthy and able to do away with the penalty of failing the law - the curse being the penalty for disobedience. So if you have Christ you have the remedy. The law wasn't made for the righteous.
In v24-26 Paul writes the law is therefore a tutor, but after faith in Christ has come we are no longer under the tutor, because we have been made God's own children. In modern terms we might say a child is in school learning the trade of his father, but when he graduates he is welcomed into the family business, leaving this schooling behind but using lessons learned while under the authority of the tutor. The law showed us how we need Jesus, but once we have Jesus we don't need the law to show us the way - we have Him!
Christians going back under the law
In Acts 15 when the apostles and leaders in Jerusalem met to consider Paul's claims that God was pouring out His Spirit on Gentiles even though they were not obeying the Mosaic law, they considered whether they should require them to become 'messianic believers' - obeying the law of Moses. Peter strongly objected to that stating in v10:"Why would you test God by putting a yoke upon them which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear?" He also reminded them God Himself poured out His Spirit on the Roman household of Cornelius in Acts 10. Why would they fight against God?
Why test God by putting a yoke on their necks which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear? Are you Christian living under legalism? You can't bear it and you test God's patience for He provided His son as the remedy for external law, which changed our very nature so that we want to walk with God in obedience. Obedience moved to living from the inside out instead of obeying from the outside in.
In Galatians 3:1 Paul calls those in Galatia who having started in the Spirit by faith in Christ, turned back to the Mosaic law 'foolish' and that they had been 'bewitched' (manipulated) by those who brought them back under the Mosaic law. Paul asks in v5:When God does miracles among you, does He do it by the hearing of the law, or by faith and the Spirit?
Paul's great revelation, confirmed by God doing amazing miracles in his ministry which was discussed in Acts 15, was that Christ fulfilled the law. The debate of Acts 15 however, has been revived and debated ever since:To what degree if any should a Christian live by the Law? How does a Christian balance law and grace? The short answer is the law is no longer our tutor, grace is.
How to do that and walking in that freedom, balancing the law and grace, is next week. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
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