The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Romans 7:6,
"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code."
There always seems to be confusion over the issue of law-keeping by Christians. We find the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:3-17. As those laws that were set apart by being inscribed by God himself in stone and kept in the ark, the discussion normally surrounds these. Various denominations teach different things on the issue and there is much disagreement.
Some teach we are to keep the law but with some "fudging". Notably, and that by the Seventh Day Adventists and others, the fourth of the ten, keeping the Sabbath, is a source of contention. While everyone pretty much agrees with the importance of keeping the laws on murder, theft, lying, idolatry, etc. Some like to think they are observing the Sabbath by substituting the first day of the week for the seventh and then keeping it in a way the law never envisioned. Although I disagree with the Seventh Day Adventists, I nevertheless find them more honest and consistent than many of the others.
Lip service is usually paid to the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me" and then is almost universally ignored by everyone. Of course, here is the ugly truth of the matter: I don't know about you, but while I may not be a murderer, I find I am unable to keep the law as a whole anyway. As James says, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." James 2:10. As I see how Jesus Christ explained the law in the sermon on the mount, there is no way I keep the law. If my acceptance by God and if any love and mercy I receive from him is based on my performance relative to the law, I am toast!
Surprisingly, the Scriptures are not silent on law-keeping for those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith. I say "surprisingly" because the Scriptures are clear on it where we seem to be befuddled. As an issue for those who preached the gospel from the beginnings of the church, especially Paul, whose mission was to those who were Gentiles and not familiar with the Jewish law given by God to Moses, it had to be dealt with it. Very simply, Paul says, "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." Galatians 3:25. For those today who wish to argue with Paul, they have created a delicate distinction in the law by categorizing some of it as "ceremonial" and some as "moral". That way, when Paul tells us things like, "you are not under law, but under grace", Romans 6:14, they can still keep the "moral" law and feel good about it.
A struggle for them, however, is found in this passage of Romans 7:6. When Paul says, "we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code", he makes clear what he his talking about by using the tenth of the Ten Commandments as his example. So, if we are not "under the law" as believers, what was the purpose for God giving it in the first place? Going back to Galatians 3, we read, "the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." Verses 24 and 25. All are under the law to show us we need the Savior, because none of us will ever be able to keep the law. We embrace the Savior, Jesus Christ in faith if we wish to be saved from God's judgment. Here is where our righteous standing with God comes. As members of God's family, we no longer need to be shown we need salvation and now, as Paul says, we serve in the "new way" of the Spirit and not in the "old way" of the law, the "written code".
Does this mean we can do anything we want, since we are not under the law? Precisely! And in that freedom we manifest whether we belong to God or not by the things we think, do and say. John wrote his first letter focused on just this very thing. If we belong to God, we are led by the Holy Spirit who dwells within and reflects his presence in our lives. "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:6-7.
I might add, John does mention there may be times when we fail ourselves, God and others. At those times he says, "if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:2. How thankful I am to hear those words!
Unlike those who feel they need to maintain God's love and acceptance for themselves through their performance relative to the law, I can only say how grateful I am that God has expressed his lavish grace to me by freely giving me my right standing with him through my trust and faith in his Son. God's love for me and his acceptance of me is not based on my performance but on the horrific suffering of his Son to pay the price for my sins for me.
How wonderful is that ?!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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