The Law of Christ March 16, 2012
Posted by Henry in Matters of the Faith.Tags: faith, favor, grace, Jesus Christ, law, Love, righteousness, salvation, truth
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One of the things I have come to realise when engaging with other Christians is that they sometimes do not know with absolute certainty whether we are to follow or observe everything that the Bible teaches or not. If you are unsure about this matter then chances are you are also unsure about the Gospel.
All scriptures are profitable for doctrine and for reproof but likewise all scriptures should be read and taken in context. The truth is that one can take the very words of the Bible and deceive you with it and this is because not everything in it is required of the Christian to observe. For example, under the Mosaic Law an eye for an eye was endorsed. Should we as Christians today practice recompensing evil for evil? Absolutely not! But we look instead at what Christ says – He says for example, “love your enemies”; “do good to them that hate you”; bless them that persecute you and despitefully use you”; and so forth. So it is clear that we are not required to follow all that the Bible teaches otherwise we would be in confusion. Some teachers however, when they are teaching on a particular subject, like to place their words under the banner of, “The Bible Teaches” to give weight to their claims. As a result they are able to weave together teachings from both the Old and New Testaments (Covenants) under the same heading but this can result in deception if one is not careful. So then if we are not required to follow everything the Bible taught does this mean that God has changed, though scripture declares He changes not? No, but rather God purposed to change the law which He first instituted in Israel (Jer 31:31-33, Heb 8:8-11). The law was merely a shadow of what God had before ordained even from the beginning of time.
Today, and since the days of the early church, God’s law is no longer written upon tablets of stones but rather it is now written upon a believer’s heart. We must understand the point that the previous covenant was made with Israel alone and therefore those who were outside of the commonwealth of Israel could not benefit from it. God changed the law however so that we who were outside, cut off without a hope, can now be engrafted with Israel to inherit salvation (Rom 11:17). This is the reason why the law has changed and the Levitical priesthood made defunct. Christ’s priesthood now replaces the old priesthood and consequently the change in the priesthood necessitated a change in the law (Heb 7:12). So what is this new law in Christ? Here it is in black and white:
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. (Joh 13:34) KJV
Can it really be that simple? If you are still not convinced have a look at the following verses:
The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself. (Gal 5:14, also Matt 7:12) NIV
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Rom 13:10, also Jam 2:8) NIV
By the grace of God we have been set free through faith in Christ Jesus (Rom 3:20-24). We do not need to attempt to observe a single work of the law – not tithing, not first fruit giving, no sacrifices, offerings, circumcision, feast days, holy days – none of them. To attempt to do so is to fall from grace (Gal 5:4). Friends, know the truth and the truth shall set you free (Joh 8:32).
Spirit of Discernment 
Mark 12:30-31 is a favorite of mine because it is delineated into two new commandments. Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor.
You are so right. Love is the key. If we do that we will please God and do His will. It really is that simple and we know his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
An interesting factoid. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, then you are abiding by 1-5 of the ten commandments. If you love your neighbor as yourself then you abide by the last 5. How cool is that? Through Love we fulfill the law without needing an interpretor of the law.
Hopeful_watcher,
Haven’t seen you in awhile. How have you been?
Indeed love fulfills the Law of Christ. No more do we need to follow the letter of the law as some teach in error.
Hey Henry, I am doing well. I hope blessings are finding you these days. I kind of do things in spurts so I haven’t been around the blog roll in a while. I have been pretty busy of late with work and writing, which I believe God is calling me to do. It is a fictional story that appeals to secular readers, but has a positive message about faith in God and His coming glory… How sneaky of me 🙂 It has been frustrating me though, because writing is a weakness of mine. I struggled through writing classes in school. I keep asking Him for strength and guidance. Some days are easier than others. God likes to break us out of our comfort zones for some reason. I guess its so we realize that He is the Lord our God and it wasn’t us. Humble pie doesn’t taste so good.
Peace to you. I’ll be around from time to time. Your blog is a blessing.
BTW, I have been considering changing my tag name to Hopeful_Warrior. It’s getting close these days, where watchers need to be courageous.
Hopeful_watcher,
The Lord has been merciful in spite of the challenges of these days so we thank God. I hope the Lord is blessing you also. In truth we live in serious times when more and more false doctrines are entering into the church – Christ will not come till there be a falling await from the true faith first. So by whatever means we have we should by all means attempt to communicate the gospel to the lost. If the Lord has inspired you to write the book then rest assured that He will see it through though it may appear challenging at first.
God bless.