By Nathaniel Burson
You’ve seen a lot of things that show that the law was, in Paul’s own words “holy, just, and good” (Romans 7:12). Yet Paul also plainly said that SOMETHING was done away! If it wasn’t the law, circumcision, the sacrifices, the temple, or the priesthood… what was it? Colossians 2:14.The entire world assumes this means the laws – the laws you’ve seen are ALL derived from “love thy neighbor as thyself”! And thus cannot be abolished without abolishing love for others! So what exactly was “against us”? Is it contrary to us not to lie, steal, or keep idols? Is it wrong for us to be the temple of God? Is it bad for us to love our neighbor? Galatians 3:21. Or is it contrary to us to be cursed for those things we foolishly or ignorantly did in the past!!
Merge this scripture with Galatians 3:13. The only thing in the Law of Moses that was contrary to us is the curse! Which curse? Galatians 3:10. The curse that says “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law”. And where was this curse written? Deuteronomy 29:20-21. And was it against the people? Deuteronomy 31:26. This HANDWRITING of ordinances was a witness against us! It was contrary to us! Why? Isaiah 38:18-19. Because we cannot learn from our sins if we are dead! So Jesus took the curse OUT OF THE WAY. Not the law written with the finger of God (Deuteronomy 9:10)! Not “love your neighbor”! Not the sacrifices of your carnal nature! Jesus took only the CURSE on Himself, nailing only the hand-written CURSE to the tree, removing only that part of the law which prevented us from LEARNING from our mistakes!
But the “holy, just, and good” law (Romans 7:12) was meant to teach us how to treat all beings as we would want to be treated! It exists to show us how to love all men as we love ourselves! (Romans 7:7). Why would a loving God abolish that? He wouldn’t! So Jesus only removed the parts of the law which got in the way of the great goal!
THE GREAT GOAL
What exactly is that goal? 2 Peter 3:18. But that sort of growth requires practice – and practice requires mistakes. A child learning to walk falls down a lot. But what if the “wages of falling” were death? How many of us would be alive now? But God’s goal for us is to be able to stand up, as tall as Christ Himself! Ephesians 4:13-15. Should we be children in understanding? 1 Corinthians 14:20. Children in malice, yes; children in humility, yes (Mark 10:15). But not children in understanding! When we are presented to God, we must behave as grown-ups! Colossians 1:28. How does a child grow up in God’s eyes? Isaiah 7:14-16. You must learn to refuse the evil and choose the good! How do you learn to tell what is good and evil? Hebrews 5:13-14. You must USE your understanding, and PRACTICE your obedience to God!
But doing that means you will make mistakes, just like any child learning to walk for the first time! All of us have a nature within us that “lusteth to envy” (James 4:5), so sin is inevitable – until we learn to walk. The Old Covenant was against us because it didn’t allow for that; a mistake, ANY mistake, for ANY reason, meant a curse! Hebrews 10:28. What exactly were they bound to do – or else? Deuteronomy 27:26. They had to obey all the WORDS of that law. To satisfy that covenant, they had to literally go out back, with a shovel, dig a hole, and bury their dung (Deuteronomy 23:12-14). That’s what the word said – and they had to follow it to the letter, or else be under a curse!
In modern societies we have septic tanks which take the waste out of our house, and hide it out of view underground. This accomplishes the intent of that law, for God, who walks in our house, will not see and smell dung everywhere. So even though we break the letter of that external law, we accomplish the purpose, or the spirit of the law!
SPIRIT IS GREATER THAN THE LETTER
Is it better to be circumcised in the flesh – according to the letter? Or to be circumcised in the heart – according to the spirit, or intent, of the law? Romans 2:27-29. The main point of the New Covenant is that we are delivered from keeping the exact letter of the law, so we can keep the MEANING of the law that God always wanted! (Romans 7:6). We still SERVE the law, but in the newness of spirit – not in the oldness of the letter! Because we have merged four laws scattered around the Bible, we understand “do not plow with oxen and donkeys together” very well. The meaning is clear – God did not want them to be unequally yoked because they would pull each other aside from the “straight and narrow way”. As a symbol for us but also out of compassion for the animals.
But what if we had a very strong donkey and a weak ox, so they pulled about the same? Or what instead of yoking them side-by-side, we hooked up one in front of the other so their strength would add to each other, rather than the strong pulling the weak to the side? In other words, what if we FOUND a way to “equally yoke” these unequal animals? Would it be wrong to plow with them then? Under the OC, people who were bound to “continue in every word” of the law would not have dared do so. But under the NC, we are supposed to be actively searching for the spirit of the law, and not be slaves to the letter. God clearly told us why unequal yoking is bad – so if we can find a way to keep the spirit, there is no reason why we should not break the letter! (Romans 7:6 again).
Was the law bad, contrary to us? Verses 7-8. It’s not the law that was the problem – it was the fact that we had no way to undo our sins under that law! Was the law supposed to bring life? Verses 9-11. Sin used the commandment as an excuse to kill Paul, but it was sin that did it, not the law! Did Paul conclude the law was the problem – or that he was the problem? Verses 12-14. Is the law against the promises of God? Galatians 3:21.
THE WEAKNESS OF LAW
The problem with the law is that selfish humans cannot keep it perfectly. Sooner or later, someone will slip up, and the law only knows one answer – Romans 6:23. You can avoid the curse indefinitely by keeping the law, but you cannot UNDO the curse by keeping the law! The law cannot undo sin! What happens if it is kept? Galatians 3:12. But can the law justify you (forgive your sins)? Romans 3:20. Could the law make those who kept it perfect? Hebrews 7:19. Once sin is committed no amount of perfect obedience to the law can EVER undo a past sin!
What was the weakness in the law? Romans 8:2-3. The weakness was in the fact that those who tried to keep it were ruled by the flesh! (Matthew 26:41). Does God understand that? Psalms 103:13-18. And because of that weakness, sooner or later all men will sin. And when that happens… Ezekiel 33:12. You can avoid murder for a thousand years, kill once, and keep the whole law perfectly for eternity after that – and nothing will EVER change the fact that you DID kill. You DID harm someone. You DID fail to love your neighbor. You can love everyone else perfectly, but that cannot undo the ONE act of sin you did! Keeping the law can never wipe away that sin!
The Old Covenant had sacrifices to wash the flesh, which could undo external sins (Hebrews 9:13), but not the internal sins that caused them! There was no method in the OC to wash the soul from sin! (Hebrews 10:1-4, 11). So the real problem always remained. But the NC, because it is an internal covenant, seeks to change the heart and thus correct the problems at the source! But even the NC law cannot take away sins; because today’s obedience to the internal law will not undo yesterday’s disobedience to that law!
So like the Old Covenant, the New Covenant must have sacrifices; the sacrifices of our carnal nature, and the sacrifice of Jesus’ perfect, sinless life. Why did Jesus come? 1 John 3:3-6. Did He come to do what the law – internal and external both – could not do? Romans 8:3. He redeemed us from the curse of the law – He redeemed us from the death we deserved for our sins! Isaiah 44:22. Thus overcoming the law’s sole weakness – the fact that we were human, and the law was incapable of undoing our inevitable sin! (Hebrews 8:7-10). Is the law spiritual? (Romans 7:14). Contrary to what everyone believes today, the law IS spiritual. It is WE who are not – not yet!
LED BY THE SPIRIT
Read Romans 8:1-9. A lot of the New Testament has phrases like this, and people use them to make excuses for not keeping the law of love. But look at it closely; two different ways of “walking”, or being “led”, are mentioned. What do you walk down? A road, or path. So let’s merge this with whatJesus said in Matthew 7:12-14. Keeping that greatest of all laws, in all four ways, internal, external, positive, and negative – this IS the narrow way! The way that so few find! The Pharisees walked down the path of the flesh; the wide path that leads to destruction, because in practice it always ends in a curse when someone sins!
The Pharisees were only willing to glorify God in the external sense, so Jesus said that our righteousness had to EXCEED theirs! Matthew 5:20. They were willing to wash the outside of the cup – but not the inside (Matthew 23:25-28). At their best, they only kept the external law and ignored the internal laws (verse 23).
In order to exceed their righteousness, we have to keep the external AND internal laws! That’s the narrower path! God dwells both IN us and AMONG us, in our fellow Christians! So it’s important that our cups are clean inside and out! Glorifying God in our flesh AND in our spirits!The law is spiritual, according to Paul himself! But only if you obey it IN YOUR SPIRIT, and not merely in your flesh! (1 Corinthians 6:20). But that’s difficult because Paul said HE was carnal; because within him, in his flesh, dwelt no good thing! (Romans 7:18).
The funny thing is, Paul was unequally yoked with an unbeliever! Not married to a pagan woman, but his spiritual soul was married to a selfish nature! Paul’s mind loved the law of God, but he was forced to share his body with a nature that was fundamentally opposed to the law of God! (Romans 7:14-25). In his flesh was a selfish nature that was warring against the law of the spirit, constantly tugging him aside into the broad path. What did he tell us to do? Galatians 5:16-17. What do those who are led by the flesh do? Galatians 5:18-21. Will people who break those laws inherit the kingdom of God? Verse 21. Our carnal nature lusts and envies and leads us to break those laws. If we give in to it, we are following the flesh! Paul’s flesh, like yours and mine, served the law of sin. The law of self, of taking, of ME-ME-ME. That’s all our “beast” knows how to do
But Paul said he RULED his body (1 Corinthians 9:27). He commanded us to flee from those lusts (2 Timothy 2:22), and rule our flesh as he did! In Galatians 5:16-17 he commanded us to CHOOSE to walk down the narrow road, the road of the SPIRIT, and not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh! Because only IF you walk down that road, only IF you keep the whole law, only if you are LED by the spirit and do your absolute BEST to love your neighbor – only THEN will you be free from the curse of the law!
Was the law made for a righteous man? 1 Timothy 1:9-10. Does a man who drives safely need to be given a speed limit? No! The sign is there for those who do not control their impatience and risk harm to others! Those who are led by the impatience of the flesh, and not by the love of their neighbor that comes from the spirit!
But if that same righteous man suddenly begins to drive recklessly, does that mean the law does not apply to him? Of course it applies to him! Because he is no longer a righteous man, but a sinner! And now under the curse of the law! What happens if you do this? Romans 8:13. If you let the flesh win, you will die. You must be led by the spirit to live, and kill a piece of the carnal nature every day, offering up a sacrifice of a humbled spirit to cleanse your temple of sin!
WHY KEEP THE LAW?
Some will say “if Jesus abolished the curse, why keep the law?” If you are still asking this question, you’ve missed the point of all these lessons, and indeed, the point of the Bible. It is GOOD to love your neighbor more than you love yourself! Why would you want to stop doing that?? Do you love God? 1 John 5:2. Are His commandments a heavy burden for you to bear? Verse 3. It is GOOD to love God with all your heart, mind, and strength! How is our love made perfect? 1 John 4:17-21. The laws – and by that, I mean every law, every ritual, every idea in the Bible – are put here to help us perfect our love!
Read Galatians 3:23-24. Does the fact your grandparents went to first grade mean YOU don’t have to go to first grade? Did the fact that THEY graduated high school mean that you can go to college without a diploma? No! We ALL must go through a schoolmaster to come to Christ. Just to be clear, that doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice animals, nail the Ten Commandments above our doors, or go outside our house to use the bathroom. The letter of those laws has been replaced by the intent of the laws, and the location of all these laws has moved from the outside to the inside. It DOES mean we should crucify our flesh, with the lusts thereof, daily; it DOES mean we should write the Ten Commandments on our hearts, so we always know how to show love for our neighbor; it DOES mean we should keep unclean things out of our house!
The schoolmaster exists because selfish people NEED laws written on stone, to see clearly how to show love for their neighbors! The old law showed us the external way to love our neighbor so that we could learn to love them internally, in the spirit, just as Christ loved us! God knows that loving our neighbor is a lot to ask from a selfish human! And He expects us to fail – even to fail often. But just like a child learning to walk, God expects to see regular improvement from us!
Does our grace nullify the law of God? Romans 6:1-2, 14-15. We don’t abolish the law by grace – God forbid! Because if grace gives us permission to sin freely, what would that make Christ? Galatians 2:17. If Christ’s death is used as an excuse to hurt others without fear of the curse, then that would mean Christ is a minister of sin – and surely nothing is further from the truth! Does our faith nullify the law of God? Romans 3:31. We don’t abolish the law by faith in Christ, we ESTABLISH the law through our faith! We make it HONORABLE! By keeping it in the spirit, we prove to the world the law really IS holy, just, and good, just like the Being who gave it to us! Read John 15:8-14. The world has this all backwards! Jesus didn’t die so that we can BREAK the law! He died so we can LEARN TO KEEP the law! Jesus abolished the curse so we can make mistakes while learning to love our neighbor as He loved us!
He died so you and I could learn about the “perfect law of liberty” in a covenant made out of love, not fear! (James 1:22-25). He died so we could learn how to love our neighbor the right way, not out of obligation to a covenant, but out of desire for their good! Who in the universe would want that abolished? Not you, I hope?
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Jesus said He came to fulfill the law. Most people assume He meant that, once fulfilled – by His death – the law no longer had any significance. Again, I cannot say often enough that all laws are derived from love for God and man, and the idea of “fulfilling” that love so that it never has to be shown again is absurd. But what exactly does it mean? When the year is fulfilled, it has come to the end and a new year begins. When a laundry cycle is fulfilled, the clothes are washed, rinsed, spun, and the machine stops –ready to go again. So, what can it mean to fulfill the law?
We know that the law produces life, IF a man obeys it (1Timothy 1:8). But in the real world, we also know that eventually, all men will sin at least once. So, while in the ideal sense, the law produces life, in the real world, what does the law produce? Romans 4:15. How did the law affect Paul? Romans 7:9-11
That is the natural cycle of the law: life, sin, wrath, death. What is the fruit of the law? Romans 7:5. What does the law deliver when it is finished? James 1:15. So when the law is finished, or fulfilled, the end is death! That is why Paul called the Old Covenant the “ministration of death” (2 Corinthians 3:7). The best it could do, in the end, always brought death to those who were bound to the covenant! Because sooner or later, the Old Covenant always ended in a curse! But the New Covenant has A BETTER end to the law! (Romans 10:4). Jesus followed through with the old law, all the way to death! Even though He had not sinned, He FULFILLED the wrath of the law and tasted death FOR EVERY MAN (Hebrews 2:9), so that He could make us FREE from the law of death (Romans 8:2)!
He made peace with the law for us, by taking away the enmity, the anger the law had for us – by bearing that curse Himself! Ephesians 2:14-16. See how these concepts merge and harmonize? The end of the law is death, so to complete the law and fulfill its awful cycle Jesus had to take the curse upon Himself even though He didn’t deserve it! By thus fulfilling the cycle of the law when He didn’t have to, He was able to take the curse out of the way so that we can be free! …But free to do what? Free to hate our brother? Free to dishonor God? Free to commit adultery, free to worship idols? Free to marry unbelievers or unequally yoke our animals together? Free to forget about sacrificing our beast daily? Free to defile God’s holy temple? Free to leave our hearts uncircumcised? Or free from fear of death for an honest mistake? Hebrews 2:14-15.
That was the true bondage! And that’s why Jesus came – to show us the truth, THIS truth, and promised that it would set us free! (John 8:32-34). The Jews were indeed in bondage – but not because God gave them laws requiring them to treat men as they would want to be treated!
The Jews were not in bondage to the law, but to the SIN the law warned them about (Romans 7:23), and the curse that came from it! They were in bondage because they were held hostage to the law BY FEAR OF THE CURSE! (Romans 8:15). In the NC, do we still have that fear? Galatians 5:1. Is ours a covenant of fear, or hope? Romans 8:24-25. What did Jesus do with that captivity they were under? Ephesians 4:8. We keep all the same laws as they did, and we keep them spiritually, in the way God always wanted them kept – but we do so out of love for our fellow man and hope for the future, not out of fear of the curse! THAT is the New Covenant!
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