Last week I discussed the dangers involved with believing that you can somehow earn your own salvation. No man can be justified before God on the basis of their own goodness, and neither will any man be saved by strict adherence to God’s Law. Such efforts will always come short of the absolute holiness of God, and they leave man in their hopeless estate. But to say that we cannot be saved by keeping the Law is not the same thing as saying there is no law left for us to obey. To conclude that there is no law that pertains to believers is an overreaction – And it is the old heresy of Antinomianism that must be debunked in every age.
What we need to understand at the outset is that the Law stems from the character and nature of God Himself. “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.” (Ps. 119:142 – KJV) In setting forth righteous standards, the Law reveals to us the true and good nature of God, and God intended for this portrait to endure through all generations. But many have argued, “Didn’t Jesus do away with the Law?” “And didn’t Paul say it was abolished?” “Shouldn’t we then disregard it?” Well, one key text that such people often point to is Rom. 10:4 that says – “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” (KJV) But, give me a little space to explain what this verse is really saying.
First of all, Jesus Himself clearly didn’t teach that the Law would be done away with. In Matt. 5:17-18 Jesus says – “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” And the Apostle Paul also did not believe that the Law was made null and void. Paul wrote a few chapters earlier in Rom. 3:31 – “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” (KJV) So to argue that Paul is now saying the Law has “ended” would mean he was contradicting not only Christ, but also himself. Clearly that was not what Paul was doing. What he was truly communicating is that there is no other hope for “righteousness” other than through Jesus. In essence, he was saying, “Put an end to hoping you can be made righteous by keeping the Law – You can only be made righteous through faith in Christ.” What needs to be done away with is the notion that you can be saved through the Law, but we should never try to do away with the Law altogether.
Now, some people might still try to argue, and say something like: “So are we still not allowed to eat pork, and must we be circumcised? Because those are clearly detailed in the Law – Along with hundreds of other things!” But their reasoning stems from a misunderstanding of what is meant by the Law. It is helpful to think of the various laws in the Bible under three main categories. There are the Moral Laws (these are summed up well by the 10 Commandments), there are the Ceremonial Laws (these are laws specific to Israel’s worship, sacrifices, and cleansing; they distinguished them from their pagan neighbors, and they foreshadowed Christ’s greater ministry), and lastly, there are Judicial or Civil Laws (these were meant for the governance of the actual nation-state of Israel). The Judicial Laws clearly don’t apply to people outside of ancient Israel, and the Ceremonial Laws that foreshadowed Christ were all fulfilled by Him and are no longer necessary because He takes their place.
But the Moral Law remains unchanged because God Himself remains unchanged. His holy standards do not vary in any age, and the man who desires to know how to honor Him will pay close attention to them because there is no other way to do so. That Moral Law is not just some Old Testament concept, but it is repeated in the New Testament for us to observe. Notice how many of the 10 Commandments Paul lists in Rom. 13:8-10 – “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (KJV) Clearly we are expected to “fulfill” that Moral Law.
Volumes could be written on this subject, but suffice it to say, to claim that there is no law left for the believer to follow is either ignorant or arrogant. Salvation by grace alone does not mean we are left alone. God has left us His Moral Law to convict, to guide, and to instruct us. We can’t be saved by keeping it, but no saved person neglects it. Any interpretation that does away with God’s holy and Moral Law is absolute heresy.
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