The Law Part 7 -- The Law and Service

Read Romans 7. The Law of God is designated spiritual. Paul said, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin” (Rom. 7:14 NASB). It could not be otherwise, because it is the very impression of the character of the sovereign God. The moral Law is for both Jews and non-Jews. Furthermore, the moral Law remains for the twenty-first century after Christ no less than the fifteenth century before Christ. The Law, therefore, is the expression of God’s will. A summary of the moral Law is given by Christ in Matthew 22:37-40—“And He said to him [the lawyer who asked the question], YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets” (NASB).

The first table of the Law consists of a life of “worship,” and the second table consists of a life of “service.” This may be simply stated, but it has a profound result—worship must precede service. If the worship is not spiritual, the service cannot be spiritual. Therefore, it is interesting to observe that the first table forbids sin against God in “thought” and in “word.” The second table proceeds in a reverse order; it forbids sin against our neighbor in “deed,” in “word,” and finally in “thought.” Unlike every other code of ethics the world has ever known, the moral law begins and ends with the utter prohibition of evil thoughts. We are conscious of breaking God’s law in this manner. Scripture says out of the heart proceed evil thoughts (Mark 7:21).

When we go from Moses to Jesus Christ, will Christ abolish the Law? Did Christ teach us that we can keep both our sin and our Savior? Did not Christ show the Pharisees and scribes that their concept of the Law did not go deep enough? Murder is shown to extend to a furious thought, and adultery to a lascivious look. It has been said that the Old Testament is the gospel in the bud and the New Testament is the gospel in full flower.

Paul shared in Christ’s victory; therefore, he avoided any reference to himself as a victor, because the victory was Christ’s. One may be humanly energetic without being Divinely energized. Paul said, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God” (II Cor. 2:14-17 NASB). The apostle stated in no uncertain terms that the gospel and those who declare it are well-pleasing to God, whether the message is received or rejected. From start to finish, the aroma in one case is deadly; and in the other, the aroma is from life to life. The Son of God of the gospel, shining on the ones that are ordained to eternal life, gives a holy fragrance. Others who are under the sound of the same message stink more abominably, because they had not been appointed to eternal life. Will any attempt to say it is unjust for God to determine to save some when He would have been just if He had determined to destroy all?

It must be understood that repentance and faith are not the foundation nor the top stone in God’s spiritual building. They both are inseparably connected with election, but they are neither the cause nor the consummation. Grace is the foundation and glory is the consummation. If salvation may not be given as God pleases, then salvation cannot be of God. If all sinners have equal claim upon salvation, then how can God “give” that to which all sinners have equal claim? No sinner has a claim upon salvation because salvation is of God. Why should objectors be so concerned about the honor of Divine justice in regard to Divine election? Is God not showing more regard for fallen mankind than He is for fallen angels? It is a righteous thing with God to execute justice on all who are guilty.

Antinomians have forgotten that the Law was preserved in the ark when the Tabernacle was erected. Inside the ark was the Law; above the Law was the mercy seat sprinkled with blood. Therefore, the blood came between the Holy God and the holy demands of the holy Law. The presence of God was associated with the seat of mercy above rather than with the seat of the Law beneath. The Law had been broken; but mercy, by means of shed blood, prevailed over the broken Law.

Christ did not come to destroy the Law; He came to give full obedience to it. Christ said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill” (Matt. 5:17 NASB). There are many positive statements to the effect that the moral Law is not abrogated. Faith establishes the Law—“Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law” (Rom. 3:31 NASB). The Law is spiritual as well as good, righteous, and holy. “For we know that the Law is spiritual…” (Rom. 7:14 NASB). “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Rom. 7:12 NASB). Paul desired and served the Law. “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man”; “…I myself with my mind am serving the law of God…” (Rom. 7:22, 25 NASB). The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in each believer who works according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:4). The Law is good when it is used lawfully (I Tim. 1:8).

Salvation is not perfect obedience on our part to the perfect Law. That would not be grace. It is not perfect obedience to a modified Law. That would be the destruction of the holy and perfect Law. It is not imperfect obedience to an unmodified Law. That would be salvation by sin. It is not imperfect obedience to an imperfect Law. That would be the destruction of all government and the dishonor of all Law. The demand of the Law is perfection, and the perfection of the Law was fulfilled by the perfect Son of God. Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every true believer (Rom. 10:4). Therefore, the Law can never be changed, because of its nature.

Deliverance from the Law does not mean the believer has nothing more to do with the Law. The Law cannot say “live and obey.” It can do nothing for the sinner but reveal to him his awful condition. On the other hand, grace can say “live and obey.” Thus, in the case of the believer, life and Law are compatible. Distinction must be made between “the Law of Moses” and “the Law of God.” The Law of Moses includes the entire legislative system—judicial and ceremonial. Christ is the “end of this Law” for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom. 10:4). The Law of God is the expression of God’s holy character as Creator. This Law is binding upon all mankind. This Law is spiritual and therefore has no conclusion. Christ could not destroy that which is spiritual, but He put away the elemental things of the world. Therefore, Paul said, “So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world” (Gal. 4:3), carnal ordinances that were imposed upon them until the time of reformation (Heb. 9:10).

Failure to make distinctions can lead to erroneous conclusions. Let us give what could be, to some, a most convincing argument until a real study of the subject is made. This statement is made: “Many Christians fall into the serious mistake of making the moral Law their standard of holy living.” The fact is that the Law never gave man an object outside of himself, but grace does. If I am trying to keep the Law for salvation, it points to self. If I am trying to keep the Law in order to retain salvation, it points to self. Self is the right object in both instances. On the other hand, grace places a new object before the believer. The love produced in believers by the Spirit is the very thing that the Law demanded from us. (See Rom. 5:5; II Cor. 5:14, 15; Gal. 5:14; I John 4:7, 8; I Cor. 13:1-3.) We are not fostering the lawless spirit of the age. No, the very opposite is true. The righteous requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit (Rom. 8:4).

The Law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless (I Tim. 1:9). In itself, the Law is holy, just, and good; but when it is applied to man “in the flesh,” it is like a perfect pump applied to a polluted well. It only manifests what is there. One does not remove the pump from a bad well and place it over a gushing stream of pure water. In regeneration, there is a new well. Now the new man gets from a new well (new service), without the pump of the Law, what he could not get from the old well (old source) by the pump of the Law.

Judicially, the believer is delivered from the curse of the Law, but he is not freed from its moral claims. Which Law did Christ fulfill? Was it that fancied by the Pharisees or the Law intended by God? Paul was in conflict with the Judaistic abuse of the Law, not with the Law itself (Rom. 13:10; Gal. 6:2; Eph. 6:2; I Cor. 9:22; Rom. 7:22). The believer does not try to sail to heaven on the wings of self-righteousness. The Law to him is nothing more than God’s gracious guidance. Duty is a privilege to a Christian. Many say it is not service that they object to, but service regulated by Law. This false concept of service reveals the ignorance of what it is that regulates service. They say it is love that regulates service. However, love is not a rule, but a motive for service. Love does not tell the Christian what to do, but how to do it. Love goes to the Law to learn the Divine will. Having learned it, he seeks to walk in it.