The Law & The Christian's Relationship To It
by William MacDonald
The law was given to the nation of Israel (Ex. 20:2), but while the law
was not given to the Gentiles (Rom. 2:14a), they have the works of the
law written in their hearts (Rom. 2:14, 15). Each will be judged on that
basis (Rom. 2:12). In giving the law to Israel, God used that nation as
a sample of the human race. Israel´s failure proved the failure of the
race (Rom. 3:19).
The law is holy, just, good, and spiritual (Rom. 7:7, 12, 14, 16; 1 Tim. 1:8). But it had bad raw materials to work with (Rom. 7:7-9). It was weak through the flesh (Rom. 8:3). It made nothing perfect (Heb. 7:19).
The essence of the law is love to God and love to one’s neighbor (Matt. 7:12; Matt. 22:36-40; Rom. 13:8, 10; Gal. 5:14).
The law’s purpose is to produce conviction of sin (Rom. 3:20; Matt. 19:16-22; Lk. 10:25; Rom. 4:15; 5:20; Rom. 7:7; 1 Cor. 15:56; Gal. 3:19; 1 Tim.1:8, 9). It is good if it is used for this purpose.
Sin is not imputed (as transgression) where there is no law (Rom. 5:13).
There is not virtue in hearing the law; it demands obedience (Rom. 2:13).
The penalty for breaking the law is death (Gal. 3:10). It is impossible to be under the law without being under the curse (Gal. 3:10). The law demands perfect and complete obedience (Gal. 3:10; 5:3; James 2:10, 11). To break one law is to break all.
The law told men what to do but didn’t give them power to do it. It had the effect of stirring up dormant desires and appetites in man (Rom. 7:9, 10).
The law was not God’s ultimate program. It was added till the seed should come (Gal. 3:19). It was our schoolmaster until the coming of Christ (Gal. 3:24).
Christ did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17). He kept it perfectly in His life and paid its awful penalty in His death. He said that not one jot or tittle would pass from the law till all be fulfilled (Matt. 5:18). For the believer, the law was fulfilled in the work of Christ at Calvary.
There is no justification by the law (Acts 13:39; Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16, 21; 3:11). It was never God´s intention that anyone be saved by the law. Even if a person could keep it perfectly from this day forward, he still would not be justified because God requires that which is past.
The Spirit is not received by law-keeping (Gal. 3:2).
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13; 4:4, 5).
The believer is dead to the law by the body of Christ (Rom. 7:4, 6; Gal. 2:19). Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe (Rom. 10:4). Now that Christ is come, we are no longer under law (Gal. 3:25). Those who are led by the Spirit are not under law (Gal. 5:18). The law is done away for the believer (2 Cor. 3:7-11).
The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk after the Spirit (Rom. 8:4).
While the believer is not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14, 15), he is not lawless. Rather he is inlawed to Christ (1 Cor. 9:21).
The gospel does not make void the law; it establishes the law (Rom. 3:31). The penalty which the law demands has been paid by the Lord Jesus. “Stern justice can demand no more, and mercy can dispense her store.”
The law itself is not dead. It never has been repealed.
Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament, but they are not repeated as law, with penalty attached, but as instruction in righteousness for the people of God. Consider the following:
Commandment
1. Thou shalt have no other God before me.
The law is holy, just, good, and spiritual (Rom. 7:7, 12, 14, 16; 1 Tim. 1:8). But it had bad raw materials to work with (Rom. 7:7-9). It was weak through the flesh (Rom. 8:3). It made nothing perfect (Heb. 7:19).
The essence of the law is love to God and love to one’s neighbor (Matt. 7:12; Matt. 22:36-40; Rom. 13:8, 10; Gal. 5:14).
The law’s purpose is to produce conviction of sin (Rom. 3:20; Matt. 19:16-22; Lk. 10:25; Rom. 4:15; 5:20; Rom. 7:7; 1 Cor. 15:56; Gal. 3:19; 1 Tim.1:8, 9). It is good if it is used for this purpose.
Sin is not imputed (as transgression) where there is no law (Rom. 5:13).
There is not virtue in hearing the law; it demands obedience (Rom. 2:13).
The penalty for breaking the law is death (Gal. 3:10). It is impossible to be under the law without being under the curse (Gal. 3:10). The law demands perfect and complete obedience (Gal. 3:10; 5:3; James 2:10, 11). To break one law is to break all.
The law told men what to do but didn’t give them power to do it. It had the effect of stirring up dormant desires and appetites in man (Rom. 7:9, 10).
The law was not God’s ultimate program. It was added till the seed should come (Gal. 3:19). It was our schoolmaster until the coming of Christ (Gal. 3:24).
Christ did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17). He kept it perfectly in His life and paid its awful penalty in His death. He said that not one jot or tittle would pass from the law till all be fulfilled (Matt. 5:18). For the believer, the law was fulfilled in the work of Christ at Calvary.
There is no justification by the law (Acts 13:39; Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16, 21; 3:11). It was never God´s intention that anyone be saved by the law. Even if a person could keep it perfectly from this day forward, he still would not be justified because God requires that which is past.
The Spirit is not received by law-keeping (Gal. 3:2).
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13; 4:4, 5).
The believer is dead to the law by the body of Christ (Rom. 7:4, 6; Gal. 2:19). Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe (Rom. 10:4). Now that Christ is come, we are no longer under law (Gal. 3:25). Those who are led by the Spirit are not under law (Gal. 5:18). The law is done away for the believer (2 Cor. 3:7-11).
The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk after the Spirit (Rom. 8:4).
While the believer is not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14, 15), he is not lawless. Rather he is inlawed to Christ (1 Cor. 9:21).
The gospel does not make void the law; it establishes the law (Rom. 3:31). The penalty which the law demands has been paid by the Lord Jesus. “Stern justice can demand no more, and mercy can dispense her store.”
The law itself is not dead. It never has been repealed.
Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament, but they are not repeated as law, with penalty attached, but as instruction in righteousness for the people of God. Consider the following:
Commandment
1. Thou shalt have no other God before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, etc.
3. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord, thy God, in vain.
4. Honor thy father and thy mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9. Thou shalt not covet.
3. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord, thy God, in vain.
4. Honor thy father and thy mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9. Thou shalt not covet.
New Testament Reference
1. Matthew 4:10; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; 10:7, 14; 1 John 5:20, 21
2. Acts 17:29; Rom. 1:23; 1 Corinthians 10:7
3. Matthew 5:33-37; James 5:12
4. Ephesians 6:2; Colossians 3:20
5. Matthew 5:21, 22; 1 John 3:15
6. Matthew 5:27, 28; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
7. 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; Ephesians 4:28
8. Matthew 5:43-48; Ephesians 4:25
9. Romans 7:7
The one commandment which is not repeated is the one commanding Sabbath observance. Christians are never taught to keep the Sabbath (even though we admit that there is a principle in the Word of one day in seven).
Christ and not the law is the believer's rule of life (1 Jn. 2:6). He is our standard, our pattern, our example (Jn. 13:15; 15:12; Eph. 5:1, 2, 8, 15, 16; 1 Jn. 3:16).
Grace and law cannot co-exist (Gal. 4:30). Faith and law are contrary principles (Gal. 3:12). But the law is not against the promises of God (Gal. 3:21).
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE SABBATH
1. Sabbath-keeping is one of the Ten Commandments, and these are definitely said to be “done away” for the believer in Christ (2 Cor. 3:7-11). It is futile to argue, as some do, that this passage refers to the ceremonial law and not to the moral law. In verse 7 the law is described as “the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones.” This could only refer to the moral law, that is, the Ten Commandments. Then in verse 11 we read that the ministration of death, though glorious, is “done away”. Nothing could be clearer than this. The Christian is not obligated to keep the Sabbath.
2. No Gentile was ever commanded to keep the Sabbath. The law was given to the Jewish people (Ex. 31:13).
Although God Himself rested on the seventh day, He didn't command anyone else to do it at that time. Sabbath-keeping was first commanded at Mt. Sinai, and then only to the children of Israel.
3. It is not true, as some allege, that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday by the decree of some Pope. Christians set aside the Lord's Day in a special way for worshiping and serving the Lord because:
(1). The Lord Jesus rose from the dead on that day, a proof that the work of redemption was completed (Jn. 20:1)
(2). The Holy Spirit was given on the first day of the week (Pentecost was the seventh Sunday after the resurrection)
(3). The early disciples met on that day to break bread, showing forth the Lord´s death (Acts 20:7)
(4). Paul instructed the Christians to take up a collection on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1, 2).
4. Jews under the law have their day of rest at the end of a week of toil. Christians under grace begin their week with a day of rest, because Christ has finished the work.
5. The Sabbath was a day of obligation. The Lord's Day is a day of privilege. Released from secular occupations, we are enabled to devote it to Him in a special way.
6. The Sabbath commemorated the first creation. The Lord's Day is linked with the new creation.
7. The Sabbath was a shadow of what was to come, but the substance belongs to Christ (Col. 2:16).
8. Christians cannot be condemned for failing to keep the Sabbath (Col. 2:16).
Sabbath-keepers typically answer this by claiming that “sabbath-days” in Colossians 2:16 (KJV) refer to all sabbaths except the weekly sabbath. But the critical versions have the singular “sabbath” in this verse.
9. The law is fulfilled in loving one's neighbor (Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14), not in the rigid observance of a day.
10. Sabbath-keepers argue that the Ten Commandments enshrine moral principles that are for every age. They do not see that the commandment concerning the Sabbath is more ceremonial than moral. The keeping of a day is not inherently right or wrong in itself. The only reason that it was wrong to work on the seventh day was because God said so.
1. Matthew 4:10; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; 10:7, 14; 1 John 5:20, 21
2. Acts 17:29; Rom. 1:23; 1 Corinthians 10:7
3. Matthew 5:33-37; James 5:12
4. Ephesians 6:2; Colossians 3:20
5. Matthew 5:21, 22; 1 John 3:15
6. Matthew 5:27, 28; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5
7. 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; Ephesians 4:28
8. Matthew 5:43-48; Ephesians 4:25
9. Romans 7:7
The one commandment which is not repeated is the one commanding Sabbath observance. Christians are never taught to keep the Sabbath (even though we admit that there is a principle in the Word of one day in seven).
Christ and not the law is the believer's rule of life (1 Jn. 2:6). He is our standard, our pattern, our example (Jn. 13:15; 15:12; Eph. 5:1, 2, 8, 15, 16; 1 Jn. 3:16).
Grace and law cannot co-exist (Gal. 4:30). Faith and law are contrary principles (Gal. 3:12). But the law is not against the promises of God (Gal. 3:21).
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE SABBATH
1. Sabbath-keeping is one of the Ten Commandments, and these are definitely said to be “done away” for the believer in Christ (2 Cor. 3:7-11). It is futile to argue, as some do, that this passage refers to the ceremonial law and not to the moral law. In verse 7 the law is described as “the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones.” This could only refer to the moral law, that is, the Ten Commandments. Then in verse 11 we read that the ministration of death, though glorious, is “done away”. Nothing could be clearer than this. The Christian is not obligated to keep the Sabbath.
2. No Gentile was ever commanded to keep the Sabbath. The law was given to the Jewish people (Ex. 31:13).
Although God Himself rested on the seventh day, He didn't command anyone else to do it at that time. Sabbath-keeping was first commanded at Mt. Sinai, and then only to the children of Israel.
3. It is not true, as some allege, that the Sabbath was changed to Sunday by the decree of some Pope. Christians set aside the Lord's Day in a special way for worshiping and serving the Lord because:
(1). The Lord Jesus rose from the dead on that day, a proof that the work of redemption was completed (Jn. 20:1)
(2). The Holy Spirit was given on the first day of the week (Pentecost was the seventh Sunday after the resurrection)
(3). The early disciples met on that day to break bread, showing forth the Lord´s death (Acts 20:7)
(4). Paul instructed the Christians to take up a collection on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1, 2).
4. Jews under the law have their day of rest at the end of a week of toil. Christians under grace begin their week with a day of rest, because Christ has finished the work.
5. The Sabbath was a day of obligation. The Lord's Day is a day of privilege. Released from secular occupations, we are enabled to devote it to Him in a special way.
6. The Sabbath commemorated the first creation. The Lord's Day is linked with the new creation.
7. The Sabbath was a shadow of what was to come, but the substance belongs to Christ (Col. 2:16).
8. Christians cannot be condemned for failing to keep the Sabbath (Col. 2:16).
Sabbath-keepers typically answer this by claiming that “sabbath-days” in Colossians 2:16 (KJV) refer to all sabbaths except the weekly sabbath. But the critical versions have the singular “sabbath” in this verse.
9. The law is fulfilled in loving one's neighbor (Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14), not in the rigid observance of a day.
10. Sabbath-keepers argue that the Ten Commandments enshrine moral principles that are for every age. They do not see that the commandment concerning the Sabbath is more ceremonial than moral. The keeping of a day is not inherently right or wrong in itself. The only reason that it was wrong to work on the seventh day was because God said so.
