NCCG.ORG Articles & Sermons 341. Love the Law!

"Christ fulfilled all the demands of the Law in our behalf."
"Christ perfectly kept the Law for us so we don't have to try to keep it."
"We are totally powerless to obey the Law."
"Let go and let God."
"Don't be judgmental."
"Keeping the Law is legalism."
"Christians don't need to do anything at all."
"All we need is Yah'shua (Jesus)."
"All we need is love."

The lyrics from a contemporary Christian country tune put it this way:

"I have decided
Being good is just a fable
I just can't 'cause I'm not able
Gonna' leave it to the Lord"

The false teaching cites Galatians 2:21, 1 Timothy 1:8-10, and Hebrews 4:10:

"I do not set aside the grace of Elohim (God); for if righteousness comes through the Torah (Law), then Messiah (Christ) died in vain" (Gal.2:21, NKJV).

"But we know that the Torah (Law) is good if one uses it lawfully (agreeable to the rules established by Yahweh), knowing this: that the Torah (Law) is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine" (1 Tim.1:8-10, NKJV).

"For he who has entered His (Yah'shua's/Jesus') rest has himself also ceased from his works as Elohim (God) did from His" (Heb.4:10, NKJV).

The point, however, of Galatians 2:21 is that righteousness can not come through the Torah (Law) by itself. 1 Timothy is true because the righteous already have the Torah (Law) written in their levim (hearts) (Romans 1:20, 2:15, Hebrews 10:16). The context of Hebrews 4:10 shows Christians are not yet in the full Sabbath rest (4:9 and 4:11):

"There remains therefore a rest (to come) for the people of Elohim (God). For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as Elohim (God) did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience" (Heb.4:11, NKJV).

Wherever the New Testament (NT) says the Torah (Law) was abolished (e.g., Romans 10:3-4), the context clearly shows it really means:

1. The Old Covenant (see the important book, Covenants of Promise);
2. The false notion of achieving justification by works; and/or
3. The false notion of achieving holiness by Levitical rituals.

The Pharisees, for example, weren't truly concerned with good works, they were hypocrites concerned merely with outward appearances and Levitical regulations. ************* Colossians 2:13-17 prohibits anyone from judging or being judged by Levitical regulations about sacrifices, kosher food, circumcision, civil codes, Sabbath-keeping, holidays, etc. According to Romans 14, such decrees are only binding upon Christians who personally find them binding. The NT, however, explicitly says that none of the other Laws has yet been revoked:

Matthew 5:17-19
Romans 2:13, 3:31, 7:12-13, 13:10
1 Corinthians 7:19
2 Timothy 3:16-17
James 2:8
1 John 2:3-7, 3:4, 5:2-3
2 John 1:5-6

The NT rephrases many OT commands for Christians in the form of, "do this, don't do that." For example, 1 John 5:21 "Little children, guard yourselves from idols." (NASB) We can hardly ignore the avalanche of such Law-based commands, including:

Acts 15:19-21
Romans 12:14,17,19-21 (cf. Deuteronomy 32:35, Proverbs 25:21,22)
1 Corinthians 5:12-13 (cf. Deuteronomy 17:7, 19:9, 21:21, 22:21,24, 24:7)
1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 9:9-10 (cf. Deuteronomy 25:4)
2 Corinthians 6:14-17 (cf. Leviticus 26:12, Jeremiah 32:38, Ezekiel 37:27, Isaiah 52:11, Ezekiel 20:34,41)
Ephesians 4:25-28 (cf. Psalms 4:4)
Ephesians 6:1-3 (cf. Deuteronomy 5:16)
1 Thessalonians 5:6
2 Thessalonians 2:15
Hebrews 3:14-15 (cf. Psalms 95:7,8)
Hebrews 12:3-6 (cf. Proverbs 3:11,12)
James 1:16
1 Peter 1:13-16 (cf. Leviticus 11:44,45, 19:2, 20:7)
1 Peter 5:8-9
1 John 5:21

Elohim (God) helps us to keep the Torah (Law), but we must work and cooperate with Him. Messiah did not fulfill the mitzvot (commandments) of the Torah (Law) in our stead nor do away with our struggle to keep them. The Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) does not take possession of us and do everything for us. We must make our own effort and sometimes need to be corrected and rebuked. We need to obey the mitzvot (commands) Yahweh gave to us, as is fitting, because we're His slaves and servants:

Luke 9:23
Romans 6:16-19
Galatians 6:4
Colossians 3:23
2 Timothy 2:20-21
1 Peter 1:17, 4:17

Believers need to practice discernment between good and evil:

1 Corinthians 2:15
Philippians 1:9-10
1 Thessalonians 5:21
1 Timothy 4:16
Hebrews 5:14
2 John 1:8
Revelation 2:2

Believers are in a spiritual race and must make effort to perform well:

1 Corinthians 3:14-15, 9:24-27
Galatians 2:2
Ephesians 5:15-17
1 Thessalonians 5:21
Hebrews 12:4-5
James 3:1-2
Jude 1:3

Believers will be rewarded according to how good or bad our performance is:

Matthew 6:1
Luke 6:35
1 Corinthians 3:8
2 John 1:8
Revelation 22:12

Yah'shua (Jesus) did not come to teach us only that he's our Saviour, but also how to follow the Torah (Law), which he so often quoted. We know we're saved when we believe in Yah'shua (Jesus) as Master and Saviour. Yah'shua (Jesus) is our Master means we're serving him in submission to his mitzvot (commandments) (John 12:26, 15:10). As believers, we still have an independent will which we need to watch carefully and struggle to keep in line with Yahweh's will. We can't just let our guard down and relax. Even though the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) is in us, we are still led by human teaching and example to either good or bad ends:

1 Corinthians 10:6-11
1 Timothy 4:12
Titus 2:7
Hebrews 4:11
1 Peter 5:3

Ahavah (love) means a desire to do Elohim's (God's) will. Yahweh's will includes the Torah (Law), therefore, we should love the Torah (Law) and desire to keep it. Only Yah'shua (Jesus) was totally sinless and kept the Torah (Law) perfectly, but that shouldn't discourage us from making the effort to keep it.

Most Tanakh (Old Testament) punishments are part of the old covenant, not the Torah (Law), but the curse in Exodus 20:5 (part of the Ten Commandments) is one exception. In accordance with Exodus 20:5, Revelation 2:22-24 shows that Yahweh brought judgment upon believers by cursing their children. Another example is found in Acts 5, where Elohim (God) struck Ananias and his wife Sapphira dead for their transgression. 1 Corinthians 11:24-32 shows that believers are subject to punishment and chastisement for violation of a sacrament. Yahweh is more merciful to us under the New Covenant, but it's clear that believers still face Tanakh (Old Testament) Torah- (Law-)type punishments for failing to keep the Torah (Law). Obviously we're also still subject to the curse of death introduced in the Garden of Eden. Death will not completely be abolished until Messiah's return. ********

The fact that Christians are under the Law does not in any way cancel out the grace of the new covenant. The old covenant, established in Exodus 24 and elaborated in several other OT passages, was imperfect, and therefore the new covenant had to be established (see Hebrews 8 and 9). Under the new covenant, Christians have been redeemed from the curses of the old covenant (see Galatians 3:13), but not from submission to the Law. Since the Law was part of the old covenant, and not the old covenant itself, it hasn't been revoked. Yah'shua (Jesus) did not change any OT Laws, he just expanded and clarified them. q

This page was created on 12 May 2001 Last updated on 5 May 2013