A New Bible Series
“Understanding
The Gospel Is As Simple as A,B,C”
The Law Versus Grace
The Law And The Old Testament
Exodus
24:12 And the LORD said unto Moses,
Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone,
and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
Deuteronomy
4:8 And what nation is there so great,
that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set
before you this day?
q
The Law of Moses incorporated over six hundred laws that in
theory must be perfectly followed, in order that the full privileges of this
covenant could be enacted and enjoyed.
I say in theory, because quite rapidly it became obvious that the House
of Israel was not only unable to keep these laws, but they were also unwilling to
put any real effort into their obedience of them. The failure of the house of
Israel was so apparent, that many years later through the prophet Jeremiah, God
foretold of the establishment of a new covenant, which was initiated by Jesus
Christ at His coming.
Jer. 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel, and with
the house of Judah:
32
Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they
brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
q
Was God
mistaken, or was He ignorant of the fact that the successful accomplishment of
over six hundred laws by sinful and frail humanity would prove to be such a
disastrous venture? On top of that, it
would appear that God made matters worse by informing the Israelites that if
they kept five hundred and ninety nine laws, and simply broke one of them they
would be guilty of breaking the other five hundred and ninety nine as well! (I
realize that there are more than six hundred laws).
Deuteronomy
27:26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not
all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
James
2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
q
As we study together we will observe, that God knew all the time
that it was humanly impossible for man to faultlessly keep the Old
Covenant. God had other goals in His
mind when He gave the house of Israel the Mosaic laws, than the simple keeping
of all of these laws.
q
We might be also tempted at
this point then to think that the Mosaic Law was defective in some way, if it
was impossible for these folks to keep it in the first place. You and I know,
that God is never makes a mistake!
Please listen to how the apostle Paul describes the Mosaic Law in Romans
seven and twelve. (We shall see the developing ingenuity of the Lord in His
incredible master plan.)
Romans
7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
q
So was the Old Covenant given by God to Moses so as not to be
obeyed? No! God did give the Old
Covenant to be obeyed. However, the obedience that God was anticipating to find
was not one that would exhaust itself in meticulously keeping these six hundred
laws ritualistically, or out of sense of religious pride. This is what the
Pharisees in the days of Jesus were doing.
q
God most wanted for the Mosaic
Law to birth in His people hearts that would desire to fully obey Him in love,
and through a walk of faith.
Deuteronomy 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always,
that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
Numbers 32:11 Surely none of the men that came up out of
Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
Judges 2:12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them
out of the land of Egypt, and
followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about
them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.
Joshua 14:8 Nevertheless my brethren that went up with
me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.
Matt
22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
q The six hundred laws had been set in place to create this
loving relationship with the Lord. A man or woman, who loved the Lord their God
with all their heart, soul, and mind, wholly followed their Lord, and kept
their conscience clean by doing their very best to keep the Mosaic Law, was
pleasing to God. This has always been,
and continues to be God’s requirements in man’s relationship to Him.
1 Timothy 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
q God’s anger towards the House of Israel was never brought
about with any of their failures to keep specific laws. God had already
instituted a system of animal sacrifices, and the shedding of their blood to
take care of this. His anger was always
the result of disobedience that came out of calloused, unbelieving and
rebellious heart. Romans nine thirty
one and thirty-two confirm just what we said. The Old Covenant could only be
kept by faith and not by ritualistic observances called the “works of
the law.”
Rom 9:31 But Israel, which followed after the
law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of
the law. For they
stumbled at that stumblingstone;
The Law And
the New Testament
Matthew 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for
many for the remission of sins.
With
these words, the Lord Jesus fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy in Jeremiah
thirty-one and thirty one. As the requirements of this New Testament initiated
by Jesus are laid out, it will teach us in retrospect the true purposes of the
Mosaic Law.
Rom 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the
commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it
was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: }
As we have already discussed, and note now in Romans seven
and twelve, the Mosaic Law is flawless. In Romans eight and three, our Greek
text opens up this scripture to us in a most fascinating way. It tells us that the Mosaic Law became
powerless through the continual frailty of humans being. The Mosaic Laws are
impeccable then, but humanity paralyzes them, in that they are impossible to
keep by human effort and intention. Our fruitless efforts to obey God in the flesh are called the
“works of the law”.
Rom
9:32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of
the law. For they
stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Man’s finest wisdom, strongest efforts, and
grandest plans to please God outside of His grace, and the leading of His
Spirit, are all termed as the “works of the law”. These works are doomed to
fail time and time again. This was the
problem facing the house of Israel. It was impossible for them to keep even one
of the Mosaic Laws unless it could have been done through the leading and assistance
of the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit was not dwelling inside man at that
time, God expected a loving devotion to Him, and not the flawless ritualistic
observance of the Law.
Let’s
quickly summarize what we have learned before we go onto the next phase of our
teaching. The Old Covenant was holy,
good, and just. We also know that God
made provision for the breaking of the ritualistic keeping of the Mosaic Laws. Lastly, we have been made aware that the old
Covenant was of benefit to all who kept it out of love for God, in faith, and
in a good conscience. Let us know
observe together the grandeur and the ingenious wisdom of God in giving us the
Mosaic Law.
The
Mosaic Law Brings The Knowledge of Sin
Romans
3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for
by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Romans
5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when
there is no law.
Romans
7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was
dead.
When
the Lord Jesus beckoned my family to move from Miami, Florida, into New Mexico
three and a half years ago, we were surprised to find the speed limits on the
New Mexican interstates to be seventy five miles per hour versus the fifty five
mile limit in Miami.
We
moved into the rural areas of New Mexico and make constant use of the state’s
highways quite often. One afternoon my
wife, Mary, was zipping along at about seventy miles per hours on one of these
state roads. All that she had known was the seventy-five mile per hour limit of
the interstates and had not yet encountered any speed signs on these state
roads. Suddenly Mary found herself
being trailed with the flashing blue lights of the sheriff’s department
car. At the moment that the county
sheriff was about to cite her with a ticket, she objected to him that our
family had just arrived from Miami, Florida and had no idea as to what the
speed limits were on these state roads.
The officer understood her point, kindly admonished her without citing
her, and informed her that the speed limit was fifty miles an hour, and not
seventy-five.
The
example of “the speed limit law” demonstrates perfectly what the apostle Paul
talks to us about in Romans five and thirteen.
Romans
5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when
there is no law.
Though
sin was present in the days of Moses, it was impossible for God to charge man
and woman with it. Sin could not be
assigned as sin, because people sinned in ignorance. When there are no laws to point out what was right and what is
wrong, can we know that we have in fact violated them, and can we be held
responsible for having done so? My
wife, Mary, was in sin and violated the speeding laws. Yet she was innocent because she had acted
in ignorance, having no laws to guide her into what the speed limit should
be. The sheriff should have cited her,
by pronouncing her guilty, but recognized her lack of information about the
situation.
Likewise,
without the Mosaic Law, God cannot assign humanity with sin, and charge them
with the numerous penalties that should accompany these violations. Romans
seven and eight tells us, that without The Mosaic Law, for all intents and
purposes sin is dead; it is as if it was non-existent.
Rom 7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
However,
from the moment that the kindly sheriff got back in his car and left, Mary had
an absolute knowledge of the speeding law.
At the rehearsal of the Mosaic Law, the knowledge of sins methodically
entered into the human race as Moses recited the more than six hundred laws to
the house of Israel. Romans three and
twenty tell us just this. By “the works
of the law”, or our human efforts to obey God in our own strength, we will
never ever be able to please Him, because the purpose of the Mosaic Law was
simply to give us an accurate and full knowledge of sin
Rom 3:20
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight: for by the law is
the knowledge of sin.
The Mosaic Law Makes Sin Exceedingly Sinful
Now that the
Mosaic Law has been given, sin is identified and assigned as sin by God. This indwelling sin is clearly demonstrated
for us by the apostle Paul in Romans seven, nineteen through twenty-one.
Romans
7:19 For the good that I would I do
not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more
I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Please look with me at verse twenty-one of
Romans seven. Paul coins the term ‘law”,
and refers to sin as a “law’. The
conditions of this law states that ‘when I would do good, evil is present
with me.”
First of
all, what is a law? A law is any
particular instance where a certain set of circumstances will always produce a
specific set of results. Hence “the law of gravity.” The “law of gravity” tells us that whatever is thrown up into the
air, must always come down to earth, because of the pull of the earth’s
gravity. In Romans seven and twenty-one
we see that the sin dwelling within us operates as a law.
Romans
7:19 For the good that I would I do
not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Romans
seven and nineteen instructs us that when man or a woman continually tries to
do good, he or she will eventually blow it and do wrong. This is the “law of sin” in action. The sin
living and lurking within us will sooner or later short-circuit the process of
our doing what is right, whether it is in thought, word, or deed. Have you tried to go on a crash diet or
quit cigarettes? These are excellent
examples of the “law of sin” kicking in, and short-circuiting all of our good
intentions. This is why it is also impossible for “unsaved” humanity to do
nothing else but sin.
Romans
5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound( might exist in abundance).
But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Romans
five and twenty tells us that with every law that Moses issued to the house of
Israel, more and more sins were identified and assigned, until they existed in
abundance. Secondly, with the publishing of every sin, through the Law, the “law
of sin ” had gained strength as well!
We now find unsaved man and woman in the Old Testament recognizing that
many of their formerly innocent actions are sinful in the sight of His God. Now to top that off, in their attempts to
please the Lord God, they find themselves being viciously counter attacked by “the
law of sin.” They end up
failing over and over to obey God in the flesh.
Romans
7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions (passions) of sins, which were by the law, did work(put forth power)
in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Romans
seven and five describes for us just the same thing. The “law of sin” having been birthed and now fortified through
the abundance of sins, which have been identified and assigned as sin, by The
Law, “energizes” (The
Greek) death in us.
Romans seven and thirteen further
illustrates this point for us; through the Mosaic Laws, abundant sin and the
“law of sin” constantly working into us more and more death, more and more
failure, and more and more hopelessness, also makes sin to become all that it
can be; exceedingly sinful.
Romans 7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto
me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working (accomplishing fully
and completing) death in me by that which is
good; that sin by the
commandment might become exceeding sinful.
q
The individual laws had also been given by God to identify
sin and pronounce the whole world guilty before Him.
Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law
saith, it saith to them who
are under the law: that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
The Law Is Our Tutor and Guide
Galatians
3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ,
that we might be justified by faith.
God ingeniously gave the Mosaic Law; so that humanity might have
their sins identified and assigned to them, shows it its utter helplessness
without God, and demonstrate the horrid outcome of sin. God wanted to show us how terribly sinful we
are, humble us, and give us a desperate need for God Himself. Our King James Version of the Bible
incorrectly translates the Greek in telling us that the Law is our “schoolmaster.” The Greek reads like this “ the law was our
guide, tutor, and guardian of infants and small children to bring unto Christ
that we might be pronounced righteous by faith.” How wonderful and gentle is our Lord who considers us His
children and has used the Mosaic Law to guide us into our true source of salvation,
which is Christ.”
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