Freedom From the Law

I’m going to say something that may shock some of you.  Are you sitting down?  Good.  Here it is.

I have stopped trying to live my life by the 10 Commandments.

Are you still with me?  Don’t close the page just yet.  Hear me out (more importantly, hear the Word out) before you decide if I’ve gone off the deep end.

I have stopped trying to live my life by the 10 Commandments.  Do you know how freeing that is?  

I can hear it in your voices now, “Yea, it’s freeing because if you don’t live by the 10 Commandments, you can do whatever you want.”  And, “Well brother, aren’t you just giving Christians a license to sin by saying something like that?”  Man, Christians have been sinning without a license for years.  What does it matter if I give them one?

Let’s go to the Bible for a little more light on the subject.

In the book of Exodus, we find God giving the law to the Israelites.  And watch what He had to do here.  

Ex 29:36-37 “36 And you shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement.  You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it.

37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it. And the altar shall be most holy.  Whatever touches the altar must be holy.”

So, we can see in this passage that sacrifices were offered to atone for sin.  You see, for man to be holy under the Old Covenant, he had to keep the law.  God knew this was impossible.  He instituted the practice of offering a sacrifice to cover up for when man missed it.  That’s what the sacrifice was for.  

Hebrews addresses this too.  In chapter 10 verse 1 it says this,

“1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.

3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”

So, the sacrifices were instituted by God to cover sin, which He cannot be a part of, since He still desired a relationship with His family.  

The reason they had to be instituted is this - God knew that no matter what man did, He couldn’t keep the law.  He knew that man would try as hard as He could, and fail miserably.  

In fact, the Apostle Paul goes as far as to say, in the book of 2 Corinthians 3:7 and 9 to call the law, and the 10 Commandments both “the ministry of death” and “the ministry of condemnation”.  

Wow.  The ministry of death.  The ministry of condemnation.  The 10 Commandments.  I never would have put those two together.

Why does it call it that?  Well, let’s look at what Paul, by the Holy Ghost, had to say about it in Romans.

Romans 7:8-12 (MSG) “Don’t you remember how it was?  I do, perfectly well.  The law code started out as an excellent piece of work.  What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it.  The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me.  Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless, and I went along without paying much attention to it.  But once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it.  The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up, throwing me headlong.  So sin was plenty alive, and I was stone dead.  But the law code itself is God’s good and common sense, each command sane and holy counsel.”

I like the way the King James translates verse 9.  “For I was alive without the law once” but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.”  He then goes on to say that the law, which was ordained for life, was death.  

1st Corinthians 15:56 tells us that the law is what strengthens sin.  When you attempt to follow the law, it strengthens the hold sin has on your life.

So then how have I been able to stop trying to live by the 10 Commandments?  It’s quite simple really.  

John 1:14-17

“14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”

16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Did that hit you the way it hit me?  

The law (the ministry of death and condemnation, remember) was given through Moses, but GRACE AND TRUTH came through Jesus Christ.  The Word (Jesus), FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH!

Wow.  So, now, the Bible has drawn a line in the sand.  There’s the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of death, and Jesus, who is full of grace and truth!

So then, what is this grace?  Oftentimes, we just think of it as a free gift.  Unmerited favor.  But it’s so much more than that.  Grace is an enablement.  

Hebrews 12:28 says this, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may SERVE God ACCEPTABLY...”

So, grace is what enables us to serve God acceptably.  Wow.  

You see, when I’m trying to serve God by following the law, I’m actually strengthening sin in my life, because I’m trusting in myself to measure up.  This brings me right back to death.

But when I trust in the grace, it isn’t about what I can do in the natural. It’s about what He can do.

I don’t need something to show me I can’t do it on my own. I know I can’t. But I know that the grace of God, which lives within me, can. I trust in that grace to measure up. I trust in that grace to hit the mark.

I believe we have a little more ground to cover.  Romans 4:15 in the New Living Translation says this, “For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)”

What does that mean?  

I’m going to give you an example I heard Dr. Creflo Dollar give.

If I’m driving on the Autobahn in Germany, I can drive just as fast as I want.  In fact, I might come into the house smiling from ear to ear.  You ask, “What are you so happy about?”  I would respond, “Man, I just got my car up to 150 MPH!  I have never driven that fast before!”

But, if we’re in the United States, and I came in from driving at 150 MPH, I would be checking over my shoulder, making sure there were no cops around, following me.  I would probably be shaking and out of breath.  When you asked me what was wrong, I’d say, “Dude, I just went 150 MPH...I hope the cops don’t find out!”

Do you see the difference there?

Where there is a law to break, it brings punishment.  But without a law, there is no transgression.

So, even though there is no law to break, what is my responsibility?  Is it ok to drive 150 MPH on the Autobahn, and endanger myself, and kill other people in an accident?  

No.

It’s wrong.  But, there is no transgression for simply going 150 MPH.  However, if there is a law against it, even if I don’t endanger anyone, I’ve transgressed the law by driving that fast.

So, we still have God’s standard of behavior, but there is no law to measure up to.  Just grace to rely on.  Where the law said not to commit adultery, and therefore made adultery a temptation that people fell into, grace enables me not to commit adultery.

Grace is the enablement to measure up to God’s standard.  

So, in not trying to keep the law, and trusting in the grace of God, I can serve God acceptably.  I can please Him in everything I do.  

I’m not trying to do this on my own.  I let the grace that is in me do the trying.  I let the grace do the measuring up.  (1 Corinthians 15:10)

Even if I miss the mark, Jesus has already dealt with the sin.  I just repent and move on.  I keep trusting in the grace to empower me to not yield to the sin.  I trust in the grace to enable me to live a life pleasing to God.  I trust in the grace to allow me to do what I’m called to do.  I trust in the grace, and since I trust in the grace, I don’t have to trust in the law.

Galatians 3 refers to the law as a tutor, or a schoolmaster, designed to bring us to Jesus.  It did that by showing us we couldn’t measure up to God’s standard on our best day.  But then we were brought to Christ, and justified by faith, and we are no longer in need of a tutor.

Look out for my next post, later this week, entitled, “Grace: A Higher Standard”.  

I’m going to end with this verse.  Let it penetrate you, and permeate your spirit.

Galatians 2:19-21, and 3:2-3

“What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

   Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.”

“Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it?”

Grace.