| site search by freefind |
- Home
- Free Bible Study Lessons
- Free Bible Courses
- Life Line
- Master Life Lesson Five
[If you purchase anything on this site, I may make a commission. Disclosure Policy]
Master Life
Lesson Five
What The Law Is Not
Before we study what the law is, we must have a firm grasp on what the law is not. If we try to make the law go where God has forbidden it, we will end up in frustration and be tormented in a Satanic trap. The law is fantastic, but it has its limits, and there are places God forbids it to travel. Underscore this section in your mind. We must always remember that the law DOES NOT belong in the following areas. To put it here is to fall into legalism and to come into as much bondage as having no law at all! Both extremes are wrong. Only a balanced view of the law can bring real freedom and liberty.
Sitemap -
Newsletter -
Statement Of Faith -
Donate
Follow us on social media for daily Scripture comments and more at MeWe, Facebook or YouTube.
The Law Is Not A Method Of Salvation
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." [Eph. 2:8-9, NKJV]
Scripture is very plain. Salvation is a free gift from God bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. There is nothing we can do - no work of the law - to earn salvation. It comes by faith in the grace of God, and even that faith is a gift from God. So our salvation originates with God. It is not because of anything we are or do, it is solely because of who God is.
"So then it is not of Him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy." [Rom. 9:16, NKJV]
The emphasis of the entire chapter of Romans 9 is that God makes all the decisions. It is through the mercy and grace of God that salvation comes, and ONLY through that. There is no other way.
"...knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." [Gal. 2:16, NKJV]
Paul is extremely blunt on the topic. He wants to make sure we have no misunderstandings. THE LAW WILL NEVER SAVE YOU. Salvation is not the purpose of the law, and it never was. We are brought into right relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ alone. It is the work of Christ, not my work, that stands before God. The blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross is the only thing that takes us from the death side of the law to the life side of the law. Without the grace of God expressed through Jesus, the law is death to us. Now through Christ we can be on the right side of the law, and it becomes life to us. Jesus Christ is our only hope of reaching the land of beauty on the right side of the law.
Please note a vital point: Jesus did not destroy the law, but He put us on the right side of it.
The Law Is Not A Method Of Maintaining Salvation
As we have just seen, the law did not save us. Now the next step is that the law won't maintain our salvation. We didn't work to get saved; we can't work to stay saved.
"O you dear idiots of Galatia, who saw Jesus Christ crucified so plainly, who has been casting a spell over you? I will ask you one simple question: Did you receive the Spirit by trying to keep the law or by believing the message of the Gospel? Surely you can't be so stupid as to think that you begin your spiritual life in the Spirit and then complete it by reverting to physical observances? Has all your painful experience brought you nowhere? I simply cannot believe it! Does God, who gives you His Spirit and works miracles among you, do these things because you have obeyed the law or because you have believed the Gospel?" [Gal. 3:1-5, Phillips]
Paul is shocked that the Christians of Galatia would be saved by grace and then try to stay saved by keeping the law! I have a feeling Paul was not the most diplomatic of men. When he saw something, he came at it head-on. He saw something very dangerous here, and he tackled it bluntly.
If we try to use the Law as a way of getting to God or keeping our relationship with Him, sin will stop us every time. The law must be in its proper place.
"But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have laboured for you in vain." [Gal. 4:9-11, NKJV]
Paul implies that if they continue in bondage to the law as a way of maintaining salvation, he is going to wonder if they had ever really been saved. Had they believed in the grace of God, or was it just a show that had now been revealed as a sham?
If we try to keep the law out of fear of losing our relationship with God, then we will end up frustrated and tormented - which is where legalism always ends. Legalism is basically the false doctrine of salvation by law. Legalism drives good people into the ground because they want so desperately to please God. Every time they try so hard and with such good intentions to please God, legalism jumps up and says, "It’s not good enough! Read your Bible more! Pray longer! Do better works! God is angry with you, and you have to please Him!" These dear people are caught in a deadly trap, not realizing that, because of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, He is already pleased with them. They don't have to do a thing to earn their relationship with God. Jesus did it all!
The Law Is Not My Righteousness
"I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ Jesus died in vain." [Gal. 2:21, NKJV]
Again, Paul is to the point. If I can earn righteousness by keeping the law, then there was no reason for Jesus to die. In fact, if my righteousness can come by the law, then the Cross becomes a cruel, sadistic joke. The whole point of the Cross was that there was no other way for us to stand righteous before God. My righteousness comes through Christ alone. I stand before God because of what Jesus did, not because of what I do. Christ Jesus alone is my righteousness.
"Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on the law." [Gal. 3:21, NAS]
If the law could bring righteousness, God would have done it that way. It would have spared His only Son the agony of the Cross. But the law cannot bring righteousness because we cannot keep it. Only one minor [in our eyes] infraction, and we become lawbreakers instead of lawkeepers. [Of course, we were all born lawbreakers as well.]
"If a snow house were left deserted during a three-day January gale in the Keewatin, and if one hole the size of a baby's forefinger had been left unplugged, and if the hole faced northwest, the owner would, on returning, find not a snow house but a snow house-shaped block of solid ice." Fraser Symington
If the "snow house" of my righteousness has even one tiny hole [and we all have huge, gaping holes], the judgment of God will come in and fill my "house," and I will be sentenced to eternal death [hell]. But if I stand in Christ's perfect "snow house," then I am completely protected from the blizzard of God's judgment, and I experience eternal life. Finally, because of Jesus, I am on the right side of the law. The law's righteous requirements are fulfilled in Christ.
The Law Is Not For Earning The Gifts Of The Spirit
"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all..."...the list of the Gifts..."...But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." [1 Cor. 12:4-11, NKJV]
The gifts of the Spirit are called gifts for a very good reason. We do not earn them. The Spirit gives as He sees fit, and we are available for Him to use. If I have to keep the law to receive the gifts, they would not be gifts! The gifts are given entirely at God's discretion according to His will without any work or effort on our part.
A misunderstanding of this has led to much hurt and confusion in Christian circles. Just because someone is used by God in the gifts of the Spirit does not mean that God approves of their lifestyle. God gives the gifts as He sees fit, and He also expects us to live according to His law, but living according to the law does not earn the gifts. The only connection is that Christians who live unrepentant, ungodly lifestyles will eventually reap the consequences of their actions [God will not be mocked] and so lose their availability for the gifts of the Spirit.
But until that happens, these "double-standard" people can seem to have the best of both worlds. Even those with great ministries can and will be exposed and brought down by God if their lives are in rebellion to the law. [We will balance this out in more detail later.]
The Law Is Not Lived By Will Power
"...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." [Phil. 2:12-13]
Here, Paul gives us the balance. I am responsible for working out the implications of my salvation. I am responsible for bringing my life into line with God's law. On the other hand, I am not working alone, for God is working in me to bring it all about. When I cooperate, it is a fantastic Divine partnership which progressively brings my life into line with the law of God.
In Christ I stand in perfect righteousness because He perfectly kept the law and then took the law's penalty on my behalf. My life as seen on earth, however, needs a little work [OK, OK, it requires a lot of work!]. It is as I cooperate with God's work in my life that I progressively come closer and closer to a point where people can see what my life in Christ is really like.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." [Gal. 2:20, NKJV]
Again, we see it is not me trying to keep the law, but Christ, who is living and working in me, who is keeping the Law and enabling me to do the same.
The Law Is Not An End In Itself
The law is not the end goal. Our objective is always to bring glory to Christ and to know Him better. If we study the law just to know the law, then we have missed the point. Christ must always be both the object and the center of our study.
"Thus says the Lord: Let the wise man not glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord." [Jer. 9:23-24]
We do not glory in the law but in the Lord of the law, and we give Him glory for all His works - including the law.
"But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God - righteousness and sanctification and redemption - that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.'" [1 Cor. 1:30-31, NKJV]
We have now taken a look at several important things the Law is not. If we ever try to put the law into these areas, we are going to be in trouble. It is like trying to drink coffee through our ears. Our ears are great, but they were not designed to drink coffee. The law is great, but it simply wasn't intended to put us into a relationship with God or hold us there. We must keep everything in its proper place and so grow into Christian maturity to the delight of our Lord.
In Lesson 6, we will look at some of the fantastic things that the law is.
Master Life Assignments
Note: These assignments are written from the assumption that the student has completed the Feed Yourself Course. Some of the assignments may not make sense if you have not taken that course.
1. Analyze Rom. 8:1-17.
2. Memorize Gal. 2:16.
Return to Lessons.
For more information about Glenn Davis, see our About Glenn page or visit Glenn Davis Books.
Follow us on social media for daily Scripture comments and more at MeWe, Facebook or YouTube.
Sitemap -
Newsletter -
Statement Of Faith -
Donate
Sign up for our free monthly newsletter or take one of our free Bible Study courses.
Please note: We no longer have the commenting feature [maybe again in the future]. Joshua Institute students who have questions or comments on their courses can use the contact button and mention the course name and lesson number in the email. Thank you. Glenn
Privacy - Disclosure
Copyright © 2004–