We Died To The Law

What we believe divides Christians into two distinct groups: those who know their true identity in Christ living in grace, and those living under the law. When Christ died on the cross, we died to the Law and God adopted us into his family and His Grace.

Those who still live under the law believe things such as, “Well, Christ saved me, now the rest is up to me.” or “I know I have to do certain things to win God’s approval.” or “I want to be a ‘good Christian’ so I am going to pray every day, read my Bible once each day, go to church every Sunday, join a Bible Study, volunteer in the nursery, sing in the choir, bring at least one person into the Kingdom of God this year, and help one little old lady across the street each week.” Christianity to those folks revolves around a bunch of rules and behaviors. Doing.

Then, when they don’t do something they think they should, guilt and condemnation set in and they vow to try harder.  They keep trying until they reach the level of obedience they believe the law and their expectations require.

The trouble is, they never arrive. It’s like walking half the distance to a wall. With each step they get closer, but they never arrive. They always have one-half a distance to go to get to the wall. Paul teaches in Romans 3:20, “…no one will be declared righteous in his (God’s) sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” For instance, what do most of us do when we see a “Wet Paint” sign? We touch the just-painted object to see if it’s really wet, or if the sign was lying.

Here’s an example from sports. Let’s say someone posts a sign on a sand lot baseball field that says, “Play no baseball games on this field.”  Kids ask, “What about workup? What about 500? What about burnout? What about home run derby? What about practice?” When we see this sign or any law we immediately start thinking of exceptions to get around obeying it.

What about, “Thou shalt not envy”? How about, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor”? Raise your hands if you have never wished you could be like someone else? Or if you have never lied? “Well,” you say, “I lied to someone, but she wasn’t my neighbor.” There you go again drumming up exceptions. Here’s another one: Speed Limit 45 mph. We all hunt for exceptions to get around obeying laws.

The more we try to use the law to live the Christian life, the more frustrated we become. The more we use the law to persuade people live the Christian life, the more they rebel.

The law deals only with actions. External stuff. Jesus (Grace) deals with the heart. If the law was the way to salvation and sanctification the Pharisees would have been some of Jesus’ best friends. Instead He rebuked them. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” Matthew 23:25-27. Under law we become hypocrites. The word comes from the Greek word for theater. A hypocrite is not an imperfect person; a hypocrite is an actor, a pretender. What made the Pharisees hypocrites was not their faults: It was their pretense that they were righteous. It was teaching one thing and doing another. But that is what law will always produce: people who are always hiding their real selves, always acting, always pretending, never being real.”¹

In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man by rubbing mud on his eyes and telling him to wash in the water. When he does, he’s able to see for the first time in his life. What was the Pharisees’ reaction? “This man (Jesus) is a sinner because He worked on Sunday.” They were more concerned with the keeping of the law than they were the miracle Jesus performed, or the change in the young man’s life at the hands of Jesus.

We are dead to the law.

Paul teaches us in Romans 5:4-6, “. . .you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead (Jesus), in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh (alive in our transgressions), the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter (law).”

Those still living under the law probably don’t feel completely accepted by God and are not comfortable with their true identity. They might feel loved by God, but they spend their lives trying to do enough good things to become more acceptable to God. The truth is: they are.  In fact, every born from above believer is as righteous and holy as Christ. Whether you believe that or not does not mean it’s not true. 2 Corinthians 5:21 declares, “God made him who had no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us, so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God. Your righteousness is the righteousness of God. “It is a gift. You don’t work for it, you don’t earn it, you don’t deserve it. Like any gift, all you can do is accept it or reject it.” And once you have it, it’s yours.” ²

That is a hard concept to believe for those living under law. But it’s true. Can you conceive of God making the sinless, perfect Jesus to be sin for us? That to me is even harder to accept. but it’s true.

You are unconditionally loved and 100 percent accepted by God because you are dead to the law. Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice in it.

¹ Classic Christianity, by Bog George, © 1989 by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon; pg. 146.
² ibid. pg.