(Ver 1.2)  This is Part 2 in a series of Bible lessons on the subject of Understanding the Purpose of the Law of Moses.  I covered a lot of new information about the Law already and I do not think that I will review any of what I have already covered.  Therefore, if you did not read the first lesson,  I would suggest that you go back and start your study with “Part 1“.  I will say that in my last lesson I introduced you to the fact that the Law was a positive thing given to us by God.  In other words I believe that the law was an intentional good thing designed for the benefit of the entire human race.  Without laws we would not know or understand sin, guilt, punishment, consequences, to name a few things that the knowledge of the law teaches us.  Laws give us guidelines, structure, organization and meaning or definition to what is right and what is wrong.  Without laws we would live in a world of full of nothing but chaos.   This would be a type of world where everyone would be doing what was right in their own eyes while ignoring the effects to what their actions did to those all around them.  Today’s lesson will be an introduction to another brand new concpet.  Are Christians in the church today under the Old Law, or under no law or under any new New Law?  Many today believe that we are noy under any law and that is not actually what the Bible says.  They base this belief on verses like Romans 6:15 which is an example of taking one truth and attempting to make it the only truth.  This is just an example of not finding the complete truth of God’s Word on a given subject.  Many are guilty of this and it is an easy trap to fall into.   Just because we are not under the Law of the Old Testament does not mean that we are not under any New Law.  That is the primary subject of the rest of my lesson today.

What is the difference between what is old and what is new? New sometimes can be a relative term. Is it new to you or is it new just because no one else has ever possessed it before you? New to me is definitely stated not to be the old. Old to me is definitely stated not to be the new. I view this concept in the same terms like the Old Covenant versus the New Covenant which are totally separate and distinct covenants of God. Both the Old and New Covenants bare a resemblance of characteristics and features, but they are totally and completely not the same.  That was my introduction to the Law of the New Covenant.  Let me now take you to some important verses in the New Testament and discuss this New Law of God.

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

So I asked you a question in my last blog on this subject, did God put Satan under the law?  This verse in Galatians is very clearly a clue into the answer to that question.  Why was Jesus Christ born a man under the law of Moses?   Jesus’ physical mother was a virgin woman named Mary, a direct descendant of David the King of Israel.  We know that Jesus is therefore a natural born Jew from the tribe of Judah, by birth. Therefore, God in the Flesh being born under the Law is now bound to all of these laws, commandments, and statutes written in the O.T..   Exactly why did God do this?  The God that was outside of the Law and who gave the law has now placed Himself under the law that He gave.  That means whatever the law requires applies to everything that God can do and can’t do.  Those are pretty strong words aren’t they?  Why would God put any limitations upon Himself?  Obviously God gave the law, so He must have designed the law to serve a specific purpose that would help Him to accomplish something of greater value.  What was that something that God needed accomplished that only the creation of Law could do?  You should really think about things like this and search for them in the Bible to see if you can find them.  What you should take away from this verse in Galatians 4:4 is, if it was necessary for God to be born under the law of Moses, then it would be necessary for Satan to be put under the same law also.  As I tried to teach in the first lesson, that laws only apply to those that are under them.  No law is ever applicable to anyone not under the authority of that law.

Jesus made the statement that “I did not come to do away with the law, but I came to fulfill it” (Mat 5:17).  So what did Jesus do while he was in the flesh walking under the law to fulfill the law?  What did he accomplish to fulfill all of the Mosiac law?  Was it just the fact that he did not commit any sin?  Was this the fulfillment of the law?  I do not think that is the entire picture of what that actually means.  Did you notice that Jesus died on the cross?  So being sinless under the law did not save Him, did it?  We know from other scripture that the Bible says that “No flesh will be justified by God, for keeping the law” (Gal 2:16).  So was Jesus in the flesh?  Yes, then He was not justified or saved by keeping the law either.  This is not what made Jesus righteous or justifed Him.  We can discover some valuable clues by searching the scriptures and finding out God’s definition of what this means to fulfill the law:

Gal 5:14  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

We can begin to understand what the fulfillment of the law was in the eyes of God by reading this verse in Galatians.  God tells us that all of the law is fulfilled in just one word.  What was that word?  That word was Love!  This of course is not a human kind of love, but it is a God kind of love and that is totally different.   Humans love Coke, pie, hamburgers because they make them feel good or do something good for them.  That is not the God kind of love.   God does not love us because we do something good to Him or for Him.  Bible, love is not a feeling or even an emotional state.  Love is a choice to do the right thing for others even when you do not feel like it.

Rom 13:10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Here we have another witness to the fact that God says the law of Moses is fulfilled by the single isolated word of Love!  To do the right thing for your neighbor means that you do not steal from them, you do not hurt them, you do not lie to them, you do not covet or lust for what they possess, and on and on we could go.   Clealry God is defining a new definition for what the fulfillment of the Law represents to us.

Rom 13:9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

All of the law of Moses is summed up into the word “Love”.  We can only comprehend the rest of the law by understanding what Love is in the eyes of God.  This is why Jesus makes this statement in the Gospels:

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

If the Law was a negative thing God would be wanting to get rid of it.  However, we have discovered that the law is a positive and good thing and that is why Jesus gives us a New Law.  You do understand that we are still under the law being in the church right now?   It is not the Law of Moses, but it is the Law of Jesus.  Jesus initiated a New Covenant in His own shed blood and in doing so, He established a New Law.  This New Law is significantly less complicated than the old law while at the same time including all of the Old Law in the single statement.  It is amazing how complex the laws created  by our government are.  I believe the Health Care bill was a very thick stack of papers that are still being argued over to what they mean.  Would you say that more laws are better than less laws or are fewer laws better than many laws?   According to God less is better.  God replaces a thick book of written laws with a single statement and calls it better.  God is not opposed to the law, it is more what the law is intended to do and its purpose that God is most concerned with.  By Jesus giving us the Law of Love, we are now required to follow ONLY one rule.  When faced with a problem in the natural we should always stop and ask, “What would Love do with that?”   Did you notice that Jesus said you must love like I have loved you?  In other words we are not to love people like we love a can of Coke.   I do hope that you understand this profound concept.

Rom 3:31  Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

God says that by walking in the New Commandment of Love we now establish the law.  Isn’t that an interesting concept?   What all of Natural Israel was unable to do, God says that we are capable of doing.  Why is that?  For one thing we have God on the inside of us helping us to do it.  Plus we are not worried about hundreds or thousands of rules, because God has simplified it down to just One Rule!  That just makes it easier to follow doesn’t it?

If you would like to continue to read this series on understanding the Law you can go to “Part 3“.