Law Out – Life In!

Theology
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Many gravitate to the Decalogue because of thinking it will make them right with God! But only the Jew keeping the Law, can “live” (Mat 19:17), for to him only was the Decalogue made. Jesus came to establish the Law by “fulfilling” it (Mat 5:17); and after fulfilling it, God “took it away” (Heb 10:9), so that the Jew would advance onto being in Christ, which some did (e.g. the Apostles and disciples). Though an Israelite was saved by obeying the Law, which was the sole means of salvation at that time, disobeying it brought judgment. -NC

Law Out – Life In!

The law is neither the ground of life to the sinner nor the rule of life to the Christian: the Lord Jesus is both the one and the other—He is our life and He is our rule of life. The law can only curse and slay. The Lord Jesus is our life and righteousness. He went down into the place where the sinner lay—into the place of death and judgement; and having, by His death, entirely discharged all that was or could be against us, He became, in resurrection, the source of Life and the ground of righteousness to all who believed in His name.

Having life and righteousness in Him, we are called to walk not merely as the law directs, but to “walk even as He walked” (1Jo 2:6). It will hardly be deemed needful to assert that it is directly contrary to Christian nature and ethics to kill, commit adultery, or steal. But were a Christian to shape his way according to these commands, or according to the entire Decalogue, would he yield the rare and delicate fruits which the epistle of Ephesians sets forth?

Would the Ten Commandments ever cause a thief to give up stealing, and go to work that he might have to give? Would they ever transform a robber into a laborious and liberal man? Assuredly not. The law says, “Thou shalt not steal”: but does it say, Go and give to him that needeth. Go feed, clothe, and bless your enemy; go gladden by your benevolent feelings and your beneficent acts of the heart for him who only and always seeks your harm (like the Gospel does –NC)? By no means; and yet, were I under the law as a rule, it could only curse and slay me.

How is this, when the standard in the New Testament is so much higher? Because I am weak, and the law gives me no strength and shows me no mercy. The law demands strength from one that has none, and curses him if he cannot display it. The Gospel gives strength to one that has none, and blesses him in the exhibition of it. The law proposes life as the end of obedience; the Gospel gives life as the only proper ground of obedience.

If the law be indeed the rule of a believer’s life, where are we to find it presented in the New Testament? Paul evidently had no thought of its being the rule when he penned the following words: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And “as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy” (Gal 6:15). What “rule”? The law? No; But the “new creation.” The law speaks not a word about “new creation.”

Why does not Paul say, As many as walk according to the rule of the Ten Commandments? Is it not evident that the believer has a higher rule by which to walk? Unquestionably. The Ten Commandments, though forming, as a true Christians admit, a part of the canon of inspiration, could never be the rule of life to one who has, through infinite grace, been recreated into the new creation, one who has received new Life in the Lord Jesus Christ. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Ro 8:2)

— Charles Henry Mackintosh (1820-1896)

MJS daily devotional for July 20

“We are to find out in Romans 6, through the gracious teaching of the Spirit of truth, all that happened to the Lord Jesus there on the Cross. Then we will know our own position and standing, since we were judicially in Him there.” -MJS

“Have you ever thought about God’s thought about you, that you are ‘to be conformed to the image of His Son’? ‘It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him’ (Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2).

“This cannot fail. The Lord Jesus presses on our hearts that He brings us into association with Himself. He ‘hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus’ (Eph. 1:3). He puts us in this position answering perfectly to His nature, and with a nature to enjoy it.”

“He imparts to us of Himself in order to qualify us for Himself.”

“Not only is my blessing in heaven, but I need the Lord Jesus’ power to enable me to rise above the sense of my infirmity down here; for this world, instead of contributing to me, makes me feel my weakness and need, and that I must rise out of it to find and enjoy my blessing.

“The very infirmity which this evil age makes me conscious of makes me draw upon the power of Christ, as the One outside it, passing into the heavens, so that I take pleasure in the very infirmity which is exposed here, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” James Butler Stoney (1814-1897)

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No only he who has perfectly kept the law from birth to death will live.

The "LAW " is far more than 10 commandments 600+ is the common account, follow this link if you want more:- What are the 613 commandments in the Old Testament Law? | GotQuestions.org

As this article says. The LAW is meant to lead us to Jesus and it is through faith in him that we are saved.

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Law and Gospel are both necessary to be preached; but the sharp distinction between the two must always be maintained.

The Law cannot make anyone righteous, for before the Law all are held as guilty and sinful. So the preaching of the Law is not for justification; but rather the preaching of the Law serves several uses. The preaching of the Law declares what is right and what is wrong. The preaching of the Law shows us that we are not right, but indeed, we are sinners, unable to please God, unable to be righteous, we deserve the harshest condemnation as deserving death and hell. And thirdly, the preaching of the Law shows us how we ought to live, having been given faith and made new in Christ, we are invited to walk not by our own strength, but to walk by the power of the Holy Spirit who works within us, as we strive with God to live lawfully. The Law, in this third use, cannot and will not make us right with God, but that isn’t the point of the third use of the Law, the point of the third use of the Law is that we should live rightly before our neighbor, here in the world, in the midst of other human beings. So the Christian lives a life of good works not to earn anything from God, but rather to live in concord and communion with God’s will toward our neighbor. After all God doesn’t get hungry, but our neighbor does, so feeding the hungry is a good work not because it makes us righteous before God, but because it is righteousness toward our hungry neighbor.

So the preaching of the Law is necessary, to condemn our sin, to condemn us in our sin and provoke us to repentance. And to showcase the sort of lives we ought to lead and to live. This doesn’t mean observing the particular commandments given only under the Old Covenant-the old things which pointed to the new are done away with–there is no longer new moons and sabbaths, or sacrifices of bulls, goats, and lambs, etc. Circumcision doesn’t mean anything anymore. Etc. But the Law, in its universality and its essence changes not: for from the beginning murder, violence, injustice, deceit, envy, etc have been wrong for they are contrary to the will of God, revealed in the Law.

The preaching of the Gospel, on the other hand, is for our salvation. For sinners have always, and only, ever been saved by the goodness and mercy of God. It is always the Gospel that saves, while the Law always condemns. So none has ever been righteous according to the Law (save one, Christ Jesus our Lord); and the Gospel declares righteousness to the unrighteous, which is the grace of God, for the sake of Jesus Christ who suffered and died once and for all–so that, yes, the Patriarchs and Prophets of old were saved not by the blood of bulls and goats, but by the one Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

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