Adult Bible Study: The Law

LESSON:

Our Key Verse says that the knowledge of sin, that is the awareness of what is right and what is wrong, comes by the law because the law identifies sin (Romans 7:7). By identifying sin, the law informs the sinner that he is lost and leads him to the redemption offered by Christ. Redemption gives the recipient freedom from the death sentence of the law and also the gift of faith to obey the law in his life. To live a spiritual life in Christ is the main purpose of God’s Law, to teach us what things are righteous and to identify those things that are wrong so we can do those things which are right. We show our love for Him by keeping His law (1 John 5:3) and will receive mercy (Exodus 20:6). If a certain act is forbidden by God’s law, the commission of that act is a sin because the law forbidding it has been violated. Sin is the breaking of the law (1 John 3:4). Therefore, if there is no law to disobey then no sin can take place (Romans 4:15). Without the law, there is no sin (Romans 5:13) and it should be obvious to the most casual observer that there is definitely sin in this world. All have sinned, (Romans 3:23) so the law must exist.

Some faiths would have us believe that the law is no longer valid, that it has been “done away”. Some of the Scriptures used by them are:

Romans 6:14:
How does sin have dominion over you? By making you liable under the law to die for your sins. “Under grace” does not mean “above the law”, it means that the person is no longer under the sentence of death because their sins have been pardoned.
Romans 8:7:
The ones who preach that the law has been done away with assume that the carnal mind is the mind of the flesh. Not so! The carnal mind is the unconverted mind (1 Corinthians 2:16). They also believe that “not subject to the law” means that we are under grace and therefore we are not accountable to the law. Everyone is accountable to it. Those under grace have repented and are willingly obedient to it, while the unsaved are most surely subject to the law of damnation (Colossians 3:25; Mark 16:16). Use of this verse to render the law null and void shows a total lack of understanding it
Galatians 2:16:
“Justified”, occurring three times in this verse, means “rendered innocent” and repeats the same thought as expressed in our Key Verse. Salvation (being rendered innocent) cannot be earned by works (the keeping of the law) however, it is a free gift of grace bestowed upon the one who believes in and accepts the sacrifice of Jesus dying on the cross as the substitute death in their stead. The thought expressed by this Scripture in no way implies that the law has been “done away”, but merely that it cannot save you. Only your acceptance of Christ’s death in your stead can do that.
Colossians 2:14:
This is a favorite of many who insist that the law no longer applies. Their position is that the “handwriting of ordinances against us” was the law. Let’s apply a little common sense to this matter. Do you think that a law prohibiting someone to kill you is written against you? Think about it. What was really nailed to the cross? Jesus! Why was He nailed to the cross? To die! Why did He have to die? To atone for our sins so we would not have to die ourselves. What was the result of His death? We, the sinner, were declared guiltless and rendered innocent of the penalty for our sins. What do the Record Books of Heaven reflect about us after this? Blank pages in our Sin Record, blotted out by the blood of Jesus (Isaiah 44:22). What was actually nailed to the cross, metaphorically, was the record of our sins!! Not the law.
Hebrews 7:19:
“Perfect” in this verse means complete, to accomplish or consummate. The law did not complete anyone’s salvation, but had to be repeated every year (Hebrews 10:1-4). The blood of animals cannot take away sin, it only covers them temporarily. The ritual had to be repeated year after year. The “better hope” that was brought in was Christ, whose atoning death paid the penalty once and for all (Hebrews 10:10). The law was never intended to be the permanent resolution for sin, but only a guide to lead men to righteousness, so implying that the Crucifixion replaced all the law is misleading, as we shall see later.

There is a very good example of the law becoming void under certain conditions (Romans 7:1-3; I Corinthians 7:39). The widow is released from the law binding her to her husband when he dies, freeing her to remarry if she so chooses. According to the doctrine of some churches, this means that the law has been abolished and all the women in the land can go out and commit bigamy. This is nonsense, of course. We can easily understand that the law which no longer applies to this widow still applies to all other women still married. It has not been “done away”. The widow is free from the marriage law the same as the saved person is free from the death penalty for sin, but the rest of the married women are still bound by the marriage law the same as the lost are still under the death penalty for their sins and need the law to show them the error of their ways. The Christian is free from the law of sin and death just as the widow is free from the law of marriage, but Christians are subject to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, the law of obedience, whereas the lost are still subject to the law of death just as wives, in the same world as widows, are still subject to the marriage vows. Basically, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ is love. If the law is abolished, there is only condemnation and the death sentence, leaving the lost with no pathway to redemption (1 Timothy 1:9). The law has been compared to a schoolmaster, or teacher, that guides the sinner to salvation (Galatians 3:22-25). After graduating from school, do you forget and never use all you learned, burn your books and hang the teacher? Of course not! The knowledge you acquired in school is essential to live a better life. So the law, which brought you to salvation, has accomplished its task in doing so, but the continued observance of it is necessary for a better life also -- an eternal life. (Romans 8:2). The realization by the sinner of his lost state comes from the instruction of the law, then after redemption, the law as a schoolmaster is replaced by Christ, our High Priest.

The purpose of the law is to get us on the right path and keep us there. Jesus made it very clear when He said that He came to insure that God’s will, revealed through the law, should be “obeyed as it should be” [Thayer’s Lexicon], the meaning of the word “fulfil” in the verse. (Matthew 5:17-19). This declaration by Jesus Himself makes it quite clear that His Crucifixion had nothing to do with the extinction of all the law. We are told to use and keep the law (James 2:8; Romans 2:13) because without it there is no guidance to salvation and no reliable pattern for our behavior after salvation. Salvation is not earned by keeping the law, it is found through the law. Obedience is the result of true repentance. Salvation is a gift through the grace of God, Who is merciful toward us and has accepted the price paid for our sins by His Son (I John 4:9). Certain laws were abolished because of the sacrifice of God’s Son, but not all of them. Which types were brought to an end and which types remain today will be the subject of the next lessons, since some of the Old Testament laws are no longer observed. Which ones are they? In the next several lessons we will discuss the four different types of law and how they apply today.