THE LAW OF CHRIST

"The perfect
law of liberty" vs. religious legalism

1. Salvation is
purely by grace, not works:

Rom.3:28                A
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law

Eph.2:8,9                By
grace (undeserved mercy) are ye saved through faith; it is the gift of God: Not
of works

Tit.3:5a   Not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us

A. Salvation is not
partly by grace & partly by good works:

Rom.11:6                If
by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace

B. Salvation was always
by grace, even in the Old Testament:

Gen.6:8   But Noah found grace in the eyes of
the Lord

Gen.15:6 (Abraham) believed in the Lord; & He
counted it to him for righteousness (See also Rom.4:3,5-8,21,22)

Hab.2:4   The just shall live by his faith

Heb.11:13               [Old
Testament saints] all died in faith...having seen (the promises) afar
off...& were persuaded of them

C. Scrupulously
keeping the Mosaic law never saved anyone:

Jn.1:17    Law given by Moses, but grace
& truth came by Jesus

Rom.3:20                By
the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified

Rom.9:31                Israel,
which followed after the law...hath not attained unto the law of righteousness

Gal.2:16  A man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ (See also Gal.3:11)

Heb.7:19 The law made nothing perfect, but...a better
hope did

2. What was the
Mosaic law?

A. It was a legal
code that God gave Moses upon Mt. Sinai:

Exo.24:12                The
Lord said unto Moses, Come up to Me into the mount...& I will give thee a
law...[to] teach them

(See
also Exo.31:18; 32:15,16,19; 34:1,28.)

B. It was a strict
code of justice & retribution:

Exo.21:23-25          Thou
shalt give life for life...eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for
hand...burning for burning

Heb.10:28               He
that despised (broke) Moses' law died without mercy

C. The ten
commandments were not merely "helpful moral guidelines", but strict laws
carrying the death penalty:

Exo.20:2,3               (1)
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me [Death penalty: Exo.22:20;
Deut.13:1-18.]

Exo.20:4,5               (2)
Thou shalt not make any graven image (Death penalty same as (1). See also
Lev.26:1,30; Deut.4:23-26.]

Exo.20:7  (3) Thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord in vain [Death penalty: Lev.24:10-16]

Exo.20:8-10            (4)
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy [Death penalty: Exo.31:14,15; 35:2.]

Exo.20:12                (5)
Honour thy father & thy mother [Death penalty: Exo.21:15,17; Lev.20:9;
Deut.21:18-21.]

Exo.20:13                (6)
Thou shalt not kill (murder) [Death penalty: Exo. 21:12; Lev.24:17,21;
Num.35:16-31.]

Exo.20:14                (7)
Thou shalt not commit adultery [Death penalty: Lev. 20:10; Deut.22:22.]

Exo.20:15                (8)
Thou shalt not steal [Punishment: Exo.22:7; Pro. 6:30; death penalty: Exo.21:16.]

Exo.20:16                (9)
Thou shalt not bear false witness [Punishment &/or death penalty:
Deut.19:16-21]

Exo.20:17                (10)
Thou shalt not covet anything (of) thy neighbours'

Gal.4:21  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the
law, do ye not hear the law?

D. The ten
commandments were only the beginning; Moses' law contained hundreds
of other commandments:

Deut.27:26             Cursed
be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them (See also
Gal.3:10 )

(See
also Deut.4:13,14a)

E. It was
impossible to avoid guilt or to keep the whole law:

Jam.2:10 Whosoever shall keep the whole law,
& yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all

3. The law served a
purpose only for a time:

Gal.3:19  Wherefore then serveth the law? It was
added because of transgressions till the Seed (Jesus) came

Gal.3:23  Before faith came, we were kept under the
law

Heb.9:10 Carnal ordinances, imposed on them until
the time of reformation

A. It was merely a copy,
a shadow, of the real thing:

Col.2:16,17             Sabbath
days...are a shadow of things to come; but the body [the reality that casts the
shadow] is Christ

Heb.8:5   The example & shadow of
Heavenly things

Heb.9:8b,9             First
tabernacle...a figure for the time then present

Heb.10:1 The law (had) a shadow of good things to come,
& not the very image of the things

1Jn.2:8    A new commandment...because
the darkness is past, & the true light now shineth

B. The law was
impossible to keep:

Jn.7:19    Did not Moses give you the
law, & yet none of you keepeth the law? (See also Acts 7:53)

Acts
15:10             A
yoke upon the neck...which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear

Rom.7:14-19           The
law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. How to perform that which is
good I find not

C. This showed man
he was a sinner in need of grace:

Rom.3:20b              By
the law is the knowledge of sin

Rom.7:7  I had not known sin, but by the law

Rom.3:19                That...all
the world may become guilty before God

Gal.3:24  The law was our schoolmaster to bring us
unto Christ

(See
also Rom.4:15)

D. The old law was
unprofitable & eventually to be replaced:

Rom.8:3  What the law could not do, in that it was
weak

Heb.7:18 There is verily a disannulling of the [Mosaic
law]...for the weakness & unprofitableness thereof

4. Atonement
(payment) for breaking the law:

A. Because men
constantly broke the law, forgiveness was needed, & a blood sacrifice was
required:

Lev.4:1-4                If
a soul shall sin...against the commandments of Lord ...bring a
(bull)...kill the (bull) before the Lord

Lev.17:11               It
is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul

Heb.9:22 Without shedding of blood is no
remission

(See
also Lev.6:2,3,6,7; 16:3,5-11,15-22.)

B. But this never
permanently freed man from sin:

Heb.10:1-4,11        It is
not possible that the blood of bulls & of goats should take away sins...can
never take away sins

C. But Jesus made a
perfect & permanent sacrifice:

Mat.26:28               This
is My blood...which is shed for remission of sins

Heb.9:7-14             By
His Own blood...obtained eternal redemption for us

Heb.9:25-28a         Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many

Heb.10:10-12         We
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all

1Pet.1:18,19           Ye
were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ

1Jn.1:7b  The blood of Jesus Christ...cleanseth us
from all sin

(See
also Jn.1:29; Rom.5:9.)

5. The new
law, the law of Christ:

A. God promised a new
law to replace the old Mosaic law:

Jer.31:31-33            The
days come that I will make a new covenant...I will ...write (My law) in their hearts

Heb.8:7-10             Finding
fault with (that first covenant), He saith, I will make a new covenant

B. Names of the new
law:

A
new covenant (Jer.31:31); the law of faith (Rom.3:27); the law of the Spirit of
life (Rom.8:2); the law of righteousness (Rom.9:31); the law of Christ
(Gal.6:2); the new testament (Heb.9:15); the perfect law of liberty (Jam.1:25);
the royal law (Jam.2:8); the holy commandment (2Pet.2:21).

C. Jesus' death on
the cross fulfilled & ended the law:

Mat.5:17 I am not come to destroy (the law), but to
fulfil

Jn.19:30  (Jesus) said, It is finished [When He
died for our sins, the Mosaic law ended for believers]

Rom.10:4                For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth

Col.2:14  Blotting out [wiping the slate completely
clean of] the ordinances (the law)...nailing it to His cross

D. The old Mosaic
law is now discarded (for believers in Jesus):

Heb.8:13 He hath made the first (covenant) old. That
which decayeth & waxeth old is ready to vanish away

Heb.10:9 He taketh away first (law), that He may establish
second

Heb.8:6   A better covenant...established
upon better promises

E. True believers
are no longer bound by the rigid Mosaic law:

Rom.6:14b              Ye
are not under the law, but under grace

Gal.3:24,25             The
law was our schoolmaster. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under
a schoolmaster

1Tim.1:9 The law is not made for a righteous man, but
for the lawless...ungodly...profane...murderers

F. Jesus has liberated
us from the Mosaic law:

Rom.7:4  Ye...are become dead to the law by the
body of Christ

Rom.7:6  Now we are delivered from the law

Rom.8:1,2               The
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin
& death

Gal.3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law

G. Jesus' Spirit
& truth gives us freedom:

Jn.8:36    If the Son shall make you
free, ye shall be free indeed

2Cor.3:17                Where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty

Gal.5:1    The liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free

Gal.5:5    Through the Spirit...hope of
righteousness by faith

Gal.5:18  If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not
under the law

H. Read Jesus'
liberating Words to be set free:

Jn.8:31,32               Ye
shall know the truth, & truth shall make you free

Rom.10:17              Faith
cometh by hearing...the Word of God

Jam.1:25 Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty,
& continueth therein...shall be blessed in his deed

6. Now the
commandment is to love God & our neighbour:

A. This fulfils
the law, & fulfils your only obligation:

Mat.7:12 All things...ye would that men should do to
you, do...to them: for this is the law (See Lk.6:31)

Mat.22:36-40         Thou
shalt love God...thou shalt love thy neighbour. On these two commandments
(depend) all the law

Rom.13:8                He
that loveth another hath fulfilled the law

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

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

Jam.2:8   If ye fulfil the royal law... Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well

(See
also Mk.12:29-31)

B. Deeds done in
pure, unselfish love are lawful:

Gal.5:22,23             Fruit
of the Spirit is love...against such there is no law

1Cor.6:12                All
things are lawful unto me (See also 1Cor.10:23 )

Tit.1:15a Unto the pure, all things are pure

Lk.11:41b               Behold,
all things are clean unto you

C. But you have to
have faith for your actions:

Rom.14:14              To
him that esteemeth (thinks) any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean

Rom.14:22              Happy
is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth

Rom.14:23              He
that doubteth is damned (judged)...for whatsoever is not of faith is sin

Tit.1:15b Unto (the) defiled and unbelieving is nothing
pure

7. Living the new
law:

A. In some ways,
the law of Christ is stricter than Moses' law:

Mat.5:38-42           [Exo.21:24
said:] An eye for an eye, & a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, resist
not evil

Mat.5:43-45           [The
law] said, Love thy neighbour, & hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love
your enemies

Lk.10:25-37            Thou
shalt love...thy neighbour as thyself. Who is my neighbour? [Even those you'd
normally dislike]

Jam.4:17 Him that knoweth to do good & doeth it
not...it is sin

B. Only Jesus can
give you the power to live His law:

Phi.2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both
to will & to do of His good pleasure

Phi.4:13  I can do all things through Christ which
strengthens me

2Cor.5:14a              The
love of Christ constraineth (compels) us

2Cor.12:9                My
(God's) grace is sufficient for thee

8. Warnings against
misusing the new law:

A. Selfish,
unloving liberties:

Rom.14:15              If
thy brother be grieved...now walkest thou not (in love). Destroy not him with
thy [liberty]

Rom.14:20              All
things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth
with offence

1Cor.6:12                All
things are lawful...but all things not expedient

1Cor.8:9,12             Take
heed lest...this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak
(See 1Cor.8:all)

1Cor.10:23              All
things are lawful for me, but all things edify not

B. Walk in love,
not in lust & sin:

Rom.6:1,2               Shall
we...sin, that grace may abound? God forbid

Gal.5:13  Use not liberty as an occasion to the
flesh, but by love serve one another

1Pet.2:16                As
free, & not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the
servants of God

(See
also Rom.3:8; 14:all; 15:1,2.)

9. Beware of
falling into religious legalism:

A. The concision:
Believers still bound by the law:

Acts
21:20             Many
thousands of Jews...which believe (in Jesus); & they are all zealous of the
(Mosaic) law

Phi.3:2,3 Beware of evil workers, beware of the concision

(See
also Acts 15:1,24; Gal.6:12,13; Rom.2:28,29.)

B. Don't be
entangled again by the law:

Gal.3:1,3 Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit,
are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Gal.5:1    Stand fast therefore in the
liberty...& be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage [to the law]

Col.2:20-22             If
ye be dead with Christ...why are ye subject to ordin-  ances...the commandments & doctrines
of men?

C. Legalism is
self-righteousness & denies Jesus' sacrifice:

Rom.10:3                Going
about to establish their righteousness, have not submitted unto the
righteousness of God

Gal.2:21  If righteousness come by the law, then
Christ (died) in vain (for no reason) (See also Gal.5:4)

D. The law can't
save you or make you righteous:

Acts
13:39             By
Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not
be justified by the law

Rom.9:31,32           Israel,
which followed after the law...hath not attained to the law of
righteousness

Phi.3:3-9 Not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ

E. Those who
attempt to obey the law are under bondage:

Gal.3:10  Cursed is everyone that continueth not in
all things

Gal.4:21-31             [The
allegory of the two covenants, one of freedom, the other of bondage]

Gal.5:2-4 [Who tries to keep the law]...is a debtor to do
whole law

Jam.2:10 Whosoever shall keep the whole law, & yet
offend in one point, he is guilty of all

10. Trying to
legalistically keep the law is not God's will:

A. Legalists
completely miss the main issue:

Mat.15:2-6             Why
do Thy disciples transgress tradition of elders? Ye transgress commandment of
God by your tradition

Mat.23:23               Woe!
For ye pay tithe of [tiny spices but] have omitted weightier (more important) matters...mercy
& faith

Mat.23:24               Ye...strain
at a gnat, & swallow a camel

Mk.7:6-8 Their heart is far from Me...ye hold the
tradition of men, [such] as the washing of pots & cups

Jn.5:8-11 [Jesus told a lame man, Take up thy bed &
walk. The legalists ignored the miraculous healing & told him it was not
lawful to carry his bed on the Sabbath]

B. Legalism is a
crushing weight to those it is imposed upon:

Mat.23:4 They bind heavy burdens & grievous
to be borne, & lay them on men's shoulders

2Cor.3:6b               The
letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life

C. The solution:
Walk in God's love & Spirit:

Mic.6:8   What doth the Lord require of thee,
but to...love mercy, & to walk humbly with thy God?

Jn.6:63a  It is the Spirit that quickeneth (makes
alive); the flesh profiteth nothing

Rom.7:6  We should serve in newness of spirit,
& not in the oldness of the letter [of the law]

2Cor.3:6a                Not...the
letter [of the law], but of the Spirit

Gal.6:2    Bear one another's burdens,
& so fulfil law of Christ

11. Even under the
Mosaic law, God's love & mercy prevailed:

A. God always
wanted love & mercy more than legalism:

Hos.6:6   I desired mercy, & not
sacrifice; & the knowledge of God more than [sacrifices] (See also
Mat.12:7)

Mic.6:6-8                Shall
I come before Him with...offerings? What doth the Lord require of thee, but
to...love mercy

Mk.12:33                To
love Him with all the heart...& to love his neighbour... is more
than all...offerings & sacrifices

(See
also Deut.10:12; 1Sam.15:22; Psa.40:6; 51:16,17; 69:30,31; Isa.1:11-16;
Jer.7:22,23.)

B. He allowed exceptions
& the Mosaic law to be broken:

2Chr.30:1-3            [King
Hezekiah celebrated the passover in second month, in stead of first--Exo.12]
(Also Num.9:1-11)

2Chr.30:16-18a      Many in the
congregation were not sanctified...yet did they eat the passover otherwise
than it was written

2Chr.30:18b-20      Hezekiah prayed,
The Lord pardon every one...though he be not cleansed. The Lord hearkened to
Hezekiah

Mat.12:5 On the Sabbath days the priests...profane the
Sabbath, & are blameless (See also Jn.7:22,23)

Mat.12:1-4             David...did
eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat (See 1Sam.21:6)

C. Even the highly
religious, those bound by the law, broke it:

Exo.31:14,15           [The
Mosaic law:] Whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall
surely be put to death

Mat.12:11               [They
pulled their sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath]

Lk.13:15  [All of them led their ox or ass away to
watering then]

Jn.7:22,23               Ye
on the Sabbath day circumcise a man

D. Certainly then, we
who are not bound by it, can break it:

Mat.12:10-13         It
is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days [even if it means
breaking the Mosaic law]

Lk.13:11-16            Ought
not this woman...be [freed] on the Sabbath day?

Jn.7:22-24               [If
ye break the Sabbath, why] are ye angry at Me, because I have
made a man whole on the Sabbath day?

(See
also Jn.9:14-16)

Key chapters: Rom.3,4,5,7,9,10,14; Gal.2-5; Heb.3-11.