Trap 2
Beginning Bible students also fall into
the trap of believing that there is a radical difference between Law and Gospel,
or between Law and Grace. In some circles
this difference is so pronounced that a week will not go by without emphasizing
it. Little by little it becomes so dominant
that nothing else is seen in the Bible: thus the rubric replaces the very words
of God the Word, and the hearers become dormant and unfed.
Frequently, such ideas are couched in
terms of distinctions: there is a distinction between Law and Gospel, or there is
a distinction between Law and Grace. So what
can the word, distinction, possibly mean?
Does this not mean that Law and Gospel, or Law and Grace do not have the
same content, essence, and meaning? This,
we claim, is wrong; no such distinction really exists.
Have you not read:
“Honor your father and your mother: that your
days may be long on the land which the Lord your God gives you.” — Exodus 20:12
How can you possible read this without
realizing that Christ is the only child to ever, honor His Father and His mother
perfectly? So, planted right here in the
middle of the Law of Moses is the assurance that the Son comes to fulfill all of
the Law’s righteous demands for us. How is
it, then, that we can think of the Law as different in content, essence, or meaning
than the Gospel?
“Do not think that I have come to destroy the
Law, or the Prophets: I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill: for truly I say
to you, until heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one tittle shall never ever
pass from the Law, until everything is fulfilled.” — Matthew 5:17-18
“When they had arrived, they said to Him, Master,
we know that You are true, and show no favoritism to any man: for You do not regard
the status of men, but teach the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute
to Caesar, or not?” — Mark 12:14
Here, both Jesus and His adversaries
understand that this tests to see if Jesus really obeys the Law. Jesus prevails because He does obey the Law.
“A certain lawyer stood up, tempting Him, saying,
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? [Jesus] said to him, What is written in the Law? How do you understand it? He replied, You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind;
and your neighbor as yourself. [Jesus] said
to him, You have answered correctly: do this, and you shall live.” — Luke 10:25-28
If the Law and the Gospel were really
different in kind or in quality how could both Jesus and the lawyer understand correctly
that the Law is about love? Wouldn’t the
Law necessarily be about condemnation if Law and Gospel or Law and Grace were really
distinct? Or how is it that the Law is about
Jesus, Who is the Gospel, the living Grace of God?
“Philip finds Nathanael, and says to him, We have
found Him, of Whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, wrote, Jesus of Nazareth,
the son of Joseph.” — John 1:45
Jesus, while teaching the Law says:
“Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none
of you keeps the Law? Why do you go about [seeking] to kill me?” — John 7:19
And so Paul understands the meaning of
the Law to be about the Gospel of Christ:
“This I confess to you, that after the way which
they call heresy, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which
are written in the Law and in the Prophets….” — Acts 24:14
“When they set a day for [Paul], many came to
him at his house; to whom he explained and witnessed about the kingdom of God, persuading
them concerning Jesus, both from the Law of Moses, as well as from the Prophets,
from morning until evening.” — Acts 28:23
So how is it that the Law justifies if
the Law is really distinct from the Gospel in nature?
“For not the hearers of the Law are just before
God, but the doers of the Law shall be justified: for when the Gentiles, who do
not have the Law, do the Law by nature; these, not having the Law, are Law within
themselves: which proves the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness, so that their thoughts either accuse or else excuse them.”
— Romans 2:13-15
Or why would the Law be important to
the Gentiles in any way if Law and Gospel really differ in kind.
“For circumcision really profits, if you keep
the Law: but if you are a Lawbreaker, your circumcision is made uncircumcision. So, if the uncircumcised keep the righteousness
of the Law, shall not uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? Shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if
it fulfill the law, judge you, who by letter and circumcision break the Law?” —
Romans 2:25-27
So if keeping the Law is righteousness
for the uncircumcised, how can it be different from the Gospel?
“I came as a Jew to the Jews, so that I might
persuade Jews; to those who are under Law, as under Law, so that I might persuade
those who are under Law; to those who are without law, as without law, not without
law toward God, yet in Christ’s Law, so that I might persuade those who are without
Law.” — 1 Corinthians 9:20-22
The answer is that the difference does
not come from the Law itself, but from the attitude and means by which we approach
the Law: for the Law itself is always good and always filled with the Gospel. The Law always had as its intent that it be approachable
through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Jews seeking to approach the Law in the flesh,
put themselves under the Law, finding only condemnation. The Gentiles being without the Law, made no approach,
finding blessing in the obedience of simple conscience. Paul, who is in Christ, builds on the Law by the
power of the Holy Spirit. This, then, is
the better way with which Paul persuades Jews under the Law, and Gentiles without
Law to come to the Law of Jesus and become builders on its foundation. This always was the original intention expressed
in Exodus 20:12.
“So then the
Law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, in order that we might be justified
by faith.” — Galatians 3:24
It is absolutely impossible that a tutor
accomplish any goal by teaching that which is contrary. Nor does a tutor succeed via condemnation. The Law itself is given only to a redeemed people
and speaks only of freedom and love, condemning only those things which oppose freedom
and love. “The Law was our tutor to bring us to Christ,” precisely
because the Law teaches the Gospel with unmatched clarity. What Galatians repeatedly condemns is not the
Law; but rather the works of the Law done in the flesh. So in contrast to dead works of the Law done in
the flesh, we fulfill the Law of Christ.
“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill
the Law of Christ.” — Galatians 6:2
So where did this perverted use of the
Law come from? Did it not come from the Pharisees? Is this not Paul’s whole argument in Romans? The Sadducees did not believe much of anything;
they were happy in their unbelief as long as they kept their temple power: so Christ
drove them away. The Pharisees, on the other
hand, applied rule upon rule in order to keep the Law by the flesh. Neither Pharisees nor Sadducees received Jesus,
the King of the Law; neither of them sought to keep the Law by the Spirit.
“It is the Spirit that brings to life; the flesh
profits nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are Spirit, and they are life.”
— John 6:63
It has often been said that the Law is
a curb on society, a mirror of reality, and a guide for sanctification. This approach completely ignores the context of
the giving of the Law: thus it is terribly misleading.
First, the Law is given to a redeemed
people, it is not given to bring people to redemption. Pesach, Pascha, or Passover, which corresponds
to the death and resurrection of Christ is now a past event. The Law is most certainly not an overture for
evangelism. So the Law builds on redemption
and is in no way its precursor.
Second, the giving of the Law is most
closely related to Shavuot, Weeks, or Pentecost. Pentecost marks seven cosmic events: the giving
of the Law, the establishment of Israel as a new nation under Law, the
ascension of Jesus into heaven, the seating of Jesus on the throne of David in heaven,
the opening of the Scroll in heaven, the coming of the Holy Ghost with power, and
the birth of The Church. Hence, the Law is
not our tutor bringing us to Christ as our Savior: that is a Passover act. The Law is our tutor bringing us to Christ as
our LORD, Master, and King. So the Law commands
to “honor father and mother” as its centerpiece, which is an act of Pentecost.
Third, so yes, the Law is the only guide
for sanctification, since it teaches us how to live a Christ-like life. Yet, even this is misinterpreted.
What we frequently have in mind when
we think of curb, mirror, and guide is the horribly punitive model left over from
the Middle Ages: that the Law is primarily about the punishment of sin and sinners. If we wish to find such a model, we should look
to Passover, not to Pentecost: for Passover is behind us. Yet, what does the Law itself say? “I have brought you out of the land Egypt, out
of the house of slavery.” The Law is not
a litany of threats about sin, it is the condemnation of all things that tend to
slavery. In the seminal idea of freedom it
is not possible to list all things that are free, it is only possible to name the
boundaries of freedom, which may not be crossed.
So, if the Law is the only guide for
sanctification, it is only so in Christ-like living; it is only so in absolute real
and perfect freedom; it can only be so in love, hence the exhortation to love both
God and neighbor; and it has nothing to do with the terror of sin. The terror of sin should have been sufficiently
learned in Egypt: for the terror of sin is learned from sinful behavior.
What shall we then say about the Law
as the mirror of reality? Does it help us
to see our own sin and corruption more accurately? Is that what the Law says about itself? In no way.
The only true mirror of reality is in, “looking unto Jesus… (Hebrews 12:2;
Jude 1:21)”: for here alone is the Perfect Man in the fullness of His stature. So, once again, our only mirror can be found in
Christ-like living, freedom, and love. Hence,
it is not a mirror at all; rather, it is a brilliant flame in the darkness, our
tutor, guiding us to Christ.
How then can the Law possibly be a curb
on society? Has any person ever hated or
forsaken sin out of mere fear of the consequences? Au contraire!
“The goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4; 11:22)”, and repentance
follows redemption.
