God Without Religion_ Can It Really Be This Simple_ - Andrew Farley [11]
What kind of sin did Paul struggle with under law? The sin of coveting. So which commandment was bringing Paul to his knees? “Thou shall not covet”—one of the Ten. So even the Ten Commandments stir up “coveting of every kind” (Rom. 7:8 NASB). Do we expect a different result than the apostle Paul got as we use the Ten Commandments as a source for godly living?
Paul concludes that “apart from the Law sin is dead” (Rom. 7:8 NASB). In this context, he means that apart from the Ten Commandments (specifically “Thou shall not covet”), sin is dead. So if we Christians hope for victory over sin, we shouldn’t have any relationship with the law, not even the Big Ten. If we hang on to the law as our guide, we can expect sin, guilt, and a whole lot of confusion.
The law is ineffective to save us. It’s ineffective to grow us. It’s just plain ineffective for believers (Heb. 7:18). We have no practical, everyday use for it as a guide in our Christian lives.
For us, it’s now obsolete (Heb. 8:13).
Good for Nothing?
But isn’t the law still good for something? After all, in Matthew 5, Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. (Matt. 5:17–18)
Last time I checked, heaven and earth were still here. So the law is still around too—it’s not abolished. But if the law doesn’t help us Christians live upright lives, then what use is it?
Of course the law is still useful today. The law has a specific purpose on this side of the cross. But apparently we’re not the first to misunderstand that purpose:
They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers. (1 Tim. 1:7–9)
Here, Paul tells the young pastor Timothy that he should beware of those that misapply the law to Christians (“the righteous”). So if the law isn’t for believers, there’s only one other group it can be for:
Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. (Gal. 3:23–25)
The law tutors us as unbelievers, showing us our sin. But once we come to faith in Jesus, we no longer have use for the law. Christians are not under the law and not to be supervised by the law after salvation (Gal. 3:25; 5:18; Rom. 6:14).
The Ten Commandments and other moral laws, even as understood intuitively by our consciences, are essential to nonbelievers. These standards point out how every one of us is born with an addiction to sin: “The requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them” (Rom. 2:15). The law accuses us, and we attempt to defend ourselves. We live the best we can. But once we admit our guilt and cross over into new life in Jesus, our relationship with the law is over. We enter into that new contract with God. We’re ready for the new way of the Spirit.
Making It Personal
Does a clean break from law religion sound too simplistic? Well, I hope it sounds simplistic, because it should be simple. Jesus said we should approach the kingdom of God like little children (Mark 10:15). And Paul