What I love about Paul, is that he ferociously defends
the Gospel. He refuses to allow anyone to add or take away from the work Christ
has done. We see this especially when responding to a group of Christian-Pharisees
called ‘the circumcision party’ who said Gentiles needed to be circumcised to
be saved. Paul said he wishes that they would castrate themselves (Gal 5:12). We owe much to Paul and the freedom that comes by the
doctrine of justification by grace. This is why he was so popular among Protestant reformers like Martin Luther who were publicly rejecting the Roman
Catholics works based salvation.
But, could it be possible that this focus on grace has
caused many to misunderstand Paul’s position on the Law? Many would argue that
“None of the Old Testament law is binding on Christians today. When Jesus died
on the cross, He put an end to the Old Testament law” (gotquestions.com). But
is this a reliable interpretation? Peter warns his audience, and us today that:
There are some things in [Paul’s letters] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability (2Pet 3:15-17).
As we have explored in this series of ‘Between the
Covenants’, we have found that there is a real continuity between the Old and
New Covenant, and the real essence of both covenants is the way a Holy God has
related to an unholy people. Under the Old Covenant, the Law was such a
significant part of that. But what about now under the New Covenant where Jesus’
satisfaction of the requirements for a perfect, once for all sacrifice, which
is the basis for our forgiveness and being made right with God? How does the
Law fit into this covenant? What is
Paul’s attitude towards the Law in response to Grace?
Paul explains this quite plainly in Romans 3:31, “Do we
then overthrow the Law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold
the law.” Quite clearly, Paul continues to uphold the Law (Torah), even in view
of justification and salvation being a free gift in response to our faith in
Jesus as saviour and Lord. But there are other places that Paul seems to be
suggesting that the law is contrary to Grace, and that it is actually done away
with. What do we do with those passages?
Before we explore them, I think it would be helpful to review
the meaning of Law and look at how Paul uses it. First, we need to recognise
that Paul in his letters actually uses law (nomos) in more than one way. Strongs explains
that the word nómos ("law") can refer not only to
"the Law," but also "law" as a general
principle (or both simultaneously). Moreover, “the particular
sense(s) of (nómos) is determined by the context.” And
so, by looking at the context of the occurrences of Paul’s use of nomos, we find the following seven laws
being referred to:
1. The Law of God, or Torah (Rom 3:31, 7:22-5, 8:7)
- These are God’s instructions on how to live a moral and
Holy life.
As a Jew, Pharasee, and scholar of the Hebrew Bible, Paul
was most likely thinking Torah rather
than nomos. Jeff Benner explains the
difference as follows: “To interpret the Hebrew word torah as law is about the
same as interpreting the word father as disciplinarian. While the father is a
disciplinarian he is much more and in the same way torah is much more than
law.” And therefore it is in this light that we must understand Paul when he
speaks about God’s Law.
The other uses are more in line with the concept of nomos as principle.
2. Law of Sin (Rom 7:23-5)
- This is the principle of how disobedience to the Law
from the flesh makes people accountable to sin (Rom 3:19-20, Jer 44:23)
3. Law of Sin and Death (Rom 5:12, 8:2; Gen 2:16-17)
- The consequence of sin leading to death, to which we
are in bondage to apart from Christ
4. Law of Spirit of Life (Rom 8:2)
- The Spirit sets us free, exposes our lost reality, and
leads us to the Law of God, which leads us to life
5. Law of Faith (Rom 3:27)
- The Law of faith describes the process of having
confidence and trust in the word of God, making it the foundation of how we are
to live
6. Law of Righteousness (Rom 9:31)
- The instruction to live out our faith and righteousness
by the Spirit, as opposed to living in disobedience by our flesh
7. Law of Christ (1Cor 9:21)
- Jesus’ instruction, example, and empowerment to live
according to the Law of God.
So with this range in mind, let’s consider the main
examples of where Paul seems to suggest that the Torah no longer applies to
Christians.
Are We No Longer
Under the Law?
According to Romans 6:14:
“…sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
This passage actually raises two questions when it comes
to understanding it?
Were people before
Jesus not under grace?
What does it mean
to be under the law, and what law?
Firstly, as Deuteronomy 7:7 explains, the Lord did not
set his affection on Israel because of anything they had done, or their size.
God chose to love them because he chose to love them. Also, as Romans 4:1-5
explains, Abraham was justified by grace through faith, and not by works. So
grace existed before Jesus. Moreover, the Law of God is not contrary to grace.
The giving of the Law was actually an act of grace. It told the people how to
live in peace with God and one another, and reveals the reality of sin,
judgement, and forgiveness. The Law was considered by its initial recipients,
to be a blessing and a demonstration of God’s favour (Deut 4:8).
Secondly, the context of the passage helps to understand
what being ‘under the law’ means, and what law it is referring to. Earlier, in
Romans 6:6 Paul explains, “We know that our old self was crucified with
[Jesus] in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that
we would no longer be enslaved to sin”, and therefore, as verse 14 explains,
that ‘Sin has no dominion’ over the Christian. This means, that the Christian
was once a slave to sin (Rom 6:18), but now, no longer under its authority
because of grace. So can we equate no longer being under sin to being under the
Law of God?
Paul rhetorically asks later in Romans 7:7, Is God’s law sin? His response in
Greek, moi genoito!, the strongest
way possible to say ‘No!’ So the use of
law in Romans 6:14 cannot be referring to the Law of God. The logical problem
with such an interpretation is that since God’s law defines sin, and if the Law
no longer exists then sin no longer exists, and therefore, what would we need
grace for?
So, based on the context of the passage, we can see that
Paul is talking about the Law of Sin and Death, and not the Law of God. The
reason Jesus’ death frees us from this law is because the wages of sin is death
(Rom 6:23). And so, if we are united with Christ (including His death) the Law
sees us as having already been given the punishment for disobedience, and
therefore no longer under the condemnation of the Law. Paul also explains that
the implications of this is that we have been transferred from slaves to sin
(disobedience of the Torah [1Jn 3:5]), to slaves to righteousness (obedience of
the Torah [Rom 2:13]). As John Piper explains, “…when [Paul] said, ‘You are not
under law but under grace’… this does not mean: you don't have to keep the law. It means you are not burdened
by it as a job description of how to earn the wages of salvation” (emphasis
added).
The truth of the Gospel is that obedience to the Law cannot
free us from the law of sin and death, only forgiveness by grace through faith
can achieve that. But that forgiveness frees us to live in a deep and empowered
way of obedience to the Law.
Died to the Law
To die to something can generally be taken to mean that
it is no longer relevant to our lives. The Bible talks about dying to sin,
meaning that you are denying your sinful nature control over your life and now
living under the authority of God. But Paul says in a number of places that he
has ‘died to the law’, and therefore it makes sense according the phrase’s
common understanding to see that to mean the Law is no longer an authority over
his life. Let’s consider two passages of scripture where he says this to see if
that is what he meant.
In Romans 7:6, Paul says “But now we are released from
the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in
the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” The typical interpretation of this is that we no longer
need to do what the Law says because we are released from its authority. We now
just need to follow how the Sprit leads us. But is this a faithful
interpretation?
Looking at the broader context of the passage, we find
Paul describing how his actions are held captive by the flesh, such as in verse
5: “For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the
law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.” But to
suggest that here Paul is saying, ‘the law is bad and now we have been set free
from having to keep it’ is to ignore the rest of the chapter. In it, Paul
explains that the law is not sin, rather, “the law is holy, and the commandment
is holy and righteous and good” (v12). Also, it definitely wasn’t (moi genoito) the law that makes us sin,
“It [is] sin, producing death in [us] through what is good” (v13). The reason
sin can do this is because, “the law is spiritual, but I am of the
flesh, sold under sin” (v14). So it is unlikely that Paul is talking about
being released from the Law of God that held (past tense) us captive. Rather, we have been set free from the law
of sin: that which causes us to disobey God’s Law. As we looked at above from
Romans 6, we were once slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to righteousness.
Before we received the Holy Spirit, we only had the will of the flesh to try
and keep God’s Law, but now that we have the Spirit, we have the ability and
empowerment to follow and obey His Law. So let’s paraphrase verse 6 with this understanding:
“But now we are released from the law of sin, having died to that which held
us in disobedience and death, so that
we obey the Torah in the power of the Spirit and not in the old
way of the written code.” This is a fulfilment of what was spoken through
Jeremiah: ‘I will write my law on their heart’ (Jer 31:33) as God uses His
Spirit to acheive this.
Was the Law done away with
at the Cross?
A verse used to suggest that Jesus did away with the law
is Colossians 2:14, usually quoted in the King James:
“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances [commands/requirements]
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross”
But did Jesus really nail the Law to the cross and
crucify it?
Firstly the context of this passage is about our
justification, and not our sanctification, as demonstrated in the previous
verse: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having
forgiven us all our trespasses…”
Secondly, there are two layers of understandings of the
Greek which reads, cheirographon tois
dogmasin; “Cheirographon means anything written by hand, but
can more specifically apply to a legal document, bond or note of debt [and] Dogmasin refers
to decrees, laws or ordinances” (Henn).
1. Dogmasis (or
dogma) refers here to the requirements of the law, specifically in
terms of the punishments and penalties for sin (i.e. death), which reflects the
understanding of cheirographon as a legal notice of debt and the salvation
context of the passage. Also, the reference to ‘it’ is singular, whereas dogma is plural, suggesting ‘it’ is not
the ordinances and laws etc… In crucifixion, only two things were nailed to a
cross: the offender, and a decree of their offence. Thus, in His death, Jesus
justified us by nullifying the debt of our sin. This comes out the best in the
ESV: “cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal
demands.”
2. One could also understand dogma as referring to “the ‘decrees, laws and ordinances’ of the
society in which we lived. Now that we have repented and accepted Christ, we
have embarked on a new way of life and are living by God's standards and
values” (Henn).
Paul uses similar language in Ephesians 2:14-15:
“For he himself is our peace, who has made us
both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by
abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances (dogmasin), that he might create in
himself one new man in place of the two…”
When interpreting this passage, it’s important to
remember that the focus and context of this passage is the breaking down of the
wall of hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles who “separated from
Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the
covenants of promise” (v12). And so, like Colossians 2, Paul is talking about
those things that kept Gentiles from becoming part of the people of God. This
is again, talking about the consequences of our sin, as well as man-made traditions
and hostilities that kept division between the two groups, because for Paul to
say that The Law was abolished would be to contradict Christ (Matt 5:17).
Another passage is Galatians 3:23-26:
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the
law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So
then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that
we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no
longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God,
through faith.
Typically, the interpretation of this verse goes
something like this: ‘We used to have the Law to tell us what to do, but now
that Jesus has come we can get rid of it.’
In order to understand this passage, we need to remember
the purpose of the book of Galatians, namely, to counter the false teachers and
correct those who were trying to be justified and saved by the law: “You
are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the
law; you have fallen away from grace” (5:4). As Paul wrote many times, no
one can be declared righteous by keeping the Law (see Rom 3:20; 8:3; Gal
2:15-16; 2:21; 3:10-11; 3:21; Eph 2:8-9). And as James alludes to, only perfect
obedience could produce salvation (Js 2:10). It is only by faith that we can be
saved. In this passage Paul connects the role of the guardian to justification
by faith, and considering its context, it is reasonable to understand Paul as
saying that the guardian cannot justify us. Rather, its purpose was to lead us
to Christ.
It also says that we are no longer under the guardian,
i.e. the law. But which law? Paul uses the same language of ‘captivity’ and
‘enslavement’ as he did in Romans 6, which means we are no longer under its
condemnation. Also, Paul wrote earlier in verse 13 that “Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” May I suggest, as 119
Ministries does, that the guardian is in fact the ‘curse of the law’, or ‘the
law of sin and death’. This is reflected in 2 Corinthians 5:21: ‘God made him
who knew no sin to be sin…’ As Paul goes on to write in verse 19: “Why then the
law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring
should come to whom the promise had been made…” So to paraphrase, ‘The law of
sin as tutor was added because of disobedience to the Law of Moses.’ Thus, we
are no longer under the curse of the law which served to instruct us of our
need for salvation. But let’s assume that Paul is actually saying we are no
longer under the Law of Moses as a Tutor, ask yourself: ‘should we throw out
and abandon the text books once we are done with the tutor?’
A Right Attitude to Law
Many verses of Paul used to argue against the current
validity of Torah are done in such a
way to describe it in negative terms. It’s described as a curse, a burden,
oppressive, enslaving and something Jesus set us free from. But to think of the
Law of God, Torah, in these terms is
to contradict scripture. God and John explained that it is not a burden (Deut
30:11, 1Jn 5:3). As mentioned above, Paul saw the Law as something good and
Holy. Also, King David delighted in the Law as he declared: “The [Torah] of
the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;… the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart… More to be desired
are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter
also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover,
by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” (Ps 19:7-11).
Perfect. Joyful. Desirable. Sweet. A Blessing. If this is
the Law, and every good and perfect gift comes from God, why would He remove
such a thing? And if this was David’s experience under the Old Covenant,
shouldn’t our experience in the new and superior covenant be even better?
As Berean Baptists, when we learn to have a biblical view
of the Law, we will begin to see it not as something to be rejected and
resisted. But rather, as a delightful gift that will enable us to enjoy and
delight in God when we obey, not in a spirit of legalism or religiosity, but it
in the light of Christ, in the context of love for and relationship with God,
and in the power of the Holy Spirt, walking further into the blessing of how
God ordained us to live for which Christ saved us.
References:
119 Ministries, The Tutor
119 Ministries, Pauline Paradox Part 4: Which Law Paul?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJZMmjzA3JY
Crandall University, Paul and the Law
Earl L. Henn, Was God's Law Nailed to the Cross?
Gotquestions, Do Christians have to obey the Old Testament law?
John Piper, Why the Law was Given.
http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/why-the-law-was-given
Strongs Concordance, nomos.
Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle
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