Jul 02 2009
The Law and The Christian
There are those who would say the law - speaking of the Old Testament Law - has no purpose in the life of a Christian today. While some of the law, for example the Jewish dietary laws (Acts 10:9-17) and the sacrificial system and the ceremonial laws such as circumcision (Gal 2:7-10), are clearly changed or removed, the moral law still applies. We know this because of Jesus’ numerous references to the law (i.e. the Sermon on the Mount) and its application in the believer’s life.
None the less, extremes persist within the Christian church. On one extreme we have the professed believer who says, “I’m not under law but under grace.” The danger here is obvious. If we live as though the law has no application to our lives, we fulfill Paul’s words in Rom. 6:14-18.
This is called ‘antinomianism’ (in other words against the law). Antinomianism is the idea that someone is no longer obligated to obey moral or ethical laws. However, Paul said Christians are to uphold the law by faith (Rom 3:31), fulfill the law by love (Rom 13:8-10), and must follow the moral law (1 Thess 4:1-8).
While the polar opposite is legalism, the proper response is the middle ground. Not only are we responsible to obey the moral law, Christ capsulized the moral law in the two most basic commandments (Luke 10:27):
Love the Lord your God
Love your neighbor as yourself
If we are to shine as lights in a dark world, we are going to have to look different. That is one reason Jesus said they would know we are disciples by our love. Our love is really just the moral law worked out practically in our lives. Thus the moral law plays a very important role in the believer’s life.
