1 Timothy 1:8-11
8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

For those of you who insist on being under the law of Moses and (I cringe as I write this) that includes the Ten Commandments because they are part of the law, you must be willing to take your place among this list of offenders. If the law is not made for righteous people then you can’t achieve righteousness by keeping it, therefore you assign yourself to the place of the sinner when you measure yourself by the law and not according to God’s grace.

Paul said that the law is good……IF…….it is used lawfully. To use the law lawfully you apply it to the law breakers, along with the punishment prescribed by the law, and they include all those who rebel against God by refusing to be reconciled to Him through the blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore, those who have believed in faith and been reconciled to God have been excluded from the law. In fact, in Colossians 2:14 Paul says that the handwriting of requirements (which is the law) have been wiped out and removed from us because they were working against our relationship with God, so he took it out of our way and nailed it to the cross! If you have been exempt from a requirement you couldn’t keep, why would you insist on trying anyway? You would have to be a moron!

It blows me away to think of how easily we slip back into the thinking that we have to perform at a certain level to be okay with God, that if we just try really hard and do all the right things God will be happy with us. The worst thing is that most of our christian teaching will help send you back down that road. We are an achievement based society and without the law we think we don’t have a way to gauge our progress.

Here’s how it would go for most of us: Am I keeping the first commandment, no other gods before Him, check! Well, unless you count the fact that I put most of my time and energy into acquiring and maintaining a bunch of stuff instead of into my relationship with God. Okay, maybe half a check. Second commandment, no engraved images, no idols, check! I don’t worship idols, uh, unless you count money because I have to have it to buy all that stuff I don’t really need and I’ll do almost anything to get it, oh and there are images engraved into all our coins. Okay, uncheck. Third commandment, don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, check! I would never do that as long as you don’t count all the OMG’s and other times I invoke the name of God with no honor or the respect that is due to Him. Okay, I think I’ll quit while I’m behind, before the hole gets any deeper.

That’s a hole you’ll never dig your way out of!

There is a way to determine if you are making progress, Paul calls it the “fruit of the Spirit”. Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law…….22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self- control. Against such there is no law.

This is something that is produced out of a relationship with God, not by our own attempts to gain His favor. The fruit is produced by His character being infused into us through constant dependence on His goodness and grace and if you can see evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in your life then you are making progress. If not, don’t pull out the ten commandments and try harder, change your focus to Jesus and what he has done to remove that burden from you. Spend time just soaking in the freedom that is in Christ and enjoying the fact that you have already been accepted through grace. (Eph 1:6)

Does that mean that we can just do anything we want because we are under grace? Shut up! I’m sick and tired of that argument, it clearly says that we should walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit. If we are allowing the Holy Spirit of God to lead and guide our steps do you think He will lead us into sin? The very title of “holy” should give you a clue, uh no, he will lead us into righteousness. In fact, Jesus said he will lead us into all truth and bring to our remembrance every thing he taught and I don’t think he taught anyone to sin. Plus, the Holy Spirit has the ability to change our heart, something the law could never do. The law produces hard, rigid and unfeeling people, the Holy Spirit produces loving, kind, gentle and self-controlled people.

The law is a strict taskmaster because you have to keep every single requirement or you are guilty of being a lawbreaker, even if it is the least of the rules. The law requires perfection! And since we aren’t perfect we have to suffer the guilt and condemnation that accompany failure when under the law. So which is better for us, the law or the Holy Spirit? Which one would you rather be under? I know what my choice is because I’m not a moron!

My point is, if you have confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and have been made righteous through the work of the cross, the law is not for you! Rejoice in the fact that you are under grace and you can let someone else worry about all the Thou shalt nots!

If you have never trusted Christ you will be judged by the law and each one will be found guilty under the law. The penalty? Death and an eternity in hell. Sorry, there is no way around it so the best thing to do is get your exemption while you still have the chance! It’s easy, just agree with God that you are a sinner and confess that you believe Jesus died for your sins and that God raised him from the dead and voilà, you are forgiven of your sins and exempt from the law.

Blessings,
Jeff