The Law

Thank You, Jesus!!

As I was riding home from work the other day, I heard a preacher on the radio make a statement that really helped me to understand something I have questioned for a long time. One of the mysteries in God’s word to me was the meaning of the law. We are to keep the law in one verse and another verse tells us we are free from the law. This seemed like a contradiction to me; but knowing God, I knew it really wasn’t a contradiction. His word doesn’t contradict itself. It is perfect and there are many mysteries yet to be discovered in it.

The thing the preacher said was: “The moral law was never done away with. It is to be kept today just as in the Old Testament. The law that was done away with was the ceremonial law given by God in the Old Testament and being used against God’s people yet today.”

When God brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, one of the first things He did was give Moses the Ten Commandments. They really didn’t know anything about God and His ways. After all, they had been in slavery to the Egyptians for 400 years. They didn’t have anything to live by other than the idol worship they were used to.

The thing they didn’t understand was that by not knowing God’s ways, they were serving satan, and they opened themselves up to satan’s destruction and pain. It is the same with us today. Until we hear God’s ways and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are following satan and his ways. This opens the door for him to attack us. Ignorance is not bliss! Ignorance keeps us blind to the truth that will set us free.

God couldn’t take that generation of Israel into the promise land in that condition. They would have to learn how to follow God first. If not, they would have been destroyed by the inhabitants in the promise land. As it turned out, He wasn’t able to take any of the older generation in because they would not adhere to the laws He laid down for them in the wilderness. He had to bypass the older generation because they were too set in their old ways. They refused to change and adhere to the new laws. So, He dealt with the younger generation because they were pliable and He was able to get through to them. (A word of warning to those of us who are older!)

So, in addition to the moral laws (the Ten Commandments) He gave them ceremonial laws to follow in the building of the Tabernacle. Their sins were atoned for by the ceremonial laws that were given to the priests which allowed them to be forgiven for a season. But the only person who could enter behind the veil into the Holy of Holies was the High Priest once a year. We studied that in the Tabernacle series. This is all recorded in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Mankind has never been able to keep all the laws. In fact, it is impossible! God made it that way because the whole Old Testament is a picture of what Jesus was to fulfill when He came to earth. He did away with the ceremonial laws and provided us with a way into the promise land through His shed blood on the cross. He lived that perfect life in our place. He fulfilled the law to the letter and made the way for every person born on this earth to enter into the presence of God. When He died on the cross, the veil that separated all of mankind was torn from top to bottom, signifying that man can now come into God’s presence through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

The old ceremonial laws have now been done away with. The body of Christ does not earn God’s favor or blessings. They are freely given to us when we accept Jesus as our Savior. Many churches today teach that we can earn salvation by being good and doing everything right. As a result many Christians are “working for God”. This is the same picture as the Old Testament depicts in mankind trying to keep all the ceremonial laws. They are self-righteous acts; and the Bible tells us that our righteousness is as filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)

In Romans 10:1-4, Paul is writing about the people of Israel who try to keep the law by their own righteousness. “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” In other words, many people even today have a zeal for God, but they don’t understand that Jesus fulfilled the ceremonial laws and gave us His righteousness. It is a free gift to those who accept it by faith. (Romans 5:17) You can’t earn a free gift! It is freely given to you. You can either receive it or reject it. It is your choice.

Philippians 3:9: “And may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”

“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, (that’s self righteousness) but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made the heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7)

So what about the moral laws? Are they done away with too? Those laws are put within each person on earth. We know when we are coming against the moral laws that God put within us. We may ignore the little voice inside and carry them out any way; but the Bible is very clear about transgression within our hearts.

“Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. For it flatters him in his own eyes concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good. He plans wickedness upon his bed; and he sets himself on a path that is not good. He does not despise evil.” (Psalms 36:1-4) We set ourselves on that path. We choose to do it!

If you go back to Exodus 20:1-17 you will find the Ten Commandments that God gave to Israel to live by. They are very clear and they are still in effect today. Unfortunately, we have come full circle back to the days where mankind is transgressing every law that God gave us to live by. People today think these laws are no longer in effect. They discard the fact that once God has spoken it stands forever…and each generation gets further and further away from God.

Attached to every transgression is a consequence. Sin is fun for a season; but eventually we will pay the consequences unless we repent and accept His word on the subject. Everyone one of you who are now behind bars had a little voice inside you telling you not to partake in the sin you committed. You chose to ignore that, and you are now paying the consequences.

If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you have been forgiven. However, you are still paying the consequences of that sin. It is a law of the land, which was based in the beginning on the laws of God, that you have violated.

Hollywood has set much of the examples that we follow. Now, we also have computers and video games with all kinds of violence and pornography to contend with too. The moral decay in this land has led people to exchange the truth of God for lies according to Romans 1:25.

Let’s read Romans 1:16-22 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Gentiles) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.”

That is a picture of the world we live in today. Mankind has suppressed the truth for so long that they no longer consider wrong in their hearts. Each generation has suppressed the truth to the point that we have pretty much become like the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. We no longer hear the voice of God and His moral laws.

Many of the churches of today have compromised His word to the point that immorality is rampant even in the church. Preachers are taking scriptures out of context and making them say what they want them to say for the sake of power and money. Some are covering hidden sins with fear and condemnation teaching.

Prayer has been taken out of schools. Anything having to do with God is being taken from our courtroom walls and lobbies. Judges are now making the laws rather than interpreting them. I won’t even go into the corruption that is in our government! No wonder children are shooting up schools. The moral laws of God are no longer the standard in our nation.

What people don’t understand is that God Sees It All!!!! He knows what is going on with each and every one of us. We may hide things from each other, but we can’t hide anything from God. He lifts His hand of protection over our nation for a short time and we get 9-11. The enemy infiltrated our land and killed thousands of people. After that, the whole nation turned to God. But now we have forgotten Him and are going about our everyday lives again, criticizing His people who are trying to warn us that the consequences are going to come again!

We need to be in His word and in prayer before Him every day of our lives. He need to get our hearts right with Him. We need to go by “It is written…” found in His word. God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) What He gave us in the Ten Commandments is still for us today.

Jesus paid the price to redeem us from the consequences of our sins. He came and overcame death, hell and the grave in our place. He has given us the choice once again to accept what He did for us or to reject it.

If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior or if you just want to come back to Him and renew your relationship with Him, I invite you to pray this prayer to Him.

“Father, I come to You wanting to be cleansed and in right standing with You. I believe Jesus died for my sins and provided the way of Salvation. I accept His sacrifice for my sins and I ask You to forgive me for all my sins. I ask You to come into my heart and life and to cleanse me now from all unrighteousness. Thank you for forgiving me and for setting me free to live according to Your word. Please fill me with Your Spirit and help me to understand Your word. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen”

If you said that prayer for the first time or if you rededicated your life to Him again, please write and tell me about it. I want to send you something to help you on your journey with Him.

So, to summarize, we are free from the ceremonial laws, but we will never be free from the moral laws. As I watch and listen to those in Hollywood and our government who think they can transgress the laws of God, I pray they will “wake up” and repent. I pray for righteousness and moral ethics to be in our government. Those who stand for unrighteousness and immorality will suffer the consequences eventually. They may boast here on earth, but one day we all get to stand before a Holy God and explain our lives here on earth. Those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and walked in fellowship with Him, will go eternally to heaven. Those who have not, will be condemned to the most horrible eternity there is…and once there, we will never be able to escape. Choose you this day Whom you will serve. As for me, I will serve the Lord.

God bless you until we meet again.

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