Christian Liberty or Lawlessness?

You see, contrary to popular teaching, grace and law are not opposed to one another, not at all. In fact, it is the grace of God that empowers us to keep his commandments. And yes, I know Paul said, You're not under law, but under grace, twice in Romans chapter 6. But make no mistake. The Bible never pits God's law against his grace, and neither should we. That's a doctrine of devils. You see, both the Old and New Testaments are full of exhortations, instructions, examples, and yes, commandments that show us exactly what it means to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. And don't let any sweet-talking preacher deceive you with empty words and flattery. Christ did not lower the bar. He restored the law of God to its original glory and power, and in doing so, he raised the standard of righteousness to a level infinitely higher than anything we see in the law of Moses, or for that matter, anywhere else. And it's much more difficult, demanding, and glorious than what multitudes of professing believers have been taught, or for that matter, want to believe. There's a very good reason why Christ said, Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life. And there are few who find it. In this episode, we're going to answer one of the most important and hotly debated questions in all of Christianity, and for that matter, Messianic Judaism in all of its various forms. What law are we under as Boy Bought Disciples of Christ? On one end of the spectrum is the popular view that since we're under grace, Christians are now free from what is viewed as the bondage and legalism of being under the law of Moses, or for that matter, any law at all except what's loosely called the law of the Spirit. According to this line of thinking, the law of Moses has been nailed to the cross and thereby abolished as an irrelevant Jewish artifact of the Old Testament. Any form of law is therefore viewed as antithetical to the liberty of being led by the Holy Spirit. Any form of obedience to God's law, whether in the Old or New Testament, is sanctimoniously dismissed as legalism. Being a Pharisee, trying to improve upon or add to Christ's finished work on the cross or the classic, trying to earn our salvation by works. After all, didn't Paul write things like the letter kills, but the spirit gives life? Never mind that he also said things such as the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. And rather than make void the law through faith, we establish the law. Or what the other Jewish apostles, Hebrew prophets, Christ, and God himself said about the law righteousness, holiness, justification, sanctification, and eternal life. Divorced from its proper biblical foundation, this distorted view of Christian liberty essentially means the freedom to do whatever you feel led to do. No rules, burnsome commandments, or anything of the sort, just the freedom of being led by the Spirit. Unfortunately, very few, if any, ever consider or question which spirit they're being led by. Never mind the fact that the apostle John, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, commanded us to test the spirits. Or the fact that the liberty Paul spoke of was actually freedom from the bondage of sin and the futility of trying to please God in our damn nature. This is what the Bible condemns as all this or iniquity, and it should be firmly rejected as such. You see, contrary to popular teaching, grace and law are not opposed to one another, not at all. In fact, it is the grace of God that empowers us to keep his commandments. And yes, I know Paul said, You're not under law, but under grace, twice in Romans chapter six. But make no mistake. The Bible never pits God's law against his grace, and neither should we. That's a doctrine of devils. If you look at what Paul was actually saying in the first eight chapters of Romans, it is clear that he was contrasting being in bondage to sin while trying to keep the law of Moses with being set free from its power by the grace of God. That's the issue, and it is consistent with the full testimony of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. So then, rather than wasting our time asking whether we have to choose between law and grace, let's keep our attention focused on the real question. Which commandments was Christ referring to when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. Now, if you just start asking people this question, say, out on the street or in a park somewhere, I think many, if not most, would say the Ten Commandments. And that's a great start, but of course, it begs the question, what about the rest of the commandments in the Bible? And here is where the plot starts to thicken because not everyone agrees about this, not by a country mile. However, we can't just agree to disagree about something this important. We can do better than that, so fasten your seatbelts and let's dive in. Now another popular view in modern Christian ministry and culture is that the only law we're under is quote unquote the law of love. Whatever that means. Sounds really simple and easy, doesn't it? After all, didn't Paul write about the simplicity that is in Christ? And didn't he also say owe no one anything except to love one another? For he who loves another has fulfilled the law, and further, that love is the fulfillment of the law? Yes, he did. Defining exactly what that means, however, is an entirely different matter altogether. It really depends upon who you ask, but one thing is pretty certain in these camps. Any form of obedience to God's law, whether in the Old or New Testament, is once again scorned as legalism, being a Pharisee, trying to improve upon or add to Christ's finished work on the cross or the classic, trying to earn our salvation by works, and just like in the days of the judges, everyone is pretty much free to do what is right in their own eyes, all in the name of love and Christian liberty, of course. Unfortunately, this line of thinking has laid the groundwork for terribly destructive teachings such as no one could keep the law of Moses, no one could ever be righteous under the law, and the only righteousness we can ever hope for is the imputed righteousness of Christ. According to this view, Christ did it offer us at the cross, so anything we do in obedience to God's commandments is santimoniously dismissed or even condemned as an attempt to improve upon or add to Christ, finish work on the cross, or once again earn our salvation by works. The many commandments and exhortations in the both the Old and New Testaments to live, act, and speak righteously are whitewashed, explained away, reimagined, or simply ignored. Never mind what the Bible actually says about righteous men and women such as Abraham, Noah, Rahab, Daniel, Job, David, and the parents of John the Baptist, Zacharias, and Elizabeth, or the fact that Paul, the Apostle of Grace, said that it is our obedience to God's law that leads to righteousness, which in turn leads to holiness, leading to eternal life. Talk about turning the scripture on his head. Let God be true and every man a liar. This can't be, and most certainly is not what Christ meant when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. So let's keep looking. Which leads us to the popular teaching that all God requires of us is to love him and to love our neighbor as ourself. According to this view, Christ took that old burdensome and supposedly impossible to keep law of Moses and reduced it down to just two commandments. Now all we have to do is love God and love our neighbor as ourself. Sounds really simple and easy, doesn't it? Even biblical. What's not to love? After all, didn't Christ say all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments? Yes, he did. And didn't Paul say that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself? Yes, he sure did. However, this again begs the question, what about the rest of the commandments in the Bible? And I'm not just talking about the six hundred and thirteen commandments in the law of Moses. I also mean those in the New Testament, and yes, you heard me right, the New Testament. You see, there are actually more commandments in the New Testament than there are in the Law of Moses. Well over a thousand, as a matter of fact. Not just given personally by Christ, but also by the apostles speaking and writing in his name. Now, of course, it is certainly true that we are to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, no doubt about it. But it is patently false, deceptive, and misleading to teach or give the impression that we're freeing Christ to decide for ourselves what this means and how we're to live this out. That again is volatile, and I'm sorry, but we can't agree just agree to disagree about this. The fact is by making the complex aspects of righteousness appear simple and the difficult aspects of salvation appear easy, such a gross oversimplification of God's law greatly obscures and distorts the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Not to mention what the Bible actually says about righteousness, holiness, sanctification, or loving and worshiping God in spirit and truth, or how Christ raised the bar even higher than this when it comes to loving one another. You see, both the Old and New Testaments are full of exhortations, instructions, examples, and yes, commandments that show us exactly what it means to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. And don't let any smooth talking preacher deceive you with empty words and flattery. Christ did not lower the bar. He restored the law of God to its original glory and power, and in doing so, he raised the standard of righteousness to a level infinitely higher than anything we see in the law of Moses, or for that matter, anywhere else. And it's much more difficult, demanding, and glorious than what multitudes of professing believers have been taught, or for that matter, want to believe. There's a very good reason why Christ said, Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Which brings us right back to our original question. Which commandments was Christ referring to when he said, If you love me, keep my commandments. 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