![]() Because of man’s natural bent toward either legalism or license, the place and function of the Law has been an issue in the Christian community since the very early days of the church. However, the basic principle is that the “fusion” of law and grace brings a “confusion” which results in sterile legalism. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.īut a great deal of confusion exists over the issues of law and grace and the place of the Mosaic law in the New Testament believer’s life. 3 For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 5:13) nor does it mean the Christian has no moral law or imperatives on his life, but simply that he or she is to live righteously by a new source of life as asserted in Romans 8. This new liberty must never be used as an occasion to indulge the flesh or sinful appetites (Gal. The believer is now to live in the liberty and power of God’s grace by the Spirit, not the rule of law. In the coming of Christ and His death on the cross, the Mosaic Law as a rule of life was terminated. Grace becomes an absolutely inseparable part of the believer’s life in Christ. It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ![]() For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. This is not because God’s grace has not been manifested in other ages, but because in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ we have the ultimate manifestation of God’s grace. 2īy contrast, the age in which we live, the church age, has often and rightly been called the age of grace. Long before the law was given through Moses, it was utterly wrong to do such evil things. It seems exceedingly strange that Bible-believing Christians should advocate such a view, when the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that the believer in Christ is not any longer under the Mosaic law in its entirety… Indeed after having been delivered from the law, to deliberately place ourselves once again under its is said to be “falling from grace.”īut let it be immediately understood that this does not mean to say that we should necessarily behave in a manner just opposite to what the Mosaic law commands-that we should kill, steal, bear false witness, etc. The treatment given to Christian ethics by some highly respected authors is indeed but little more than an exposition of the Decalogue. But the moral portion of the Mosaic law, say they, is still in force as the believer’s rule of life. The ceremonial portion they consider as having found its fulfillment in Christ at His first advent, and thus as having now passed away. Those holding such a view generally make a sharp division of the Mosaic law into two parts, which they distinguish as the moral and the ceremonial. 1 A view not infrequently found among earnest, orthodox believers is that although we are not saved by the law, once we have been justified by faith, then the Mosaic law becomes our rule of life. There are Christian teachers of repute who consider the Mosaic law to be the present-day rule of life for the Christian. ![]() In regard to the relation of Christian ethics to the Mosaic Law, Luck writes: 3:7-18), but in spite of this, there have always been those who insist that the Mosaic Law, at least the Ten Commandments, are still in force for the Christian. This truth is stated in no uncertain terms and in various ways (see Rom. One of the profound emphases of the New Testament, especially the epistles of Paul, is that Christians are no longer under the rule of the Mosaic law. While this short study cannot begin to cover all the issues involved, it is my hope that it will shed some light and remove some of the confusion. ![]() A great cause of confusion today concerns the place of the Mosaic law in the New Testament believer’s life.
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