Any talk of not being under the law causes many to automatically assume that you are promoting lawlessness. In reality, trying to live under the law is the opposite of living by faith. Living under law is self-empowered living, that is, living by your own strength and motivation. Living by faith is God-empowered living; it is Christ living out His life in you and through you as you follow Him in faith.
Living under law is essentially saying, "I am presenting myself before God as righteous on my own merits. This is not trusting Christ for your righteousness. As a believer, you are righteous because Christ lives in your born again heart, joined inseparably as one to you. You are righteous because He is righteous; it is not because of anything you have done or not done. And your righteousness is actual and literal, not credited (imputed) as most teach.
So, how does God make you righteous? When you trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, God removes your old sinful inner nature and replaces it with a brand new, clean heart (Ezekiel 36:26; Romans 6:6). A new heart is the great promise of the New Covenant (Ezekiel 11:19). Now being a clean vessel for the first time in your inner spirit, Jesus has a place within you where He can dwell. He comes to live in you and joins His righteous and eternal life permanently to your new heart. This is what qualifies you to be in the family of God. Note: Heart, spirit and nature all mean the same thing and are used interchangeably.
There are never any problems that arise from your born again heart since you are righteous. You can never sin in your new spirit because Christ in you can never sin (1 John 3:9). Any problems are caused by your mortal flesh. Your physical body, including your human mind, were not changed when you became a believer. It was your inner spirit that was changed. This is the reason for faith. You can never make your flesh to become righteous; many have tried, and all have failed. As a solution, God Has given you faith as the way to live righteously. Faith is following, with your mortal body and human mind, the indwelling life of Jesus Christ as He lives out His righteous life in you and does His good works through you. Christ lives, you follow. Therefore, faith is your first ever opportunity to actually live a truly righteous life, not a self-righteous life.
There should not even be discussions about the Law because it no longer exists and has not existed since God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The Law was replaced 2,000 years ago by New Covenant grace. Grace is based on the finished works of Jesus Christ resulting in victory over sin and death. It is based on better promises than the Law because it is the result of what Christ did, not what you do (Hebrews 8:6b). It is essential for Gentiles to understand that they were not part of the Old Covenant; God expanded a Jewish only religion to a relationship that now embraces all people, one that could only happen after Jesus defeated sin and death.
The reason for the failure of the Old Covenant Law is that it was dependent on human performance. The law actually leads to an increase in sin (Romans 5:20a), not a decrease, because sin's power is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56b). Therefore, those who teach law and disparage grace are causing people to become enslaved to sin. The primary sin that people are enslaved to is thinking it is up to them to live a life pleasing to God; it is Christ who lives.
It is essential to understand that Jesus primarily came to save the Jewish people from their transgressions of the Law. Since the Gentiles never had the Law, saving the Gentiles from their transgressions of the Law was not what Jesus came to do. But, God included the Gentiles after He instituted the New Covenant. This is why the teaching of Law is so far removed from what the Bible really teaches. The Gentiles never had any relationship to the Old Covenant Law whatsoever.
For the nation of Israel, Jesus fulfilled every "jot and tittle" of the Law by His sinless life, His Cross and His resurrection. Now fulfilled, God ended the Old Covenant Law and replaced it with New Covenant grace which, for the first time, allowed the Gentiles to also receive its promises and benefits. The law is NOT God's standard to live by; faith is God's standard.
Galatians 3:11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "The righteous man shall live by faith."
When people teach the four Gospels as the way to live life, they are teaching the Law. It is the do's and don'ts and the how to's of living a life pleasing to God. The problem is that living this way is living by your own human effort. It is not living by faith.
Jesus lived His entire life on this earth by trusting His Father in faith. It was not until just before His arrest that Jesus opened up the New Covenant to His disciples. Read the Gospel of John, chapters 14-17, to get an overall understanding of New Covenant grace. Jesus lived His entire life by faith, but His disciples only began to understand it at the Last Supper, the night that Jesus was arrested.
John 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
Romans 2:12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; (This verse shows that there were two different systems before Christ: Israel had the Old Covenant Law while the rest of the world was "without the Law"; it was a person's conscience that separated right from wrong. Now, everyone is under New Covenant grace.)
Romans 2:14-15 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, [15] in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them (This often-misinterpreted verse simply means that the Gentiles had their conscience, not the Law, as their guide for right and wrong.)
Romans 3:21-22a But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, [22] even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; ...
Romans 9:4 who are Israelites, to who belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, (The Law was given to Israel, not the Gentiles.)
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
1 Corinthians 9:20b ... (Apostle Paul speaking) to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law;
2 Corinthians 3:6-7a,9a who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. [7] But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved in stones, came with glory, ... [9] For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, ... (Even though the Law was holy, it became death and condemnation for Israel because no one could live perfectly under the Law. God's standard is perfect righteousness. Therefore, all persons living under Law stood condemned, whereas believers who have been born again with a new heart now possess God's righteousness and eternal life.)
Ephesians 2:14-15a For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, [15] by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, ... (The Law separated Israel from the rest of the world; now, all people are now under New Covenant grace because the Law was abolished.)
Hebrews 8:6b-9a,10a ... He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. [7] For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. [8] For finding fault with them, He says, "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah; [9] not like the covenant which I made with their fathers; ... [10] for this is the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts ... (Whereas the righteousness of God was external with the Law, now the righteousness of God is internal. Jesus has joined His righteous life to the born again hearts of those who trust Him as Savior.)
Hebrews 8:13 When He said, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.
Hebrews 9:15a For this reason He (Jesus) is the mediator of a new covenant, ...
Hebrews 10:1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.
Hebrews 10:9b ... He takes away the first (Old Covenant Law) in order to establish the second (New Covenant grace).
These verses speak to the reasons why the Old Covenant Law was only a temporary measure until it was replaced by New Covenant grace:
Romans 5:20a The Law came in so that the transgression would increase ...
Galatians 3:12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "He who practices them shall live by them."
1 Corinthians 15:56b ... and the power of sin is the Law;
Romans 3:20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
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