THE LAW WAS CRUCIFIED

Saturday 11 January

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; Colossians 2:14 (KJV)

having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, Ephesians 2:15 (NKJV)

Ezekiel 18:20 says ‘the soul that sins it shall die.’ In Romans 5:14 it says ‘Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned’. The death sin caused, was a spiritual seperation between God and man. This occurred in Genesis before the inception of the law of Moses. Notice is was not the law of God. Why? Because the law was an unwelcome interruption of the covenant of grace by faith.

How else was Moses going to be able to keep 3 million Israelites in check when they were unwilling to become a nation of priests? They were described as stiff necked and hard hearted. Moses knew Christ when He went up on Mt Sinai to receive the tablets which had the 10 commandments written on them. The nation however, rejected Christ and so Moses from the 10 commandments devised the statutes and ordinances of which made up the Mosaic law.

Incidentally, most people think that Genesis is the Old Testament but that’s not true. Genesis is before the law which makes it New Testament. Yes, you read it right. All the way up until Exodus 19 the Bible is originally set in what we would call the New Testament. In the midst of all the goings on, God found Abraham and made a covenant of grace by faith with Himself through the agency of Abraham’s will.

There was sin in the world because of Adam’s transgression of disobedience but without the presence of the law, sin could not be imputed. When the law was introduced it was designed as a fault finder to bring Israel to the conclusion that they could not save themselves.

‘Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound’…(Romans 5:20a)

Then came the law. The commandments, statutes and ordinances. There was fundamentally nothing wrong with the law. Romans 7:12 says ‘Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.’ So if there was no problem with the law where did the problem lie? With man’s ability to keep it.

Another thing about the law is it had no ability to make anyone righteous. There is no salvation in the law.

Galatians 2:21 says ‘I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.’

We are made the righteousness of God in Him only in receiving salvation.

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh… (Romans 8:3)

This brings us to Jesus. He met all the ordinances i.e. rules and requirements of the law of Moses, and in fulfilling every one of them, he ‘took it out of the way nailing it to His cross.’ The law condemned us as sinners. Jesus was judged as our sin bearer and perfect sacrifice for sins forever. This meant that there was no more need for the performance based works of the law, it was now based on Jesus performance. That’s the difference between law and grace.

Jesus crucified the law. He fulfilled it and then killed it. Now it is our acceptance of His performance that brings us into the life of grace through faith, not works.

Don’t think your acts of righteousness can ever make you more acceptable to God than you already are. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ (grace) has made you free from the law of sin and death (works). You’re free from the law in Jesus Christ.

APPLICATION

Walk with a daily consciousness that you are saved by grace through faith and it is not based on your own performance but wholly and solely on His perfect performance.