November 18

THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW / PART 5

CONCLUSION

According to Dr. Stephen Jones:

-"We know from Rom. 3:23 that “all have sinned.” Therefore, every man is a debtor in the eyes of the law. It is the law that has put us all into slavery because of our sin. But we have a Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Who came and paid the full penalty for our sins. Once the debt has been paid, we have been set free from the slavery imposed upon us by the law. We are now under grace. Does this mean, then, that we are now free to sin at will? Are we now free to “sin that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1) Of course not. Grace is not a license to sin. Sin is lawlessness. The law was not put away; the law was upheld. Jesus could have set us free by putting away His law, for this would have legalized sin. But He did not. He upheld the law and paid its full price. One of the most misunderstood verses of all time is found in Rom. 6:14, 15, where Paul wrote, For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Many people take Rom. 6:14 and interpret it to contradict Jesus, Paul, and John, saying that this means the law was put away. Paul says in Rom. 3:31, Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the law. It is not right to pit Rom. 6:14 against Rom. 3:31. If they seem to be contradictory, it is because we do not understand Paul’s writing. It is our hope that this will give the reader a better understanding of Paul’s writings, so that we do not use him as an excuse to violate the law of Christ as given to Moses. One’s obedience to the law cannot be used to justify any man. Learning obedience is the process of sanctification, not justification. Jesus came as our Redeemer, so that we are redeemed from the slavery caused by sin. In paying the debt that the law demanded for sin, He sustained the law, bearing witness of its righteous standard. We who have been set free from the law are now free to be obedient to our Redeemer, as the law says in Lev. 25:53. Now that we have been set free from the taskmaster of sin (lawlessness), we have been set free to be bondservants of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer." ( The Purpose Of Law And Grace, Dr. Stephen Jones )

-May we realize that we have been set free from having to perform the letter of the law, but that we are now made partakers of having the spirit of the law …

-WRITTEN ON OUR HEARTS BY GRACE!-