The correlation between the law and man

The correlation between law and man

 In my interactions with many “believers” the majority of them seem very antagonistic towards law, they become agitated and discombobulated at the slightest mention of the word and really get offended and are quick to say that we are not under law but under grace without truly understanding the significance of this statement.

But the irony of truth is, in every aspect of life, there is a law that regulates it. In regards to the life which is in accordance to the Spirit, there are four indispensable laws that are of intrinsic importance to the growth and development of the life which is in accordance to the Spirit.

1.      The law of love

The law of love is the principal law that governs and regulates the life of a believer; it is the law which God has ordained by which man should live. This law is eternal, holy, spiritual. Just and good: It is a law that instructs us on how to have a relationship with God and with one another. Remember, one of the Scribes asked Jesus a question saying; “Which is the first commandment of all?" Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with your entire mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices" (Mark 12:28-33).

Now it is an undeniable fact that, no one is justified by the observance of the law for it is stated clearly, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19-20).

There are four important things one can derive from this passage of scripture:

a)      That whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law.

So then, who exactly are those who are under the law? There is a universal saying which says, “no one is above the law,” so, at what point in time is a person not under law! A person is not under law only when he/she is living within the confines of the law as eluded to by the apostle Paul who wrote: “knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for man-slayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust” (1 Timothy 1:9-11).

b)      That every mouth may be stopped, and the entire world may become guilty before God.

The question is why? The logical answer is, no one can say that they have no sin, because, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him (God) a liar, and His word is not in us.” Therefore, the whole world is guilty before God.” (1 John 1; 8, 10).

c)      Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.

The truth of the matter is, no one can be justified in the sight of God by observing the law because no one is able to observe the law in its entirety without violating it in one way or the other, for it is stated clearly that; “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ,” (James 2:10-11).

d)      For by the law is the knowledge of sin.

The purpose of the law is to teach us what sin is, for it is stated that, “(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come” (Romans 5:13-14).

And according to the apostle Paul, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet" (Romans 7:7).

Therefore, the function of the law of love is to teach us how to live and have a good relationship with God and our neighbor, but it does not save us, and neither are we able to observe it in its entirety and escape the consequences for transgressing them.

Nevertheless, it is imperative to know how to demonstrate our love towards God and towards our neighbor. The way one demonstrates his/her love towards God is to keep His commandments, for the Lord said clearly, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” One common mistake believers do is not differentiating the love of God from the love of our neighbor.

To be continued