Argument #4"Where does it say the law is done away with?"
The Bible never says the phrase "the law is done away with". But that isn't the real issue anyway. The real issue is where does it say the law was given to the Gentiles? The Old Covenant was with Israel only and the Gentiles were never commanded to become Jews in order to become Christians (I'll get deeper to that in future posts - like this one: "Confusing the Covenants"). But to answer your question... "law" itself is not done away (there is a "law of faith"), but rather Old Covenant law was done away. This was done by necessity.First, let's start by looking at the nature of covenants themselves.
Once a covenant is established, it cannot simply be altered. (GAL. 3: 15) Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.
Herbert Armstrong taught the Old Covenant law was changed by Jesus. (I was told Herbert Armstrong changed the law.) Now, has anyone ever thought to ask how that can possibly be? Is God not a judge? Is He not quite familiar with principles of law? Does not His own Word say that no one may add to nor take away from the covenant He made with Israel?
(DEU. 12: 32) 32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.
In order for it to be altered it had to be ended.
(ROM. 10: 4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
"End" here can mean "limit" or "goal", but a termination or cessation is also a perfectly valid translation -- especially for those who believe the KJV is inerrant. So, that leaves us with three ways to view this: 1) Jesus is love and Godly love is the goal of the law, 2) Jesus is the fulfillment of the law, 3) Jesus put an end to the law for those who have faith.
Even while agreeing with the first two, many legalists say that third option is not possible. Let's investigate that. Jesus was a primary party to the Old Covenant. He died. Covenant over; law too. It's that simple. Paul goes over this in Romans 7: 1-4.
(ROM. 7: 1-3) 1 Do you not know, brothers - for I am speaking to men who know the law - that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. 3 So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
When a husband (which the Word was to Israel) dies, the wife is released completely and totally from any contract or agreement. Thus is Paul's point here (he was not speaking about marriage but about the Old Covenant). When Christ died, the Old Covenant and all that it entailed was utterly nullified. This is an inescapable Bible fact! (Not to worry, Jesus fulfilled it anyway.) But it's gone in the letter. And not only that, each of us has also died with Christ which is an additional point of release. The Old Covenant is doubly nullified.
(ROM. 7: 4) 4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, THAT YOU MIGHT BELONG TO ANOTHER, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
If you did not die to the law, then you are bound by it and cannot belong to Christ nor Christ to you. Is to be estranged from Christ really what you want?Paul's conclusion:
(ROM 7: 6) But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
And this is again approached from yet another angle by the anonymous author of Hebrews.
(HEB. 7: 11-12) 11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.
The Levitical priesthood and the laws they taught and enforced were incapable of bringing perfection (HEB. 7: 11, 18-19). Ergo, they were changed out for a new system that would (Christ's perfection that is, not our own - not in this flesh anyway). It could not be simply changed out at a whim or else it would have been done differently, but it was changed out at the end of the Covenant, ie. at Jesus' death and resurrection. Jesus' death and resurrection changed the entire order of things. The Old Covenant was replaced in its entirety by a New Covenant (HEB. 7: 22; 8: 6-7, 13). The New Covenant is not a modification of the Old. The implications of the change in priesthood alone obliterate that notion. It is a complete and total replacement for it. As verse 18 says, it was "annulled". In stark reality, Jesus Christ could not be our High Priest if the law were not nullified.
(HEB. 7: 13-14) 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood
And since that is the case, there must be a change in the law (v. 12).The law being annulled and replaced, what takes its place? Anarchy? No.
(ROM. 3: 21) 21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets(ROM. 8: 15) For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
To say "the law is done away" is NOT to say "we may do whatever we wish". This is a false dilemma presented regularly by legalists. To present this idea is to ignore all the very many times the New Testament says such things as "we should serve in the newness of the Spirit." Anyone who says we need the Old Covenant law to bring us to righteousness has not paid close attention to their Bible. The following is a list of things that do not come by the law:Justification (GAL. 2: 16)Righteousness (GAL. 2: 21)The Spirit (GAL. 3: 2)Perfection (GAL. 3: 3; HEB. 7: 19)Miracles (GAL. 3: 5)Inheritance (GAL. 3: 18)Life (GAL. 3: 21)Grace (GAL. 5: 4)
How can we present the Old Covenant law as the answer when clearly that contradicts God's own inspired words? A desire to be holy, living in a Godly manner, is noble. I applaud the motivation. But it must be tempered with all of the Biblical evidence, not just buzz phrases like "Big 10" or cleverly worded arguments from false prophets. As a guideline, the Ten Commandments are fine, but as a binding law God saw fit to replace them with a New and better covenant. How can we remain in the Old Covenant when the New has come in? Do you not know that the 10 Commandments ARE the Old Covenant!
(EXO. 34: 28) So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.(DEU. 4: 13) So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
(DEU. 5: 1-21)... 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive. 4 The LORD talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. He said... [lists the Ten Commandments].
(DEU. 9: 9) When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.
(DEU. 9: 11) And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
(DEU. 9: 15) So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands.
Legalists insist on the 10 Commandments. I used to insist on them. Why? I thought it was the right thing to do! I was taught that for years. I thought that the 10 Commandments were the pinnacle of God's desire for us. In opposition to God's own words I believed perfection would come from closely following the law (or rather, a grossly cherry-picked version of the law). I listened to men who proclaimed with authority that righteousness came from the 10 Commandments. (The law itself was righteous, unfortunately mankind is not.) I was not able to grasp grace. I was not taught the Biblical truth that if we have faith then we will receive the Holy Spirit, and if the Holy Spirit is in us IT will teach us and lead us into all righteousness (JOHN 14: 26) - not the law. This is precisely why the New Testament is adamant that it is not our own righteousness from the law that God desires, but His righteousness (from the Spirit in us) that comes by faith.
(ROM. 1: 17) For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, A RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT IS BY FAITH FROM FIRST TO LAST, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."(ROM. 3: 20-22) 20 Therefore NO ONE WILL BE DECLARED RIGHTEOUS IN HIS SIGHT BY OBSERVING THE LAW; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21 But now A RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD, APART FROM LAW, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 THIS RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM GOD COMES THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST TO ALL WHO BELIEVE...(ROM. 4: 5) However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, HIS FAITH IS CREDITED AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.(PHP. 3: 9) and be found in him, NOT HAVING A RIGHTEOUSNESS OF MY OWN THAT COMES FROM THE LAW, BUT THAT WHICH IS THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST - THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT COMES FROM GOD AND IS BY FAITH(2 PET. 1: 1) Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF OUR GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST have received a faith as precious as ours(GAL. 3: 10-14) 10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Paul mentions Abraham. What of Abraham?
(ROM. 4: 13-14) 13 It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless
Loved by God, it isn't the law that is unrighteous, but mankind. If you set out to follow the old letter of the law, you are setting yourself up for either frustrated failure or false pride. The law functions to condemn us. What do you seek to accomplish by the law? To earn anything with God? Perhaps you think that if only you can do well enough THEN God will deliver you to His inheritance? Do you think that if you compare yourself to someone else, setting yourself up as more righteous than they, then God will realize how you deserve a reward? Do you not see clearly how that sets you and your own efforts up and takes the focus away from Christ and His efforts? God does not owe anyone anything! We do not inherit the Kingdom through our own effort. We do not keep it through our own effort. This is not about us, it is about Christ! Christ secured salvation for all who have faith in Him. Rather, you will accomplish what you seek through faith in Christ who can bring you there. The catch with the law is that if you accomplish all the law commands but stumble in one point then you have failed in all. God does not want to see His children condemned. That is why He sent His only Son, so that all who believe (MAR 16: 16; ACTS 16: 31) WILL be saved. That Son, our Savior and High Priest, paid the price for our sin, ransoming us from death and making complete reconciliation between us and God our Father one time only and for all time. And when He said "it is finished", He went on to sit down at the right hand of God and rested from His work. It is finished.
Perhaps you have overlooked these very many verses I quote here directly from God's word. Perhaps you have explained them away somehow. Please consider that all of these things are from God, the Old Testament as well as the New, and they cannot be so easily dismissed. Please consider that perhaps the reason why you have never looked at them in this way could be, just maybe, because your ministers are teaching you the beliefs of a human being - Herbert Armstrong or whomever - and they are themselves not interested in seeing things from any other perspective. I cannot speak for everyone who thinks of themselves as a teacher of the law, but I have met many who are so filled with pride that they think they can do no wrong (Ronald Weinland for example), and many who will teach whatever is required by the one who signs their paychecks. As Bereans Did on the other hand has asked you for nothing except that you pray and ask for God's truth to shine in your heart. We don't claim to have all the answers. What I personally have is this - I was once a legalist (breathing out condemnation and judgment towards others), but Christ has shone me a more perfect way. The inexplicable joy that I feel compels me to share this with you. I pray you find that way!
(ROM. 10: 5-6, 8-11) 5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them." 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says:... 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH, "JESUS IS LORD," AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, YOU WILL BE SAVED. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "ANYONE WHO TRUSTS IN HIM WILL NEVER BE PUT TO SHAME."
If you trust in Him to do all that He has promised, then being motivated by His Spirit go and set aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Not as an article of Old Covenant law, but as an article of faith in Christ!
In closing, deeply loved by God, consider this:(HEB. 10: 38-39) 38 "Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back [to their own righteousness from the law and the condemnation that comes from failure to achieve it?], My soul has no pleasure in him." 39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
God bless you and prosper you and speed you into His New Covenant!
[Also see Part I, Part II, Part III, & Part V]
