The Power of Grace

God's grace does not free believers from all guilt and shame. I'm going to start there and then share four things that God's grace does do. God's grace is a powerful force that should transform our lives, perhaps more than we realize. When we trust what the Bible says about grace, we can experience what Acts says happened in the early church: "God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all" (Acts 4:33 NIV).

Someone has guilt when they have done something wrong. If I steal my neighbor's lawnmower, I am guilty of a crime against my neighbor, and I need to make it right. I have guilt. This is not the same as "feelings of guilt," although the word guilt is often used that way. Feeling guilty is really a type of shame. Because of our conscience we feel bad because we know we have done wrong.

Shame is a painful emotion we feel in response to two different things: 1) real moral wrongs we have done, or 2) our own perceived shortcomings that have nothing to do with morality. I might feel shame that I am not successful enough in my business to please my parents, or shame that I am not physically attractive enough to measure up to the expectations of my culture. 

I believe God's grace gives us the power to overcome the second type of shame, and I will explain how below. However, God's grace does not remove the first type of shame, and that's a good thing!

Shame over our moral failures is part of God's grace to us. He has equipped us with an internal mechanism that alerts us to our need to repent. Shame also urges us to spiritual growth, which is something we need far more than a life free from feeling bad because of sin. Shame drives us to experience the wonderful grace of repentance and then experience the love of God in forgiveness. We can feel the loving arms of Christ around us in a fresh way. 

Think about it. If form the moment you became a believer in Christ you never again felt bad about bad things you did, would life really go better for you? Would you really seek to grow in holiness, study biblical teaching and apply it to your life, or have a sense of your need to continue to fight against remaining sin in your life, to the degree you have? In reality, one of the classic traits of a sociopath is that they no longer feel shame over their wrongdoing. It's not a place any of us want to be. Salvation is not a free pass to be able to sin more without any pain (and thus run further from God). Salvation draws us closer to God and continues to draw us closer to him. God is gracious to us by continuing to use shame to alert us to areas we need to keep working on in life.

Grace can be presented in such a way as to make believers feel shame for feeling shame! What I mean is that I might think that, as a believer who is forgiven for every sin, I should never feel bad about what I do. "Why," I might ask myself, "do I continue to feel shame when I am supposed to believe Jesus has forgiven me of all my sin?" I begin to feel bad for feeling shame, for not trusting in Christ's forgiveness enough. I hope I have freed you from that. Celebrate that God still allows you to feel shame to help you grow closer to him. 

So, if God's grace does not remove all shame, what does it do?

1. Grace gives us confidence in our position before God and our adoption into his family. "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (Jn. 1:12 NIV). As a result, we know God's love for us is secure and that we will enjoy his blessings for all eternity. We are declared righteous in his sight. There are two implications of this confidence:

First it enables us to overcome the shame we have that is not related to morality. We know God loves us no matter what anyone else thinks of us. I am not saying that makes it easy to overcome shame that we feel around people who disapprove of us. But it does equip us with the tool we need to overcome it. We can read our loving Father's words in places like Psalm 23 or Psalm 139 and know that we are God's creation. He made us in a unique way for his glory and he loves us.

Second, we will never have any reason to be overcome by shame over wrongdoing. Yes, shame over moral failures will come, but we know that God will never abandon us no matter how much we fail. God will always call us to come running back to him. Our sin is paid for by the blood of Jesus. 

This does not mean that we are never guilty of wrongdoing. Instead, it means all our guilt before God is already dealt with. If I am being tried for a crime in a courtroom. I may be guilty. I may deserve a ten year prison sentence. I have guilt. However, once I have served my ten year prison sentence and am released from prison, my guilt has been dealt with. I have "paid my debt to society." That doesn't mean I never did wrong, but it does mean that I no longer have to dread being arrested, charged, and punished for that particular crime, that has already happened.

In the same way my debt to God is already dealt with in Christ Jesus. He has already served my "prison sentence," taking upon himself my punishment at the cross. I may still have guilt with regards to others. If I steal my neighbors lawnmower, I have guilt with respect to him until I apologize and return the lawnmower. If I continue stealing from others, I may have to go to prison because of my guilt with respect to the law. But with respect to my standing before God, I have, and always will have, a clean slate. With respect to earthly things, I may still have guilt, but with respect to the heavenly things, my sins are paid for. Therefore, "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Heb. 4:16 NIV).

Consider these beautiful verses: "He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." (Eph. 1:5-7 NIV) If it were not for promises like these, we might give up in our battle against sin in our lives, overwhelmed by our unworthiness to love and be loved by God. But God's grace calls to us again and again, "Of course you are unworthy of God's love, but he loves you anyway. You are his child, he has provided everything you need to draw near to him. You glorify him when you display the power of his love and forgiveness when you confess and repent of your sins yet again." Just as God graciously uses shame to help us draw closer to him, God uses the promises of our secure position before him to encourage us to keep drawing close to him in the midst of shame. He does not want us to wallow in any shame, but to overcome it through his grace.

2. God's grace gives us the power to radically forgive others. 

I don't think we often appreciate how much emphasis the Bible places on forgiving others. Jesus stated plainly, “If you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Mat. 6:15 NIV). Later, he said, "If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them” (Luke 17:3-4 NIV). 

Giving this amount of forgiveness to others is basically impossible. At least on our own. The only way we can do it is by realizing that God has already given us more grace than we could ever give to others. Then he asks that we hand out some of the grace we have received to others. Thinking of it this way, we can enjoy giving away forgiveness to others. This is the point of the parable in Matthew 18. Every time we radically forgive others we are reminded of how powerful God's grace is in our lives that makes forgiveness possible.

3. God's grace gives us the power to love and serve others sacrificially. 

We can die to ourselves and "value others above ourselves" (Phil. 2:3 NIV) only because of what Jesus has done for us. "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19 NIV). 

4. God's grace gives us the power to overcome suffering.

Only because of God's grace can we have confidence that God can do great good through our suffering, for he has already done the greatest good through the greatest suffering at the cross. We know that our suffering is necessary to fully share in the glory of Christ. "We are...co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Rom. 8:17 NIV) 

So we know that suffering itself is God's grace in our life that is "not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:28). We may not understand the "how" or the "why" of particular suffering, but God's grace tells us we can trust him and it gives us the strength to endure it. In fact, it means suffering is even an occasion for rejoicing (James 1:2) because of what we know God will do through it! 

Conclusion:

Having confidence before a holy God, radically forgiving and sacrificially loving others, and having the ability to rejoice in suffering are all supernatural abilities. You cannot do them without the amazing grace of God. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (Eph. 1:3 NIV).

Trust the Bible's purpose is to grow your confidence that the Bible is true and the ultimate resource for life." You can join the Facebook group by clicking here. Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. Listen to previous programs online: www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html

Legalism

                

               Legalism is a major joy defeater in life. We typically think of legalists as people who are sticklers for the rules and believe that they are holier than the rest of us because of it. Legalists include these people, but the problem of legalism is broader and usually more subtle.

              

               We might also think of a legalist as someone who loves rules and laws. Actually, when it comes to God’s laws, just the opposite is true. Psalm 1 tells us that a blessed person is one “whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Ps. 1:2 NIV). The Bible encourages delight in law. Legalism is not an over exuberance in law. Legalism is actually a failure to delight in God’s law.

              

               Legalism begins with a distorted understanding of the love and graciousness of God. Legalists cannot grasp how loving God truly is. As a consequence, legalists view God’s law with suspicion. They do not trust that God’s law is a good gift from a loving creator.[i] The law is a burden imposed on us, or a test given to us so that we might prove we are worthy. Finally, the legalist accepts the challenge, “enduring” the law for the sake of some benefit. The legalist thinks, “I will follow all these burdensome laws so that I can be a good person who will go to heaven one day.” The legalist may also think that keeping laws will help them earn earthly rewards. "Certainly," legalists assume, "If we labor to keep all these difficult laws God will protect us from hardships."

              

               Inevitably, legalists begin to view law-keeping as a competition, and they naturally turn to see how everyone else around them is doing. They look for confirmation that they are good law keepers by identifying evidence that they are doing better than the people around them. They often will let you know that they are doing better than you. They may focus on seemingly unimportant rules that they follow well in order to gain an advantage over others in their own minds. This final stage of legalism is the most visible form, and that is why we associate the “holier than thou” attitude with legalism. But looking down on others is actually just one common effect of legalism. Legalism itself goes much deeper.

              

               Legalism kills joy. Legalism puts up with God’s law to get a future reward. Just like a youthful employee may be willing to clean toilets or do other menial tasks for the boss in the hopes of one day getting promoted to the “dream” job, so the legalists toils away under the law so that something better may come from God in the future. If something better does come, the legalist believes he earned it. There is no joy in thinking the good things you get are only what are owed to you anyway.

              

               Contrast this with the person “whose delight is in the law of the LORD” (Ps 1:2 NIV). Such a person rejoices that God has given the law. God’s commands are an unearned gift. The one who delights in the law does not see the law as something to endure in order to earn something else. Rather, the law itself is something to delight in, for it guides us in pursuing God. It tells us how to love like God and live the way he designed us to live.

              

               The blessed person of Psalm 1 receives the law gladly and with a grateful heart. Such a response to the law has no motive to evaluate everyone else’s law-keeping. They aren’t trying to “win” a competition with others, but are simply pursuing God. The best way to overcome legalism is to keep looking to the cross and remember how loving the God who gave us the commandments truly is, and how undeserving we are. As our confidence in God's love grows, our legalistic view of God's law will fade.

               In reality, there is something God offers that is better than earthly rewards - God himself! The Psalmist declares, "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps. 37:4 NIV). When you make God the goal of your life, he will not disappoint. Don't pursue God's law to get a better life or protection from hardship. Instead, pursue God's law because God's law is good. Consider who gave it to us! The Psalmist also wrote, "With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches" (Ps. 119:13-14 NIV).

 [i]Sinclair B Ferguson, The Whole Christ, (Crossway, 2016), 88-95. 


Trust the Bible's purpose is to grow your confidence that the Bible is true and the ultimate resource for life." You can join the Facebook group by clicking here. Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. Listen to previous programs online: www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html

Why Celebrate the Passover?

The Passover celebration is a tradition nearly 3,500 years old. The meal provides a meaningful way to recounts God's deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt -- and so much more. But isn't it a Jewish holiday? Should Christians observe this in any way? 

That's a loaded question. It assumes that something that is "Jewish" is something that "Christians" don't normally do, as if they are two religions that need to be kept separated. In fact, the Passover celebration is a good example of how this way of thinking developed in church history and why it is a mistake. 

First, instructions for the Passover are given in Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23. In both places God calls on the Israelites to observe the meal (and the week-long "Festival of Unleavened Bread) as a "lasting ordinance for the generations to come." The Bible never suggests the Israelites were to stop observing the Passover.

Of course, Jesus and all the Apostles were Jewish. They ate the Passover meal every year. There is clear evidence in the gospel accounts that they also observed the same or similar traditions that Jews continue to do to this day, even traditions that are not specifically mentioned in the Bible.

During the "Last Supper," Jesus explained that many of these traditions were pointing to what he would do in his death and resurrection in a deep, spiritual way. The night that Jesus was arrested, he told his disciples, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk. 22:15).  The meal is the background of the cup and bread about which Jesus proclaimed, "This is my body," and "This is my blood." 

All of the first Christians were Jews. They continued to observe all the commandments given to the Jewish people in the Old Testament. They continued to observe the Passover and also infused into their Passover celebrations reflections on the redemption that came through Jesus' death and resurrection. They never thought they were separating from their Jewish beliefs.

But what about gentiles? Initially, Christ-following gentiles joined in with their Jewish brothers and sisters in the observation of Passover, although not required to do so in the same way as Jews. By the second century, the gentile-majority church began to simplify the celebration of Passover. They continued to view their annual observance as a type of Passover celebration, but they began to focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus, to the exclusion of almost everything else.

Later, Christians began celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection all on the same day. By the fourth century, the church at Rome decided to begin celebrating Passover only on Sundays.

This celebration is still called Passover throughout much of the world to this day. In English, we call this day “Easter,” but in all other European languages "Resurrection Day" is known by words like “Pascuas,” (Spanish) which means, “Passover.” That means that, according to the traditional church calendar, what we call "Easter" is not actually a day to celebrate Jesus' resurrection, but a modified Passover celebration that memorializes Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.

Unfortunately, over the centuries gentile Christians forgot about the many parts of the Passover meal that so clearly point to the work of Jesus in his death and resurrection. These parts of the celebration were intentionally left out and forgotten in order to create a separation between Jews and Christians. This separation led to centuries of lost opportunities to present the gospel to the Jewish people and created an environment where anti-Semitism could thrive.

Today, an increasing number of churches are reconnecting with the Jewish origins of the Christian faith through Passover celebrations. The Passover meal is also a wonderful way to commemorate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. By learning about the Passover meal, Christians can understand the meaning of communion and the events of the “Last Supper.” The Passover also demonstrates how God foretold about the redemption that would come through Jesus in a remarkable way -- the traditions surrounding a special meal. The beauty of the symbolism demonstrates yet again that we can trust the Bible.


Trust the Bible's purpose is to grow your confidence that the Bible is true and the ultimate resource for life." You can join the Facebook group by clicking here. Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. Listen to previous programs online: www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html

Is Hanukkah Biblical?

Is it biblical for Christians to celebrate Hanukkah? Yes!

1. Jesus celebrated Hanukkah. "Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon's Colonnade." (Jn. 10:22-23 NIV) Hanukkah means dedication. Jesus went to the temple during Hanukkah, a festival celebrating the dedication of the temple. There is no reason for John to mention this unless he wants his readers to infer that Jesus recognized the significance of Hanukkah. Of course, Jesus is Jewish and celebrated all the Jewish festivals, so this should not be a surprise.

2. The story of Hanukkah is in the Bible. Daniel 8 and Daniel 11 give detailed prophecies of all the events related to Antiochus Epiphanes and the desecration of the temple. Daniel 8:14 specifically speaks of the temple's rededication, the event that Hanukkah celebrates.

3. The New Testament specifically calls on Christians to look to the heroes of Hanukkah as heroes of the faith. Hebrews 11:35 (the "faith chapter") says, "Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection." The "others" must be a woman who was tortured while placing her hope in the resurrection. This story is told in 2 Maccabees 7, and it is a powerful story of faithfulness to God's Word in a time of intense persecution. This is part of what Hanukkah remembers. True, 2 Maccabees is not part of the canonical books of the Bible. However, the author of Hebrews refers to the events described there as true events. We can learn from books even if they aren't part of Scripture.

4. Jesus, referring to Daniel, called on his followers to prepare for a time of persecution (Matthew 24-25). Daniel and Revelation connect the events of Hanukkah with the end-time antichrist. Hanukkah is like a preview of what the final seven year period will be like. Christ's return will itself result in a rededication of the temple. Celebrating Hanukkah is a great way to prepare for and look forward to this time.

5. Hanukkah reminds us that we are God's temple. We must seek purity and flee from idolatry.

6. But isn't Hanukkah a Jewish holiday? Well, yes. But Christianity is a Jewish religion. Jesus and the apostles were Jewish. The writers of the Old and New Testaments were Jewish. Christmas is a celebration of the Jewish Messiah coming into the world. Good Friday remembers God's Passover lamb slain for us. Communion was instituted during the Jewish Passover. And so on. Just because something is Jewish does not imply that Christians need to avoid it, otherwise there wouldn't be much that Christians could do.

None of this means that Christians have to celebrate Hanukkah, or that there is anything wrong with celebrating Christmas. In my opinion, the more the merrier! Adding Hanukkah traditions to your holiday celebrations can have helpful spiritual benefits.


Trust the Bible's purpose is to grow your confidence that the Bible is true and the ultimate resource for life." You can join the Facebook group by clicking here. Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. Listen to previous programs online: www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html

The Impossible Census?

Every December, critics of the Bible will share thousands of posts declaring the impossibility of the biblical story of Christmas. They will claim that no Roman census would require everyone to return to their ancestral homeland. They will say that any such census should be well known from other sources, and none exist in the right time period (just prior to 4 BC.) They will add that Quirinius was not governor at that time, but that there was a census when he was governor...more than 10 years later. And they are mostly right! 

I have never been satisfied with the standard Christian responses. They go something like this: There was a census in AD 7 and 14 years later. Perhaps there was a census 14 years earlier, in 8 BC, that we don't know anything about. Perhaps it didn't occur all in one year, but in stages throughout the empire, meaning that it did not occur in Israel until a few years later, the year Christ was born. Perhaps Israelites were required to return to their homeland when people of other lands weren't. Perhaps! It sounds like Christians are grasping for straws.

This is frustrating because I believe there is a much better answer. There are two reasons why even Christian scholars usually overlook it. First, centuries of tradition about the Christmas story cloud our interpretation of what the biblical text actually says happened. Second, most people incorrectly date the birth of Christ to 4 BC or earlier. It is true that no record of a census occurred in that time, but that is the wrong time to look.

The census occurred in 2 BC when the Roman Senate conferred on Caesar Augustus the title "Pater patriae," meaning, "Father of the fatherland." It was not a tax (Luke never says it was). Nor was it a census to count people (Luke never says that either). It did involve a requirement that heads of households register a loyalty oath to the emperor, acknowledging and agreeing with the title. Augustus approved of the measure and made the decree that the registration requirement go out. This is well-known and well-documented registration. See, for instance,

https://www.britannica.com/topic/pater-patriae.

But what about Jesus being born on or before 4 BC? Although it is cited often, there is little evidence for it. The date is based on several references in Josephus about Herod's death, which the gospels say occurred sometime after Jesus was born. Josephus mentions that a lunar eclipse occurred shortly before Herod died. There was a partial eclipse in 4 BC, but there was also a total lunar eclipse in 1 BC that fits Josephus' description much better. Josephus also records dates for other events that scholars use, some of which are based on late and unreliable manuscripts of Josephus's work. For a detailed explanation of why the Nativity should be dated to 2 BC, see: https://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2012/PSCF12-12Nollet.pdf.You can find many other helpful resources here: http://www.bethlehemstar.com/academic-resources/.

What about the requirement that everyone return to their ancestral homeland? As far as we know, this did not happen, but Luke does not say it did either. He merely says that "everyone went to their own town." I would take that to mean they went to the place of legal residence. Joseph probably lived in Bethlehem. Matthew implies that Joseph owned a home in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:11, 2:22). Today, we assume that Joseph could not have lived in Bethlehem because of the wildly speculative part of traditional Nativity stories that have Mary and Joseph riding into Bethlehem as she was beginning labor. The story continues that all the hotels were full that night.

Of course, an examination of the customs of the time and the Greek words Luke uses reveals that this is simply not the case. Mary and Joseph were staying in a home in Bethlehem, possibly weeks before Jesus was born. They continued living there after Jesus was born. The best explanation as to why they stayed is that it was Joseph's home. Joseph may have been staying in Nazareth temporarily to find work in the town of Sepphoris, where many "carpenters" or construction workers were being hired at the time. Naturally, a legal registration would have to take place in the town of your legal residence. So Joseph returned home with Mary to fulfill the census obligations.

As for Quirinius, there is some mystery here, but we really don't know who was governor of Syria at the time. The articles referenced above have plenty of more information about this.

There are many implausible elements of the way the Nativity story is traditionally told, but nothing difficult at all about what the biblical text actually says.

Trust the Bible's purpose is to grow your confidence that the Bible is true and the ultimate resource for life." You can join the Facebook group by clicking here. Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. Listen to previous programs online: www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html

Who are the Jews?

This question is so important to understanding the Bible. There are many different angles from which to approach this question. I'm going to answer it from my personal story, a story that has given me even more reason to trust the Bible over the last few months.

My mother was adopted and I never knew my father or anything about his family background. I have long loved Israel and the Jewish people, and I have believed that they play a central role among the nations both in the past and in the future of God's redemptive plan. I have also previously shared how many commandments in the Bible directly address the Jews, giving them different standards to live by and setting them apart in certain ways from the rest of the nations.

You might expect that I would want to know if I might in some sense be Jewish. But I've never really thought about it...until recently. I knew it was a possibility, although I figured it was unlikely. But I took a DNA test last March and discovered that I am 46% Jewish!

Now, that's not quite right. You can't really be 46% Jewish any more than you can be 46% Christian. You either are a Jew or you aren't. Nevertheless, the discovery sent me on a quest to find out more about what it truly means to be Jewish, and it gets complicated.

According to Orthodox Jews, if your mother is Jewish, you are Jewish, regardless of your religious beliefs. Reformed Jews believe you can be Jewish through a Jewish father or mother, but you must practice Judaism to qualify. I don't fit by either standard. My mother took a DNA test and discovered that she is not Jewish at all, which means  that my father was Jewish. However, I have no cultural Jewish background. But should that matter? Does it matter what Orthodox Jews or Reformed Jews say about my Jewish background? I wanted to know, what does the Bible say?

Here's where the trustworthiness of Scripture comes shining through. This seems like an obscure case. Should someone who has a Jewish father but not a Jewish mother but never knew their father and was not raised Jewish consider themselves Jewish? Could the Bible really say anything about something like that? Well, yes, actually, as I began to think about relevant Scriptures I started finding one passage after another.

Think of Moses, who had Jewish ancestry but was raised in a pagan home. He was Jewish, but God did require that he begin living like a Jew and circumcise his children before he could lead the Israelites.

Ezra has a lot to say about Jewish men having children with Gentile wives. The children were not considered Jewish Throughout the book a great emphasis is placed on keeping accurate genealogical records.

Then there is the case of Timothy in Acts 16. Or Ruth from Moab. There are other genealogies throughout the Bible that trace someone's Jewish lineage through fathers.

I'm not going to give a detailed explanation on every verse here. My point is that even I was surprised at how much material there is in the Bible on this topic. Here is my conclusion: I have Jewish ancestry, but I am not Jewish. Like anyone else, I could become Jewish by formally adopting all the Jewish customs given in the Old Testament. But Paul discouraged Gentile Christians from adopting a Jewish identity. (1 Corinthians 7:17-18) However, in the case of Timothy where there was some confusion (Timothy had a Jewish mother), he encouraged Timothy to embrace a Jewish identity. So it is somewhat optional in my case, but I am not choosing to do so. I also do think there are valid reasons for holding to the Orthodox Jewish understanding on this issue. 

Through my study I have come to a much deeper appreciation of the Jewish people and the ways in which God continues to work among them, even those who do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. I am enjoying connecting more with Jewish Messianic ministries. I am also realizing how much more there is to the Bible when you begin to see it through Jewish eyes. I have discovered so many more reasons to Trust the Bible, and I will share more in time.


Trust the Bible's purpose is to grow your confidence that the Bible is true and the ultimate resource for life." You can join the Facebook group by clicking here. Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. Listen to previous programs online: www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html

Hard Verses: Free from the Law?

"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law." (Rom. 7:6 NIV)

Many Christians celebrate that they are "free from the law," based on Paul's teaching in Romans 7. Now, I do believe that I am free from the law, but, what does "law" refer to in this verse? If you believe it is the "Old Testament Law," or the "Law of Moses," or anything like that, I want to urge you to reconsider. I am not free from that law, and neither are you, and that's a really good thing!

Consider a few verses for context. The Bible teaches that it is the Word of God. Paul himself says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (2 Tim. 3:16 NIV) He is not only including, but focusing on the Old Testament in this passage because the New Testament was only beginning to be recognized as Scripture at this point.

What does the Old Testament say about the laws that are found there?:

"Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Jos. 1:8 NIV)

"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-- whatever they do prospers. (Ps. 1:1-3 NIV)

"Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD." (Ps. 119:1 NIV)

Verses that speak highly of the law and the blessings it brings are abundant in the Old Testament. I simply chose three examples above. The same is true in the New Testament.

James wrote, "But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it-- not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it-- they will be blessed in what they do." (Jas. 1:25 NIV)

Paul himself added, "So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. (Rom. 7:12 NIV)

Now, John did say, "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (Jn. 1:17 NIV) Christians often quote this verse to say, "See, we used to have to follow the law, but now we are under grace." However, look at what John said in the previous verse: "Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given." (Jn. 1:17 NIV) John was saying that "grace and truth" came through Jesus Christ in addition to the "grace already given," meaning the law given through Moses.

Jesus unequivocally said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:17 NIV)

So what was Paul saying in Romans 7?

Let's trace the whole line of his argument, starting in the beginning of Romans:

1. Romans 1:18-3:20: Jews and Gentiles alike are guilty of sin and are condemned by "The Law," even if they don't know specifically about the Law of Moses:

"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." (Rom. 3:19-20 NIV)

2. Romans 3:21-4:25: Both Jews and Gentiles are made righteous through faith and not by keeping all of the commandments of the law. The idea of salvation through faith was always in place, both before and after the Law of Moses was given. In fact, the Law itself teaches this:

"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify." (Rom. 3:21 NIV)

"For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." (Rom. 3:28 NIV)

"It was not through the 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." (Rom. 4:13 NIV)

3. Then, in Romans 6 Paul teaches that we "have died to sin," (Rom. 6:2 NIV) "our old self was crucified," (Rom. 6:6 NIV) and "sin shall no longer be your master." (Rom. 6:14 NIV) He never implies that the law has died or that the law is no longer a guide for believers who want to enjoy the blessings of following the law, or that any part of the law has been replaced by a different law.

In Romans 7, Paul uses an illustration to explain more. He says that a married woman cannot marry another man while her husband is still living. If she did, she would break the law, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." But if her husband dies, she is now free to marry another man without breaking that law. Paul concludes,

"So, my brothers and sisters, 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 for God." (Rom. 7:4 NIV) He goes on to say that we have been "released from the law." (Rom. 7:6 NIV)

Now, in this illustration, note that the law itself does not die, only the woman's relationship to it. It was still a sin to commit adultery both before and after her husband died. Paul is talking about being bound to the law in a way that leads us to condemnation (see Rom. 3:19-20 above). As long as we pursue righteousness through works of the law, we cannot pursue it through faith in Jesus Christ. When we die with Christ, we are released from our slavery to works-based righteousness that produced death in us, and we can now pursue it through faith in Christ, resulting in obedience to the commands under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. (See Romans 8)

What "died" is not the Old Testament Law, but "another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me." (Rom. 7:23) We are now set free from "the law of sin and death," (Rom. 8:2) not the "holy, righteous and good" commandments of God. 

The closest the Bible comes to saying that any commands have been done away with is in Hebrews 8:

"By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear." (Heb. 8:13 NIV)

"Obsolete" should probably be translated "old" here, which is how the word is used earlier in Hebrews and the author is using it to contrast with "new" in this verse. Here, the author is specifically talking about the Old Testament sacrificial system. He identifies that the problem was not with the system, but with the people themselves. The New Covenant is a better covenant, so the Old Covenant system is no longer as important as it was before. Eventually, it will no longer serve any purpose. But note that even here the author says it will "soon disappear." He recognizes that a role (albeit a diminished one) still exists for the Old Testament sacrificial system. He is saying nothing at all about the other commands in the Old Testament.

Does this mean that all Christians need to keep all the commands in the Old Testament, including strict restrictions on Sabbath day activities and dietary laws? For more on this, see my post, "Hard Verses: Be Perfect??"

In short, because we have died to the "law of sin and death" we are now free to "delight in God's law" (meaning all the commands in the whole Bible) (Rom. 8:2, 7:22). 

Trust the Bible's purpose is to grow your confidence that the Bible is true and the ultimate resource for life." You can join the Facebook group by clicking here. Trust the Bible is a weekday radio program that begins at about 8:10 each morning on WDOG 93.5 in Allendale, SC. Listen to previous programs online: www.fairfaxfbc.org/trust-the-bible.html