Understanding the Law: Purpose, Misuse, and Christian Freedom

Now we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully so by implication they weren't What specifically what what's the problem what what is unlawful about the way they were using the law namely verse 9 understanding this that the law is not laid down for the righteous so evidently they were treating the law as though it were laid down for the righteous but for the Lawless and the insubordinate for the irreverent and sinners for the Unholy and profane for those who kill their fathers and mothers for murderers the sexually immoral men who practice homosexuality slave dealers Liars perjurers and whatever else is contrary to healthy teaching in accord with the gospel of the glory of the Blessed god with which I have been entrusted. [00:64:15]

The reason I said that in my prayer is that I think what Paul is saying here is this understand that the law is not laid down for the righteous means Christians who are declared righteous by faith Christians who are Justified so in in Titus for example you have Paul referring to justification he says God saved us not because of Works done by us in righteousness but according to his own Mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ Our Savior so that being justified by his Gra now that means being declared just declared righteous we might become HS according to the hope of eternal life. [00:166:59]

In Paul's understanding Christians stand righteous before God and he is saying in his typical way of understanding how the Law relates to Christians the law wasn't originally laid down for The Godly those who are justified by faith and in the Old Testament that would mean those who have the faith of Abraham justification by faith was taught in Genesis 156 430 years before the law was given and so justification by faith was already already a reality and the law didn't come in in order to help those people walk in Holiness. [00:226:12]

Well what what is the way that Paul understands for the Christians to relate to the law and here's the way he he puts it in Romans 7 likewise my brothers you you Christians have died to the law through the body of Christ when we were identified with Christ in his death so that you may belong to another not to the law as your master or your husband in the context to him who has been raised from the dead to Jesus as over against the law in order that we may bear fruit for God so bearing fruit for God the fruit of love in particular has taken the place of lawke keeping as a way of life. [00:271:32]

Now we are released from the law so that corresponds to died to the law this is this is the condition of Christians as Paul understands it in relation to the law we are released from the law having died to that which held us captive and he's talking about the Mosaic law by the way having died to that which held us captive so that we serve in the new way of the spirit not in the old way of the written code. [00:318:40]

I'm suggesting that what Paul is saying here about the false teachers is they don't get this they really don't understand how the Christian life has been put on a new footing and they are righteous and the law doesn't applied to them in the same way that it does to those outside of Christ so he says it's not laid down for the righteous and then he launches into this list of descriptions of the people who are outside Christ contrary to law. [00:351:36]

The list is remarkable in a couple ways it's long and detailed and it amazingly though not exactly corresponds to the ten commandments so let me try to point that out here in this list so here's the here's the list so the people for whom the law is needed and it's needed in order to confront them convict them and point them to their hopeless condition and away from their own self-reliance to Christ they still need the law in that way and he describes those people as typical disobey of the ten commandments. [00:396:44]

So the first three three correspond to the the the first four Commandments of the Ten Commandments I think Lawless and insubordinate would be the fundamental character of rebellion of the human heart they then are ungodly and sinners that is they prefer sin over God and they are therefore Unholy and profane so this corresponds to have no other gods before me don't take the name of the Lord in vain don't make any graven images and the reason I say that even though it's not at all obvious is because of what follows next. [00:450:87]

Those Who Kill mothers and fathers corresponds to don't dishonor or let's let's make it positive honor father and mother murderers do not kill sexually immoral and those who practice homosexuality do not commit adultery slave dealers man Stealers do not steal that's the literal meaning of this slave dealers or man dealers Liars do not lie or bear false witness perjurers same thing so you've got 1 2 3 4 five of The Ten Commandments explicitly Illustrated in this list covet is not mentioned here and therefore I'm suggesting these are a summary of the first the first four of the Ten Commandments. [00:496:96]

Paul turn here to the Ten Commandments as a summary of those law breakers for whom the law still applies and I think the answer is obvious namely it's it is the central Old Testament summary of the law the 10 words The Ten Commandments and why we may ask does he go into this kind of detailed application why doesn't he just quote them why why refer to perjurers and slave dealers and and homosexual practice ERS and Those Who Kill mother and father th those are extreme or broader examples than you have in the Old Testament law itself. [00:583:95]

Paul you're saying that the uh right use of the law is not to apply it the way the false teachers were to the righteous to the Christians but to apply it for those who are blatantly outside Christ and breaking the law and then you're drawing attention to the fact that that lifestyle outside of the law is also contrary to healthy teaching that Accords with the gospel. [00:677:12]

Christians have come to have sincere faith that faith has resulted in a purifying of their hearts so that their consciences are clean before God they are walking in a good conscience and they are fulfilling the law of love that's the new footing on which Christians have been put and if you try to intrude lawke keeping into that as a way to redefine how Christians walk in the truth you're going to ruin everything thing that's what Paul was opposing. [00:779:95]