Breaking! God's Law Has Been Abolished...!?

 

Breaking!

There is a troubling section in Galatians that says that the Law of God, also known as the Law of Moses, is done away with. Why would this be troubling? Doesn’t Christianity agree that His law was abolished? Wasn’t it nailed to the cross and all that? The troubling part is that for many years God’s people have faithfully kept His commandments and observed His set times according to the order Christ set forth from the beginning of time. Could generations of God’s people and Christ Himself be wrong? 

When looking at any issue involving the Bible, we have to start at the beginning with what has already been established. Paul, the other apostles, and Christ Himself all affirm multiple times that the law shall never pass away until everything is fulfilled. What law? The law that is called a burden, of course. In speaking of the Pharisees and the law, Jesus says,

Matthew 23:4 ASV Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.

Well, there you have it. The Law was a burden that Jesus rightly abolished when He died. Or was it? Was the burden Christ is talking about here God’s law? That would seem unlikely since Christ Himself gave those laws and David of Old Testament fame. 

Psalms 119:9-16 NKJV BETH. How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. 

10 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. 

12 Blessed [are] You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes. 

13 With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth. 

14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As [much as] in all riches. 

15 I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. 

16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

Psalms 1:1-2 NKJV Blessed [is] the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 

2 But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.

Psalms 119:109-115 NKJV My life [is] continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law. 

110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts. 

111 Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, For they [are] the rejoicing of my heart. 112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, to the very end. 

113 SAMEK. I hate the double-minded, But I love Your law. 

114 You [are] my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. 

115 Depart from me, you evildoers, For I will keep the commandments of my God!

Psalms 40:8-10 NKJV I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law [is] within my heart." 

9 I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. 

10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly.

It really sounds like David found God’s law to be a burden, doesn’t it? In this last part, he even equates God’s law to the good news of righteousness and salvation. Why does this sound familiar? The good news of the gospel of salvation… Huh. It must just be a coincidence. 

This is just David, though. Why should we listen to him? Let’s see what some of the other guys in the Old Testament thought.

Job 23:10-12 NKJV But He knows the way that I take; [When] He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. 

11 My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. 

12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary [food].

It would seem David was not the only guy with a high opinion of the law. 

Romans 7:22 NKJV For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.

Here Paul himself calls God’s law a delight. The same guy who wrote Galatians calls God’s law a delight. What’s going on here? Let’s look at a few more scriptures for good measure. 

1 John 5:2-3 AFV By this standard we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments.

3. For this is the love of God: that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

The commandments are not burdensome. What are we to make of this? This is John, the disciple whom Jesus loved telling us that the law of God is not burdensome. He’s probably mistaken, though. God’s law was abolished. It’s not possible for it to be a delight. Didn’t John know this? 

John 2:3-7 AFV And by this standard we know that we know Him: if we keep His commandments.

4. The one who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5. On the other hand, if anyone is keeping His Word, truly in this one the love of God is being perfected. By this means we know that we are in Him.

6. Anyone who claims to dwell in Him is obligating himself also to walk even as He Himself walked.

7. Brethren, I am not writing a new commandment to you but an old commandment, which you had from the beginning; the old commandment is the message that you have heard from the beginning.

Apparently, John didn’t subscribe to the idea that the law was abolished with Christ’s death; quite the opposite, in fact. If we say that we know God, but we don’t keep His law, we are liars because to love and know God is to keep His commandments. John further clarifies what law he is talking about by calling it the old commandment they have had from the beginning. In other words, the old testament law. Except that there wouldn’t have been an old testament at this point, all there would have been is the Bible. None of the new testament books had yet been written.

Matthew 5:17-20 NKJV "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 

18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 

19 "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches [them], he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

20 "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Here Christ says that He came to fulfill the law. It can’t mean that the law was abolished because, in the same breath, He says that He did not come to destroy (abolish) the law and that until heaven and earth pass away, not one single aspect of the law will pass away. Whoever does and teaches these laws will be called the greatest in the kingdom of God. As an apostle says later, it is not the hearers of the law who will be declared righteous but the doers only. So what does the word “fulfill” mean? Here, it literally means to fill to the full or expand, which is precisely what Christ does later in this same chapter when He clarifies some of the laws that had been in place from the beginning. 

Isaiah 42:21 AFV The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness sake; He will magnify the Law and make it glorious. 

Not only does He not abolish the law, but He affirms it and reaffirms the heartfelt keeping of the spirit of the law rather than the somewhat heartless keeping of simply the letter. He magnifies it as He was prophesied to do. This emphasis on the spirit of the law was prophesied for thousands of years.

Jeremiah 31:33 NKJV "But this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

This speaks of a far higher calling than just simple tongue service to the law; it is an internalizing of the law of God the way it was always intended to be.

Deuteronomy 11:18 NKJV "Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

This is part of the beauty of the Bible as God’s inspired word. The hand of a single author is clearly seen from the beginning through to the end and declares the marvelous faithfulness of our God! Even from the foundation of the world, the gospel of Christ has been preached, and the laws of Christ and the Father have been in place. For it was Christ who wrote the law found in the Old Testament, and it is Christ who expounded upon it in the New. He still intends for them to be kept.

Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 

22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 

23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

1 John 2:5 AFV On the other hand, if anyone is keeping His Word, truly in this one the love of God is being perfected. By this means we know that we are in Him. 

Not only does the keeping of the law show our love for God, but it is also how we know that we are in Him. Similarly to the Sabbath, it is a sign of His people. For those who do not keep His law, the lawless, the opposite is true. The law of God defines what sin is. Without sin, there is no need for forgiveness and, thus, no need for a savior. 

Background of Galatians

Now that we have established that the Law was not abolished, destroyed, or done away with, how are we to read Galatians? To quote a fictional detective, "When the impossible has been eliminated, whatever remains no matter how improbable must be the truth." Paul, God love him, is not the easiest author to read; in fact, even Peter had trouble understanding him at times (2 Peter 3:16). However, if we use the rest of the Bible as a guide, understanding him becomes far easier. 

The background for a lot of the material in Galatians is found in Acts.

Acts 15:1 NKJV And certain [men] came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."

Here is the problem. Certain Jews are trying to teach that circumcision is necessary for salvation. The problem with this is that circumcision was never a necessary physical act in order to be saved. Not when Abraham did it and not when David circumcised a whole passel of Philistines. This is what Peter is referring to when He says,

Acts 15:10 NKJV "Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

A yoke that neither they nor their fathers were able to bear? This couldn’t be referring to the simple act of circumcision since that happened when the male child was a mere eight days old. He wouldn’t even remember it happening. No, what Peter is referring to is placing it as a requirement on the gentiles to obtain salvation. The Israelites never had to bear circumcision as a requirement for salvation, so why would they add that to the burden of brand-new converts when it wasn’t required by God? This stems from the idea that we can earn our own salvation. This is a mistaken idea since salvation is the gift of God. Earning our salvation is not why we keep God’s commandments; We keep His commandments because we love Him, plain and simple. 

Acts 15:19-20 NKJV "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 

20 "but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, [from] sexual immorality, [from] things strangled, and [from] blood.

James makes the distinction here that these are people who are turning to God. They have not yet been fully converted. Those who know the law are obligated to keep the law. Keeping His commandments is not a prerequisite for obtaining salvation. Salvation is the free gift of Christ, but we can lose it. We are required to keep His commandments to maintain our salvation. Paul alludes to this when he relates the story of Abraham.    

Romans 4:1-3, 9-12 NKJV What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 

2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has [something] to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." ... 

Abraham believed in God, and then because he believed in God, He obeyed Him. Obedience cannot come before belief. Continuing on in Romans,

5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 

6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 

8 Blessed [is the] man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."

7 "Blessed [are those] whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;

9 [Does] this blessedness then [come] upon the circumcised [only], or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 

10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 

11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which [he had while still] uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 

12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only [are] of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham [had while still] uncircumcised.

Though Abraham believed in God and was declared righteous because of it, he still had to obey the voice of God. It’s nothing to say you believe if you are not willing to obey and do what the God you say you believe in says. Abraham believed and was declared righteous because of the faith that he had to obey God. Thus Abraham became the father of all those who are beginning their spiritual journey to become converted. Note that Paul says, “those whose lawless deeds are forgiven.” Lawlessness is the absence of the law. You can have faith and receive salvation before you ever begin to obey, but you cannot keep that salvation if you do not show your faith and love for God through obedience. Faith is an action word. Law-keeping and justification through faith have two different purposes, and both are required for continued salvation. One cannot replace the other.

This argument about circumcision is the basis for many of Paul’s later writings, including Galatians. It all started in Acts with Pharisees trying to place a burden upon the new converts that God did not intend to be placed on them. They were trying to make salvation something that you had to earn rather than a free gift from God. With some of the background for Galatians now in hand, let’s get into the actual book itself.

Into Galatians

Galatians 2:2-6 AFV And I went up according to revelation, and laid before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those of repute, lest by any means I should be running, or had run in vain.

3. (But indeed, Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised.)

4. Now this meeting was private because of false brethren brought in secretly, who came in by stealth to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might bring us into bondage;

5. To whom we did not yield in subjection, not even for one hour, so that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

6. But the gospel that I preach did not come from those reputed to be something. (Whatever they were does not make any difference to me; God does not accept the person of a man.) For those who are of repute conferred nothing upon me.

Paul starts off with introductions and establishing his credentials for preaching the gospel stressing the point that he did not receive the gospel from men but from God. We start then in chapter two with Paul stating that he met with anyone with a reputation in private so that no one could say he got the gospel from them, and then he introduces one of the main topics when he states that the greek man with him had not been compelled to be physically circumcised. Again, circumcision was a requirement for those descended from Abraham. It was a national identity, not a spiritual one, though it pointed to a spiritual circumcision of the heart. Continuing on in Galatians,

Galatians 2:11-21 AFV But when Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to his face because he was to be condemned;

12. For before certain ones came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. However, when they came, he drew back and separated himself from the Gentiles, being afraid of those of the circumcision party.

13. And the rest of the Jews joined him in this hypocritical act, insomuch that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

14. But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in the presence of them all, “If you, being a Jew, are living like the Gentiles, and not according to Judaism, why do you compel the Gentiles to judaize? 

15. We who are Jews by nature—and not sinners of the Gentiles—

16. Knowing that a man is not justified by works of law, but through the faith of Jesus Christ, we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by works of law; because by works of law shall no flesh be justified.

17. Now then, if we are seeking to be justified in Christ, and we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then the minister of sin? MAY IT NEVER BE!

18. For if I build again those things that I destroyed, I am making myself a transgressor.

19. For I through law died to works of law, in order that I may live to God.

20. I have been crucified with Christ, yet I live. Indeed, it is no longer I; but Christ lives in me. For the life that I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith—that very faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.

21. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness is through works of law, then Christ died in vain.”

In this section, we see clearly that Peter was still keeping the law, and Paul rebuked him for it. Wait, that would be a contradiction of what we established earlier, so something else must be going on here. A curious statement gives us a clue that, when examined further, reveals the true meaning of this passage. Peter was eating with the gentiles. What is significant about this statement? Well, to understand that, we must understand that there was another law at play here, one we know Paul was referring to when he said, “You hypocrites who are living like the gentiles and not according to Judaism, why do you require the gentiles to Judaize?” Notice he didn’t say, “You who are living like a gentile and not according to the law of God.” This statement is essential in understanding this passage. There was another law at work here, the oral law of Judaism. This is the one Christ repeatedly condemned the Pharisees for because it was a burden on the people. Now the Jewish law prohibited any Jew from eating with the gentiles because they were seen as a lesser people. This was not God’s law; this was a man-made one that the Pharisees added as a separation between themselves and the gentiles because they looked down on them as lesser. Peter and Paul had abided by this law as well as God’s law from their birth, but the Jewish oral law was what Christ destroyed with His death when He gave the apostles the authority that had previously belonged to the Pharisees. This is why Paul was so upset with Peter when Peter withdrew from eating with the gentiles when other influential Jewish Christians showed up. Peter knew better. Another thing to take note of here is that the phrase Paul uses is, “works of law,” not “the works of the law.” This is an important distinction to make when recognizing that Paul was indeed referring to Jewish oral law. This is a broad phrase that can be used to refer to any law in general, including but not limited to Jewish oral law, law of any religion, God’s law, civil law, or even the laws of a club. The context determines the meaning. No works of law are going to justify us before God. The only one who can justify us is the Father. Again, the purpose of God’s law was never to bring justification. So with the understanding that at least in his second chapter, Paul was not referring to God’s law but to Jewish oral law, let us continue to chapter three. 

Galatians 3:1-29 O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you into not obeying the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ, crucified, was set forth in a written public proclamation?

2. This only I desire to learn from you: did you receive the Spirit of God by works of law, or by the hearing of faith?

3. Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being perfected in the flesh?

Having begun on the journey to achieve perfection in the Spirit, are they also going to attempt perfection in the flesh? Paul’s statement here lends to the idea that we cannot achieve perfection through the mere keeping of the letter of God’s law. In order to achieve spiritual perfection, we must purge sin from our members, purge the old man out, and remove ourselves from the curse of the law, that is, death. The only way to be out from under the penalty of transgressing the law is to be redeemed by Christ. God’s law shows us how we are to live, and the keeping or breaking of it begins in our minds. We cannot keep our way to perfection. If we are relying on keeping the law to be sinless, we will perish. Sinlessness only comes through forgiveness through the application of Christ’s blood. Paul has now transitioned from speaking only of the Jewish oral law and has brought God’s law into it. Confusingly, he switches back and forth between talking of the one then the other.  

4. Have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it has been in vain?

5. Therefore consider this: He Who is supplying the Spirit to you, and Who is working deeds of power among you, is He doing it by works of law or by the hearing of faith?

6. It is exactly as it is written: “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.”

7. Because of this, you should understand that those who are of faith are the true sons of Abraham.

8. Now in the Scriptures, God, seeing in advance that He would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

9. It is for this reason that those who are of faith are being blessed with the believing Abraham.

10. For as many as are relying on works of law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things that have been written in the book of the law to do them.”

In this section, he reiterates that if we rely on works of law to be sinless, we are sadly mistaken about the purpose of the law.

11. Therefore, it is evident that no one is being justified before God by means of works of law; because it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

We cannot be justified by works of law, but again, that was never the purpose of God’s law in the first place. 

12. Now then, the law is not based on faith; but, “The man who practices these things shall live in them.”

13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)

What is the curse, or the penalty of the law? Death. The wages of sin are death. Without Christ’s sacrifice, this is what we would all receive permanently. The curse is not the keeping of the law, just as in another place, it says, “The handwriting of requirements against us was nailed to the cross.” The handwriting of requirements against is our sin. This is the burden Christ took from us.

14. In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, and that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

15. Brethren (I am speaking from a human perspective), even when a man’s covenant has been ratified, no one nullifies it, or adds a codicil to it.

16. Now to Abraham and to his Seed were the promises spoken. He does not say, “and to your seeds,” as of many; but as of one, “and to your Seed,” which is Christ.

17. Now this I say, that the covenant ratified beforehand by God to Christ cannot be annulled by the law, which was given four hundred and thirty years later, so as to make the promise of no effect.

18. For if the inheritance is by law, it is no longer by promise. But God granted it to Abraham by promise.

Here Paul restates that we do not inherit salvation through the keeping of God’s law, it is the gift of God. Keeping God’s law is a requirement for keeping salvation, not for earning it in the first place.

19. Why then the law? It was placed alongside the promises for the purpose of defining transgressions, until the Seed should come to whom the promise was made, having been ordained through angels in the hand of a mediator.

20. Now then, a mediator does not act on behalf of one; but God is one.

21. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? MAY IT NEVER BE! For if a law had been given that had the power to give life, then righteousness would indeed have been by law.

Paul clearly states here that the law wasn’t to bring eternal life, but neither was it contrary to the promises God had given. Law isn’t for the purpose of defining righteousness which no man can achieve on his own, it is to define sin. Paul illustrates this in this next section using an analogy of a tutor.

22. But the Scriptures have shut up all things under sin, so that by the faith of Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.

23. Now before faith came, we were guarded under law, having been shut up unto the faith that was yet to be revealed.

24. In this way, the law was our tutor to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

25. But since faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor

One aspect of the law was to lead us to Christ. Which law exactly? Is this the law of God, is it oral law, or is it the ceremonial sacrificial law? This section from Hebrews provides us with a pretty solid clue.

Hebrews 10:1-10 AFV For the priestly law, having only a shadow of the good things that are coming, and not the image of those things, with the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, is never able to make perfect those who come to worship.

2. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered? For once those who worship had been purified, they would no longer be conscious of sin.

3. On the contrary, in offering these sacrifices year by year, there is a remembrance of sins

4. Because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5. For this reason, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me.

6. You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin.

7. Then said I, ‘Lo, I come (as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book) to do Your will, O God.’”

8. In the saying above, He said, “Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin (which are offered according to the priestly law) You did not desire nor delight in”;

9. Then He said, “Lo, I come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first covenant in order that He may establish the second covenant;

10. By Whose will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Here the author of Hebrews states exactly what Paul was getting at about our only sanctification and justification coming through the sacrifice of Christ. Further, he points out that the priestly law was a shadow of things to come for the purpose of… wait for it, bringing us to Christ. They were a tutor instructing the Israelites and, by extension us, on the sacrifice of Christ. This section of Hebrews tells us exactly what law Paul is referring to when he calls the law a tutor.

26. Because you are all offspring of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

27. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.

28. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

This last section of Galatians is absolutely beautiful, and it points to the promises of God going out to the world. Israel was supposed to share the blessing of God’s ways with everyone. There were even steps for gentiles to take to join the nation of Israel. However, the Jews did not do this, and they held the law of God captive as their own precious. They looked down on everyone around them as of a lesser status for not being God’s chosen ones. Christ’s coming in the flesh liberated the law to go out to all people and extended His previously unextended gift of eternal life to each and every person. The law is far from being a burden; it is God’s gift to us to show us how to live our lives according to His standards for them. As David did, let us delight in the precious law of God and be thankful for the free gift of salvation He has extended to us. Stay tuned for part two!