Stop clinging to the law, and get filled with the Word

Stop clinging to the law, and get filled with the Word 

Rom 5:19-21 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sin and death entered the world throughout Adam's disobedience. In addition to sin and death, in Rom.5:20, Paul says, “the law entered that the offense might abound”. What does this mean? Simply this, that God gave the law for no other purpose than to reveal the sin that was already in us. Once the law is revealed, it highlights all your wretchedness! That's what Paul said in Romans 7, “O wretched man that I am…”. God's law revealed who Paul was in the flesh, and it continues even in this day, to reveal who we are in the flesh. God gave the law to reveal the sin that exists within us because of Adam's disobedience.

Now, having said this, it always amazes me how people cling to the law. The moment one quotes scripture, like, “we are not under law but under grace”, Rom.6:14, you get people defending the law with all their might, rejecting the post, and calling one a heretic. Why would one want to cling to something that reveals one’s wretchedness? Why would one want to stay under the law when the Bible clearly points out that God gave His Son to die, in order to free one of the law? The law was never supposed to save anyone, let alone make anyone righteous. In fact, it does the opposite. Is it so hard to believe that Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf? His death has freed us from the law so that we can live unto Him in the newness of the Spirit. How does this happen?

In Romans chapter 6, Paul lays out the great truth that we've been freed from sin by the death of Christ. In Romans chapter 7, he lays out the great truth that we've been delivered from the law by the body of Christ. Both these truths are real and effectual in our lives, but we need to take it by faith. We need to trust that this has been settled in our account in heaven. It then becomes our reasonable service to God to align our lives to the reality of this spiritual truth. Romans 12:1-2 is the formula, and the rest of the epistle is the outflow of the Word within us towards the demonstration of this renewed life. Walking in the newness of the Spirit is saturating ourselves with the Word of God, so that our lives are influenced by it in thought, and word, and deed. That is the genuine Christian life according to Galatians 2:20-21.

Gal 2:20-21 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

So, I say again, stop clinging to the law. Stop holding to something that emphasizes your wretchedness. Trust in the cross of Christ and allow the written Word to liberate you and produce the fruit of the Spirit, against which is no law, Gal.5:22-23. Amen.