Men have come to despise the Law of God under the pretext of faith in a thousand forms. In preaching, in writings, in conversation, in prayer, and especially in so many choirs reputed to be Christian, the enmity against the divine Law, this hideous antinomianism of the natural heart, has now assumed the appearance of orthodoxy. All the more dangerous because it is hidden, this horrible leprosy threatens to gnaw the Church to the marrow of the bones.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments,
that they may have the right to the tree of life. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practice a lie.
Romans 2:6-7 He will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patience in well-doing seek glory and honor and immortality.
Unbreakable connexion with
Romans 2:13 For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.
John 5:29 Those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints; here
are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus
Matthew 19:16-17 Now behold, one came and said to Him,
“Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.
Matthew 4:4 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Matthew 7:21 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.
The Law of God plays an active role in the preservation and
continuity of salvation after the forgiveness by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
The moral Law of God has an essential function in maintaining the christian in salvation, that is to say that obedience to the Law guarantees and ensures that the christian remains in the state of salvation. It is like a condition of perseverance in salvation.
The Law of God is the fundamental principle that keeps man alive, guides him and keeps him on the path of true life. It constitutes a moral and spiritual framework designed to preserve the human soul from the corruption of sin.
Erroneous interpretations of the biblical texts have been introduced by men selecting verses here and there to justify their own sinful behavior, even after their conversion.
Psalm 1:1-2 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD , and on his law he meditates day and night.…
These theories, based on a partial and biased reading of Scripture, often serve to mitigate or rationalize the presence of sin in the believer’s life , instead of encouraging him to turn away from it completely.
By cherry-picking isolated passages they distort the context supporting their views. In doing so, they weaken the power of God’s Law, which calls for radical obedience of man, a commitment to complete holiness without sin and purity in every aspect of his life.
Antinomians, who reject the obligation to follow God’s Law as having a salutary role, like to use verses that speak of salvation by faith. They take these passages out of context, without grasping the nuances and the implication of the biblical authors. For example, when it is said: He who believes in me has eternal life, Jesus is addressing an
Israelite audience familiar with the necessity of obeying God’s
Law which has a salutary directive.
For them, faith does not mean a rejection of the Law, but a trust in God and His promises in a framework where obedience to His commandments is already established as essential.
Likewise Paul was speaking to men who knew personally the importance of obeying God’s Law . When he speaks of walking by the Spirit, listening to God’s leading, and living by the Spirit, he is not advocating abandonment of the Law, but is emphasizing that living by the Spirit is precisely about applying God’s leading, that is, conforming to God’s Word.
The Spirit guides the believer to a deeper understanding and a genuine practice of God’s commandments. These commandments are not suggestions but are governed by a larger moral and spiritual system called God’s Law. The Spirit can’t leads you in an other path then the moral Law.
1 Corinthians 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is everything .
However, the Pharisees of the time had mixed the moral Law, the commandments of God, with the ritual works and ceremonial practices of the Jewish Law. This mixture led to a confusion that blurred the spiritual and moral meaning of the divine Law.
Instead of leading men to holiness, this burden of ritual rules crushed conscience and obscured the essence of God’s love.
Matthew 23:4 They bind heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they are unwilling to move them with a finger .
This is why Jesus so often opposed the Pharisees. By separating God’s moral commandments from their ritual additions, Jesus showed that obedience to the true Law, the one that comes from God , is the fruit of genuine love for
God.
John 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments.
Thus true faith in Christ does not mean the abolition of the Law but rather obedience to it through a life transformed by the Spirit. In salvation, Faith and Law are intimately linked: believing in Jesus means committing oneself to follow God’s commandments not by external obligation but by an internal
fidelity that emanates from a renewed heart.
For the biblical authors, salvation by faith implies a life where the Law of God
is written in hearts not to be rejected, but to be lived with depth and authenticity. This obedience, guided by the Spirit, is what gives faith all its strength and integrity, making the believer truly free to serve God in love and truth.
Jeremiah 31:33 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law in their inward parts
and write it on their hearts.
Love for God plays a primary role in obedience to God’s law,
whether in deed, word, thought, or imagination. This love constitutes the very principle of eternal life . Loving God and one’s neighbor determines the person’s motivation to conform to the immutable will and divine standard .
Indeed, this authentic love pushes the individual to seek purity of heart and mind, not by constraint, but by a deep desire to please God . Thus love becomes the basis of obedience to God’s Law.
Luke 10:25-28 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?’
So he answered and said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And He said to him, ‘You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.
Connexion with 1 Corinthians 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is everything .
Psalm 19:7-8 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The ordinances of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart ; the commandments of the LORD are pure, enlightening the eyes.
God’s law is always perfect. Who would dare to say otherwise? It is the reflection of God’s attributes, the very expression of what he is and what he judges to be good and pleasing.
The divine law, being perfect, reveals the infinite justice and wisdom of God, and it traces for man the path of a life that honors the Creator. By agreeing with this law, man participates in a more intimate communion with God, for he conforms to what is eternally just and good, according to the divine will.
1) Origin of the Law – God created men capable of making choices, thinking, discerning, choosing, he endowed them with intelligence, with a will, this is the reason why God gave a Law so that men can conform to His Standard, and exercise all these faculties that God has given.
This moral capacity is intrinsic to the human being, knowledge is given by God, it is a grace of God, to conform is the duty of man. Loving God is the source of this observation.
This love cannot be bought, nor can it be invented. It finds its source in the heart of man through the recognition of what God is and the work of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 119:97 How I love your law ! It is my meditation all the day long.
2) The nature of the Law: The law is the incorruptible portrait of God, it shows us who the Creator-God is, through the law, God reveals his person to us, he shows us who he is, what he loves, and what he finds normal.
The law of God is the eternal harmony of creatures, by conforming to it they are in harmony.
The qualities of the Law: the Law, it is holy. In no case is the law the cause of sin, certainly, it manifests to the sinful man his sin, reveals evil, the law exposes to the sinner his guilt and condemns him. The law further reveals that as a sinner,
it cannot please God. It is the heart of the sinner, the unregenerate man who seeing the law, the commandments, arouses in him the desire to do evil. Therefore the law in itself is holy and will remain holy forever and is in no way the cause of sin. It is the defiled heart of man, the cause of sin.
The law of God being just, it tells us what we must do, how we must live, according to the will of God, how we must act in this life with God, with ourselves and with others.
Nehemiah 9:29 And testified against them, that You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted proudly, and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your judgments, ‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’ And they shrugged their shoulders, stiffened their necks, and would not hear.
Law is the cause and principle of God’s will, and will is inherent in God, in His nature and character. The fruits of the law of God in man are, righteousness, harmony, assurance of eternal life, a pure conscience before God.
The Use of the Law – The Law of God is to maintain eternal life for us , to no longer transgress the commandments of God, to walk and live by the Spirit to have as fruit holiness without sin and as an end eternal life. To love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, with all our
mind and with all our imagination and our neighbor as ourselves. Luke 10:27.
Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin and become slaves of God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end eternal life.
The holiness is always without sin, there is no room for sin. No compromise.
The law of God is necessary to live a life that conforms to God’s standard, to the truth, and it will remain forever in the heart of the one who loves God.
Jeremiah 31:33 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law in their inward parts and
write it on their hearts How absurd to think that faith in Jesus cancels the law of God.
Salvation in Christ is essential for the forgiveness of sins, but this in no way means that the law of God has lost its value in the area of salvation. How shameful to see this idea!
Ezekiel 20:11 I gave them my statutes and made known to them my ordinances, which a man must do, in order to live by them.
Matthew 4:4 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
As long as I live, the law of God will be the guide of my life so that I may live according to His holy precepts. Without this complete holiness, without a life without sin, how do you expect to see God?
Revelation 12:17 The dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and
have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Do you really believe you are saved?
I have the ability to obey God’s commands because He has endowed me with will, free will. Glory to Him for that gift.
This is not pride, but simply God’s standard. It is His child’s
sincere desire to please Him, in gratitude for the life He has given me in Christ for the forgiveness of my sins.
John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
It is neither pride nor arrogance, but simply the desire to please Him by living according to His Law , for this is what He asks and what He knows I am able to do with the help of His sanctifying grace in His Holy Spirit.
God’s law is not there to demonstrate our incapacity, but to give us knowledge of what God desires, and to enable us to conform to His will.
God gave this Law so that we can act according to His moral standard. On the day of judgment God will demand accountability because each of us has a moral responsibility and should have conformed to the universal law
of morality, engraved in the heart of man.
Romans 2:6-7 He will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patience in well-doing seek glory and honor and immortality.
Unbreakable connexion with
Romans 2:13 For not the hearers of the law are just in
the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified.
Psalm 119:33-34 Teach me, O LORD, the way of your
statutes, that I may keep them until the end ; give me understanding, that I may keep your law, and observe it with my whole heart .
I have the assurance of eternal life if I remain in conformity with the law of God by being justified by the blood of Jesus
The commandments of God governed by the law are not external to man but under the new covenant established by the blood of Jesus they are internal to man that is to say in the heart of man so that man conforms to the law of God out of love and with love as a sign of gratitude towards his work of
redemption on the cross.
Jeremiah 31.33 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 inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people
God created man capable of making choices and endowed
him with intelligence and will.
This is why he gave a law, so that men could comply with his commandments and fully exercise the divine faculties that were given to them.
How can man glorify God, show his love for him, and express his gratitude for the gift of life?
By conforming to the divine law, engraved not on tablets of stone but in the heart of those who welcome it with joy, so that it is accessible at every moment of their existence.
Romans 2:14-15 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these,although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or
else excusing them.
The Law of God in the heart of man maintains and preserves the salvation received through the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ and leads to a permanently holy and a life without sin consequently, it has a salvific and protective role.
Psalm 119:1-3 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him
with the whole heart , who do no iniquity, but who walk in his ways.
I tenaciously defend man’s free will and his ability to respond to God’s will. His ultimate salvation depends on his living in victorious holiness and obedience to God’s Law.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
In light of verse 15 of Revelation 22. Faith and the Law are inseparable in the area of salvation : one cannot claim to believe while walking in darkness or participating in the works of the devil – such as anger, lust, debauchery, sexual immorality, gluttony, wickedness, hatred, violence, mockery
etc…
Know that God will destroy sinners and create a new earth where justice will reign and those who participate in the marriage of the Lamb.
Galatians 5:23-24 Now the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is paramount to the forgiveness of sins . Realizing and accepting His shed blood on the cross and trusting in Him as our Savior, Lord, and Redeemer is essential, for without Him we are spiritually dead for eternity.
It is not a matter of returning to the Mosaic, ceremonial, ritual laws and
Jewish traditions, but we still have a moral law to follow to complete
our race of salvation. : it is the law of commandments in deeds, in words, in thoughts, in imaginations and in behavior.
We receive this justifying grace of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ, but we are called to walk continually according to God’s law, and to live each day in holiness. Sin is not the norm, and what matters is knowing and doing God’s willand that will is to not sin at all. Who could argue otherwise?
John 17:3 Now this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent .
Knowing God means implicitly and firstly knowing His Law, by knowing His Law we learn who God is, His person and His attributes, what He loves and what He finds pleasing and just, by definition His Law is salutary.
Jeremiah 9:24 He who glories, glories in understanding and in knowing me , that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, declares the LORD.
Of course the law cannot justify a sin, this does not mean that we no longer need the law of God to achieved final salvation .
Romains 2:13 The doers of the Law will be justified (in the end for entering in the eternel life )
For what use is your justification if you walk in darkness?
Deuteronomy 4:8 What nation is there great, that hath statutes and judgments as righteous, as all this law which I set before you this day?
Faith in Jesus justifies, regenerates us and gives us initial holiness and the law allows us to remain justified, regenerated, and full holiness.
The path of salvation has been prepared by God in which man must walk.
Death could not hold Jesus, because he was righteous, without sin, that is why he was raised from the dead.
Revelation 12:17 The dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and
have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
None of the Church Fathers interpreted
Matthew 19:16-21 the same way as the false evangelical Protestant movements.
While evangelicals claim that Jesus’ response to the rich young ruler was meant to show the impossibility of keeping the commandments and to lead him to recognize his need for ‘faith alone,’ the Church Fathers understood this passage very differently.
Irenaeus (Against Heresies, Book IV) taught that Jesus truly called the young man to obedience and detachment from wealth as a necessary step toward eternal life.
John Chrysostom explained that Jesus was inviting him to a higher perfection, not rejecting the necessity of good works but calling for complete devotion
Proverbs 7:2 Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye. God’s law plays a salutary role in the life of a human being.
Jesus emphasizes obedience to the commandments as a condition for entering eternal life, implying that God’s law is central to the salvation of the individual. Since members of the Protestant lying movements already have a false understanding of this, this seems scandalous to them.
In Matthew 19:16–17, Jesus reiterates this truth in his response
to the rich young man that to obtain eternal life one must
obey the commandments .
Here, Jesus directly links obedience to the commandments to access to eternal life, which echoes the idea expressed in Nehemiah end in Ezekiel
that the practice of the law is vital to life with God.
Putting these passages in perspective, we can see a continuity in
biblical thought that God’s law is not a mere set of rules, but
a path to life.
Obedience to this law allows one to live in the fullness of relationship with God. In the Old Testament,
Nehemiah presents this as a truth for the Israelite people. In
Nehemiah 9:29, it says that God’s commandments give life to the one who does them.
Nehemiah 9:29 And testified against them, that You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted proudly, and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your judgments,
‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’ And they shrugged their
shoulders, stiffened their necks, and would not hear.
And the passage in
Ezekiel 20:11 And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall live by them.
Matthew 19:16-17, where Jesus says “ if you want to enter into life, obey the commandments ,” shares a common perspective on the relationship between obedience to God’s law and salvation.
In both passages, the notion of “life” goes beyond the mere physical aspect to include a spiritual and eternal dimension of the soul. The “life” referred to is a life in fullness, holy and pure. It is not only an earthly existence, but includes a dimension in the beyond.
If we focus without the sectarian influence of Christian movements, Matthew 19:17 powerfully declares that obedience to God’s commandments in complete holiness, without sin, is a criterion for accessing eternal life .
Jesus answers the young man’s question in a clear and direct
manner, without making him understand anything other than
simplicity :
“If you want to enter into life, obey the commandments.”
I reject with all my energy beliefs that deny the necessity of conforming to God’s Law in order to be saved.
I regard these doctrines as heresies and firmly reject Lutheran-Calvinist doctrines and all beliefs associated with them which are defeatist, fatalistic, antinomian, fantastic, blasphemous, lukewarm and indifferent.
Let us take the example of a man or a woman stopping at a red light. Why does he or she do it? To avoid a fatal accident or a fine . This is a hypothetical imperative : he or she acts out of fear of death first, and of a fine second. It is not out of honor or a deep desire, stemming from love for the
institution of justice, but out of fear of the consequences for
oneself .
This is the worst mentality to obey the law of God out of constraint, out of obligation, to escape hell or the day of judgment, it inevitably leads to perdition and the disfavor of God . It is as if a woman marries a man because the man is
rich and has a lot of wealth, the man finds out, how would
this man react ?
Obedience to the law of God must flow from a deep and sincere love filled with joy, filial relationship and desire to please Him .
Psalm 119:47-48 I delight in your commandments; I love them. I lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love; and I will meditate on
your statutes .
Another example, A man may perform a good deed, but this does not guarantee that his intention is also pure. His motives may be guided by self-interest, a simple sense of duty, or even hypocrisy. An action can be truly good and virtuous only if it is motivated by a sincere intention, borne of pure love and benevolent kindness toward one’s neighbor and toward God .
It is this purity of intention that gives its true moral value to
the act performed.
Matthew 6:21-23 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also . The light of the body is the eye . If your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
The example of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) perfectly illustrates this truth. Unlike the priest and the Levite who, although holding religious functions, ignored the injured man, the Samaritan acted with pure and compassionate intention.
He did not help for praise or out of obligation, but out of genuine kindness. This account emphasizes that it is not just the action that counts, but the genuine love and kind intention that is behind it . It is this state of heart that truly
reflects God’s will and embodies true virtue.
When Scripture declares that we are ‘not under the Law but under grace’ (Romans 6:14; Romans 7:6, Galatians 5:18), it means that we are no longer under its condemnation but and the mercy of justification by the blood of Jesus for the forgivness of sins.
1 Timothy 1:8-10 testifies to this by stating: ‘But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a
righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers
and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is
contrary to sound doctrine.
This passage affirms that the moral Law use his power on sinners and on the ungodly, exposing sin and condemning the guilty person. Paul give his testimony of sinful state before the
revelation of grace in Jesus in Romans 7 Therefore the law
is holy, and the commandment holy and just and
good. Has then what is good become death to me?
Certainly not!
But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become
exceedingly sinful.
Therefore, having been forgiven by the blood of Jesus by grace, we can affirm that the moral Law remains essential for maintaining the life of our salvation, guiding us in righteousness.
Romans 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith?
Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
Then, if that Law is written in the heart of man, it is not a harsh requirement or a burdensome obligation, for the christian obeys by love, by the Spirit as it written in Romans 8:7-8 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God;
for it is not subject to the law of God , nor indeed can
be. Therefore those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
As Jeremiah 31:33 declares: ‘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.’
Thus, under the New Covenant, obedience flows naturally from a transformed heart, rather than from external compulsion.
A man does not conform to God’s law to escape some
punishment. He obeys because he loves God with all his
being. God’s law saves, but man does not obey to be saved; he obeys out of love for God. His state of salvation is the fruit of this permanent obedience.
The same goes for the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ: he does not ask for the remission of sins to escape hell, but out of deep gratitude, with a contrite heart , he implores grace in Christ . For he recognizes and accepts the work of love that God accomplished on the cross for him by giving the remission, the forgiveness of sins.
Beyond riches and all other aspirations, to do the will of God by obeying His Law, to love Him and to please Him, this is the true paradise and happiness for the Christian. This aim must be the basis that fills the soul of a person.
Psalm 119:14 I rejoice in your precepts, as though I had all treasures.
God’s law is essential to maintaining salvation and to preserving the balance and health of the whole being, body, soul, and spirit. It plays a fundamental role in spiritual growth and in achieving complete holiness.
Contrary to what is advocated by antinomian movements, for whom the law is
seen as optional, it is in fact a vital requirement for living a life in accordance with God’s will and for abiding in grace.
In the kingdom of God, there is no giant wall on which all the commandments of God’s law are written, because this law is engraved in the heart of each of his creatures, of each of his children. He who possesses this law conforms to it freely out of love, and not by constraint, as Romans 7 illustrates well.
This contrasts with the attitude of the rebel, who persists in iniquity despite the echo of God’s law in his conscience.
Ezekiel 20:11 I gave them my statutes and made known to them my ordinances, which a man must do, in order to live by them.
The law of God was not written on the hearts of all the Israelites; not all had a heart willing to follow that law. It is man’s transgression that brings the curse, not the law itself.
God’s law, however, remains intact and gives life to those who direct their will and heart to it. If God has established a law for man, then there is no room for transgression due to supposed weakness or incapacity. Where sin exists, there must be an agreement, a consent between the will of man
and temptation.
According to contemporary lying heresies, including Lutheran and Calvinist doctrines, the law of God is limited to revealing sin, condemning man, and showing his inability to attain moral righteousness. It is thus reduced to the role of an accuser, pushing man to rely solely on God’s mercy through
faith in Jesus Christ, and this throughout his life.
This fallacious interpretation totally denies the law of God an active saving role, ignoring that it is also a divine guide to keep salvation alive and to enable full holiness to grow to its completion.
Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
In reality, this truncated perspective transforms God’s grace into an excuse to tolerate periodic or occasional sins, and deprives the law of its essential function: to sanctify and protect the believer in his spiritual journey . God’s law, far from being only a revealer of sin at the beginning of the
spiritual journey, is a light that illuminates the path to
complete holiness .
It is a protection, a moral and spiritual framework that allows those who love God to express this love through constant and voluntary obedience. To reject this salutary role of the law is to reject what God has constituted
as the source of his will and guide for his children.
The law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, represents a key milestone in the history of divine revelation.
Before this codification, moral principles were written in the consciences of men Romans 2:14-15 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things which the law requires, these, having not the law, are
a law to themselves, showing that the work of the law
is written in their hearts , With the Mosaic law, God explicitly established moral and spiritual standards, making sin formally identifiable and
unquestionable .
This marked a turning point: the codified law became a clear guide for the people, defining what was right and what was sin . For example, although Cain killed Abel before the law, no explicit commandment such as “Thou shalt
not kill” had yet been given (Genesis 4:8).
The Mosaic law, as a legal system, thus clarified the nature of sin and emphasized the need for a mediator for redemption, a role that Jesus
fulfilled fully.
Galatians 3:24-25 So the law became our tutor to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Now when faith has come, we are no longer under a
tutor. Paul here describes the role of God’s Law as a pedagogue, a
stern and condemning guide, revealing to man his sinful
condition and leading him to Christ .
The condemning Law acts as a harsh light that shines into the depths of the human heart, exposing its transgressions and its inability to fully
meet God’s requirements . It holds man captive, awakening
his conscience but leaving him powerless to free himself from the weight of his guilt.
Whether it is the ceremonial or traditional law, or even the
moral law, Paul’s thought is this. Justification to receive the
forgiveness of sins is through Jesus Christ alone. It is in this state of awakening and despair in the face of sin that the Law, especially the moral Law, fulfills its ultimate role:
it points to Christ, the only one capable of redeeming man and offering him the forgiveness of sins.
Freedom of love in Christ
Verse 27, “you have put on Christ,” marks a decisive transition. The one who comes to Christ by faith is no longer under the condemnation of the Law, because Christ by dying for our sins has opened the way to a deeper understanding of the Law.
When Paul says “you are dead to the law” it’s means to his condemning power . By putting on Christ, the believer not only receives full forgiveness of his sins, but he enters into a new relationship with God, based on love and
not fear.
This freedom in Christ does not mean the rejection of justice or holiness, but an inner transformation where man, freed from condemnation, now lives according to the Law of God, driven by love and guided by the Spirit . The Law is no longer an external pedagogue that condemns, but it becomes a
living reality inscribed in the heart of the believer (Jeremiah
31:33), reflecting the very nature of Christ.
The freedom brought by Christ rests on an unshakable foundation: the forgiveness of sins. This forgiveness, obtained through His sacrifice, wipes away man’s guilt and breaks the chains of condemnation . He who is awakened by the Law but who draws near to Christ does not remain in a
state of guilt or despair.
By putting on Christ, he becomes a new creature, regenerated by the Spirit, living not under accusation but in the righteousness of God.
Galatians 5:4-5 You are separated from Christ, all you who are seeking justification by the law ; you have fallen from grace.
But we wait for the hope of righteousness through the Spirit by faith.
In this passage Paul addresses the Galatians who were
attempting to combine faith in Christ with observance of
Jewish practices, especially circumcision, as a condition of
justification.
Verse 2 clarifies this situation: ” If you be circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing .” Paul warns against a reliance on the ceremonial Law to obtain
justification before God. These practices, while having
symbolic significance under the old covenant, no longer have
saving value in the new covenant inaugurated by Christ.
Paul is making a crucial point here: those who seek to be justified by the works of the Law, specifically rituals like circumcision, are separating themselves from Christ and His grace. They are choosing to return to an old system that could neither forgive sins nor provide the perfect righteousness that
God requires.
In verse 5, Paul points believers to the true hope of righteousness, which is not based on works of the Law, but on faith in Christ. This faith, operated by the Spirit, produces a life of transformation where the righteousness of God is
manifested in the heart of the believer.
This is not an outward or ritual righteousness, but an inward righteousness, which leads to complete holiness and a living relationship with God.
The grace offered in Jesus Christ, on the other hand, frees
believers from the ritual requirements of the Law and enables
them to walk in a new life, guided by the Spirit.
It is not a freedom to sin, but a freedom to live according to the Law of
God written on the heart, out of love and not out of
obligation.
Galatians 5:4-5 shows that salvation cannot be obtained by observing the ritual practices of the Jewish Law, such as circumcision. These symbolic practices were fulfilled and superseded by the perfect work of Christ. To seek to be justified by these works is to deny the sufficiency of the cross
and to fall from grace .
True righteousness, on the other hand, comes through faith in Christ, wrought by the Spirit, which transforms the believer and leads him to a life of purity of
heart, ripe fruit, and complete holiness .
Romans 5:13 explains that sin is not imputed where there is no law. Before the Mosaic law, although men sinned , these sins were not formally imputed or explicitly codified. Moral conscience acted as an implicit guide, but with the law, sin was legally defined.
Other penal sanctions were introduced because the ethical law was not written in the hearts of all Israelites. These measures were intended to keep the people within a strict moral framework and to ensure a certain collective discipline.
However, these sanctions did not reflect God’s deep desire or ultimate goal.
The very nature of men created in the image of God is capable of rationality and discernment. This moral conscience does not require a special revelation of codified law to discern good from evil. Romans 3.
The people of Sodom and Gomorrah did not have a codified
law on which God’s judgment was based but on the moral responsibility innate in every man on earth.
Natural law is found in many passages of the Bible. For example the book of Amos where nations other than Israel are responsible for their actions. The book of Jonah also testifies to this, as well as countless other passages… Primary moral laws are universally known, discernible by reason, and
innate in all human beings. Consequently, they are binding on
all and their application contributes to individual and
community well-being.
These laws are built into the very constitution of human nature and are written in the soul of every man. Human reason, as an expression of this natural law, impels each person to seek good and avoid evil. Men have often perverted these moral principles by adapting them to their worldly and subjective understanding.
By moving away from divine law, they have sought to justify practices and acts contrary to moral good, thus falling into behaviors which, although sometimes socially accepted, remain fundamentally contrary to the order desired by God.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.
If man has perverted morality , he alone is responsible as the
inhabitants of Sodom, not God. Even if his environment, his education, or society have instilled in him principles contrary to divine standards, this in no way justifies his innocence before the Law of God. On the contrary, this situation highlights his carelessness, his ignorance, and his willful
blindness to the moral principles established by the Creator.
By choosing indifference toward the divine Law, man deliberately rejects the evidence of God’s existence and the responsibility that comes with it.
Men will not be judged according to the sinful habits that have become a norm in society, but according to the divine standards established by God from eternity . The normalization of sin and perverted morality, which are
accepted or tolerated by the world, will not serve as the criteria for divine judgment.
God will judge each individual according to His perfect, unchangeable, and righteous law, regardless of the corrupt standards adopted by society.
Psalm 89:14 Justice and righteousness are the foundation of your throne ; lovingkindness and faithfulness are before your face.
God does not care about human justifications based on changing standards or cultural excuses. Perversion of morality, even when widely accepted, remains an affront to God’s holiness. As it is written, “ Woe to those who call evil good and good evil ” (Isaiah 5:20).
Just because a society accepts or normalizes a sinful practice does not mean God accepts it .
His judgment is universal and is based on the absolute truth of His law, not on human compromises or interpretations. Each person will be held accountable for his actions according to God’s standards, not the degraded
standards of his century.
It is up to man to direct his life in accordance with the Law of God. It is his responsibility to seek to know this Law, to analyze it, and to understand it with the rational faculties that God has given him.
Psalm 27:8 When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ My heart said to
You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’
Just as an individual who commits a crime in society cannot defend himself by claiming that, in his opinion, hitting, insulting, or killing is morally acceptable, man cannot escape his responsibility to God by pleading ignorance.
In a human court he will be judged according to the laws of his country,
based on what he should have known as a citizen. Likewise,
before God, judgment and condemnation will be based on
the knowledge that man should have acquired by using his
reason and conscience.
No one can find an excuse to shirk his moral responsibility toward God’s Law. After death, each individual will be held accountable for his choices, because it was his duty to seek and act according to divine truth. The moral responsibility of man cannot be excluded, because that would amount to denying the sovereignty of God himself. Man is therefore fully responsible for his actions and his refusal to conform to divine principles.
The law of Christ, as spoken of in Galatians 6:2 and 1 Corinthians 9:21, is the supreme expression of all that pertains to virtue, morality, love, and propriety. It represents the fulfillment of the Law of God through Jesus Christ, not by
annulling the commandments, but by elevating them to their
true spiritual essence.
In Galatians 6:2 Paul says, “ Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ .” Here the law of Christ is directly associated with practical love and mutual support. Bearing the burdens of others involves active solidarity, humility, and compassion that reflect the love Jesus taught:
Love one another as I have loved you.” » (John 13:34). This law is not a external rule, but moves believers to live according to justice and love in their relationships.
The atheists’ disregard for God’s Law and divine moral standards is deeply reprehensible. Their reckless mindset and disregard for spiritual principles quickly lead them to certain destruction. This attitude is often referred to as willful blindness or intentional ignorance, for they choose to disregard the fundamental moral rules that should serve as a universal guide for every conscious, living soul.
According to God’s omniscience, these individuals should have acknowledged what they are ignorant of or willfully disregard, often because of their sinful conduct . They cannot escape this responsibility, for their ignorance is not excusable before God, just as it is not in human systems of justice. For example, no defendant guilty of a crime can escape his sentence by simply stating, “I did not know.”
This would not suffice, for it was his responsibility to know.
So, in the same way, man, through his conscience and reason, is called to understand and respect divine principles. To ignore or reject these fundamental truths about God’s existence , his justice, and his redemptive work of Christ is a deliberate act that exposes one to the inescapable justice of God.
John Wesley, excerpt sermon 9, the spirit of servitude and the
spirit of adoption
He does not see that the law extends to every disposition, every desire, every thought, every movement of the heart; or he imagines that it has ceased to be obligatory, that Christ has come to abolish the law and the prophets, to save his people, not from sin, but in sin, and to make heaven accessible without holiness, forgetting that he himself said , “One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all these things be fulfilled,” and again, ” not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of God. but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
Excerpts from sermon 10, John Wesley, the Testimony of the Spirit
Finally, Scripture teaches that this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments (John 5:3),
Obedience is the sure proof of this love. The Lord Himself says: “He who keeps my commandments, he it is who loves me (John 14:21).
” Love delights to obey, to do in all respects what is pleasing to the beloved. He who loves God hastens to do his will on earth, as it is done in heaven.
Sermon 25, The Sermon on the Mount
But the moral law, contained in the ten commandments and confirmed by the prophets, our Lord has not annulled it. His coming was not to revoke any part of it. It is a law that can never be annulled, and is as enduring as the faithful witness in heaven.
The moral law rests on a very different foundation from the ceremonial law, which was only intended to serve as a temporary yoke upon a rebellious and stiff-necked people; while the first was from the beginning of the world, being
“written not in tables of stone,” but in the hearts of all the children of men, when they came out of the hands of their Maker.
And though the characters, once traced by the finger of God, are now in great part effaced by sin, yet they cannot be wholly gone, so long as we have any consciousness of right and wrong.
Every part of this law must remain in force for all mankind in all ages, since it depends neither on times, nor on places, nor on any other circumstance subject to change, but solely on the nature of God and the nature of man and their unalterable relations to each other.
“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments,” or one of the least of these commandments.
“These commandments” is an expression which our Lord uses as equivalent to the law or the law and the prophets, which is exactly the same thing, seeing that the prophets added nothing to the law, but only repeated it, explained it, or enjoined it, according as they were moved by
the Holy Spirit.”
“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments,” especially if the violation be wilful or presumptuous: one, one only; for “whosoever shall keep the whole law, if he shall sin” in this way “in one commandment, he is guilty as though he had broken them all, “the wrath of
God abideth upon him, as certainly as though he had broken each one of them.
So no allowance for any ruling lust, no reserve for any idol, no excuse for him who abstains from every other sin, except one sin which he cherishes in his heart. What God requires is entire and complete obedience; we must keep our eyes fixed on all his commandments; otherwise we waste all the trouble we take in keeping a few of them, and we lose our poor souls for eternity.
Whoever you are, then, you who bear the holy and venerable name of Christian, take care first that your justice is not below the justice of the Scribes and Pharisees. Do not be like the rest of men! Dare to be alone; dare, against the example of others, to be singular for good. If you follow the multitude, it
can only be to do evil. Let not custom or fashion be your
guides, but reason and religion.
What does it matter to you what other people do? “Each of us shall give account of himself to God.” If indeed thou canst save the soul of another, do it; but save at least one, thine own.
Walk not in the path of death, because it is broad and there are many who walk in it: by this very sign thou shalt know it. Is the path wherein thou walkest now
broad , well frequented, or the fashionable way? In that case
it leads infallibly to destruction.
Oh! do not lose thyself merely for the sake of company! Turn away from evil; flee sin as thou wouldest flee from a serpent! At least do no evil. “He that committeth sin is of the devil.” Let not thou be found
among the children of the devil!
Even now the grace of God sufficeth to keep thee from outward sins. In this respect at least “work to have always a conscience without reproach
before God and before men.”
Sermon 34, John Wesley, The Law
The law of God (in our human language) is the imprint of the eternal mind, the written reproduction of the divine nature, the most beautiful work of the eternal Father, the most brilliant emanation of his wisdom, the visible beauty of the Most High. It is the delight and admiration of the cherubim and seraphim and of all the inhabitants of heaven, and it is, on earth, the glory and joy of every wise believer, of every well-instructed child of God.
The law of God is no less good in its effects than in its nature. As the tree is, so are the fruits. The fruits of the law of God in the heart of man are: righteousness, peace, and assurance forever.
Or rather, the law itself is righteousness, and it fills the soul with a peace that passes all understanding and gives us unceasing joy, through the testimony of a good conscience before God. It is not merely the guarantee, it is “the earnest
of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14), for it is part of the possession
purchased for us.
It is God manifested in the flesh of men, and bringing us eternal life; assuring us, by His pure and perfect love, that we are “sealed up unto the day of redemption”
Eph . 4:38); that He will “spare us, as a father spareth his son that serveth him” (Mal. 3:17), in the day when He shall gather together His jewels; and that He hath reserved for us an incorruptible crown of glory.
The law serves, thirdly, to keep us alive. It is the great means by which the Spirit of grace prepares the believer for a more abundant communication of the life of God.
This great and important truth is little understood, I fear, not only by the world, but even by many of those whom God has taken out of the world, and who are truly the children of God by faith. Many of them hold it as unquestionable that once we have come to Christ, we have no more to do with the law, and that, in this sense, “Christ is the end of the law ( Rom.
10:4)” for every believer.
“The end of the law” it is, no doubt, but “for the justification of all them that believe.” That is to say, there the law ends. It justifies no one, but it leads to Christ, who is also, in another sense, the end, the goal, toward which it is constantly tending. But when it has led us to him, it has another office,
that of keeping us close to him.
For the more believers discover the height, the depth, the breadth of the law, the more they are moved to exhort one another thus:
Brothers, closer, ever closer.
Of this love that embraces us!
Let us await its sure effects,
And let us ask for grace upon grace!
So, while we grant that the law is finished for the believer, so
far as it is the ceremonial law of the Jews, or the whole Mosaic dispensation (for in this sense it is abolished by Christ); while we grant that we have no more to do with the moral law, as a means of justification, for we are “justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” ( Rom. 3:23); we must acknowledge that in another sense we have not finished with this law. For it is infinitely useful to us, first in convincing us of the sin that still remains in our hearts and lives, and thereby bringing us into an ever
closer communion with Christ, so that his blood purifies us from moment to moment.
It then serves to transfer the life of the head into the living members of his body, and thereby make them capable of fulfilling his commandments. Finally, it serves to confirm our hope with respect to those of his commandments that we have not yet attained, our hope of receiving grace upon grace, until we actually possess the fullness of what he promises us.
And if thy Master hath already fulfilled his word, if he hath already “written his law in thy heart,” then “stand fast in the liberty wherein Christ hath put it .” (Gal. 5:1) Thou art free, not only from Jewish ceremonies, not only from the guilt of sin or the fear of hell (which is but the least part of Christian
liberty), but, what is infinitely more, thou art free from the power of sin, from the service of Satan, and free to offend God no more.
Oh, stand fast in that liberty, in comparison of which all else is not worthy to be named.
Stand firm in loving God with all your heart and serving Him with all your might. This is perfect liberty: to keep His law and walk blameless in all His commandments. “Do not entangle yourself again with a yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1); I do not mean Jewish bondage or the fear of hell; these are, I hope, far from you.
But beware of falling back under the yoke of sin, of an inward or outward transgression of the law. Abhor sin more than death or hell itself; abhor sin itself more than the penalty that is its punishment.
Beware of being enslaved to pride, to lust, to anger, to every evil disposition, word, and work. “Look unto Jesus” ( Heb 12:2), and to do this, look more and more to the perfect law, “the law of liberty”; do this with perseverance; so you will grow daily in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon 35, The Law Established by Faith
Being “under the law” can mean here:
1° To be required to observe ritual law
2° To be required to comply with the entire Mosaic economy;
3° To be bound to keep the whole moral law, as a condition of
being accepted by God; finally,
4. To be under wrath and under a curse, under a sentence of
eternal death, to be filled with the feeling of condemnation
and a servile and dreadful fear.
Now in all these respects it is certain that the believer is no longer “under the law,” though he is “not without law toward God, but under the law of Christ” (1 Cor. 9:21) . On the contrary, he is “under grace.” No longer under the law of ritual, nor under the Mosaic economy in general, nor under
the obligation to keep even the moral law, as a prerequisite to
his acceptance with God, he is delivered from the wrath and
curse of God, from the weight of condemnation, and from
that horrible fear of death and hell, by which he was formerly
subject to servitude.
And now (what was impossible under the law) he exercises in all things a joyful and entire obedience. His obedience proceeds, not from a servile fear,
but from a nobler principle, from the grace of God which,
reigning in his heart, enables him to do all things in love.
Sermon 40, Christian Perfection, John Wesley
The Word of God plainly declares that even those who are justified, who are born again in the most elementary sense of the word, “do not abide in sin, that they cannot live therein any longer” ( Rom. 6:1,3,5-7,11,14,18); that they have been planted with Christ in the likeness of his death; that their old man is crucified with him, the body of sin being destroyed, that they should no longer be servants to sin, but, being dead with Christ, should be freed from sin; that they are dead to sin, and live unto God in Christ Jesus; that sin has no more dominion over them, because they are no longer under the law, but under grace; that being made free from sin, they have become the servants of righteousness.