Free From the Law

We are free from the law. Yes, I said it, we are free from the law.

Now, I am not speaking to the consequences of not obeying the law, I am speaking of freedom from being ruled by it. We are free from the law ruling our movement and actions. We are not paralyzed in work by the need to follow the law.

“³I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” – Galatians 5:3-4 (ESV)

Yes, if you are adhering to the principle of circumcision then you must adhere to the whole law and are a slave to it. Of course, I am speaking of adhering to the principle for the purpose of adhering to the law and not just for medical or traditional reasoning. Yes, reasoning and the order of actions does matter.

You see, the order in which we do things matter in the display of our freedom. We are justified by faith, not by works. We accept the grace of Jesus Christ and the love of God and as such receive freedom from the law. As we are now free from the law, we do the work assigned by God to glorify Him and not to gain favor with Him. Now that we have been saved, we do through obedience and are not obedient to be saved, lest we are slaves to the law.

How are you slave to the law? Are you following the law as a means to gain freedom? What if you were to do so, not for freedom, but because of it?

Where Does the Law End

Have you ever wondered where the law ends. Think about it, there is law after law after law and even those that seem to be silly in their application, however we are held accountable to them. You can’t honk your horn near a sandwich shop, you can’t put an animal in the back seat of an open car, and the list goes on. Even in the Levitical law, your tassels must be just so long. Where does it all end. Where do we find the relief from the law. IN CHRIST.

“¹⁰For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’” “¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—“ — Galatians 3:10 & 13 (ESV)

As Paul writes and quotes the book of the law, we are held captive by all of the law. We are having to continue looking to see if we are doing things according to the law and as such are not free to just live our lives. Until Jesus. When Jesus came, He freed us from the law by taking our place as relates to the curse of the law. He took on the curse to allow us to live according to His love and redemption. Jesus provided relief from the law.

Yes, we are still held to account. We are free, yes, but not free to just run wild. We are now under the law of the LORD and not the law according to man. We are guided by the Holy Spirit and will find ourselves not concerned with the law according to man in that it does not run our daily actions in the world. We are free once again as were Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the fall. We are free to follow and rely on the LORD for all and not man. We have reached the end of the law of man and are able to live according to Christ.

Where is the end of the law for you? Are you held to the idea that we have to know and comply with every law or rule without exception? What if we just focused on the Law of the LORD as written on our heart to be free?

Free Yourself from the Law

Yes, we can free ourselves from the law. But what does that mean. Can we no longer be accountable? What about following of the law, are we exempt? Does the law no longer apply, to us? The answer to all of those questions is a short no.

I mentioned to Lori just the other day that we have to get back to a place where we are not trying to follow some “political correctness” and we should get back to truth and that which is founding in God. I see too often that there is an abandonment of that which is known to be true in the interest of not offending or following some sort of social “norm”.

“⁵For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.” – Romans 7:5 (ESV)

When we are following those social “norms” we are living in the flesh. We are doing and saying things that are in the interest of acceptance and in doing so, we abandoning truth and love as God intended for us. We find ourselves working for others and not working for the LORD.

“⁶But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” – Romans 7:6 (ESV)

With acceptance of Christ as our Savior and that He died for our sin so that we may have life eternal, we are freed from sin. We are forgiven for those sins we have committed and will commit. We are no longer slaves to the law written in on the page, we are held to the law written on our heart by God.

As mentioned above, we are not absolved of accountability to the law as written, we are not exempt, and the law does still apply to us. But we will find ourselves following the law because we are doing the work of the LORD and not for acceptance to the societal “norms”. We are free to do that which is right as opposed coerced into it to avoid some persecution. We don’t “break” the law as we are too busy following truth and love as given to us by God through Jesus Christ.

What is your view of the law and your freedom? Do you feel restricted to follow the law to adhere to social “norms”? What if you were free from sin in that you were following Christ and doing His work in truth and love?