The Law and the Spirit

“I’m glad I didn’t live in the Old Testament times:  I can’t imagine having to keep all of those commandments!”  Have you ever heard – or maybe even said – something like this?  It is not uncommon.  For Christians reading the Law of Moses, the extensive commands and their harsh penalties can feel overwhelming.

We know that “the law has but a shadow of the good things to come” and that, as “the guarantor of a better covenant”, Jesus “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us”  (Hebrews 10:1, 7:22, Galatians 3:13).  Yet, the “curse” was not the law itself but the penalty for failing to keep it:  “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them” (Galatians 3:10, citing Deuteronomy 27:26).  Paul wrote that “the commandment is holy, righteous, and good”:  the real problem was “sin, producing death in me through what is good…For we know that law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.  For I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:12-15).  This isn’t solved with fewer commandments but with the Holy Spirit. 

 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant…I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31-33).  Nearly six centuries before Jesus’ birth, the Spirit’s role in dealing with sin is clearly declared.  Hebrews quoted this twice in discussing the better covenant (Hebrews 8:8-13, 10:15-18).  Paul told the Galatians, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:13-14).  He told the Romans, “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).

Be glad that we live today, but because Jesus has now borne the penalty for our sins.  Be glad that we live today because He has given us His Spirit.  Be glad because the Spirit helps us follow God’s law, know Him, and live!

Are you ready to learn more about how to live a Spirit-led life? Check our our new sermon series, “Living Water: Never Be Thirsty Again”.