GOD'S LAW:
WAS IT "NAILED TO THE CROSS"?
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GOD'S LAW: WAS IT "NAILED TO THE CROSS"? |
Today, nearly two thousand years after the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, most ministers and theologians would have you believe that the law was nailed to the cross. They teach that we are at liberty from the law since we are now under grace. Scriptures such as Rom. 3:28 are used to show you "that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," and others such as Rom. 6:14 which states that "…ye are not under the law, but under grace." Can it be true that the law was indeed nailed to the cross?
Prophecy Concerning Christ
If this is true, then why did the Lord prophesy by the mouth of Isaiah approximately seven hundred years before Christ the following: "Behold my servant whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgement unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgement in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his LAW. The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sake; he will MAGNIFY THE LAW, and make it HONORABLE." (Isa. 42:1-4)
How could the law have been magnified and made honorable if it was nailed to the cross and abolished?
To further complicate this question, we must contend with another prophecy also. This one was given by the prophet Daniel over five hundred years before Christ. He stated that "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to FINISH the transgression, and to make an END of sins,…" (Dan. 9:24).
It is known from I Jn. 3:4 that sin is defined as the breaking of God's law because "whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW." This means that the law would have to continue for at least seventy prophetic weeks, since without the law there would be no sin (Rom. 4:15).
Going back now to Daniel's prophecy, he states that it will take seventy prophetic weeks to make an end of sins. He further mentions that we are to "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem UNTO THE MESSIAH the Prince shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks… "(a total of 69 weeks)(Dan. 9:25).
The Fulfillment of Daniel's Prophecy
This our Lord Jesus Christ did when he died upon the cross. He was our passover lamb (I Cor. 5:7; Jn. 1:29). There is no need any more to sacrifice animals. "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death for the redemption of the TRANSGRESSIONS that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Heb. 9:12-15).
To Fulfill the Law
Does this make an end of sins? Some would have you believe that the law was fulfilled here (meaning that the law had ended here). They quote the last part of verse 17 of Matthew 5: "I am not come to destroy (the law) BUT TO FULFILL." What is meant by Jesus' statement "but to fulfill?" The answer is given in Rom. 8:3-4: "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the RIGHTEOUSNESS of the law might be FULFILLED IN US…"
Because of the weakness of our flesh we could not obtain eternal life; but only eternal death "For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).
But because Jesus was able to live a perfect life without sin, he was able to claim eternal life, something that no one else was able to do. This He did so that we could have eternal life also, saving us from the penalty of sin (death). "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH, but after the spirit" (Rom. 8:1).
Notice that our redemption from the law of sin is NOT unconditional. It states here that there is no condemnation to them who "walk not after the flesh." Paul continues again on this point in verse 4 of the same chapter saying that "the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. WHO WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH, but after the spirit."