The Law and the Gospel

Last week we talked about the persecution Paul faced at the hands of the unbelieving Jews in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. Since we left off, Paul and Barnabas finished their journey. They travelled back the way they had come, revisiting each city they had visited prior, until they got back to Antioch, the city they had departed from originally. They reported all that had happened on their trip and the church was excited to hear the news.

It was around then that some believing Jews came from Judea, that is the southern end of Israel where Jerusalem is, and they began claiming that unless one is circumcised he cannot be saved. Now this is a serious claim, not one we hold today, and for good reason. So a debate sparks between this group and Paul and Barnabas. It is then decided that they should take the matter to the apostles in Jerusalem to decide on the matter. So Paul and Barnabas make their way toward Jerusalem.

When they arrive, the church leadership gathers and Paul and Barnabas report all that God had done. There was a group who had a Pharisaical background who were now believers who also claimed that these Gentiles needed to be circumcised and taught to follow the Law of Moses. Peter disagrees and recounts his experience as he took the gospel to Cornelius and how his household received the Holy Spirit just as they had. He emphasized their salvation through grace just as they were, to which Paul and Barnabas agreed.

When they were done speaking, James had his turn.

Acts 15:13–21 NASB95

After they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me. “Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. “With this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After these things I will return, And I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen, And I will rebuild its ruins, And I will restore it, So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’ Says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago. “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

This brings up a critical question in Christian belief and practice:

Where does the Law of Moses fit in the life of the believer?

Before we can say nowhere, we must understand what the Law of Moses is and revisit the understanding of covenant and what it means for Jesus to be the fulfillment of the Law.

God’s Law was handed down from God Himself to Moses at Mount Sinai in the book of Exodus. First, we must affirm that God’s Law is perfect as He is perfect. God’s Law is a reflection of His character and His nature. It is the standard for righteousness. If anyone wants to be right before God, he must meet the standard for righteousness found in God’s Law.

When God entered into a covenant relationship with Israel, He did not do so because Israel was already righteous, but to reveal His righteousness to them. As long as they obeyed His commands, they would continue to experience the blessings of God. However, if they disobeyed, they would experience the removal of those blessings and experience curses instead. Remember a covenant is not dissolved when one party fails to uphold their end of the agreement. Because of this and the unchanging nature of God, we can expect He will always uphold His end.

The Law of God was the standard for right living before God but God knew that no one could live up to this standard. They had already failed. Everyone from birth falls short of the glory of God. Knowing this before the foundations of the world were laid, God had a plan to send Jesus as the fulfiller of the Law. Jesus says in Matthew 5:17-18,

Matthew 5:17–18 NASB95

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

So if the Law is not abolished, why is it no longer binding on us today? Because Jesus is the fulfiller of it. Every requirement of living a righteous life before God was met in the life of Christ. He did everything perfectly. Jesus met the standard as our representative, freely taking our place in death, and in so doing accomplished salvation for everyone who believes. Because Jesus met the standard that the Law demands, that standard is applied to you and I by the grace of God, through the faith we have in His Son Jesus.

Everything that the Law pointed to is fully realized in the person and work of Jesus, who is the embodiment of the Law and who is God Himself. The church is beginning to recognize this as Gentiles are placing their faith in Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit without having followed the Law of Moses first.

Paul later writes in the book of Colossians,

Colossians 2:8–17 NASB95

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

Every part of the Old Testament Law has been fulfilled in Christ. Every feast or festival, every holy day, every dietary law, every ceremonial law has been fulfilled by Christ, and they are all pointers to Him. All these things find their substance, the reality itself, in Christ. Now that He has come, those things which were shadows of him, are finally realized.

So Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James are all correct in stating that it not be necessary for the Gentile to become a Jew to become a Christian. One does not have to submit himself to keeping the Law of Moses and practice things like circumcision to come to faith in Christ. It is plainly evident that Gentiles were coming to faith without the practice of circumcision. We see elsewhere in the New Testament that circumcision has been replaced as an old covenant is completed and a new covenant has been established.

This new covenant, ratified by Christ, has been instituted where now one is made clean by faith in Christ and the sacrifice He made. So no longer is one bound to following the things that make one clean or unclean because the blood of Christ covers it. The festivals and holy days Israel followed are not necessary for the Christian to observe because Christ is the embodiment of everything they signified.

The Christian follows the Law by following Christ, the embodiment of the Law.

So are we to fulfill the Law today? Yes. How? By following Christ. He took the Law that God gave to Moses and summed it up into two commands: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Paul states in Romans the following:

Romans 13:8–10 NASB95

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

As you follow Christ, the Law of God is not something you have to do, but something you want to do. Through this new covenant relationship I have been given a new heart that wants to follow Christ and all that He has commanded. As I obey, I enjoy the richness of Christ. As I enjoy the richness of Christ, I want to follow Him in obedience.

The only things the church in Jerusalem said that these Gentiles should do is abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, things strangled, and fornication. At first glance, it seems that all these things fall in the realm of ritual requirements, which seems to be the thing they just said was not necessary. But let’s look a bit deeper. For the first time, Jew and Gentile were going to begin to break bread together at the same table. They come form very different backgrounds. The Jew would be deeply offended if the Gentile brought meat sacrificed to an idol to the dinner party. The same would apply to meat that still had its blood in it. An animal strangled would have been killed in such a way that the blood would still be in the meat. The Gentile was being called not to be an offense to their brothers and sisters coming from a Jewish background. The abstinence from fornication was a call to submit oneself to a biblical sexual ethic. The Gentile audience they were discussing had a very different understanding of sexual ethics than the Jews did, so it was a point of concern that needed addressing. This too was one of those things that had deep ties to pagan idol worship, a life that one forsakes when he or she comes to Christ. So these four things are to help the Gentile properly associate with their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ and separate themselves from their former observance of pagan religious practices. It is all connected to loving one’ neighbor as himself.

There is much freedom in following Christ and it is important to understand how we relate to the Law of God under the new covenant ratified by Christ through the shedding of His blood for us. As we enter this new covenant, the physical act of circumcision is not a requirement because the sign of the new covenant is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which we recognize visibly through the baptism of water as one professes their faith in Christ. Then the call is to obey all that Christ has commanded and love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.