"O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day." Psalm 119:97.
The Psalmist sees great value in God's law and considers it worthy of meditation all the day long. There are many verses that argue against dismissing the idea that Christ came to do away with law as a necessity of society, governance, and life. Typically, such texts are used as proof texts against antinomianism (anti-law), but I don't want to go that route. And I need only one short passage to prove the error of such thinking.
Some would argue that Christ had nothing to say about law and governance and society, that all he cared about was the individual's soul and eternal things. But what about the earth that He created? See John 1. What about His rule as David's heir over all things? II Samuel 7:12-7. What about His giving of His Father's law to Israel and Moses on Mt. Sinai to show how to govern society? Exodus chapters 20-23. Does He not care for man in this life? Does He not have guidance to give to His Creation whom He loves now, while we live on His earth now? According to some, He does not, and He has abandoned the earth and the mission that His Father gave to man in Genesis 1:26-31.
Here is the one verse needed to prove those wrong who claim man doesn't need law. "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:16-7. This command, or law, was given by God before the Fall, while Adam and Eve, newly created in God's image, still had all the faculties given to them by God for ruling and subduing the world in accordance with God's plan for the earth. They had endless lives and could have lived forever if they had chosen to eat from the Tree of Life instead of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But even if they had eaten from the Tree of Life, that other Tree, including the command to not eat from it, would have always been present in the Garden. If God had issued no other law and even if Adam and Eve had never sinned, that law would have existed for all time for mankind to obey. In other words, the true God is a God of law. It's the Tree of Life or the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; you can't have both. Christ said that He was the way, the truth, the Life! And the truth is that good and evil is determined by Almighty God, not weak, pitiful, sinful man. The obedient Christ shows the way to that Life and that Truth.
What does that mean? A God of law? It means that God, when He created beings in His own image, created law-oriented persons, that is, law-obeyers. It is part of the very make-up of man to obey. That's why when he sinned, he merely transferred his allegiance and obedience from God to another being - the serpent. He didn't cease obeying. If Adam thought he was becoming independent by disobeying God, he was simply deceived. Even in a sinless state, God apparently never wanted to create some kind of "super man," who would be perfect in his own self and independent of God, judging for himself what is good and evil. That type of "good" human is not what God considers good, for He judged Adam and Eve for seeking such status. Without a law, there is little to prove that man trusts and is loyal to his creator. Thus law is essential to our existence because it was not invented by God after the Fall merely to guide us or teach us what civil policy should be or even demonstrate our need for Christ. Law is part and parcel of the God of the universe, thus obeying His law is part and parcel of the humans He creates. How else would we prove our faith in Him? We live by faith, but if we were perfect in the sense of having unblemished character without even needing a law to lead us, we would have no way of showing our love and faith in our Creator. In fact, we would not need Him at all; we would be our own gods equal to Him who created us. An impossible circumstance.
What about man? Who would fight against law? Men of lawlessness. It's interesting that the New Testament describes the most fearful situation we could face as the ruler who is without law - the man of lawlessness. II Thessalonians 2:3. It was also Christ's accusation which he flung at the Scribes and Pharisees. Matthew 23:28. The lawless man is of the spirit of anti-Christ, that is, he is someone who fights against Christ or substitutes something for Christ. What could substitute for Christ, the One who died for mankind's sin? Lawlessness. If there is no law, then we don't need Christ. It is Satan's salvation. No true Christian can promote lawlessness because that would be denying the very need for Christ's coming to earth and suffering death for our sins.
What about Christ? What was His attitude toward law? Think about the love, loyalty, and respect that is tied up in this one statement that Christ made in John 5:30. "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." Christ, perfect in every way, God in the flesh, without sin and without flaw, yet His greatest joy is to perfectly follow the will of the Father. Christ was and is always obedient to His Father. He is our example as to how to live. His image is that into which God is conforming the believer. The words every believer longs to hear on the Day of Judgment are: "Well done, good and faithful servant." We do not want to hear: "But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." Luke 13:27. The word "iniquity" is defined as lawlessness. Thus, even in the administration of Christ's kingdom and a critical component of our eternal status is our law keeping, not our perfection in our natural selves.
The fact that we are not perfected in this life is actually a comfort to the believer, who longs for the day of freedom from sin and often wonders what is wrong with his life and the ever present attack of his sinful flesh. Yet, there is comfort in the fact that the believer still, in spite of all the attacks and all the failures of this life, still wants to obey the Lord. This is the perseverance of the saints, this is the love and loyalty of the faithful, and this is what distinguishes the believer from the most upright and honorable unbeliever, who knows not the believer's God or the loyalty and love that is wedded to the believer's obedience to his Lord. The "perfect" heathen is always imperfect, for the unbeliever can never learn to obey His true Creator-Father, can never know that relationship of love, suffering, and faithfulness. No matter how "perfect" the unbeliever lives before man, he is stunted as a human being because he knows not His own God and Maker. How terrible is the existence of the so-called "good" man who knows not his own God!?
The greatest evil is the man who continues in rebellion against his creator, who never understands or even desires to obey His God and King but lives in the darkness of his lawless love of his own way. This is the way of Cain, this is Judas' choice, this is, no matter how pristine the outward appearance, the way to Hell and the Lake of Fire. It is also the way a society disintegrates, whether quickly or glacially. The end is certain. God will not bless a nation or people who defy His law. Christ could never have come to bring lawlessness to humanity, for that would mean that He desired the alienation of man from God and the destruction of mankind itself. Of course, such a motive was the opposite of Christ and His purpose and motivation. His love and sacrifice was for man to be reunited to His Father and saved from destruction, both eternal and temporal. Therefore, Christ opposed the greatest evil with all His words and with everything He had while He walked the earth. He came to restore us to law-keeping and love for the Father and His law. Anyone who says otherwise is an apostle of the Satanic gospel, which says, "There is no law that condemns you, and there is no need for salvation. You are your own god."
Again, the believer willingly, even joyfully, submits to the rule of God in his own life and attempts to apply it equitably to the civil sphere. The unbelieving rebel mocks such attempts and would overturn all of God's rule in his own life and that of the entire world, if he could. But he can't.
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