"Ye That Desire To Be Under The Law?   

Galatians 4:21

 

     If I had a dollar for every letter I have received from some deluded legalist, upbraiding me for what he called "antinomianism" and trying to convince me that believers are in fact still under the law, I would have a sizeable amount of money in my wallet. I received another one today! That is what inspired the hymn on the opposite page and this article.

     "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?" THIS IS WHAT THE LAW SAYS - "As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them"(Gal.3:10; Deut.27:26; Jer.11:3). If you are under the law to any degree, for any reason, as a grounds for justification, as a basis of sanctification,as a motive of consecration,or as a rule of conversation you are cursed,under the wrath of God! Unless you are personally obedient to the law in its entirety, and perfectly so, from the moment of conception to the last breath you draw, you are under the curse!

     THE BELIEVER IS FREE FROM THE LAW COMPLETELY. Pay no attention to those who say otherwise. Read the Word of God (Rom.6:14,15; 7:4; 10:4; Gal.2:21; 3:1-3,24-25). "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law," delivered us from the bondage of the law, freed us from the constraint of the law,and fulfilled all our responsibility to the law. Never once in the New Testament is any believer admonished to do anything on the basis of the law.Never once are God's elect said to be under the law.Just the opposite is plainly declared - "YE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW,BUT UNDER GRACE."The law does not justify us, sanctify us, motivate us, or direct us. Our rule of life is faith in and love for Christ (I John 3:24). His example is the pattern by which we live (John 13:15).

     EVERY BELIEVER FULFILLS THE LAW BY FAITH IN CHRIST. We do not fulfill the law by our obedience to it, not even by our walking in the Spirit. That is never said to be the case in the Book of God. We fulfill the law by faith in Christ (Rom. 3:31). Trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as our Substitute, we offer God all that his holy law requires - PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS AND COMPLETE SATISFACTION.

 

Don Fortner