The Law of Liberty

 

In the beginning, God created man and placed him and his help mate in the garden of Eden. In the beginning, man was without sin, and God and man could converse and walk together because of man's sinless state. Man had full reign of the garden to care for and to nurture it as the pinnacle creature of God's creation, but God did put one limitation on man. In Genesis 2:16-17 we read that, "The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."

Of course we know that man contravened that instruction and introduced sin (disobedience) and the resulting death into the world. There was one law that man was expected to adhere to and he was not able to maintain that. As a result, after a couple thousand years of man muddling around trying to understand how God relates to life on earth and trying to figure out what it takes to please Him, God presented a people group with a list of laws and rules through which they might achieve and retain a place of favour with the God that created them, and thereby receive His blessing. This, of course, was the Ten Commandments as well as the Law of the Old Testament as God Himself revealed to Moses.

This Law contained rules for personal and corporate cleanliness regarding both physical and spiritual cleanliness, as well as the cost of breaking those rules. This was implemented as a stop-gap measure, something to bridge from the time of the giving of the Law to the time when the fulfillment of the Law was going to be perfected in the time of Christ. Throughout history, God has been gradually revealing Himself to mankind, telling us what He expects of us and providing for us ways through which we can approach Him in spite of our sin nature. The Law of the Old Testament was a 2000 year long measure which was brought to an end by the ministry of Jesus, the culmination of which resulted in the new measure which is also approaching the 2000 year mark of it's activity. The first measure was a law of obedience to the letter of the Law; the second measure has been a law of Liberty which is based upon obedience to the spirit of the law through faith in Christ.

In Psalm 119 the psalmist alludes to the nature of this new measure, even though he did not live under this measure himself, and likely didn't fully understand what he was writing. In Psalm 119:41, 45, 47 and 48 we get a glimpse into the heart of the psalmist as he is inspired by the Spirit to write of things that are yet to come. "41 May Your lovingkindnesses also come to me, O Lord, Your salvation according to Your word;", 45 "And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts." 47 "I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love. 48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes."

In verse 41 the writer notes that God's lovingkindnesses will come to mankind through the salvation that He talks about in His Word. God speaks of this salvation plan way back in Genesis when He is speaking to the man, the woman and the serpent (the devil) after the incident at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In Genesis 3:15 God says to the serpent, "And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” God mentions this in conversations with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when He tells them over and over that He will bless the whole world through their offspring, in particular through the life of Jesus Christ. We also see the plan of replacement for the old covenant with the new covenant when we read Jeremiah 31:31-34, "Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

The new measure, the law of liberty, is so much better suited to mankind because it is not made up of a list of rules to follow, but is instead based upon the relationship between God and mankind. When man has a relationship and a love for another, he is willing to sacrifice things that he wants in order to fulfill the desires of the one that he loves. This makes the fulfillment of the law of liberty more easily accomplished for weak and sinful man. But this name, the law of liberty, is a misnomer of sorts, because by definition, a law does not grant liberty, but expects adherence. So how does the law of liberty work and where do we read about it?

The law of liberty is most plainly mentioned in the book of James. James is writing to the Messianic believers among the twelve tribes of Israel who have been dispersed due to the persecution of the Romans. These are people who are familiar with the Law of the Jews, yet have been introduced to the new law of liberty through the teaching of the Apostles. In James 1:25 we come across the first of only two specific mentions of the law of liberty; "But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does." Then we see the second mention in James 2:12 "So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty." What James is talking about here is to know and to do according to the Word that we have been told, that being what Jesus instructed us through His ministry; the basic tenets of which are to love the Lord your God and to love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40).

And what does is mean to be a"an effectual doer" of what God's law instructs? This is what the psalmist is talking about when he states in Psalm 119:45, 47 and 48; "And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts." 47 "I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love. 48 And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes." The psalmist will seek God's precepts (instructions, rules), he will delight in and praise with raised hands God's commandments, which he loves, and he will meditate on the statutes of God. This is what it looks like to walk in the liberty of the love of God, even under the new covenant. To love and obey the commandments and statutes of God is to be an effectual doer, rather than a forgetful hearer.

So we have already seen that it was by observance of the Law that the Old Testament Israelites were reconciled to God, but that it was a flawed system; requiring efforts made by man. In which case a man could state, as the young ruler in Matthew 19 did, that he had fulfilled all the Law; which only God can know for sure. But we no longer live under the Law, but we live by faith. In Romans 3:27-28 Paul tells us, "Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law."

When we jump ahead to Romans 8:1-8,12-17 we see this fleshed out further; "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him."

In verse 2 we see that we are set free from the law of sin and death, which was introduced in Genesis 2, if we live according to the law of the Spirit through Christ Jesus. And in verses 13 and 14 we see that if we are living by the Spirit, then we are putting to death, or mortifying, the things that the body, our flesh, wants to do, and that all who are living this way are "sons of God". A son is not a slave, but has full freedom, so as a son of God we have received a Spirit of freedom and liberty, not a spirit of slavery (v.15). We also see in 2 Corinthians 3:17 that when we live according to the Spirit, we have liberty; "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

Keep in mind, though, what we have just read; the liberty that we receive through Christ is not a freedom to do as we please. In 1 Peter 2:16 we are told to, "Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God." We see the same message in the letter to the Galatians, 5:13 "For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." This is what loving ones neighbour as oneself looks like. If we see or hear of a brother in need and do not help them, we are not serving them in love. One does not need to be in need in order to show them love either; even just giving of what you have to help another is an act of love. That can be material items, or it can be your time, a listening ear or lifting them up in your time of prayer.

We also read in the New Testament that there were brothers in Christ whom had not advanced in comfort in their new liberty as far or as quickly as others did, and these brothers could get hung up on things of the Law. One of these issues was the Jewish circumcision requirement. We read of how this was reconciled in Acts 15, where there was a meeting of the council of apostles and elders in Jerusalem in which Peter stood up and made a statement of what he had witnesses of the Spirit working in the lives of uncircumcised believers, which drew the debate to a close. Later, we read of the same issue being brought up in the churches by those looking to sow dissent among the believers. Paul addresses this in his letter to the Galatians, in 2:4 where he says, "But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage (of circumcision under the Law). Both Peter and Paul argued that there is freedom from the Law in Christ, and that we are not to allow ourselves to again be yoked to a religion of rules, the violation of which would threaten the state of our walk with God. Galatians 5:1 tells us that, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." As I write this, I am thinking of the rules of the Roman Catholic church which require observance for fear of either rejection by God or at least a longer time in purgatory. Oh how this is contrary to the law of liberty that is laid out in the Scriptures!

Paul also addresses another common situation that believers would come across, especially those who lived outside of Jerusalem and who interacted with pagans in an attempt to win them to Christ. The pagans were known to offer sacrifices to their false gods and then to consume the sacrifices or to sell the meat of said sacrifices in the market, the consumption of which was anathema to the Jewish Law (Exodus 34:12-16). Yet Paul speaks of the liberty that believers in Christ have in the knowledge that God is above all pagan gods, and that the demons that act as these pagan gods have no power over one who believes in Christ. He addresses this in 1 Corinthians 10:25-27; "Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; 26 for the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains. 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake." But your own liberty should be set aside for the sake of one who does not share in the same sense of liberty that you practice, in order that he will not stumble in his faith. Verses 28-29 instructs us "But if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake; 29 I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience?" 

This is also addressed in Paul's letter to the Romans, in chapter 14:13-23: "Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way (v.13). "For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died (v.15). "All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats [even though to him it is an] offense (v.20b). "The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin" (v. 22-23). So even though we walk in liberty, we are not supposed to flaunt our liberty over the concerns of a brother who has not come to the point of walking in the same liberty that we walk in.

"All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor" 1 Corinthians 10:23-24. We are to always act in the good of those around us, that we might win them over to Christ and to keep them from stumbling in their faith walk. "Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved" 1 Corinthians 10:32-33.

 So let's strive to walk in the liberty of faith, seeking God's will and following the guiding of the Holy Spirit that indwells us. We are not subject to a list of rules, infractions against which are enough to separate us from God. Nothing can separate us from God's love except our intentional turning away from Him. But remember to not cause another to stumble due to the exercise of our freedom which they do not yet share. "All things are lawful, but not all things edify."

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