keep it legal.docx

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KEEP IT LEGAL

RETHINKING OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE LAW OF GOD

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Romans 6: 1 - 2

"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sinrevived, and I died.

And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by thecommandment might become exceeding sinful.

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate,that do I.

If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
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Now why do I say that we tend to be half of the problem in most of these scenarios? Are we wrong to

speak out? Should we just keep our mouths shut and leave everyone to their "Christian liberty?"

The answer is obviously "No". Silence is never the answer. Silence on our part is absolutely the wrongresponse. It has been the silence of otherwise godly men that has permitted the situation that we face

today to degenerate to the degree that it has.

I say that we tend to be half of the problem because of our reaction to the charge of legalism. For someinexplicable reason, whenever that magic word is pronounced, the modern preacher of righteousnessimmediately goes on the defensive. He nearly goes into convulsions. He starts tripping over himself trying explain his position, trying to justify himself, trying to clear himself of this horrible charge of legalism. And as we all should know by now, a defensive battle is a losing battle. Once the preacher of righteousness goes on the defensive, he has already lost. And, as I said, the aforementioned wickedrebel walks away, putting another notch on his belt.

So, as an alternative to spasmodic reactions and embarrassed defeat, I propose the novel idea of

foresight and advance preparation. It would do us all some good, I think, to consider this charge of legalism, and after due meditation, come to a sound, thoughtful and Biblical and common sense positionon the subject. Maybe we should take a moment to ask ourselves this simple question: " What's wrong

with being legal? "

I. COMMON SENSE

I am a fan of common sense. It's a novel idea in these times of government handouts and special

interest groups, I know, but still a good one, in my humble opinion. Martin Luther thought so tooapparently, because he insisted upon being convinced by "Scripture and clear reason". And whateveryou may think about Mr. Luther, I trust that you will agree with the two of on one point, at least:

common sense is a good thing.


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So I ask, in the light of common sense, what is wrong with legalism? What does it mean to be legal? Itmeans to conform to established law, does it not? It is the opposite of illegal, which of course, we knowto be bad.

In other words, if I stop at a stop sign or a red light, if I refrain from driving under the influence of drugsor alcohol or from participating in substance abuse, homicide or other illegal activity, have I donesomething wrong or immoral? Do I cease to be a spiritual person because I obeyed the law? Am I aspiritual person if I do break the law? What if I encourage someone else to obey the law, to stop at stop

signs and red lights, to refrain from drunk driving or illegal drug abuse or homicidal behavior? Is theresomething wrong with these things? Isn't this really the whole issue at stake with illegal immigration,the fact that laws ought to be obeyed, and not violated? When did "legal" become a dirty word?

What's wrong with being legal?

II. CONTEXTUAL SAFEGUARDS

Now, we are discussing spiritual matters here, so we must necessarily bring Scripture to bear upon thissubject. And of course, this is where the aforementioned wicked rebel leaps in brandishing his sword

and bandying about Romans 6: 14. We "are not under the law, but under grace" he screams.

Now this is the poor man's constant mantra, and it is probably about all the Scripture that he knows. Sowe must ask him kindly to please hold his sword still for a moment and to please take a seat, while weconsider his objection. And if he can just do that, and not squirm and wiggle about so much, it will help

matters immensely.

Now in answer to this rather childish objection, we must insist upon context. I know, I know, it isdreadfully dull to constantly be strapped down to this seat of context, and the poor man undoubtedlyfeels that he has been made to sit in the corner like a naughty boy. But, nevertheless, it is to this corner

of context that he must be sent.

You see, it is in this corner of context that we dispel misguided interpretations of Scripture and learnwhat the Holy Spirit actually intended for us to understand. And in this particular corner of context, welearn that the Apostle Paul has been addressing the great foundational doctrines of justification andsanctification. This is true in Romans, and it is true in Galatians. So what the Apostle Paul has been


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trying to say in such passages, is not that the Law is irrelevant. Heavens no! Only a Dispensationalist ora Gnostic would say a silly thing like that! And we can thankfully rest assured that the Apostle Paul wasneither Gnostic nor Dispensationalist. No, he has been trying to say that we are not justified by theworks of the Law, and that we are not sanctified by the works of the Law. And if anyone believes thatkeeping the Law will somehow justify them before God or that they will be made perfect as a result of

keeping the Law, they are gravely mistaken and on seriously on bad terms with God.

This is made clear contextually in the following verse of Romans 6, where the Apostle Paul repeats the

opening question of the chapter:

"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. "

Now, in order to understand this question with even greater clarity, we must understand the Biblicaldefinition of sin. That definition isn't "missing the mark" or anything like that, though some have

redefined it along those lines. No. The Biblical definition of sin is plainly given in I John 3: 4. It is this:

"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. "

So, by comparing Scripture with Scripture, and applying the Biblical definition of sin, we recognize thatthe Apostle Paul has essentially asked, "Shall we transgress the law because we are not under the law,but under grace?" And of course, the answer is unambiguous: God forbid . We should not transgress thelaw .

III. CLEAR SCRIPTURE

But lest we be charged with wresting the Scriptures, let us compare what the Apostle Paul and otherNew Testament writers have to say about the Law of God throughout the latter portion of our Bible,those books which come after the book of Acts, when the so-called "Age of Grace" is said to havereplaced the "Age of Law". As we do so, we will notice that the constant attitude of the New Testamentwriters towards the Law is a positive one, not a negative one. "The law is spiritual" says the ApostlePaul, "The law is good" (Romans 7: 14 - 15; I Timothy 1: 8). We will also notice that they constantly use
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present tense verbs, not past tense verbs, as would be the case if the Law was relegated to some

bygone "Age of Law". Consider statements like the following:

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Romans3:31

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matthew 5: 17

"If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, yedo well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law astransgressors." James 2: 8 - 9

"So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." James 2: 12 "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." Romans

7: 25

"To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law." I Corinthians 9: 21

IV. COVENANT SOTERIOLOGY

Obviously, all of these Scriptures are impossible to reconcile with Dispensationalism and the Antinomianattitude of our times. But they can be reconciled with historic Christianity and the Covenant Theology

embraced by our Baptist forefathers. In fact, the Waldensians, in their twelfth-century poem entitledThe Noble Lesson divided Scripture, not according to Law, Grace, Promise and so on, as our modernDispensationalists have mistakenly done, but by three stages of Law: the Law of God written on theheart at Creation (Romans 2: 15), the Law given at Mount Sinai and the Law given by Christ in the

Sermon on the Mount.

How can we reconcile this with Galatians and Romans 6? Is there not a contradiction here? Of coursethe answer is "No". There is no contradiction. Notice what the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 8:

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be

to me a people:

And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for

all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
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