Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Authored By  :
Published On :
Last Updated :

NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



In his first Epistle to the Church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul clearly tells us that Jesus Christ has already paid the complete Price for our Salvation:

"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."


"Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men."


Being as this is the case, why then do certain Christians today continue to insist that we need to give the Lord a little help by continuing to adhere to the Mosaic Law? As the Apostle Paul clearly wrote, you cannot mix grace and works. It is either one or the other:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."


"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"


"And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."


Trying to continue to keep different aspects of the Mosaic Law, whether it be honouring special Jewish feast days, or keeping the Sabbath, is simply a religion of works, and not one of grace and faith. As we have already seen, once you begin to attempt to fulfill the Mosaic Law, you must either keep all of it, or else none of it; otherwise it is a complete waste of time. Instead of becoming bogged down in the letter of the Law, these people need to remember the Spirit of the Law; and that is "Thou shalt love". Exactly as Jesus had taught, the Apostles James and Paul also repeatedly stressed that love was the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law:

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."


"For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."


"If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:"


Notice that James even goes so far as to refer to it as the Royal Law. In other words, it is the Supreme Law of the land! It is the Law of Love of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! If you keep just that one law, the Law of Love, then you are keeping all of the others, because as Jesus said, they are all derived from it, they hang on it, they are dependent upon it.

Tragically, that is precisely the problem. In our modern day, we don't even know how to love each other properly. In many cases, what some people call love today, comes with all kinds of attachments or pre-conditions. It is not an unselfish love such as what Jesus taught. Just as the Lord said that His Disciples would be known for their fervent love for each other, He also said that the Endtime would be marked by a severe decline in man's love for his fellow man. Note the sharp contrast between the following two verses. They clearly show who will be in charge of the world prior to the Lord's return. It certainly won't be the Disciples of Jesus Christ:

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."


"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."


In other words, because iniquity, or sin, will fill the world in the Last Days, true unselfish spiritual love will diminish. This is the kind of love Jesus demonstrated when He died on the Cross. Not only did Jesus fulfill the Mosaic Law by living a sinless life, but He also fulfilled it by offering Himself as the Perfect Sacrifice of Love, thus fulfilling all of the Law and the Prophets, because love is the fulfillment of the Law. Consider some of the things He said to His own Disciples prior to His Death on the Cross:

"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep . . . As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."


"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."


If there was one person who fully understood the Sacrifice of Love made by Jesus Christ, and the pre-eminence of Love over the Law, surely it was the Apostle John. Throughout his writings he emphasized this point over and over again:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."


"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."


"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
.

The Apostle Paul shared this same Message of Love in his Epistle to the Romans when he wrote:

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."


Because of the mercy and the grace which he personally experienced, despite his own sins of having persecuted the Church prior to his conversion to the Christian faith, Paul was absolutely convinced of the Love of God. Aside from being noted for his excellent treatises on faith versus the Law, Paul is also known for having written the following verses in his same letter to the Church at Rome:

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."


This brings us to the final topic I wish to cover in this article. Those who do not know God's love, or who have not accepted God's love through the Sacrifice of His Son, will never experience the peace which He offers. As Jesus said:

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."


"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."


Notice that in both of these verses, Jesus is saying that the only way to obtain this true peace is by having faith in Him alone. It is only when one realizes that he cannot save himself through any vain attempts of his own, and when he finally surrenders his will and accepts the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that he can achieve peace between himself and God the Father; for God will not be satisfied with anything less than this. Until such an one arrives at this point, he will continue to experience turmoil and spiritual unrest in his life. This thought is further confirmed by additional Scriptures found in the Epistles. Consider the following:

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"


"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."


"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."


"For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:"


Not only do those who resist the Sacrifice of Love of Jesus Christ experience turmoil and spiritual unrest in their lives, but they may also live their lives in constant fear. If they knew and accepted the Lord as they should, then they would realize that everything is going to be alright because God is certainly one who knows how to take care of His children. Jesus stressed this point over and over again in the Gospels. One verse I have often quoted which demonstrates this point is the following taken from Paul's Epistle to the Romans. It is an excellent verse for building one's faith in the Lord, and for solacing those who are in need of comfort during times of trial or great testing:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."


On the other hand, if one has not accepted God's Gift of Love in his life, not only does he live in fear, but he may also live in torment, for as the Apostle John wrote:

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."


Aside from a fear of failure in life, which many people are prone to suffer, particularly those in the industrialized nations of the West, perhaps one of the biggest fears in the world is the fear of death. Some people live their whole lives in fear and torment wondering how they are going to die, when they are going to die, where they are going to die, and what will happen to them after they die. Not only that, but when people do not live a life of love, they are constantly in fear of what others might do to them because of the unloving things they have done to them. This is particularly true of those who become involved in a life of crime. All of this could easily be avoided if they would just stop and accept God's Gift of Love into their lives, and allow the Lord to turn their lives around. Sadly, in their own pride and arrogance, many simply refuse to do this.

To conclude this series then, as Jesus, Paul, John, and James have all said, the greatest commandment, the greatest law, the Royal Law, is simply "Thou shalt love". As James wrote, if we do this, surely we will do well. However, we cannot do this of our own accord. To love as we should requires a special kind of love; it requires a Divine Love. The only way to acquire this kind of Love, is by accepting the Gift of Love which God offers through His Son Jesus Christ. If you haven't yet accepted the Lord, I hope you will do it today. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Ephesus:

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."


Remember, you can't do it on your own; only Jesus can. Won't you accept Him today?

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.