A FEW NOTES ON RIGHTEOUSNESS FAITH AND LAW
Righteousness is on the principle of faith.
The apostle Paul says, That I may be found in him, i.e. in
Christ, Not having my righteousness, which [would be] on the principle of law, but that which is of faith of Christ, the righteousness which [is]
of God through faith.
Phil. 3: 9.
A man is not justified on
the principle of works of law but by the
faith of Jesus Christ, we also
have believed on Christ Jesus, that we
might be justified on [the] principle
of [the] faith of Christ; and not on
works of law; because on the principle of works of law no flesh shall be
justified. Gal 2: 16. The
apostle then goes on to ask the question; [Is] the law against the promises of God? Far be the thought. For if a law had been given able to quicken, then
indeed righteousness were on the principle of law. Gal 3; 21.
In The Epistle to The Romans we
read, that Gods gospel is given for, the
obedience of faith among all nations.
Walking in the Spirit is the Christian way,
rather than making the law a rule for Christian living.
Someone may say, I know that I am justified on the principle of faith but ought I not also to make an endeavour to keep the law as my principle for daily living? The answer is a decided No! This would be to attempt to reconcile two mutually exclusive principles as we see from the Epistle to the Galatians 3: 11 12, where we read, The just shall live on the principle of faith; but the law is not on the principle of faith. Strong words come from Paul on this score O senseless Galatians, who has bewitched you; - - - Have you received the Spirit on the principle of works of law, or of [the] report of faith? Are ye so senseless? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye going to be made perfect in flesh? Gal. 3: 1 3.
No power for godly living in the law
The law
did not, indeed cannot provide the power for godly living. This is most aptly
demonstrated by the predicament of the man in Romans Chapter 7 where although quite clearly born again and having
new desires, finds that the power to put them into effect is quite beyond him. What
a dreadful situation! This while it might be the intolerable situation in which
many find themselves cannot surely be described as normal Christianity? It is
in an absolutely wretched condition and is summed up by the statement, I with the mind serve Gods law; but with
the flesh sins law, This was not Pauls current situation and should not be considered as normal Christianity.
There needs to be consistency between the renewed mind and behaviour and where
there is not there will be no peace in the soul. This man is in bondage and it is
the realisation of this bondage to the flesh that wrings from his lips the cry,
Who shall deliver me from this body of
death? Here he looks away from self; Like Paul he has learned the lesson
and come to the conclusion, that in me, that
is in my flesh good does not dwell, and if there is to be deliverance then
it must lie elsewhere. With relief he finds that it is available and exclaims,
I thank God through Jesus Christ our
Lord!
Deliverance - Where
is it to be found?
Moving into chapter eight we find that it is
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus that sets him free from the law
of sin and death which we see operating in his members in chapter seven. But
now, due to the presence of the Holy
Spirit, a new law of liberty is operating in him. It was W. Kelly who said,
There is liberty where He (and he is speaking about the Holy Spirit) is, not
law, yet the moral result which law demanded grace produced. See his Notes on the
Epistle to the Romans. For what the
law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, having sent his
own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the
flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled
in us, who do not walk according to
flesh [which making the law a rule for living would be and would be, in
effect, to re-establish his own righteousness] but according to Spirit.
The seriousness of
the Galatian error
The Galatian Christians were in danger of giving up Christ
to put themselves under the law. This would be to depart from Christianity and
to fall from grace. The Galatians had never been under the law, why put
themselves there now?
For a Jew to claim to have been justified in Christ and
then subsequently to take this retrograde position was, in effect, to make
himself a transgressor of the law and Christ the minister of sin. A very
serious business indeed! It was the Jew who was under the law and consequently
also its curse. It was they of whom Paul was speaking in Galatians Chapter 3, in contrast to the nations, when he said; Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, - - - that the blessing of Abraham
might come to the nations in Christ Jesus, that we [Jew and Gentile] might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The
similar distinction is maintained between the our and we of verses 24 and 25
with the ye of verse 26.For the Galatians to put themselves on the principle
of works of law in any form was to put themselves under curse Cursed is everyone who does not continue in
all things which [are] written in the
book of the law to do them.
Paul was once a Jew, under the law; this is no longer the
case; He is now led by the Spirit. (Chapter
5: 16) His exhortation to the Christian is Walk in [the]
Spirit and ye shall in no way fulfil the lust of the flesh. This is Christian living.
GWD. Revised June 2005