Free from the Old Self – The Law of Liberty (3)

Free from the Old Self

The Law of Liberty (3)

This is part 3 of a 49-part series of In the Gates on The Law of Liberty. Readers will gain a better perspective on the main teaching of this series by reading The Ground for Christian Ethics, by T. M. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, click Publications, then click Waxed Tablet, and scroll down until you see this little volume.

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Romans 7:22, 23

The late Chris Farley couldn’t help himself. In his character as the host of “The Chris Farley Show” he was a buffoon, pure and simple. It seemed that a law of unbridled buffoonery ruled everything he did, and you just knew it wouldn’t be long before he would say something to offend or anger his guest.

Then he would smack his forehead, grab the shock of wildly out of place hair, and pull hard on it, saying all the while, “I’m such an idiot?!” He couldn’t help himself: he was a buffoon. In the same way, they who will not walk in the path of the perfect Law of liberty can’t keep from showing just how wretched and sinful they really are.

Take the Christian politician or church leader who is suddenly “outed” for some moral failure. Do you think, ohmygosh, that he just stumbled into that one day? Not a chance. The Law of God says, “You shall not covet” and Jesus echoed those sentiments resoundingly.

But the old nature in us loves to covet, loves to lust, and can always find an excuse for why that’s not really so bad, at least, not in my case. But as my pastor and friend Jim Kennedy used to say, an excuse is just the skin of a reason, stuffed with a lie. Soon enough lust leads to flirting, flirting leads to touching, and, well, you know the rest.

Obeying the perfect Law of liberty blinds the covetous eye, cleanses the lustful thought, and puts the “bridge out” sign before the road that leads to transgression. So the old self, lingering within us, doesn’t have to rule our lives. By the Law of liberty we are free of its enticements and tyranny to live in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. No more smacks on the heads.

Daily meditation in the Law of God helps us along the path of holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7:12). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.