Free unto the Lord – The Law of Liberty (2)

Free unto the Lord

The Law of Liberty (2)

This is part 2 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.

There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

Readers will remember the strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin, the demon-child with a vivid imagination, was always in some kind of trouble. And many strips had him being packed off to his room, arms crossed over his chest, fuming, with his mom’s voice in the background, “Just you wait until your father gets home.”

I don’t recall any strips in which that unhappy meeting was played out, but we can imagine that, as the day dragged on, a certain amount of dread began to build within Calvin. I can recall being in the same situation myself as a child–but in my case, I assure you, those threats were real.

I spent many an afternoon in fear and trembling because I knew my dad, loving as he was, was a stern and consistent disciplinarian. I can still begin to tremble, thinking about the sound of his car pulling into the drive way and the front door opening. My only consolation at that time was the thought, “It’ll be over soon.”

But the eternal wrath of God against those who ignore and transgress His perfect Law of liberty will never end. Oddly enough, that same Law frees us from the fear of judgment, and it does this in three ways.

First, because we know that Jesus Christ has fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the Law for hapless sinners such as we. Second, because Jesus Christ has borne all the wrath of the Law against us. And third, because Jesus Christ has commanded us to walk in His Law, which, as we do, we confirm that we are His, both to ourselves and to the Lord.

We can live in glad freedom before God, without fear of judgment, as we look to Jesus’ righteousness and suffering, and as we take up His yoke, learn from Him, and follow in the paths of righteousness–marked out for us by the Law–which He Himself walked.

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.