As It All Comes Together – The Law of God: Questions and Answers

As It All Comes Together
The Law of God: Questions and Answers

How shall we understand and apply God’s Law today?

We can know when the Spirit is teaching us the Law of God.

It is the Spirit Who gives life…. John 6:63

Here, in summary, is what life in the Spirit entails.

First, it is to be free in Christ, because of the work of Christ, from the condemnation of the Law. The Law still serves to reveal sin in us, but not to condemn, since Christ has borne the Law’s condemnation for us

Second, it is to set our minds on the things of the Spirit, and not on the things of the flesh, as we have seen. This speaks to our affections, plans, priorities, and daily practices. Everything about us takes on a new orientation, a new purpose, and a new cast—under the heavens rather than under the sun. We cannot walk in the Spirit if we are continually focusing on, thinking about, desiring, and practicing the things of the flesh. To the extent that this is true of us, we are forfeiting the freedom we have in Christ and failing to know the power which is ours through the Spirit.

Third, life in the Spirit means living in the freedom of the Law and all the Word of God (James 2:12; 2 Cor. 3:12-18). The Law which condemns us and the Law which sets us free from sin and death are the same. In the Spirit we are able to know the Law, made willing to obey it, and empowered to live it faithfully in the light of all the rest of God’s Word (Ezek. 36:26, 27; 1 Cor. 2:12, 13; Phil. 2:12, 13).

Finally, this way of life leads to righteousness, not our own righteousness, but Christ’s, wrought in us by the Spirit and expressed in and through us, to the glory of God, in all the everyday situations and relationships of our lives (2 Cor. 3:12-18; 1 Cor. 10:31).

When the Law is working in us and the Spirit is working with that Law, and when we are working out our salvation in fear and trembling—when it’s all working and coming together as it should, it’s a beautiful thing, indeed.

But such a lifestyle doesn’t just happen. We must work out this salvation in fear and trembling, and, as we do, the Spirit within us will do what only He can do, using the Law and all the Word of God, to transform us into the image of Jesus Christ and lead us in the way God approves (Phil. 2:12, 13).

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