Calvinism, Arminianism, Election & Predestination: Romans 8:29-30, 33

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How Does the Law Apply Under the New Covenant

You will often hear Christians quote chapter and verse from the Bible about not being subject to the Law of Moses or that by acknowledging the Ten Commandments they are placing themselves under the curse of the Law.

The Apostle Paul spoke at length in his epistles about the believer not being under the Law but under grace. In Romans 6:14 Paul says “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” but in Romans 3:31 Paul has previously stated “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” One statement would seem to cancel out the other. So what can we say to bring clarity to this important subject.

Well I am a Christian but on occasion I have broken the Law of the Land. When driving I have run the occasional red light. Now I haven’t been pulled over by a traffic officer for running a red light but I know that I broke the Law and if an officer had caught me then as a Christian I would have had to accept that I broke the law and am due what ever penalty the law demands. So I am a Christian but I am under the Law of the Land which is based to a large extent on both the Ten Commandments and the Torah.

Just as I cannot murder someone according to the Ten Commandments neither can I murder according to the Law of the Land. Just as there are civil laws in the Torah of the Bible so our society has civil laws which are a part of the Westminster system of government and which, every citizen is bound to abide by and which maintain order in our daily life.

We don’t run around breaking the Law with wreckless abandon and saying “I’m a Christian so I’m no longer bound by the Law. Imagine trying that line on the traffic officer. You’d be lucky not to end up in a cell. The reality is we live in a nation of laws and that is how we ensure the peace and safety of our friends and fellow citizens.

So what is Paul meaning when he says we are no longer under the Law but under Grace? In the book of Hebrews he states the following as he quotes from the Prophet Jeremiah.

Hebrews chapter 8 verses 7 - 12 “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”

Therefore it is not the Law that is the issue as much as it is the Covenant. What Paul is warning the gentile believers about in his epistles is not about the Law. It is which Covenant are you upholding. He warns them against returning to Judaism and placing themselves under the Mosaic Covenant. You see if you keep the Ten Commandments and the Torah under the Old Covenant then you are back to the sacrifice of animals and the sprinkling of blood on the altar by the Priests for the remission of sins.

Circumcision, the sacrificial law and obedience to the Torah in your own stead cannot bring you salvation. It brings only judgment and condemnation. The Old Covenant and Judaism leads ultimately to the Second Death. You need to be under the New Covenant to gain salvation. In the New Covenant God puts His Law in you and writes it on your heart. In the New Covenant the Law is fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ. In the New Covenant Christ Jesus is the lamb that was slain and who shed his blood to wash away the sins of all who believe on Him. In the New Covenant the Holy Spirit indwells the believer revealing the nature of Jesus Christ in them and making a new creature in the process. In the New Covenant the believer overcomes the condemnation of the Law and keeps the Law in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, the Lamb of God. In the New Covenant the believer is hidden in God with Christ so that our sins are not held to our account but to that of the Saviour himself. Jesus Christ. Thus as Paul says we have a better covenant thus the old one is done away with.

Now my point is that the Old Covenant is done away with but the Law is never done away with. It is a foundation to the Laws of many nations. As Jesus said “Not one jot or one tittle will be done away with until all is accomplished.” and “He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfil it.” So Paul did not warn against keeping the Law but against returning to the Old Covenant and Judaism. He warns against becoming a Pharisee.

Now in my experience Christians are generally law abiding citizens and mostly keep the law without even realising it. I believe this is because in the life of a Spirit filled believer the law is put in them and written on their hearts. Hence when they read the Ten Commandments and even much of the Torah they don’t have a problem with much of what they find there. It mostly seems to be common sense and in perfect agreement with the Holy Spirit of God who indwells their heart.

Just my thoughts on the matter.