The Adventist Way of Life

You hear many Christians say; “Jesus set me free from the Law!” But the sad thing is, if you ask them what this means they do not give a straight answer. Now, does this mean I can commit adultry? Can I now worship idols? I mean, I am “free” from the Law…right?

Does it mean I keep all the commandments but the fourth one I can ignore? Let’s look closer at this issue.

As Christians, we need to take a look at what this means. Becoming a Christian does not give us license to sin though many would love to believe this.  First, what is sin?

“[F]or by the law is the knowledge of sin.” [Romans 3:20]

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.” [1 John 3:4]

Here is the clear definition of sin as given by the apostle Paul and the apostle John! So what law must be “transgressed” for sin to occur? Paul and John are clearly referring to the moral law.

Now, next we must ask: Where does God list the moral law? We find it clearly in Exodus chapter twenty. These would be the famous, “Ten Commandments“. We see that the first four have to do with our direct love towards God and the last six have to do with how we treat our neighbor. Thus, Jesus summed up the ten in two. Look what He said; 

 ”Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” [Matthew 22:36-40]

Now we must note that Jesus did not “destroy” the Ten Commandments with these two commandments. Jesus simply stated that “love” fulfills the Law because it both sums up God’s commandments and motivates our obedience to them. It most certainly does not dissolve God’s commandments.

Jesus showed also that obedience to the commandments is the sign of true Christianity and descipleship. Jesus stated; “…but if though will enter into life, keep the commandments.” He then proceeds to quote the Ten Commandments. [see Matthew 19:17]

So we could conclude with the apostle Paul’s statement found in Romans 3:31 which reads; “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Notice that Paul also says; “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man.” [Romans 7:22] So who’s law is it? Paul call’s it “the law of God”. Has God’s law ever changed? NO!

We do not pick and choose how we “feel” morality should be practiced. As Christians we follow the “law of God”, the Ten Commandments! To be set free from the law means two things from a Christian perspective;

First: The New Testament states that we have been set free from the “curse of the law“.  [Galatians 3:13,14] The broken moral law means that we deserve death. For the wages of sin is death.  [Romans 6:23] The verdict of death is the curse of the Law.

Second: We have also been set free from a human works oriented salvation. The Jewish people had begun to rely on the types and symbols of the outward ceremonies for their redemption and salvation. Also, they added a “works tradition” program. The Law, both the moral and the ceremonial, cannot save us. [Galations 3:2]

In conclusion, this “being set free” from the Law of God does not mean that we stop trying to keep God’s moral law [including the fourth commandment]. Nor does being free from the Law mean that we can now make up our own set of rules to live by. It simply means that our works cannot save us nor can continual living in sin after professing that Christ saved  us.

If we live a repentant life we are truly saved from the curse of the Law. When we break the moral Law we have a Saviour who forgives us and helps us stay in the race. So we keep the moral Law not on our own strength but on that of Jesus Christ.

Two people are at a red light. One person runs the red light because he cannot wait, he is too anxious. The other person waits for the light to turn green. Which person is free from the law? The one that obeyed the law is free from the law! Which person must pay the penalty? The person who broke the law. So we see that being a Christian does not give us license to sin.

I pray that you now have a better understanding of just what it means to be “free from the Law”.

Written by, Eric W. King [June 18,2007]