If keeping the fourth commandment means that the one who does so is under the law, wouldn’t that mean that keeping any of the commandments means that you are under the law? Should we then lie, cheat , steal, commit adultery, covet, worship idols, and take the name of the Lord in vain, so that no one will think that we are under the law? Shall we do evil, that good may come?
8 And not rather,
(as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law:
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
31
Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
The law of God was never meant as a means of righteousness, or salvation, but rather that it should point the sinner to both. The Lord Jesus Christ of course, being that which they point to for the salvation of the soul, and the fulfillment of righteousness within the believer. Christ did fulfill the law. Those therefore who believe in Him, and have accepted His presents in their hearts, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, also have the law fulfilled within them. This is not a means of righteousness or salvation, but rather as a result of being in Christ Jesus, in whom all things are made complete.
Rom 2:13-15 13
(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another
Rom 7:14 14 For we know that
the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Rom 8:3-4 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The law is spiritual. Those who walk in the spirit, have the righteousness of the law fulfilled within them. This is not in order to be saved, but rather because they have already been saved by faith in Christ.
Rom 13:8 8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another:
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Love is the fulfillment of the law. You cannot fulfill a law that no longer exists.
Gal 5:14-18 14
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Those who walk in the spirit, are not under the law. This is because, as has already been pointed out, the law is spiritual. Those who are walking in the spirit have the law fulfilled within them, instead of the works of the flesh, or carnal nature. If you are in Christ, by faith, then you have died with Him. If you have died with Him, then the penalty of the law is no longer over you, for the penalty is death, and you have already died in Christ. This having been accomplished by Christ's death on the cross, and your faith in that act, you now walk in newness of life. It is no longer you, but Christ that lives in you. This is the fulfillment of the law within the heart. Paul explains this very clearly in the next verses.
CHAPTER 6
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is
freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:
but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death,
or of obedience unto righteousness?
PRAISE GOD! we have been freed from the penalty of sin, which is death, and given the power from God to live a life of righteousness, that is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
James 1:25 25 But whoso looketh into
the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Christians should not keep the commandments in order to be saved, but rather because they are saved. You tell me that if I keep the fourth commandment that I am under the law. Not so, but I tell you the truth, that if you do not keep, any of God’s commandments, including the fourth, you are under the law. I am following the example of my Lord and savior Jesus Christ by keeping the fourth commandment, as he did when here on earth as our example in all things.
Galatians 4 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
It is by disobeying God’s commandments that one is brought under the law, not by obeying them. Christ came to redeem them that were under the law. The only time there is enmity between the law and those which it governs, is when the law is broken. For example, if I am driving down the road at 55 MPH, and that is the posted speed limit, then there is no enmity between me and the law. However, if I increase my speed to 70 MPH, then there is enmity between me and the law. I am at that time under the law, it is against me because I have broken it. If I am caught, there is only one way for me to get out of the situation, that is by paying the penalty that the law demands. The enmity between me and the law which has been broken will continue to exist until I pay the penalty which the law demands. Once the penalty is paid, the enmity is no longer applicable.
Paying the penalty of the law, does not change the law, but rather my standing in relation to the law. The law still exists, but I am no longer under it, that is to say the enmity between us is gone. This is what Christ accomplished on the cross. He abolished the enmity between the sinner, and the law, not the law itself.
Eph 2:15-16 "15 Having abolished
in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:"
Heb 2:16-18 "16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels;
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him
to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18
For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
Christ came to earth and became one of us. He took upon Himself our sinful nature and flesh. In our flesh, he lived a life of perfect obedience to his Father. This life of obedience lead him directly to the cross, and those who desire to follow him will be lead to the same place. Christ was obedient unto death.
Phil 2:7-8 "7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself,
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
Those who are in Christ, have been baptized into his death. Being dead in Christ they are free from the penalty of the law. In Christ, the penalty of the law has been paid for all of us. Those who choose to be in Him, no longer suffer the enmity that exists between sinners and the law, for that penalty has been paid. They are now to walk in newness of life, and are new creatures in Christ Jesus. This is not so they can continue to live in sin, but rather that they might live as unto God ( Rom. 6:3-13 ). I am not under the law for believing in, and keeping the fourth commandment. It is those who reject the law of God, and willingly disobey it, that are under the law. It is not possible for someone to be forgiven for a sin that they will not acknowledge as such, and therefore never ask forgiveness for it.
If I told you that I didn’t worship idols, or take the Lord’s name in vain, or bow down to and worship some image, or murder, or lie, or steal, or commit adultery, or covet, and that I honored my father and mother, would you tell me that I was under the law for doing so? Surely, you would not. Neither am I under the law for obeying the fourth commandment. On the contrary, it is the one who willfully disobeys the law that is under the law. You have no problem with anyone keeping any of the other nine commandments, you have just chosen to reject the fourth, therefore you bring this accusation upon those who observe it. I cast this accusation back upon you. You are the one who has rejected God’s authority, by rejecting one of His commandments. All those who do so, are under the law.
I say none of this by way of condemnation, for who am I, but a sinner just like you. Just because I am a sinner though, doesn't mean that I have to call sin righteousness, and righteousness sin. Those who do such, cannot be saved.
Bye for now. Y. b. in C. Keith