Page 128 - Laying Down the Law

Walk By the Spirit

ver the course of many years, as I have taught on this subject, one common
Oconcern I have heard expressed is that if Christians are not taught to keep the
Law they will end up justifying unrighteous and selfish actions while saying the Spirit
of Christ is the source of their direction. There is good reason to be concerned.
Indeed, I have heard saints justify all manner of selfish desires, including adultery,
as they proclaimed the Holy Spirit was guiding them.
Such failures are serious, however, the Law offers no more of a safeguard against
spiritual deception and willful sin than does the voice of the Spirit. When Christ came
to this earth to fulfill His ministry, the people of God were intently focused upon the
Law. The entire society centered around the teaching of the Law of Moses. The High
Priest, the Levites, the Scribes and Pharisees, and legions of Lawyers were all engaged
in making the requirements of the Law known to the people.
We know the hypocrisy of those who professed devotion to Yahweh and
allegiance to the Law of Moses. Christ stated:

Matthew 23:27-28
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed
tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead
men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous
to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and LAWLESSNESS.”

There has rarely been a people with a greater focus upon the Law than the
generation to which Christ appeared. Yet Christ judged them to be lawless. Rather
than fulfilling the law of love by taking care of the weak and needy, they were robbing
widows and neglecting orphans. Through their traditions and interpretations of the
Law they made the neglect of aging parents seem like a righteous act. Christ
condemned them for justifying divorce through the decree of Moses when a wife had
not committed adultery.
Such unrighteous actions are a manifestation of lawlessness. When men and
women violate the will of God while defending their actions with the Law of God, they
are lawless. In the same way, when men and women violate the will of God while
claiming to have the approval and leading of the Holy Spirit, they too are lawless and
will receive the penalty of their error.
For Christians who commit such deceptive or disobedient actions, the problem
is not that the Spirit is unreliable, or inadequate, as a guide to know the will of the
Father. There is no need to abandon a Spirit-led life, nor cause to return to the Law.
Those whose hearts are set on obtaining their own desire will justify their actions in
either case. Some do so willfully, others out of a lack of carefulness, or through
ignorance.
In the latter case, the point of failure is in not rightly dividing between soul and
spirit. Most Christians have not exercised themselves to develop the ability to divide