Page 82 - Laying Down the Law

The Mosaic Law was perfectly suited for men of stony hearts, but it is altogether
insufficient for spiritual men. It will lead no man to perfection. Because perfection
was not the goal of the Mosaic Law, it could still be described as perfect within the
parameters of the role for which it was created. The Law revealed to man his
sinfulness, his spiritual deadness, and his need for a Savior. The Law led men with
stony hearts to Christ that they might receive a new spirit and a new heart.

Ezekiel 11:19
Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and
take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh...

It is Christ who makes men perfect.

Colossians 1:28
Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that
we may present every man perfect in Christ Yahshua.

Christians who are returning to the Law as their guardian and instructor for
living have failed to discern that the Law written for stony hearts is inadequate to lead
them to perfection. A new Law is needed that will take men past childhood and on to
spiritual maturity. It should come readily to mind that Christ has given His disciples
a new Guide and Instructor to replace the old one. This Guide is the Holy Spirit.

John 16:7-13
It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will
not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has
come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment..., when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all
truth...

Were these not the same functions the Law performed for men with stony
hearts? The Hebrew word for Law is Torah. Torah means “Instruction.” Before men
had the Spirit to dwell within them, they had to receive instruction from the Father
from a source external to them. This was the Law written on tablets of stone.
What we have observed from a multitude of Scriptures, is that this external Law
did not contain the fulness and substance of the mind of God. It only contained a
shadow of His thoughts. There is One Who knows the complete mind of Yahweh. This
is the Spirit.

I Corinthians 2:10-12
For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men
knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even
so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have