1 Tim. 1:8-11; Rom. 8:1-4, Colossians Bible Study (11)

Before we move on in Colossians I want to add some discussion to the matter of “nailing the law to the cross.”  Some object to this idea.  They claim that the law is still valid as a guide for Christians, the Church, the Body of Christ.  One writer noted Matt. 5:17-18, that Jesus said, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  He also referenced the new covenant description in Jer. 31:33, I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.  Some refer to translations such as the NASV, NIV and ESV that refer to the “certificate of debt” being nailed to the cross, claiming it was not all the law but a particular law having to do with debt. 

There is another argument, that comes from our Reformed brethren, that there is a distinction between the ceremonial and moral law.  This is one of those arguments that springs from the need to justify someone’s doctrinal positions.  Nowhere in the OT was this distinction made, and it is not made in the NT either.  Search these out, if you wish.  But I would like to suggest some Scriptures for you to consider. 

·       Mark 7:19: Jesus (or Mark told us what Jesus meant) declared all foods clean.

·       Rom. 14:5-6: Paul said the “day of worship” was a personal decision.

·       Rom. 13:8-10: Paul did not command us to keep the Law but said if we keep Christ’s law of love we will be keeping the law.

·       1 Tim. 1:8-11: Paul said “the law is good if one uses it lawfully.”  He explains, saying the law “is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless.”  Instead, he said, we (Christians, the Church) live “according to the glorious gospel.”

·       Rom. 10:4: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

·       Rom. 7:1-6: The married woman who is free to marry another if her husband dies is critical here.  In the “parable” the woman represents someone who is beholden to the law.  Read carefully: you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. 

·       Rom. 8:3-4: Again, read carefully!  Christ, the righteous Son of God, has kept the law.  Now, in the New Covenant, He lives in us and the life we now live we live by the faith of the Son of God (Gal. 2:20).  Thus, the righteous requirement of the law has been fulfilled in us who walk in the Spirit.  

So, yes, under the New Covenant the law is in our hearts and we are obedient to it.  But only because under the New Covenant we walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh.  To walk in the flesh is to try to keep the law by my own best effort.  As Romans 7 illustrates, this cannot be done.  What the “spiritual circumcision” has done is removed this fleshly approach and given us life in Christ, the One who has fulfilled the Law.  We will come to this in Col. 3:1-4: our life is hidden with Christ in God!