Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“Through the Law, I died to law, that I might live unto God. . . .I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness is by law, then Christ died for no reason.”
Paul, in Galatians 2:19, 21
Paul “died to law” when he began to be led by the Spirit instead of being guided in life and in worship by a set of rules. The Law of Moses acted as a guardian, to keep men from becoming excessively wicked until Jesus got here to put the Law of God into their hearts. The Law was necessary because men were so wicked. It slowed men down in their constant spiral downward toward self-destruction. And in that regard, the same can be said for all the laws on earth everywhere, whether they were religious, civil, or other kinds of law. They all held man back from his natural tendency to self-destruction; they restrained the beastly nature of man.
Laws were beneficial, but if any outward law had been able to make fallen mankind holy, then Jesus suffered and died for nothing. And since no set of written rules could ever change our sinful nature, we needed a Savior. We needed someone who could help us overcome what we by nature are. We needed a new, clean, and right spirit, and Jesus offered himself to God for us so that God would give to us of His holy Spirit.
Whenever that happens, whenever someone receives the holy Spirit of God within their hearts, the Spirit itself becomes our leader, guiding us from within, and there is no need for an external law to impose right conduct upon us. This is what Paul was saying when he wrote, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14).
Are you led by the Spirit and set free from law? Or are you still trying to measure up to some written code of conduct? Let Jesus write the Law of God on your heart because only “the law of the Spirit of life” can be there to lead you rightly, all the time.