Law, That is Not by Works

No matter how wrongful a person’s actions may have been, if there is no law to condemn them, that person will not receive any punishment. On the other hand, no matter how right their actions may seem in their own eyes, before the law that condemns them, they become a sinner. In the end, a person becomes a sinner not because of their actions but because of the law.

Daniel was a man who prayed to God three times a day. He was favored by King Darius and attained a high position, but he was envied by others. Those who were jealous of him sought to find grounds to accuse him, but they could find no fault or error in him. Then they went to the king and proposed making a law that for the next thirty days, anyone who made a request to any god or man other than the king would be thrown into the den of lions. The king approved it, and Daniel, knowing this, still went up to his upper room, opened his windows toward Jerusalem, and, as he had done before, knelt three times a day to pray and give thanks to God. Because of this, he was discovered by the people and was destined to be thrown into the lions’ den.

Just as Daniel, though he was a faithful man before God, became a sinner before the law that condemned him, it is not a person’s actions but the law that makes them a sinner. In Las Vegas, gambling is not considered a sin because there is no law prohibiting it. However, in places where there is a law against gambling, committing the same act becomes a sin and results in punishment. That is why the Bible says, “For without the law sin was dead” (Romans 7:8). Where there is no law, there is no sin.

The Two Decrees of the King

Not all laws condemn people. Some laws bring condemnation, while others set the condemned free from their sins.

King Ahasuerus of Persia ruled over 127 provinces, and his wife was Esther. The king elevated his official Haman to a high position, placing him above all the other nobles and commanding that people bow before him. Everyone bowed to Haman, but Mordecai, because he was a Jew, neither knelt nor paid him homage. Seeing this, Haman was enraged. He felt that killing Mordecai alone was not enough, so he sought to destroy all the Jews throughout the kingdom.

Haman went before the king and requested the destruction of the Jews, accusing them of refusing to obey the king’s laws and following their own. The king granted his request, and Haman issued a decree commanding that on the 13th day of the 12th month, all Jews were to be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated, and their possessions seized. This decree was sent out by couriers to be proclaimed throughout the land. As the king’s decree spread, great mourning arose among the Jews in every province. They fasted, wept, and cried out, with many lying in sackcloth and ashes.

Queen Esther, Mordecai’s cousin, was also a Jew. Mordecai urged her to go before the king and plead for her people. Esther knew that approaching the king without being summoned meant death, but she resolved, “If I perish, I perish,” and went to him. When the king saw Esther, he was so pleased with her that he extended his golden scepter and welcomed her, promising to grant her request. Esther pleaded for her life and the lives of her people, and when the king learned that Haman was behind the plot, he ordered Haman to be hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.

Then, King Ahasuerus instructed Mordecai to write a new decree in his name to save the Jews. This second decree granted the Jews in every city the right to gather and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate anyone who sought to harm them, and to seize their enemies’ possessions. As couriers on royal horses swiftly delivered the king’s command throughout the land, the Jews rejoiced, celebrated, and held a feast, declaring that day a holiday.

The first decree of the king placed the Jews under the sentence of death. If not for the second decree that granted them life, there would have been no way for them to escape death. Yet through the second decree, they were delivered from destruction and received life. It was the king’s law that sentenced them to death, and it was also the king’s law that granted them life.

All of God’s Words are Law

People think that the commandments Moses received from God on Mount Sinai – “Do this, don’t do that” – are God’s law but they do not realize that God’s words themselves are God’s law.

The Bible says, “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar” (Galatians 4:21-24). This verse shows that the words in Genesis themselves are law.

Jesus also said, “These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me” (Luke 24:44). Here, Jesus categorized the Old Testament as “the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms.” The “Law of Moses” refers to the books Moses wrote, commonly known as the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). This reveals that the Pentateuch is law.

Furthermore, the Bible says, “Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 10:15-17). The Bible says that the promise of God made to us after Jesus died on the cross for our sins is also law.

The Apostle Paul said, “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me” (Romans 7:20-21). Paul said that even the realization of his struggle was a law. From this, we can infer that all of God’s words, including the commandments Moses received on Mount Sinai, are law.

The Law of Sin and Death and the Law of the Spirit of Life

The Bible says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 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: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4).

The “law of sin and death” mentioned here refers to the law Moses received from God on Mount Sinai. This law demands death as the penalty for breaking its commandments. If this law were all we had, everyone would be condemned to die and face eternal destruction because of their sins.

There was once a country that had a law stating that deserters during war would be sentenced to death. When war broke out, many soldiers deserted to save their own lives. After the war ended, there was no way for them to escape the death penalty, so they had to live in fear of death. Then, the country passed a law granting amnesty to deserters, and they were finally freed from the fear of death.

If the law granting amnesty to deserters had not been passed, the deserters would have been captured and killed. Similarly, those under the “law of sin and death” would have no hope unless a new law came to save them from death. However, Jesus took the death penalty that those who broke the law deserved upon Himself on the cross, and freed sinners from the curse of the law. This truth is the Gospel for those sitting in the shadow of death, and through this Gospel, they have received life. Therefore, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the “law of the Spirit of life” that gives life to the dead.

By fulfilling the requirements of the law, Jesus made it so that the law no longer has anything to demand from us. He abolished the law that condemned us in his flesh and reconciled us with God. The Bible says:

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 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; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Ephesians 2:13-18).

Jesus abolished the “law of sin and death” so, there is no law left to condemn us. God is in Jesus Christ, and in Jesus, there is the “law of the Spirit of life.” Therefore, for those who are in Jesus, there is no condemnation. God has promised us, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17).

Made Holy by the Law, and That Holiness is Preserved

There is a law that says, “And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.” (Leviticus 27:32,33) The herd or the flock that is dedicated to the Lord as a holy offering becomes holy not by its own will, but because it happened to pass under the shepherd’s rod as the tenth animal. Ultimately, it is the law that made them holy by declaring that every tenth animal passing under the rod will be holy.

The law has a dual nature. While it condemns those who break its commandments, it also explains about Jesus Christ. Just as the law declares that the animal passing under the rod as the tenth is holy, the gospel that Jesus Christ forgave all our sins made us holy.

The law also instructs not to examine whether the holy animal is good or bad, nor to exchange it for another. If one does exchange it, both the original and the exchanged animal are considered holy. Therefore, we can see that once an animal has become holy, its holiness is preserved by the law and cannot be undone. Likewise, the holiness we receive through the gospel of Jesus Christ is preserved by the same gospel, making our holiness eternal and unbreakable. 

Jesus, Who Abolished the First and Established the Second

Before God sent Peter to deliver the gospel to Cornelius, a Roman centurion, He showed him a vision while he was praying. In the vision, Peter saw a certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners. It had fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air inside. Then, there was a voice from heaven saying, “Arise, Peter; slay and eat.” (Acts 11:7). Peter answered, “Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.” (Acts 11:8) But the voice answered, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” 

The law mentions clean and unclean animals. Among them, the law says not to eat fish without fins and scales because they are abomination. Therefore, Peter did not eat unclean animals, but in a vision, he heard that God made the unclean animals clean.

The reason why fish without fins and scales became unclean is because the law declared them unclean, but through Jesus’ fulfillment of the law, these things have been made clean. Likewise, we were unclean according to the law, but through Jesus’ redemption, we have been made clean.

The Bible says, “Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:9,10)

God wanted to abolish the first, that is, the law of sin and death, and establish the second, which is the law of the Spirit of life. In accordance with this will, Jesus abolished the law by offering His body on the cross for our sins, and established the law of the Spirit of life, the law of grace that brings life to the dead. Therefore, through the work of Jesus, we are freed from the law and are now under grace.

Darkness is Driven Away When Light Comes

The Bible says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:14) However, there are still people who are under the law. As it is written, “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed” (Galatians 3:23), we see that those who are still trapped under the law do not believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

During World War II, a Japanese officer was carrying out his mission on an island in the Philippines. In the meanwhile, Japan surrendered and the war ended, and the news was spread to the Japanese soldiers hiding in the mountains through leaflets passed out by the American and Filipino armies, as well as by their families and friends. However, the officer, upon seeing the leaflets, thought it was a deception by the American and Filipino forces and refused to believe it. For nearly 30 years, he ran from place to place, refusing to believe anyone who told him the war was over, waiting for the Japanese army to return, and fighting his own personal war. Eventually, a Japanese university student met him and helped him accept the reality of Japan’s defeat. Moreover, the government helped by sending one of his direct superiors to him, who assigned him the mission. Only then did he accept that the war had ended, and finally, the war in his heart eneded.

Just as the Japanese officer did not believe the leaflet that the war had ended and clung to his own thoughts, even if someone hears the gospel that Jesus has forgiven our sins and abolished the law, if they do not believe it, they remain under the law. Such person’s heart is defiled by many wrong thoughts planted by the devil. 

Certain men that came from Judaea taught the brethren in Antioch, saying, “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). Then, then had a dispute and debate with Paul and Barnabas who was there. Eventually, the brothers sent Paul, Barnabas, and some others from among them to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem regarding this matter. After much debate among the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, Peter concluded the matter by saying:

“Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” (Acts 15:7-11)

Here, Peter said, “purifying their hearts by faith.” The hearts of people are defiled by distrustful thoughts that oppose the gospel, but when they believe the gospel, those evil thoughts in their hearts are removed and made clean. It is like when a Japanese army officer, upon accepting the fact that Japan had been defeated, freed himself from the mistaken belief that the leaflet he had seen was part of a deceptive tactic by the American and Filipino forces. Darkness is driven out only when light comes. Anyone who believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ will free themselves from the wrong thoughts the devil implanted and will find themselves under the law of the Spirit of life, which gives life to the dead.