The Law of Freedom
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” – James 1:22-25
We sinners have a strained relationship with the law. For sinners, the law brings wrath (Rom. 4:15) and increases trespasses (Rom. 5:20). When the commandment comes in, sin comes alive and we die (Rom. 7:9). The law enslaves us. It binds us. We are obligated to obey it or else face its consequences. It’s not a simple suggestion, where you can choose to obey it or not. In fact, God’s law is so strict that it demands perfect obedience to it. If you fail at just one point, you are guilty of breaking all of it (Jam. 2:10). And yet we are told that the law is good as it is laid down for lawbreakers (Rom. 7:12; 1 Tim. 1:8).
Built into the law that binds us is the provision for how we are not bound to the law too. Romans 7 uses the analogy of marriage. If your spouse dies, you are not bound to the marriage obligations anymore, you’re free to marry another. Also, you are free from the law as your obligation to it is completely fulfilled. For example, if you make an oath, then you are bound to keep it until the oath is fulfilled.
And this is the glorious joy of having faith in Jesus Christ. He completely fulfills the law for us. Consider Galatians chapter 5. Notice these select verses,
Gal. 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Gal. 5:18 “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Gal 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
For those in Christ, led by the Spirit, we’re not under the law! We’re free! This freedom is not because there is no law, but because there is a law and it has been fulfilled. The law doesn’t stick to us anymore. It doesn’t weigh us down with duty and obligation anymore. Jesus is our righteousness before God. The gospel is our justification. The gospel is the law that conquers every other law. It’s like CS Lewis’ “deeper magic before the dawn of time.” The gospel is the deeper law.
But then notice these verses in Galatians as well:
Gal. 5:14 “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.””
Gal. 6:2 “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
So, there is no law in one sense, but in another sense there is now only one law. The law of Christ is the law of love. And that law is a law of freedom. James calls it the law of liberty. All of God’s law is wrapped up in this one law. We will seek to do all that is written in God’s law now from a totally different perspective. We now obey God’s law, not because we have to, but because we love God’s law. Those who have been freed from the burden of the law now are people who love God and love to obey God’s laws.
In everything that we do we are to do it as unto the Lord and not unto man (Col. 3:23). This applies even to our obedience to man-made laws. When we obey, it should never be because we are burdened under this obligation. We are to obey, because ultimately we are obeying God. We can obey man-made laws because we are motivated by love for God and neighbor. The Christian is the freest person ever, because they are never worried about whether their adherence to a law or not is a threat to their standing with God. And the reason Christians are free is because they are adhering to a greater law, the law which is their justification in Jesus Christ.
So, the next time that a law is handed down to you from on high (which is likely to be very soon), don’t begrudge it. Embrace the day that God has given you with great joy, and render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s (which is everything). And because Jesus has perfectly fulfilled the law for us, we can now look into the law of God and be hearers and doers, imitating Jesus who fulfilled the law perfectly.