Xenos Christian Fellowship
Christian Growth
Week 6 - The Role of the Law in Sanctification

Introduction

How do Christians relate to the law?

Read Rom. 7:1-6

(7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.).

Two things should be clear from this passage:

Three Components of the Mosaic Law

Classification of Mosaic Legislation

Component & Purpose	Examples	Present Status For Christians
Civil: Pragmatic aspects of civil order. To preserve the nation until Messiah came.	National laws: witchcraft & idolatry (considered treason in a theocracy), inheritance laws, penal laws (murder, theft, etc.), health laws (sanitary codes)	Jewish theocracy has been temporarily replaced by national governments during the Church Age (Matt. 22:21; Rom. 13:1-7).
Ceremonial: Israel's prescribed pattern of rituals for approaching God. To prepare & educate the nation for Messiah's saving work—specifically, the seriousness of sin & substitutionary atonement. To give Israel a distinct culture and national identity.	Sacrificial system (blood sacrifices), religious calendar including sabbath, ritual system (ceremonial uncleanness), circumcision, some health and dietary laws.	Fulfilled by Christ's work on the cross (Heb. 8; Col. 2:16). Sacrifice for sins expressly forbidden (Heb. 10). Ritualism is now set aside for a personal relationship with God (Heb. 7:18,19; Gal. 4:1-11). Dietary & calendar observance now optional for Christians (Rom. 14:1-5).
Moral: A description of God's character and ethical will for humanity. To give humanity an absolute morality. To expose their sinfulness & their need for God’s forgiveness. Basis for much of the civil law (sexual laws, murder, theft, etc.).	Most of the Ten Commandments, including both behaviors (murder, theft, adultery) and internal attitudes (do not covet). The New Testament reiterates these laws.	Christ fulfills its requirements for God's acceptance (Gal. 2:16). The Holy Spirit fulfills it in our lives as we walk with him (Rom. 8:4). The New Testament moral imperatives thus provide a picture of the transformation that God is willing and able to accomplish in our lives.

Summary of the Christian’s relationship to civil, ceremonial and moral laws:

Civil: Not obligated to conform our civil laws to the Old Testament's civil law.
Ceremonial: Not obligated to relate to God through Old Testament ritual observance.
Moral: Not obligated to earn God's acceptance by keeping God’s moral laws.
Moral: God wants us to keep his moral law, but not by our own power.

The Tutorial Purpose of the Moral Law

(Gal. 3:24,25*) Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

“tutor” – paidagogos – “child instructors”

Why do we need a tutor?

Function

Non-Christian

Justification

Christian

Sanctification (Romans 7:7-25**)

Exposes Sin

(Rom. 3:19,20) Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

(Rom. 7:7) What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET."

Stimulates Sin

(Rom. 5:20) And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more

(Rom 7:5) For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death

(Rom. 7:8) But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead...

Function

Non-Christian

Justification

Christian

Sanctification

Therefore, it destroys Self-Confidence & Leads Us To Faith In Christ

(Gal 3:24*) Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.

(Rom. 7:9b-24) . . . and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me . . . For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate . . . For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish . . . Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Result: no longer under the law...

... for justification

(Gal. 3:25) But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

... for sanctification

(Rom. 6:14) For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.

(Rom. 7:6) But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

Living Under Law vs. Under Grace

Area	Under Law	Under Grace
View of the Law	A set of detailed obligations that I must keep.	The underlying principles of the law describe the ultimate goal toward which God is moving me: a loving lifestyle.
View of self	I am regenerate, and therefore I am able to keep the law.	I am regenerate (see New Identity), but I still can't keep the law on my own because of my sin-nature.
View of others	A threat to your acceptability if they are more righteous than you. An excuse for self-righteousness if they are less righteous than you.	Means of receiving God's love and opportunities to give God's love.
View of the Holy Spirit	Little practical understanding of the Spirit's ministries.	Depends on the Holy Spirit for all power, motivation, and direction.
The “key” to spiritual growth.	Moral will-power or Special experiences	Knows self-effort is futile (Rom. 7:18). By relying on the Spirit, not the letter, I can gradually change. Looks to a process, not to quick-fix experiences.
View of the “means of growth”	Ways to keep or get God's blessing	Avenues through which we expose ourselves to the life-changing power of God
Mental focus	What do the rules require? What am I not allowed to do?	New identity for myself and others. My personal love-trust relationship with God. Loving others as a means of growth
Motivation	Fear/threat and guilt. What will God or others do to me if I sin?	Grateful response to God's love and grace.
Reaction to trials	Suspicious of God's retribution.	Confident of God's loving discipline.
Reaction to spiritual failure	Surprised and distressed. Rationalizations, minimization, blame-shifting, and self-recrimination. Vows to do better.	Not surprised. Confident of God's acceptance & therefore can admit sins to self & others. Repentance & return to active dependence.
Reaction to spiritual success	Proud and intolerant of others.	Humbly grateful. Still able to empathize with those who fail. Sees continued need for growth.
Long-term result	External, superficial conformity, but increasing internal defeat and hypocrisy which leads to: Growing cynicism & giving up or Self-righteous externalistic comparisons--self-deception	Gradual transformation into a person who remains focused on his identity in Christ, with an increasing measure of victory over sin. A more loving, other-centered person.

The Many “Faces” of Legalism

1. Performance for acceptance by other people

Even if we understand that God accepts us unconditionally and permanently, if we really value certain people's acceptance more than God's, we are living under the law.

Symptoms:

Remedy:

2. Wrong view of God's moral will

When we view God's moral will as antithetical to our ultimate fulfillment or as demands for our impersonal obedience out of a sense of duty, we have believed Satan’s lies and become profoundly legalistic.

Symptoms:

Remedy:

3. Defective ethical priorities

Not all moral issues in the Bible are equally important. Jesus told the Pharisees they "strained out gnats but swallowed camels" when they emphasized tithing garden herbs but neglected mercy and justice and faithfulness (Matt. 23:23,24). Secondly, the Holy Spirit works with each of us personally and starts with “first things first.”

Symptoms:

Remedy:

4. Extra-biblical imperatives

When we make moral rules or absolutes that are not in scripture, we have created a form of legalism. Over time, these rules tend to erode the authority of God's Word by obscuring it.

Examples:

Remedy:

5. Perfectionism

This type of perfectionism involves unrealistic moral expectations for self or others

Symptoms:

Remedy:

6. “Resist” more than “replace” emphasis

Focusing more on what we can’t do than what we can do.

Symptoms:

Remedy:

7. Insufficient emphases on indicatives

We may not have extra-biblical rules, but simply don’t teach or model God’s grace enough.

Examples:

Remedy:

8. Taking responsibility in ministry that is not ours

Symptoms:

Remedy

Conclusion:

Memory Verses

Gal. 3:24,25* - The purpose of the Law is to lead us to faith in Christ

Rom. 7:7-25** - A picture of Christian’s struggle under the law

Assignment

Read Walking In Victory, chapter 18-20 and then answer the following questions.

On page 165, in Walking in Victory, McCallum, in discussing 2 Cor. 1:9 says “part of the process before us, then, is the unhinging of our confidence in the fleshly strategies we have employed for coping with problems in our lives up to this point.”

Not trusting ourselves is one thing. Trusting God is another. Describe what it would look like to distrust self and trust God when suffering.
Make a list of potentially illegitimate pain reducers in your life. Try and not list just the obvious ones, like alcohol and drugs, but also those morally neutral that become illegitimate under certain conditions.
McCallum says on page 179 “Only those who know where they are headed eternally can be expected to welcome suffering.” How can reflecting on our future with God give us courage to face a trial?

Week 6 Exam Review Guide

Be able to explain how the Law is our tutor both in justification and sanctification, and in what sense we are no longer under moral law (don’t have to earn God’s acceptance by keeping it; don’t have to keep it by our own power).
Be familiar with a few of the different types of legalism.