What is the Old Law? Why was it necessary?
Before we explain the New Law and its freedoms, we need to look at the Old Law, its nature, and why it was necessary in salvation history.
Before Christ embraced humanity and became man, the world was in a horrible mess, it was divided and people did not understand that we shared a common Father, that is, the one true God. The bible tells us this much. In fact, we know that men were spiritually childlike, immature, and unable to comprehend their sinfulness, and divided as we were, there was no quick solution for unity. It was at this moment, with the coming of Christ already a part of His Divine plan, that the Lord our God took to himself a people who would be set apart and made ready to receive the Redeemer.
So we start with what God gave Moses...the Ten Commandments. From there God gave the Israelites many more Laws or so called commandments throughout the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy.The Old Law is divided into two parts, the moral code and the civil and ceremonial things (ritual observances). The moral code, summed up in the Ten Commandments, is a natural law, the law of the conscience, gathered by reason, and the foundation upon which man is to realize his vocation to live in the image of God. The commandments make plain what is against the love of God, and therefore they show us our sins. The second part of the Old Law, the observances, was necessary to ensure the Israelites remained united as a people and apart from the pagans. So you can see where this is going...
God wanted his chosen people to develop an awareness of sinfulness so when the fullness of time arrived, God would introduce a New Law that would allow each of us to know, in our hearts, the love of God, who forgives our sins and raises us to eternal life. And therein lies the weaknesses of the Old Law:
1)It does not forgive sins (since only God's love can do this)
2)It can suggest that our actions, in accordance with the Law, are the only criteria for eternal life (wrong, since only grace based on faith and our cooperation with this grace can guarantee this)
3)It relies on fear of punishment, rather than love, which is God
In truth, if the Old Law did have the power to make us righteous and sinless, clean and perfect sacrifices for the Lord, then Jesus' death on the cross, the sacrifice that opens the door to God the Father, would have been unnecessary.
So we see that it is clear that the Old Law alone does not have the power to break the chains and bondage of sin, only the grace of the Holy Spirit, given to the faithful through faith in Christ, is able to remove sin. Hence a New Law...Christ...throughout all the apostles writings in the New Testament we are given a new law starting with John the Baptist preparing the way and us finishing it! So you see we live under the Law of Christ and all His grace...
"But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit." -Romans 7:6
So lets not worry anymore what is on the outside of a person and remember that Jesus has set us free from religious drowning, He alone can forgive sins, He alone set me free and that is why I have Set Free tattooed on my right arm and in my heart...so live a life in the Spirit and break thos religious chains...PEACE
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