I don’t need to follow all of those rules. I can do whatever I want. I’m under grace not the law! Quit being so legalistic. After all, Jesus rejected the law. Right?

Gal 2:16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Now, I know that not many Christians would go this far, but how many people are thinking like this? I know there was a time that I would have thought something close to this. How many people are continuing to sin because they have the idea that we are “free from the law”? The idea of not being under law is appealing to people. They can pursue their goals and secure their own pleasure all while feeling justified because they are justified by faith and not by works of the law. I think that this thinking is a problem and a problem that is very fixable. Did Paul and Jesus reject all forms of law? Were they ever suggesting that we should stop following moral law?

The word Paul uses in Galatians for “law” is the Greek word “nomoV”. This is also the word used for “law” all throughout the New Testament. I must clarify here that I am not one to seek out mystical surprise definitions of Greek words to produce a fluffy and witty sermon. There are, however, occasions in translation where English equivalents fail to communicate clearly. I think that this may be one. We don’t need to replace the word “law” in our Bibles with another word, we just need to look at the verses using it with new glasses.

It seems to me that the when the writers of the New Testament talk about the law they are not talking about the laws we are accustomed to today. They are not talking about moral law (the internal, right and wrong kind of law). They are talking about the Law the way their Jewish audiences would have understood it. That is the Torah. The Pentateuch. The Law of Moses. Mark, who wrote his Gospel to Gentiles, never even used the word “law” (nomoV) because the word was a Greek equivalent to a Jewish idea and was not relevant to Gentiles. “Law” equals “Torah” all throughout the Gospels, Acts, and the Epistles.

Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Jesus said, “I have not come to abolish the Torah.” The Torah is NEVER referred to negatively in the Bible. It was beautiful and from God. God liked the Torah. He gave it to the people “for their good.” Grace is better, but law is not bad.

The Torah had three parts: Ceremonial law, Civil law, and Moral law. The Ceremonial law is found from Exodus 25 to the end of Leviticus. It included the sacrificial system, the tabernacle system, and the cleanness (physically) system. The Civil law is found in Deuteronomy 6 through 26. It included such things as consequences for stealing and murder, political and criminal laws, property rights and distribution of land. The Moral law is recorded in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 in the form of the Ten Commandments. These laws are special. They are founded in the Character of God and in reality. They are the basic right and wrong understanding that everyone has. They are the eternal law of God. These three parts of the Torah make up one Torah, but are they all of the same importance?

Leviticus 14 commands that a person tithe a yield of their seed year by year. 1500 years later Jesus spoke about this to a group of Pharisees. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” – Matthew 23:23. I ask again, are all the parts of the Torah of the same importance? Jesus seemed to suggest otherwise. He declared the moral law as the part of the law that they should have focused on.

And it is this set of laws that the Christian in my first paragraph is wanting to be out from under. Yet it is the one set of laws that no one can ever declare they are not subject to.

Romans 1:20-32 talks about moral law. It appears to be talking about people as a whole and says that people are without excuse. People know right from wrong. And “law” (nomoV) is not written once in this passage. Moral law has been established since creation and is not exclusive to the Torah. Without the Torah people still know right from wrong. Without the Torah people are still held accountable to moral law.

So what can I say to the guy who says, “don’t hold me to your moral standards. I’m under grace not the law”? In a humble, loving and peace-seeking way I can tell him that he is right. He is no longer required to fulfill the Torah’s civil and ceremonial laws. He is now under grace through faith in Jesus and now must only obey the moral law. He must simply love God and his neighbor as himself.

The Bible reveals to us five areas of the overall atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. All five areas are vital and essential, with none being greater or more important than the other. Each area of the atonement is effectual to its particular aspect of required need and each specifically accomplished that for which God intended it to accomplish. Those five areas are: Obedience, Sacrifice, Propitiation, Reconciliation, and Redemption.

Redemption

A fifth area of the overall atoning work of Christ is redemption. This area of the atonement of Christ accomplishes a release from an evil, oppressive condition by the payment of a price. Revelation 5:9 speaks of the Lord Jesus And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You … for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”

The purpose of redemption is that we might be set free from bondage to serve God and have life in His presence. Merely being set free is not an end in itself but we are set free from bondage for the purpose of worship God, living life under His Lordship and in harmony with Him.  When God redeemed Israel from Egypt, it was not merely to relieve their sufferings so they could do their own thing in the Promised Land. It was so that they would live for God by worshiping, obeying and enjoy Him. When we are set free from our sins by being forgiven, it is not so that we can do our own thing in whatever way we, in our fallen nature may desire until we get to heaven. It is so that we can live in a loving relationship with God under His rule and Lordship doing His will.

Since redemption is setting one free by the payment of a price, what was the ransom price that was paid to set us free from the oppressive situation of our bondage to sin?  It was the blood of Christ.  The shedding of the blood of Christ in His violent and terrible death was the price that was paid. I Peter 1:18-19 states, For you know that it was not with perishable things such a silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Since the blood of Christ was the ransom price to redeem us, to what was that ransom paid? In early Church history, a theory was proposed known as “the Devil Ransom Theory” which stated that Christ paid the ransom price of His blood to the Devil. This theory does not have even the slightest support in Scripture, not simply because it misunderstands the nature of the devil, but more so it fails to understand the reason the atonement was required. The ransom price of redemption was paid to the justice of God because it was God’s righteous justice that required that sin be punished so that it could be atoned.

The Bible reveals that there are four things from which we were redeemed.  These are:

1. The guilt of sin – The guilt of sin is that which brings condemnation from God and makes us deserving, worthy and liable to be punished by Him. The punishment of the one guilty of sin is death. Through Christ’s death we are forgiven of our sin, our debt is paid, our guilt is removed, and we are declared righteous, approved and accepted by God. The result is that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1).
2. The bondage to the corruption of sin – By means of our union with Christ in His death, our corrupted sinful nature is put to death.  The result is that we are set free from sin and can live in obedience to God. Romans 6:6-7 states, Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin, for he who has died is freed from sin.
3. The curse of the Law – The Law demanded perfect obedience and cursed all who did not obey. Galatians 3:10 says, For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curs,; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” After Christ earned perfect righteousness for us by living in total obedience to the law, He then became a curse for us by hanging on a tree. Galatians 3:13 says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us – for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” Through Christ’s death on the tree we have been set free from the curse of the Law. 
4. Satanic Powers – The Bible tells us that the angelic powers and principalities were originally created for man’s welfare. But having fallen into sin and becoming servants of Satan, they oppress and destroy man.  Satanic powers work to destroy freedom, life, truth, peace, health and anything that is good. They attack people spiritually mentally, physically and socially.  They work through other people, governments and political orders, the economy, education, the environment and whatever means to destroy and bring death. Hebrews 2:14-15 states, Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. And I John 3:8 states, The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.