The Old Man and the Law

The Old Man and the Law

God gave Abraham the inheritance by a promise. All the generations on earth were to be blessed in his seed, that is, Christ. The law that was given 430 years after Abraham could not nullify this promise. The law did not give any promises. On the contrary, it brings people into judgment by its holy requirements—requirements that are impossible for the natural man to ever fulfill, even if he does his very best. The law is beneficial for those who use it in the right way. Those who are lax under the law will never be free from it. Those who diligently strive to keep the law will soon experience that the law is good, but that there is something in them that isn’t as it should be. The law exposes our fallen nature, in order to fulfill what is written, that the law has become our tutor to bring us to Christ. Our old man cannot keep a law that is holy and righteous; the fallen nature must be crucified and die. Christ revealed this death to us in the following way: He took upon Himself flesh and blood like the children, yet in obedience to the Father, He never obeyed the demands that came from the body. Thus His body became a sacrifice in which the requirements of the law were fulfilled. This same process continues to take place in all those who walk on the way of sanctification. Their body is presented as a living sacrifice, acceptable to God. God’s Spirit works in us and leads us to deny the lusts and desires of the body (sin in the flesh). This leads to suffering in the flesh, but the glory and significance of the inheritance is revealed to our spirit. In this way we become partakers of the promises of Abraham by faith.

“But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.” Gal. 3:23. This restraint limited transgressions and gave us the opportunity to get to know the law. We found its requirements to be reasonable and righteous. We were given the opportunity to examine ourselves and thereby discover a corrupt person facing a holy and righteous law. To understand the mystery, there was no alternative but to turn to Christ. Here it became clear for us that those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. By His crucifixion we are crucified, and by His death we died. Not only that, but we are also buried with Him in baptism, in which we also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God who raised Him from the dead. Col. 2:12.

Therefore, through faith in the power of God, we are raised with Him. In baptism we put on Christ Jesus by faith, and now, being raised, we walk in newness of life. Even though we are raised, we still have a body that will not inherit the kingdom of God. It will either be transformed at Jesus’ return or will fall asleep in Christ if we die before His return. This is the body that is to be presented as an acceptable sacrifice to God. In this body we are able to have fellowship with Christ in His sufferings, and in it we have the opportunity to partake in the growth of the body and put on God’s nature. Our reward in eternity will be decided by our faithfulness in this body, for each one will receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil.

We who are raised with Christ are delivered from the law, but are bound by the law to Christ in His body.