Works of the Law

Works of the Law

Lærum and Barratt think that we want to be saved by works of the law. What we speak and write about is the obedience of faith; about observing what Jesus has commanded us; about walking according to the laws of the Spirit, according to the laws of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus; about not only being a hearer of the Word but also being a doer of it; about being diligent to do it; about striving for it; which, taken altogether, are the words of the Scriptures. This is perceived by them as being in bondage to the law.

By stating this, they reveal and expose themselves most powerfully. In other words, they are ignorant of walking in the steps of Jesus Christ, of the obedience of faith! It is foreign to them! They are ignorant of the struggle that Paul and the other apostles and servants of the Spirit had, both early and late and always, to teach and help everyone to observe in every detail what Jesus had commanded them—for example the Sermon on the Mount in its entirety!

They have no part in any such labors, and we certainly have noticed it! It can be both seen and heard! This is not difficult to understand, because it is a very hard job, a huge task: presenting every man perfect in Christ and strengthening and helping everyone in the entire church to walk faithfully and wholeheartedly according to all the laws of the new covenant, those that both are and will be written in our hearts and minds and which oppose the flesh.

We understand you quite well. It is much easier to give all of this up for your own sake and for the others’ sake! This is what most of you have done! This is lamentable! Moreover, the fact that you speak badly about those who perform such a sacrificial and noble ministry is more than lamentable. It is ungodly! I wish that you would not come to understand that you have done something bad, for that would play a decisive role in determining your guilt and the severity of your punishment. In any case, you are not innocent!

Wanting to be saved by works of the law (as the Scriptures describe it, for example in the epistle to the Galatians), is wanting to be saved by keeping the Mosaic Law: by being circumcised on the body, by keeping holidays, by not eating pork, etc. This has nothing to do with our preaching or our life. We are not occupied with such things.

Furthermore, we can say that it would be the same if we wanted to base our salvation on other works; for example, on the fact that we are baptized and that we neither smoke nor drink nor swear, etc., and that we give away a certain amount. However, it would be ludicrous and stupid to attempt to describe us like that. It would be presumptuous and impudent!!! We are saved and continue to be saved because we believe in the finished work of Christ—of course!

Bondage is altogether something that goes against a person’s wishes; against his free will, against his taste; it is something he must, or thinks he must do. But by God’s great grace and goodness we are a hundred thousand miles away from that kind of thinking!

What, then, is our position? Our position is that we believe in Jesus Christ with all of our heart, that we love Him—this blessed Son of God—sincerely, from the heart, above all things and more than any people, so that it is our overpowering desire to please Him, to do all His will, to get to know all His blessed, perfect, and divine laws in order to walk exactly in them because we believe, know, and have tasted that all of them are exceedingly precious and good. It is our desire to be allowed to keep His commandments, and He allows it and gives grace to do that, for which we are very thankful. Glory be to His holy name!

And this is what you call works of the law and bondage! You are far removed from knowing God’s way in truth! Your light is largely total darkness!

Nevertheless, there are truth-loving souls—hungry, thirsty, and upright souls everywhere—even among you. We have already received grace to help many such souls. They have received the Word with joy and are extremely thankful. They sing and jump for joy, and more of them are continually coming. It is good to get food when you are hungry.

All of you are welcome to true liberty and joy, to victory, to real victory! I greet you with 1 Timothy 1:14. May God bless all of you! Amen.