Gal 6:1–6 — The Law of Christ

The title of the message today is The Law of Christ, taken from verse two in our text. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Paul’s View of the Law

I see that verse, and specifically that reference to fulfilling the law of Christ, as a crucial concluding statement in Paul’s letter. Paul has said some rather negative things about the law up until the last two chapters. So in Galatians 1 through 4, he has said things about the law that seem entirely negative. And so it’s somewhat of a surprise when we come to Galatians 5 and 6 and we hear some positive things, like our text says the law of Christ, but also earlier in Galatians 5 and verses 13 and 14, he said that we should not use our freedom from the law as an opportunity for the flesh, but rather through love we should serve one another because love is the fulfilling of the law. So Galatians 5 verse 14 is a positive statement about the law, that the law is fulfilled in love. And Galatians 6, two is another positive statement about the law, that if we love one another and bear one another’s burdens, we will fulfill the law of Christ. But those positive comments about the law are somewhat confusing after we have just heard so many negative things.

In fact, that has been the main burden and thrust of the letter up until the last two chapters. In the first two sections of the letter, in chapters one and two, the Apostle of Gospel Liberty. In chapters three and four, the Doctrine of Gospel Liberty. He’s been focusing upon our liberty from the curse of the law.

And so he has said many negative things about the law. The first time he said something negative about the law is way back in chapter two. When he is recounting what he said to Peter in that controversy that happened at Antioch when certain men came and they were putting pressure upon the Jewish believers to withdraw from table fellowship with the Gentile believers. And the Apostle Paul rebukes Peter and says, you know that this is wrong, this is hypocritical of you.

In Galatians 2 he says, And in verse 15, we ourselves are Jews by birth. You and I, Paul and Peter, we know that we’re Jews by birth, and yet we also know that a person is not counted righteous before God by works of the law. But rather through faith in Jesus Christ. And so you and I, Peter, we have believed in Christ. We’ve put our trust in Christ so that we would be counted as righteous before God, not by our works of the law, not by doing what the law requires and trying to become righteous by doing the law, but rather by faith in Christ, receiving the righteousness of Christ as a gift.

And so he has said something very negative there about the law, that the law does not justify us. It is not by doing the works of the law that we are accepted as righteous before God. Continuing into chapter three, there’s some more negative statements about the law. For example, in the very beginning of Galatians three, he talks to the Galatian Christians themselves. He addresses them.

He says, remember when I first came among you and I preached the gospel to you? Did you receive the Spirit by hearing what the law requires and then going out and trying to be a good law keeper? No, you receive the Spirit simply by hearing the good news of the gospel and believing in it. Having begun by the Spirit then, are you now trying to be perfected? Are you now trying to make yourself morally better by the flesh, that is by the fleshly attempts to keep the law of God? Again, a negative thing about the law. The law cannot save you. We’re saved by Christ and by the Spirit giving us faith in Christ. We’re not saved. We’re not justified. We are not right with God by keeping the law. Then he gets even stronger.

In Galatians 3.10 he says, for all who rely on the works of the law, anyone who thinks that the law is how they’re going to be right with God, anyone who thinks that hearing the law and trying to do it is the way that they can be accepted before God, all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

For it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them. The law is a very negative thing because the law requires perfect obedience. If you want to be accepted before God that way, then you have to keep the law perfectly. And you have to keep your whole life continuing in those things. It’s interesting how he uses that word abide or continue. Cursed would be everyone who does not abide, does not persevere, does not continue without ceasing in all the things written in the book of the law. If you fall in just one point, you are under a curse.

Having shown us that the law not only demands perfection and pronounces a curse if we fail to keep it, he then says in Galatians 3.12 that the law is not of faith.

Rather, the one who does them shall live by them. There’s these two different ways of relating to God, either by doing or by believing. And he’s saying the law is based on doing. It’s not based on believing. The law says the one who does these things will live by doing them.

But Christ, he goes on to say in verse 13, has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree. And because he has taken the curse in our place, he was born under the law, he perfectly fulfilled it, not only passively bearing the curse, but also actively keeping its commandments. He has delivered us from the curse, and instead he has given us the blessing. Verse 14, so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith.

And he keeps going. He keeps saying some very negative things about the law. In chapter 3, verses 15 and following, he gives a big perspective on the whole story of the Bible. He backs up and looks at the whole panorama of God’s dealings and covenants with his people.

And he makes this big contrast between the covenant that was made with Abraham, which he calls the promise, versus the covenant that was made at Mount Sinai, which he calls the law. He says that that prior promise that God made with Abraham was based upon grace and faith. Abraham was not a law keeper. He simply believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. And so the inheritance that was promised to Abraham, the blessing that was promised to Abraham did not come to him because he was keeping the law. It came to him simply by faith. Verse 18, if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise, but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

And that then raises the question, so then why did God bother to give the law? And he explains why in verse 19. He says, why then the law? It was added because of transgressions until the offspring should come. That offspring, of course, being Christ himself. It was given with a temporary purpose in mind. It was given with a Christological purpose in mind. It was given to prepare the way for the coming of the offspring that was promised to Abraham. That is Christ himself.

So that the promise might be fulfilled through Christ. And then he asks in verse 21, so does that mean that the law is contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not, for if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the scripture, that is the law which is contained in scripture, imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. The promise that was given to Abraham, which points ahead to Christ and to his work, is the key. The law was given later for a temporary purpose to prepare for the coming of Christ so that the promise might be fulfilled. The law’s job is to show us our sin. The law’s job is to imprison us under guilt and under sin and to show us our need of Christ.

And so then he says in verse 23 and 24, now before faith came, faith meaning Christ, before the new covenant came in Christ, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then the law was our guardian, and I prefer the translation custodian, the law was our temporary custodian until Christ came. In order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, now that the new covenant has been fulfilled, now that the offspring has come, we are no longer under a custodian. We are no longer under that temporary guardian custodian work of the law that is given to show us our sin, to hand us over to our sin and our guilt, and to make us cry out even more for Christ.

So, so far, everything in this letter, and he goes on in chapter four to repeat some of these same themes. For example, in chapter four, verse four, Christ has come to redeem those who were under the law so that we might be delivered from the slavery to the law. Verse 21 of chapter four, tell me you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? So, all of this whole section in chapters two, three, and four, has made clear this very negative point, which is that we are free from the law.

We are free from this burden of being enslaved to the law and of having to be right with God by keeping the law. We are delivered from it. Christ has fulfilled the law. He has redeemed us from the law. We are no longer under the law, and we are now free. This is the doctrine of gospel liberty.

Negative and Positive Statements about the Law

This has been the main point that Paul has been making in this letter. Those are all very negative things, very negative things to say about the law. And you might conclude from that, so therefore, we’re free from the law to do as we please. But Paul clearly does not believe that.

Because when we come to the third major section of the letter, which is what we’re in now, Galatians 5 and 6, he now says some positive things about the law. And he now says, we are free, yes, we are free from the curse of the law. We are not under this custodian that is binding us hand and foot and casting us into prison because of our sin. We are free from that. Christ has fulfilled the law. We have the blessing given to us in Christ.

But let us not use our freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Let’s not say, oh, I’m free, therefore I can live as I please and I don’t need to worry about serving the Lord and trying to obey Him. I can just live as I want and do what I desire and indulge the desires of the flesh as much as I want. No, he says, We must use our freedom not as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another, for the whole law is fulfilled. In this one command, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

That quotation there is literally from the Old Testament. It’s from Leviticus chapter 19. But we know that Jesus himself also placed significant emphasis on that verse. When he was asked by the Pharisees and the experts on the law, which is the greatest commandment, he said, So Jesus himself takes that commandment from the book of Leviticus, it’s somewhat buried amongst many other commandments, and he elevates it and lifts it out and says, this is the key, is to love your neighbor as yourself.

Paul does not explicitly mention the fact that Jesus did that, but he knows that. Paul is familiar with the traditions about the teaching of Jesus. And so when he makes that statement there in Galatians 5 verse 14, that the law is fulfilled in this commandment, he is implicitly reminding us of the fact that this is something that Jesus himself taught. That you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

And I believe then that when we turn to our text today in Galatians 6 verse two, that’s what he’s alluding to when he says, bear one another’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ. He didn’t just say you will fulfill that verse in Leviticus. He says you fulfill that verse in Leviticus as it has been elevated by Christ himself in his teaching and give it to his disciples as a key understanding for how we are to live as disciples of Christ. In this way we fulfill the law of Christ.

Now there’s some other interesting, we’ve mentioned all the negative things that Paul said about the law in Galatians 2, 3, and 4. We’ve mentioned some of the positive statements about the law in Galatians 5, verse 14. Galatians 6, verse 2, fulfilling the law of Christ, which is connected back to 5.14. The law of Christ is the law of love.

But there are some other hints as well in this final section, the section that begins in chapter five and concludes the letter on the life of gospel liberty. There’s some other hints that Paul also has some positive things to say about the law. Let me give you one illustration of that.

In Galatians 6 verse one, he says, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, You who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. But focus on that word transgression. If anyone is caught in any sin or any transgression, the word transgression is the same thing as sin, but it is already bringing to mind the idea that sin is transgression of what? Of the law. At least of the moral requirements of the law.

The word transgression contains within it this implicit idea that although we’re free from the law, and Paul’s made that very clear, we’re not under the custodian anymore, Christ has fulfilled it, yet even in the Christian life, even within the church, professing Christians can fall into sin, and sin is defined here as transgression, as breaking the commandments, as transgressing the moral law of God.

And I believe that he’s alluding back to that list of the works of the flesh in the previous chapter in Galatians 5, verse 19. He says, now the works of the flesh are evident. And when he lists off the various works of the flesh, he is mentioning, by implication anyway, he’s mentioning certain points of the Ten Commandments. For example, the very first one, the very first work of the flesh that is obvious is what? Sexual immorality. Which is a transgression of the seventh commandment. Or again, he’ll mention other commandments. He talks about idolatry. That’s a transgression of the first commandment.

He doesn’t go through and mention every single one of the Ten Commandments, but we can understand by implication that he thinks that the moral commandments of God, as summarized in the Ten Commandments, are still in effect, and that Christians need to be aware of those things, and to fight against them, and not just say, oh, it’s forgiven in Christ, I don’t need to worry about it.

No, the moral law is still in effect. There is forgiveness, and we do have the power of the Spirit to help us to fight against those things. Nevertheless, sin is still the transgression of the moral commandments of God. So Paul has all of these negative things to say about the law, how the law brings a curse, how we have been delivered from it, we’re no longer under it, we’re free from the custodianship of the law, but then he has these positive things to say here in the last section of the book, implying that the moral law is still good, and it’s something that we should strive to obey. And that if we break these moral commandments, we are doing something that is serious, and it’s an evident work of the flesh, and we need to repent of those things. And if you see a brother who’s falling into those things, we need to go and try to restore them and help them through those issues that they have. So how do we resolve this paradox, this paradox that Paul says all these negative things about the law, and he flatly even says, we’re not under it anymore, we’re free. Gospel liberty, but then he also has these positive things to say about the law. And he seems to say that there’s some kind of continuing obligation to try to obey the law and to try to be good and not to indulge in these transgressions of the law. How do we resolve this?

This is a major issue in Pauline interpretation. If you look at all the commentaries or all the books that are out there on the theology of Paul, this is one of the big issues that scholars have struggled with. How to reconcile this paradox between the negative things that Paul says about the law and the positive things he says about the law. We could do the same thing with Paul’s letter to the Romans. In Romans, he has the exact same thing.

He says negative things, that we’re free from the law, we’re not under it, but then he also says positive things about it. For example, in Romans 7, verse 12, he says that the law is holy and just and good. And he also says a few verses later, it is spiritual, meaning that it doesn’t just simply forbid outward behavior, it doesn’t just forbid, let’s say, murder in the literal sense of killing someone unjustly, but it also forbids the spiritual motions of sin and desires of the heart that lead to that. Such as anger and so on. Interestingly, Paul gives an illustration just on that one point of how the sixth commandment, you shall not murder, not only covers outward murder, but also the inward heart attitudes that lead to that, such as anger and so on.

Paul mentions that particular application right here in this whole context, because what’s going on in the Church of Galatia? They’re having this controversy over the law. The Judaizers have come in. They said, what Paul taught you about the law is not correct. You do need to be circumcised. You do need to commit yourself to keeping the law. Not just simply the Ten Commandments, but the entire law, all of the ceremonial laws as well. All of the Jewish calendar and the clean and unclean distinction, all of that.

And they’re challenging Paul’s doctrine and saying, he’s wrong. Paul is not teaching you the correct doctrine. And so it’s creating this controversy within the congregation. Some people are listening to the Judaizers. Some are defending Paul. And they’re having some internal battles and fights going on within the congregation.

And Paul sees those sins that are going on in the congregation as the works of the flesh, and in particular as specific violations of the sixth commandment. That’s why in his list of the works of the flesh, he not only focuses on the obvious sins like sexual immorality and idolatry, but he also mentions what? Verse 20, enmity. That is, hating people. Strife. Jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions. These are the things that are happening in the Church of Galatia.

He mentions that again in verse 26. He says, let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another. That kind of behavior is not only a violation of the Sixth Commandment, but it is an expression of the flesh and the underlying desires of the flesh that are on a track that would ultimately lead to murder, even if murder hasn’t actually happened yet, but that is what is going on in the congregation. And so he says, brothers then, chapter six, verse one, brothers, if anyone is caught in any of these transgressions, whether it’s sexual sin or idolatry or these other more refined manifestations of the flesh in the form of division and enmity and strife and jealousy, if anyone is caught in these transgressions, and by caught he doesn’t just mean caught in the act, he means caught in the sense that these kinds of sinful fleshly behaviors have a certain pull and tug upon us where we get enslaved to them. It’s not just simply that you made one mistake. It’s like there’s this pull, this tug of the flesh that has a tendency to enslave you and to develop a pattern of sin in your life.

And so he’s saying, brothers, if you see anyone who is caught in the web of sin and their life is being dragged down by the pull of these fleshly things, then you who are spiritual should attempt to restore him in a spirit of gentleness. But, he says, as you do so, keep watch on yourself lest you too be tempted with those same sins. Have an attitude of humility as you seek to help others. And so he says, if you do that, you will bear one another’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. You will fulfill the law that Christ himself said is the fulfillment of the law, to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Resolving the Apparent Contradiction

So how do we resolve this apparent contradiction between these two things, between the negative things that Paul says about the law and the positive things he says about the law? The solution is this, and here’s the answer. In one sentence, this is the solution to that. And if you have this one sentence in your mind as you read through Paul, it’ll help you to resolve this conflict. The solution is this, we are delivered from the law as a covenant of works, but we’re bound to the moral requirements of the law as they come to us from the hand of Christ. That is what Paul is saying.

We’re delivered from the law as a covenant of works. That’s his whole point in the first four chapters of the letter. We are not under the law as a covenant by which, through doing these works, we can somehow secure God’s favor. And if we fail, then we’re under God’s judgment. We’re delivered from the law as a covenant of works, but we are still obligated as believers to the moral requirements of the law as they come to us from the hand of Christ.

You might be wondering, what about the ceremonial law? Where does the ceremonial law fit in this? In traditional theology, we distinguish between the moral, the civil, and the ceremonial laws of Moses. The moral law is summarized in the Ten Commandments. The civil laws have to do with the laws that were given to Israel as a nation, especially the ones that dealt with punishments for idolatry and so on. And the ceremonial laws are the laws that this letter is dealing with.

Like circumcision, and keeping the distinction between clean and unclean food, and observing the Jewish calendar. And the answer is that Paul sees even the ceremonial laws, although the ceremonial laws do point us to Christ, especially the sacrifices. They point us to the sacrifice of Christ. But he sees the ceremonial laws as being part of the works aspect of the law.

He sees them as being like this, as they were given to Israel in the Old Testament. They were given as this intolerable yoke that was placed upon the people of Israel as something hard and challenging. Just think of all the myriad of laws that there were. And all the details of how you had to purify yourself if you came into contact with something unclean and so on. It was a hard task to keep all of that straight and to do all of that. And Paul is saying that whole system of the ceremonial law is a part of this law that was given to Israel for a temporary period of time as a custodian to prepare the way for Christ.

And so he’s saying, we are delivered from the law as a covenant of works. And even the ceremonial laws have that kind of tinge of being connected to the works aspect and to that curse and to that constant threat that if you’re not keeping each and every one of these ceremonial laws, then you’re not pure before God. We’re delivered from that whole system. We’re delivered from the law as a covenant of works, but we are bound to the moral requirements of the law. As they come to us from the hand of Christ.

And that’s why Paul uses that beautiful phrase, that we are still under the law of Christ. Now does this mean that there’s a change in the content of the moral law? There is a change in the ceremonial law, that has been done away, but is there a change in the content of the moral law?

Obviously the answer is no, because Paul says that the whole law, Galatians 5.14, the whole law is fulfilled in this one word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Each of the Ten Commandments is part of the eternal moral law of God. The moral law does not change because God himself does not change. What then has changed?

A New Motive for Obedience

What’s changed is not the content of the moral law, but the motive for obedience. We do not obey because of this threat of a curse if we don’t keep the law perfectly. Rather, we obey out of gratitude. We do not obey the law as a covenant of works, but rather we obey it as from the hand of Christ, as part of the covenant of grace.

The law of the covenant of works says do this for life. Do this to achieve God’s favor and blessing. The law of Christ says do this from life. Do this because you’ve already received the blessing. Because you already have the spirit that was purchased by Christ and given to you.

The law of the covenant of works says if you break the law in just one point, remember Galatians 3.10, if you don’t abide by all the things If you break the law in just one point, you are under a curse. But the law of Christ says, I have become a curse for you. Isn’t that wonderful? Christ has become a curse for us.

The Content of the Law of Christ

And so, show thanks and gratitude to me by keeping my commandments. That is what the Lord is calling us to in this passage. And Paul fleshes out the meaning of what it means to love in terms of these various applications. There’s two main examples given to us in our context. Number one is restoring those who are enslaved or caught in sin. And the second one, interestingly, maybe somewhat surprisingly, is in verse six, that we should support ministers of the word.

Verse six, let the one who has taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. These are just examples. This is not an exhaustive list of the law of Christ. The law of Christ isn’t just these two things, restoring the sinner and giving money at church. No, these are just examples.

These are just illustrations of what it means to fulfill the law of Christ, the law of love. How we can care for one another, how we can love one another in the body of Christ. As Jesus said in John 13 verse 34, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Our culture tells us that love means tolerating and supporting others no matter what. It means unconditional affirmation. But the Bible says biblical love is caring for the spiritual good of another.

And we see that very clearly in our text. Because if love just simply meant unconditional affirmation, then you wouldn’t go to that sinning brother and try to restore them. You would just say, that’s great. You’re doing fine. That’s not biblical love. Biblical love is I care about your soul, brother. I care about what you’re going through. This isn’t right. I want to help you with this. But we do so out of love.

We don’t come with that spirit of the covenant of works, of wagging the finger at them and saying that they’re under the law and under the curse, but rather we come to them with the law of Christ. And we come alongside them, acknowledging our own struggles, acknowledging our own weakness, but out of love, seeking to help them, and seeking to restore them. Of course, that doesn’t always work.

There are times where the person is not listening to the loving admonition of the body of Christ, or specifically of the elders, and then church discipline does need to happen. But even then, even if church discipline happens, the goal of church discipline is not to punish the person, The goal of church discipline is to restore them, to hope that they will be reconciled back to the Lord and to his church.

So these are just two illustrations then of what it means to fulfill the law of love, which is the law of Christ. Restoring sinners who are caught in slavery to sinful patterns and also supporting the ministry of the word, supporting the teaching that happens in the church.

That’s an astonishing one, isn’t it? Just think about that. The fact that Paul would mention that here as being one of the ways in which we can fulfill the law of love, that shows just how much of an importance Paul placed upon the teaching that happens in church. When teachers come to you in the church, and they teach you the word of God, and they explain the word of God to you, and remind you of the truths of the gospel, and call you to the Christian life that is, given to us in Christ, when they exhort you to live as becomes the followers of Christ, teachers of God’s word are doing something very important. That’s why it’s so important for you to be faithful in attending church because you need to hear the word of God.

You need the means of grace to remind you of all that you have in Christ and to encourage you to walk in the spirit and to live for him and to more and more put to death the sinful deeds and desires of the flesh. Doing so, not under a covenant of works, where you have to be perfect, and if you make one mistake, you’re out.

But doing so under the reality of this wonderful law of Christ that comes to us. The law of Christ comes from His bleeding hands. He gives it to you with His own blood. He suffered for you, He died for you, He has forgiven you, He has redeemed you with His precious blood. And so he sweetly calls to you, not like thundering from Mount Sinai, but with this call of grace, with this loving invitation to live for him out of thankfulness for all that he has done for us. Now there’s one last thing in our text that I didn’t mention.

How Can We Bear One Another’s Burdens?

I’ve explained verses one and two as well as verse six, but then right in between, In verses three through five, there’s an interesting paragraph here, and the way I would explain this paragraph is that Paul is now asking the question, I want to do this.

I want to bear one another’s burdens. I want to have more love for God and for my neighbor, biblical love. I want to do what Christ is calling us to do here, to fulfill the law of Christ, but it’s hard. How? How can I do this? And I think Paul in verses three and five is saying that the prerequisite for burden bearing love that fulfills the law of Christ is humility.

Isn’t that what he’s saying in that section? Look at that. He says, let’s back up to verse two. Bear one another’s burdens, and so, in this way, fulfill the law of Christ, for, whenever you see a for, he’s giving an argument. He’s giving, this is the basis for the command.

Humility Is the Prerequisite for Burden-Bearing Love

For, if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. I think he’s saying that humility is the prerequisite for burden-bearing love. The word humility actually occurs in our text. You might not notice it right away because it’s translated as gentleness in verse one. You who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. But that same Greek word could also be translated as a spirit of humility. Humility and gentleness are somewhat the same thing. Somebody who’s gentle is somebody that doesn’t think too highly of themselves and think that they’re too important. Somebody who’s gentle knows that they’re just as prone to these sins as anybody else. And so they come alongside the sinning brother with the spirit of gentleness and humility. And that’s what Paul is saying here in verses 3 through 5.

If you think you’re something when you’re not, if you think you’re doing great in the spiritual life and you don’t have any struggles at all, You’re going to be the first one to fall. But if you recognize your own struggles, your own sinfulness, your own need of God’s grace, then it will help you to be able to come alongside others and to love them with true biblical love that cares for their spiritual growth and for their spiritual good. The primary obstacle to fulfilling the law of Christ, which is the law of love, the primary obstacle to it is our own ego. That is the thing that always gets in the way and trips us up. But if we look down, if we look down on others from a place of superiority, thinking that we are holier than others, then we will not be able to truly humble ourselves and to care for others and to seek their spiritual good.

What a wonderful passage this is. To me, this verse here, Galatians 6 verse two, we can fulfill the law of Christ by bearing one another’s burdens. This is really the climax of the whole argument. I somewhat view this phrase, the law of Christ, as being similar to a phrase that’s going to occur later on at the end of Galatians, in Galatians 6 verse 16, where he speaks about the Israel of God. The law of Christ and the Israel of God, they both have this same quality to them, which is Paul is taking a word, the law, or Israel, that if you just think of it only in its Old Testament context, without seeing how it’s fulfilled in Christ, could easily be misunderstood. Even the word law itself sounds somewhat harsh and negative and condemning. But then he’ll take that word and then he’ll reverse it and he’ll say, I’m talking about the law of Christ. Same thing with Israel.

God’s purpose for Israel is fulfilled in the church, the body of Christ. Christ is the offspring. Going back to Galatians 3, verse 16, when God made the promises to Abraham, to your offspring I will give this land. Paul says the offspring is Christ and then later on in verse 30 chapter 3 verse 29 says if you belong to Christ then you also are Abraham’s offspring in union with Christ and that’s true whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile and so Paul has this wonderful lovely way of doing theology where he’ll take a word and that has an Old Testament connotation that if you take in a literal, grammatical, historical sense, you’re going to misunderstand it.

But if you understand how it’s applied spiritually in Christ and the church, suddenly it takes on this wonderful glow of spiritual meaning and encouragement. We have a wonderful law, not a law that condemns us, but we have the law of Christ. How wonderful, how joyful that is to seek to keep that law and to see that law implemented in our lives and within the body of Christ as we love one another. So too.

We have this wonderful promise that we, who are united to Christ by faith, whether we are Jew or Gentile, we belong to the true Israel of God. We are the Israel of God that has all the promises that God made. Not only the promises that were made to Abraham, but the promises that were renewed at the time of the prophets. When the prophets said that even though Israel, according to the flesh, seems to be doomed, seems to be dead, actually, yet God is going to raise that Israel to life and make a new covenant with through Christ and his church. And so we are the Israel of God who are now serving him and seeking to keep the law of Christ by the power of the spirit.