6to7Life

The Biblical Truth:
The Law of Christ will always be true.

A verse to point us to that truth:
Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

In Galatians we see a phrase that continues to stump many believers.

Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

The phrase “The law of Christ” is said to have an uncertain meaning and is found only in this verse. Some have stated that it is related to:

1 Corinthians 9:21 to those who are outside the law, as outside the law (being not without God’s law, but under Christ’s law) that I might win those who are outside the law.

But under further examination we see that this verse is not connected to “The Law Of Christ” at all. It is dealing with a completely different aspect of our freedom in Christ – it states “the law to Christ” not “the law of Christ”.

Here is how the discussion of Galatians 6:2 usually is discussed. Since God has created natural laws to govern His universe, then there must be a standard of conduct for His children to follow. If not, chaos and anarchy would follow. God is not the author of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33).

It would continue by talking about the Old Testament by saying that God gave Moses laws for the Nation of Israel to follow. Following these laws did not grant them citizenship – that was not the purpose of law. The Law of Moses was simply a guide for people to follow to ensure unity, agreement, and peace in civil and personal relationships. And if they could follow the Law of Moses perfectly, then they would also have a right relationship with God. Without a standard, enforced by God and His called men, everyone would act according to his own desire, and nothing good would be found. God’s Kingdom will be peaceful and orderly because everyone will voluntarily submit themselves to the law of God.

And then the discussion would begin deal with the New Testament by saying that under the New Testament, most Christians would agree that Christ either ‘replaced’, ‘completed’ or ‘fulfilled’ the previous Law of Moses. There are many New Testament verses that state that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law, bringing it to completion and conclusion. And many believers would also say those born under the New Covenant would now have to follow “The Law of Christ”. To ensure that chaos and anarchy does not arise in our Churches or in the lives of the Believer.

But what exactly is the “Law of Christ”, and how is it fulfilled by carrying each other’s burdens? The Bible does not specifically define what exactly is the “Law of Christ”. So is the above argument valid?

Most Bible teachers would say that the “Law of Christ” encompasses what Christ stated were the greatest commandments in:

Mark 12:28-31 One of the scribes came and heard them reasoning together. Perceiving that Jesus had answered them well, he asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. 30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

And they would continue on to state that the “Law of Christ” is to love God with all of our being and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In place of the Old Testament Law, Christians are to obey the “Law of Christ”. Rather than trying to remember the over 600 individual commandments in the Old Testament Law, Christians are simply to focus on loving God and loving others. If Christians would obey those two commands with their whole heart, we would be fulfilling everything that God requires of us.

Many bible scholars would continue the teaching of the “Law Of Christ” by saying that “some use the fact that we are not under the Old Testament Law as an excuse to sin. The apostle Paul addresses this very issue in Romans 6:15. In the Believer’s life, the avoidance of sin will be accomplished out of love for God and love for others. When we recognize the value of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, our response is to be obedience. When we understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us and others, our response is to be to follow His example in expressing love to others. Our motivation for overcoming sin should be love, not a desire to legalistically obey a series of commandments. We are to obey the law of Christ because we love Him, not so that we can check off a list of commands that we successfully obeyed.”

Here in is the dilemma: how has that worked for us so far? How good have we been at loving others as God loved them? I do not know about you, but I can’t! I can’t love those who hurt me, hurt my family and hurt my Church family – as Christ loved them! And to add to that, if I can’t ‘obey’ the law of Moses, how can I ‘obey’ the “Law of Christ”? I can’t! In fact, I do not think God actually tells us to ‘obey’ it. He says this:

Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

When you bear one another’s burdens – you will fulfill the law of Christ! I have also realized that since Love is an action word – I cannot love and I cannot bear another’s burdens either. I am awful at that! Oh, I try to be nice to people, and I try to be kind, and I try to make them feel better about their terrible situation, but I am awful at really bearing their burden! Isn’t that what James is saying in James 2?

James 2:8 If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

If you can do all of the royal law (The Levitical Laws – The Laws of Moses) great! You do well! But you will not be able to, so … you are not so well I guess. Because if you break one part of the law of Moses, you are breaking the whole thing. So if you break one part of the “Law of Christ” you are breaking the whole thing. I cannot say I love God and not love others and I cannot say I love others and not love God. It is an all or nothing kind of law.

1 John 4:7-11 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this way the love of God was revealed to us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we must also love one another.

I have also learned that since I cannot do it – I must allow Christ to do it through me.

Galatians 2:20:21 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God. For if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died in vain.

So here is the conclusion, since we cannot in our own ability love others as we should and we cannot in our own ability love God as we should, then the “Law of Christ” is not a ‘command’ type law, but a natural law. Natural law, or the law of nature, is determined by nature, therefore it is universal. Some call this scientific law. In that we can observe nature through repeated experimental observations that describe some aspect of nature. A natural law or scientific law always is true under the same conditions, and implies that there is a causal relationship involving its elements (they are connected to each other through cause and effect).

We can see examples of this in the four laws of thermodynamics. These laws define physical qualities that characterize thermodynamic systems. We can also see an example of natural law in Newton’s law of universal gravitation which states that: “any two bodies in the universe attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.”

This is a law derived from experimental observations by Isaac Newton. These natural laws are a constant and cannot be changed. They were created by God to keep order in the universe. They are real, measurable and predictable. And just as gravity and thermodynamics are a natural law of the characteristics of nature. God is love … Christ is God … Christ is love. The characteristics or “law” of love is Christ. When Christ is allowed to live in you and through you – the “law of Christ” or the “Character of Christ” is shown. When we bear another’s burden then Christ is shown – His law is fulfilled just like when an apple falls from the tree it fulfills the law of gravity.

We also see Paul saying the same thing in:

Romans 7:21-25 I find then a law that when I desire to do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man, 23 but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with my mind, I serve the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.

The law of sin is the natural law that our flesh naturally desires things that feed its needs. The Law of God is the same as the “Law of Christ” – the natural law that I follow when I follow the Spirit and allow Him to live in and through me.

Galatians 5:16-18 I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. These are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

So we can either go and do all we do to show people we love Christ on our own strength – or – allow Christ to live through us in His strength as we live every day and the world will see Christ – so fulfill the law of Christ.