Audio Download

The Law of Moses Versus the Law of the Spirit – Part 21

[Study Aired April 14, 2024]

Understanding that the law was added to the law of the spirit because of transgressions of the law of the spirit helps us to see that the ‘lawful’ use of the law of Moses is to bring us to Christ:

Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

1Ti 1:8  But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10  For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

The law of Moses is a “carnal commandment” (Heb 7:16) and it “is not for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient…” (1Ti 1:8, 9).

This should help us to appreciate, yes, appreciate, the function of Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth. Mystery Babylon sits upon all the kingdoms of this earth and is under the law.

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

All humanity, “all nations… the kings of the earth… the inhabitants of the earth” are all dominated by all the different religions of this earth. The one things all religions have in common is their rejection of the words of Christ, who has this to say to the multitudes of His own disciples:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Mystery Babylon is not just the Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist religions. Mystery Babylon is also “that great city… where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev 11:8). Mystery Babylon includes Christendom, still under the law, still under tutors and governors, still looking to men to tell them what God says just as Israel did at Mount Sinai. “And they said unto Moses, speak you with us and we will hear: but let not God speak with us lest we die” (Exo 20:19). Until we are willing to die, to be “crucified with Christ”, we will be under the law, “shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed” (Gal 3:23). That is the function of Mystery Babylon, to keep us under the law, no better than a slave to sin, under tutors and governors, under the elements of this world (Gal 4:1-3). Mystery Babylon claims to be Christian. She deals in “gold, and silver and precious stones… and souls of men.”

Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13  And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

“Gold, silver and precious stones” which can under the right circumstances endure the fire (1Co 3:12,13), are good works and good doctrines. If we fail to see and acknowledge the sovereignty of God in “all things”, our righteousness (our “gold, silver and precious stones”) becomes as ‘self-righteous’ “filthy rags” in God’s sight:

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

Mystery Babylon is full of “righteous… good works”, and it is these “good works” which provide the “strong delusion” which “God shall send” to those who “received not the love of the truth… That they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

This “unrighteousness” is not blatant. It is so subtle, it is called “strong delusion”. It will all be accomplished through keeping the law, “and when the woman [Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots] saw that the tree [the law] was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes [an outward display of righteousness and nourishment] and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Gen 3:6).

The woman giving the law, the ministration of death, to her husband is the slovenly tendency of most “sons of God” to allow the church, “princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown” (Num 16:2) to tell them what to do instead of having a personal relationship with God through personal knowledge of His word. These are those who have not come out of Babylon. Their obedience is not based on the love of God (1Jo 5:2-3), but on outward signs like Sabbath (or Sunday) observance. They “observe days and months and times and years” (Gal 4:10). Thus, they testify against themselves that they have not yet entered into rest. “For we which have believed do enter into rest…” (Heb 4:3). These are those who call Israel according to the flesh God’s chosen people. God, of course, has said they are His “broken off people” (Rom 11:17-20) who  “shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman” (Gal 4:30). Thus, they testify against themselves that they are not the sons of the freewoman but are still “under the law” (Gal 4:21).

Thus Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots is serving God’s purpose. She is raising up “false christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, she shall deceive the very elect” (Mat 24:24). It will all be accomplished through literal physical miracles and through “the law”, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

In the keeping of the law Mystery Babylon will, in spite of herself, be used as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. She will keep us under tutors and governors; no more than a slave to sin, “until the time appointed of the Father” (Gal 4:1-2).

You “by the letter… doest transgress the law”:

Rom 2:27  And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

“The letter”, the law of Moses, is obviously not the law of the spirit of God. The law of Moses is rather a type and shadow of God’s spiritual law:

Heb 10:1  For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

A ‘shadow’ blots out the light of the sun and that is the intended function of the law of Moses.

If we insist upon returning to the law, we are refusing to, “leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ, and we are refusing to “go on unto perfection. [We are] laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God”. It is insidious seduction because we are actually teaching “the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment”. And yet we “are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat, and we are unskilful in the word of righteousness because we are still a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are full of age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb 5:11-14). Yes, God intended all along that we should become like Him to know and discern both good and evil.

Gen 3:22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law [“the knowledge of good and evil”]: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Rom 7:8  But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Remember it was “to those… which believed on Him” that he said “I know ye are Abraham’s seed, but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you” (Joh 8:31-37).

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue [G3306: meno, abide] in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? [Self-righteous ‘Christians’ who “believe on Christ” but have no place in them for His doctrine]
Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you [You Jews which believe on Me].

If Christ were here in the flesh today it would still be those ‘Christians who believe on Him’ who would want to kill Him for saying “Love thine enemies” (Mat 5:43-44).

It is indeed “strong meat” to come to understand that both the good and the evil are of God, and that it is through this ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’,  the law which shows us our sins, whose fruit is death, that we are brought to Christ, the tree of life, and sin and death are destroyed:

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him through death [Not ‘from death’] , and was heard in that he feared.

Rom 11:36  For of him and through him and to him are all things: to whom be glory for ever, Amen.

How could anyone say or even suggest that we should not, as mature Christians, post the Ten Commandments in our churches and in our schools and in our public buildings and instruct all to live by this Biblical code of conduct? If everyone, everywhere, made a conscious effort to keep and live by the Ten Commandments, would not most of the problems of our land disappear as a result? Would God not then bless us as a nation and make us a blessing to all nations? Are the Ten Commandments the solution to all immorality and sin? The answer to all of these questions is ‘Yes, obeying the ten commandments makes for a peaceful society, but, no, the ten commandments absolutely are not the solution to all immorality and sin. Death still reigns supreme, and the law was never designed to deal with the hearts and minds of mankind. All it was ever intended to do was to show us our sins and to make them appear “exceedingly sinful”:

Rom 7:9  For I was alive [the dead burying their dead] without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died [Realized I wasn’t really alive after all].
Rom 7:10  And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
Rom 7:11  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it [the letter of the commandments] slew me.
Rom 7:12  Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom 7:13  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

The law has been tried before, and it has failed every time. Keeping the law may indeed produce a well mannered society, as compared to a completely lawless society, but the righteousness of law keeping is “mine own righteousness… my righteousness which is by the law”:

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Ancient Israel thought that they could live perfect lives by keeping God’s Ten Commandments. They failed miserably. The Pharisees thought that they could become righteous in the eyes of God by keeping the law and the Ten Commandments. Jesus said that they will NOT be in the Kingdom of God. Modern Ireland, divided by Protestantism and Catholicism, are slaughtering each other under this same system. Peter said it all when he called this law a YOKE “which neither our fathers NOR WE were able to bear” (Act 15:10).

Act 15:10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

There is a better much lighter ‘yoke:

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

In Hebrews 7:16 we are told that the law which established the Levitical priesthood and all that that priesthood represented and taught (including the ten commandments), was “a carnal commandment.” Even the most holy and solemn day of the entire year, when the high priest entered the holy place to sprinkle blood for all the sins of Israel, all these ordinances are called “a carnal commandment.” We are told in no uncertain terms by the apostle Paul that, “To be ‘carnally minded’ is DEATH…”:

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death [Being under sin… under the law (Gal 3:22-25)]; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

The laws of Moses are carnal commandments; the priests were carnal; the people were carnal; and the result has always been, is now, and always will be, DEATH! “The law [of Moses] is NOT MADE FOR A RIGHTEOUS MAN, but for the lawless and disobedient” (1Ti 1:9). The law of Moses is not made for a righteous man!! It is “the ministration of death” (2Co 3:7). There is something better, much better!

Do not confuse the Ten Commandments of the Old Covenant with the Law of the spirit of God of the New Covenant. When will we finally come to believe that there really is a NEW Covenant with NEW laws, and that it is NOT fashioned after the OLD Covenant?

Jer 31:31  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:32  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my [“but I say unto you…” (Matthew 5)] law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

This “New” Covenant is “not according to” the Old Covenant (Heb 8:9),  and the Old Covenant WAS “…even TEN COMMANDMENTS… written upon two tables of stone” (Deu 4:13).  But this “New Covenant” does have laws. Oh, yes it does! Heb 8:10 – “Imparting my LAWS… on their HEARTS…” The Ten Commandments were written on stones, not on hearts. The laws of the New Covenant are (1) NOT IN ACCORD with the laws of the Old Covenant, (2) Different from the old law from which we “died” and now are “exempted” (Rom 7:4, 6), (3) Spiritual laws (Rom 7:14) and (4) they are written “ON THEIR  [OUR] HEARTS” (Heb 8:10).

Let me give you just one (there are dozens) simple little scriptural truth to prove once and for all that the Spiritual laws of God are NOT the Ten Commandments. Anything spiritual or spirit is ETERNAL. God’s spiritual laws ARE eternal. The Ten Commandments are temporal. They are being “taken away”, “done away”, “fading away”, not to be continued. The fourth commandment tells us: “six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work…” (Exo 20:9). Is anyone so ignorant as to suggest that we will work six days out of every seven for the rest of eternity? The law of the spirit on the other hand teaches that in Christ we now to be “entering into His rest” every day:

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

We are told that along with the change in the priesthood, there was also a necessity for a change in the law:

Heb 7:12  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

There is no such thing as spiritually keeping a carnal law. Jesus wears a NEW garment and a new priestly robe:

Luk 5:36  And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.
Luk 5:37  And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
Luk 5:38  But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.

This new garment is NOT according to that of Levi, but according to that of Melchizedek. Under the New Covenant we have a NEW priesthood, a NEW High Priest and NEW laws. NONE of them are reworkings or modifications of the old – they are NEW.

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

These “new… things” are the true High Priest and the true spiritual laws of God, not just the shadow. The physical priesthood and carnal laws of Israel were but an inferior type of the spiritual and the heavenly realities that we have in Christ Jesus.

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [“The blood of calves and goats” (vs 19)]; but the heavenly things themselves [our hearts and minds] with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself [“Ye are the temple of God” (1Co 3:15-16)], now to appear in the presence of God for us:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The true temple and the True Priest are both new, they are both spiritual, and they are far, far superior to a physical temple and a carnal priest. The true temple and the True Priest give us life, and not death.

2Co 3:10  For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

Those who are now being regenerated and recreated into the very sons of God, becoming a NEW CREATION, are fully aware of the need for laws – spiritual laws. And God has provided them for us: the Law of God, the Law of Christ, the Law of the Spirit, the Law of faith, the Law of righteousness, the Law of liberty and the Law of life. All these must be in our minds and in our hearts, or we are “none of His.”

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit [mind] of Christ, he is none of his.

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Thank God that we are free from works of the carnal law, but we are anything but free from the works of God’s spiritual laws. In fact, it is through “good works” that we are, “His workmanship”:

Rom 6:17  In the past you were slaves to sin—sin controlled you. But thank God, you fully obeyed the things that were taught to you.
Rom 6:18  You were made free from sin. And now you are slaves to goodness (right living). (ERV)

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of [our own] works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Avoid the proverbial swing of the pendulum, and submit yourself to the perfect balance of God. We are not here to become righteous through works of the Old Testament Laws, thinking we have a free will that is able to do right if God will just give us a little encouragement. Not true! Neither are we here to sit back and do nothing, thinking there are no laws and that there is nothing we must do. God’s goal which is now “working after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11) is to SAVE “all in Adam” (1Co 15:22). And what is so amazing is that He proposes to do it “through [our] mercy” the mercy which will be shown to this world via the body of Christ:

Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that “through your mercy”] he might have mercy upon all.

Now if any should think that the highest offices and the highest calling in the universe requires no training, think again. Time and again Jesus has said, “To him that overcometh…” Overcome what? The WORLD and OURSELVES! This is NEW Covenant teaching. No one under the Old Covenant had to overcome the world and overcome themselves. But then again, the only promises they could receive were physical, temporary, blessings of the land.

We must overcome “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”. That’s all. But that is a lot! In fact, that’s “ALL that is in the world” (1Jn 2:16).

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD” (Joh 16:33). We must do likewise:

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

“For whosoever is born of God OVERCOMETH THE WORLD…” (1Jn 5:4). And what is our reward for overcoming the world? Is it physical, temporary blessing of plenty of food, good health and protection from our enemies? Hardly.

Here are the ultimate goals and promises according to the New Covenant:

Rev 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Rev 2:28  And I will give him the morning star.

Rev 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

These promises are only to the Lord’s overcomers, His elect, and they are all summed up in this ultimate promise:

Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

May The Lord give us all to esteem the reproach of Christ greater than the riches of this world and may he give us all to respect the recompence of these rewards:

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.