THE BRIDE AND THE LAW

        THE BRIDE AND THE LAW

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

{Song: Rock Of Ages by Rev. Augustus Montague Toplady 1775 The gospel magazine}

²³ But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

²⁴ Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

²⁵ But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

²⁶ For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.{Galatians 3:23-26}

The law, its essence and its duration must be fully understood by the church. What is the groom’s idea about his bride and the law? Is it his desire to subject his bride to rules and regulations and for how long?

It is true that the law was given to man by God through the hand of Moses and it must be noted that the law was pure and holy but a misunderstanding of its essence and to whom it was given will keep the church far from her groom.

 To fully comprehend the essence of the law lets look at Romans 3

¹⁹ Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

The law was given to make the world guilty before God. I don’t think there is any groom who will derive pleasure in making his beloved bride guilty. To make her feel guilty will be to make himself feel guilty too because they both are one body now. I therefore will like to think that the law was not for the bride but for those who are under the law {the Jews, the sinners, the world}.

⁶ But these teachers have missed this whole idea and spend their time arguing and talking foolishness. ⁷ They want to become famous as teachers of the laws of Moses when they haven’t the slightest idea what those laws really show us. ⁸ Those laws are good when used as God intended. ⁹ But they were not made for us, whom God has saved; they are for sinners who hate God, have rebellious hearts, curse and swear, attack their fathers and mothers, and murder. {1Timothy 1:6-9 TLB}

The laws are not for people who are saved but for sinners. The laws are not for the saints. Justified people do not need those laws. The church has been justified by faith.

 To further see the essence of the law we must consider Galatians 3

¹⁹ Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

The law was added because of transgressions but it was only to last till a certain time”Till the seed should come”. Jesus Christ is that seed who came and died for us so that we can now be justified by faith. The law ended when Christ showed up and died on the cross.

 Again it says this in Romans 7

¹² Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.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 was added to make sin appear sin and that sin might become exceedingly sinful. It doesn’t seem to me that any groom would want to expose and magnify the sins of his beloved bride. I would rather visualize the groom cleansing and covering up the weaknesses of his beloved bride and not exposing her shame. Again I submit that the law was therefore not for the bride.

Again the law was brought to give life but instead it brought death. I wonder if any man would subject his bride to that which kills. That would be wickedness of the highest degree.

9   For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.¹⁰ And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.{Romans 7:9-11}

The law can never give life. It slays whoever is subject to it and kills that which once had life. The law came to revive sin and kill man. I would rather my bride alive than dead and therefore will never subject her to laws. For if there was a law that could give life righteousness would have been by that law but there was no such law.

²¹ Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

²² But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. {Galatians 3:21-22}

It is clear from the above verses that the law could not deliver its purpose. Why should anyone hold on to that which is ineffective! The church must not hold on to laws for the law is weak and cannot make her righteous. Now hear what Paul had to say about the weakness of the law:

³ For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:⁴ That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.{Romans 8:3-4}

Now sin has been condemned in the flesh. Christ came to our rescue because before we became his bride we could never keep the laws. We broke them over and again no matter how hard we tried. We continually committed sin because of our flesh which was a tool through which we were held captive by the law. No wonder we were filthy and unrighteous, forsaken by all our lovers. In fact we were married to the law and enslaved by it. The more we tried to be righteous by obeying the laws the more unrighteous we became.

The good news is that now we have been rescued by our groom. We are now righteous and have divorced the law to marry Christ our groom. Being the bride of Christ now imputes into us the righteousness that we never had because in Christ the law is fulfilled by us without practically obeying the law.

 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

² For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

³ So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

⁴ Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

⁵ For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

⁶ But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. {Romans 7}

Sadly, many Christians are still married to the law. They love the laws of Moses more than they love Jesus. They are more conscious of the law than they are of Jesus and His free gift of righteousness to us. Our union with our groom makes us dead to the law. The law was fulfilled when we died with our groom for verily the groom came not to abolish the law but to fulfil it. The law’s requirement was that the soul that sinneth shall die and when Christ bore the sin of the whole world his bride’s inclusive, he fulfilled the law by dying with his bride. When he resurrected, we were justified and declared righteous never to pay for sins again. No one serves jail again for the same crime whose penalties has been paid for. Any thing called sin has been paid for by the death of Christ

.

²⁵ Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. {Romans 4}

⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. {Romans 10:4}

¹⁸ When you are guided by the Holy Spirit, you need no longer force yourself to obey Jewish laws. {Galatians 5:18 TLB}

Dear bride, dear church, dear rose, dear beloveth of the groom, the apple of His eyes, this one thing I plead with you to understand; It is never your groom’s desire that you return to the law that you once divorced to be married to Him. Return not to the prison from which you were delivered.

2     And now that you have found God (or I should say, now that God has found you), how can it be that you want to go back again and become slaves once more to another poor, weak, useless religion of trying to get to heaven by obeying God’s laws? ¹⁰ You are trying to find favor with God by what you do or don’t do on certain days or months or seasons or years. ¹¹ I fear for you. I am afraid that all my hard work for you was worth nothing. {Galatians 4:9-11 TLB}

Wake up church! How can it be that you want to go back to slavery, to that poor, weak and useless religion of rule keeping? How can it be?

Who told the church that she can get to heaven by obeying Jewish laws? Who told her that she can have spiritual life and blessings by obeying those laws? Who deceived us into thinking that we will be better Christians by strict adherence to Jewish laws? Have we gone completely crazy?

 ³ Then have you gone completely crazy? For if trying to obey the Jewish laws never gave you spiritual life in the first place, why do you think that trying to obey them now will make you stronger Christians?{Galatians 3:3 TLB}

The laws were never meant for us gentiles but for the Jews. Even the Jews who had the laws, no longer practise the law. They have discarded the law. Surprisingly the gentiles who didn’t have any business whatsoever with the laws of Moses have suddenly and foolishly become custodians of the law. The church has become more religious than the Pharisees, bearing a yoke that was never meant for us.

¹⁴ When I saw what was happening and that they weren’t being honest about what they really believed and weren’t following the truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Though you are a Jew by birth, you have long since discarded the Jewish laws; so why, all of a sudden, are you trying to make these Gentiles obey them? {Galatians 2:14 TLB}

God please help your church to return to the truth of the gospel. Stir up faith in us again to trust in Christ alone and acknowledge His finished work on the cross. Listen church! Remain married to your groom by faith. Yes! You must remain married to your groom. He is about to show you something new. Something that gives life, justifies and keeps you united to your groom forever. It is called grace……..

     NOTES FROM ARTICLE 7

(1)                The law was never meant for the bride

(2)                The law can never give life. It slays its subjects and kills that which once had life.

(3)                The law exposes sin but no groom would like to expose his bride’s sins

(4)                 The law was only a school master for an appointed time ”until the seed comes”

(5)                Now Christ has come and we are no longer under the law

(6)                The requirement of the law has been fulfilled in Christ, hence the penalty for sin has already been paid.

(7)                The law can never make man righteous. The law is weak through the flesh.

(8)                What the law could not do, Christ did for us. Now the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us.

(9)                We have divorced the law and are now married to Christ never to be separated again.

PLEASING THE GROOM

              PLEASING THE GROOM

My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device or creed;
I trust the ever-living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me

.Enough for me that Jesus saves,
This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul I came to Him,
He’ll never cast me out.

My heart is leaning on the Word,
The living Word of God,
Salvation by my Saviour’s name,
Salvation through His blood.

My great physician heals the sick,
The lost He came to save;
For me His precious blood He shed,
For me His life He gave.

{Song:My Faith Has Found A Resting Place by Eliza E. Hewitt.Songs of Joy and Gladness}

In the heart of every Christian, Muslim and people who practise Judaism, is a question and a desire. The question is “What must I do to please God?” What does God require of me? The root of this question is a desire in man’s heart to please God or find favour with Him. After the sin of the first man in the Garden of Eden, came a separation between man and God. Since then men have devised several means to attempt to reach out back to God. Hence we have several religions in the world all striving to please the Creator. All of man’s attempt to return to God never worked because He wasn’t pleased by any of our most conscientious religion. It was for this reason that God had to reach out to man by sending Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. He is our peace maker and the only one who could end God’s anger against us.

Having done that for us, He requires nothing much of us than just one thing. Yes one thing. That thing is the answer to the question in everyone’s heart about how to please God.

 A Muslim colleague of mine told me of a list of rules that must be obeyed before God can be pleased with them. The same set of rules are being observed by the Jewish religion. Sadly enough, most Christians still practise the same bunch of rules. This suggests to me that we all have a desire to please God and sad to say but true is the fact that you can’t draw a line separating these three religions. 

However, these practises are born out of ignorance. Yes! Ignorance of how to please God. Most people are still asking “Master what works must I do that I might work the works of God?” In other words, what can I do to please God?

²⁷ But you shouldn’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. No, spend your energy seeking the eternal life that I, the Messiah, can give you. For God the Father has sent me for this very purpose.”

²⁸ They replied, “What should we do to satisfy God?”

²⁹ Jesus told them, “This is the will of God,that you believe in the one he has sent.”{John 6:27-29 TLB}

Did you notice the answer Jesus gave to them? He didn’t tell them to obey Jewish laws or practise religious rituals to satisfy God. He didn’t mention tithes, seed sowing, holy communion, confession, fasting and prayers etc..or any other good thing we think makes God pleased with us. What did He say? So simple. Just one thing is needed if we must please God. He said BELIEVE! Have FAITH in the one who alone can give eternal life, JESUS CHRIST;THE RIGHTEOUS.  

⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. {Hebrews 11:6}

26 And now in these days also he can receive sinners in this same way because Jesus took away their sins.

But isn’t this unfair for God to let criminals go free, and say that they are innocent? No, for he does it on the basis of their trust in Jesus who took away their sins.

27 Then what can we boast about doing to earn our salvation? Nothing at all. Why? Because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds; it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in him. 28 So it is that we are saved[h] by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.{Romans 3 TLB}

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Now we must have faith in order to please Him. we must seek Him diligently. we must know that the groom seeks true worship and fellowship. He takes pleasure in having communion with us for we were made for His pleasure.

⁶ For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.{Gal 5}

The church must not depend on works, religion or the law to please Him because only faith matters to Him now and this faith worketh by love. In other words we will have to love him to have faith in him. If we have been loved so much by him what prevents us from loving Him in return. Perhaps ignorance of how much we’ve been loved and forgiven. We have been forgiven so much and so we must love so much

 ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”{Luke 7:47}

We must not forget so soon from whence he picked us up, cleansed us up and gave us a new apparel of righteousness .It is expedient for us to remember how we were abandoned and forsaken like a woman forsaken by all her lovers because of our wretchedness and filth until the Groom picked us up.

¹⁴ All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased. {Jeremiah 30:14a}

We were living in darkness and doomed for destruction. We were enemies of God because of our sinful nature. We couldn’t rescue ourselves from the bondage of sin. We were enslaved by it. Thankfully, God came to our rescue by sending our groom to die for us so that He can adopt us into his family. Now we are no longer enemies but God’s own people.

²⁵ Remember what the prophecy of Hosea says? There God says that he will find other children for himself (who are not from his Jewish family) and will love them, though no one had ever loved them before. ²⁶ And the heathen, of whom it once was said, “You are not my people,” shall be called “sons of the Living God.” {Romans 9:25-26 TLB}

Not only are we His people, but we are also His children and our ABBA FATHER has decided to love us. He saw all our weakest faults before he chose to love us. It wasn’t because we obeyed any Jewish laws nor practised any religious ritual. He didn’t require any sacrifice from us first before loving us. All we need now to please him is faith and love .Not religious rituals, not Jewish laws. I see many Christians trying to practice so much of religion to please God. They think that religious rituals and human doctrines can please God.

We must not act like we got it all together…The Lord hates Self-righteousness and pride. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. No flesh is justified by the works of the law. Only by faith are we justified in His sight and this brings great peace. He finds pleasure in our leaning on Him.

²⁰ Now do you see it? No one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what the law commands. For the more we know of God’s laws, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying them; his laws serve only to make us see that we are sinners. ^21-22 But now God has shown us a different way to heaven^[f]—not by “being good enough” and trying to keep his laws, but by a new way (though not new, really, for the Scriptures told about it long ago). Now God says he will accept and acquit us—declare us “not guilty”—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like. 

²³ Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal;²⁴ yet now God declares us “not guilty” of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins.

²⁵ For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us. He used Christ’s blood and our faith as the means of saving us from his wrath.^[g] In this way he was being entirely fair, even though he did not punish those who sinned in former times. For he was looking forward to the time when Christ would come and take away those sins. ²⁶ And now in these days also he can receive sinners in this same way because Jesus took away their sins.

But isn’t this unfair for God to let criminals go free, and say that they are innocent? No, for he does it on the basis of their trust in Jesus who took away their sins.

²⁷ Then what can we boast about doing to earn our salvation? Nothing at all. Why? Because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds; it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in him. ²⁸ So it is that we are saved^[h] by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.{Romans 3:20-28 TLB}

Faith alone without works will please Him. The Church must not try to combine faith and law for the Lord is displeased with this. Faith alone pleases Him. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to them that believe

⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.{Romans 10:4}

² Listen to me, for this is serious: if you are counting on circumcision and keeping the Jewish laws to make you right with God, then Christ cannot save you. ³ I’ll say it again. Anyone trying to find favor with God by being circumcised must always obey every other Jewish law or perish. ⁴ Christ is useless to you if you are counting on clearing your debt to God by keeping those laws; you are lost from God’s grace.

⁵ But we by the help of the Holy Spirit are counting on Christ’s death to clear away our sins and make us right with God. ⁶ And we to whom Christ has given eternal life don’t need to worry about whether we have been circumcised or not, or whether we are obeying the Jewish ceremonies or not; for all we need is faith working through love.{Galatians 5:2-6 TLB}

The greater percentage of our churches are trying to find favour with God by obeying Jewish laws. The verse above says they are lost from God’s grace. Surprisingly, they don’t even know they have fallen from grace.

To depend on the law to please God is to fall from grace and be cut off from Christ. His bride must understand this that the law voids faith and they both cannot walk together.

¹⁴ For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect {Romans 4:14}

It is not our sins that void faith and makes the promise non effective but our clinging to the law from whose bondage we have been set free. And once faith is made void we can never please Him no matter how hard we try. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Anything we do without faith is sin. If we try to please Him by the works of the law that will amount to sin in his eyes because it means we don’t trust {have faith} in His finished work on the cross. It means we don’t believe our bride price was paid in full. But He paid the full price for our redemption on the cross.

²³ And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. {Romans 14:23}

I would like to close this article with this truth from heaven revealed unto the apostle Paul. I encourage you to pay undivided attention to this:

 ⁵ But those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believe in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself. ⁶ This is what David meant when he spoke of the happiness of the person whom God accepts as righteous, apart from anything that person does:

⁷ “Happy are those whose wrongs are forgiven,
    whose sins are pardoned!
⁸ Happy is the person whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!”{Romans 4:5-8}

It is clear from the above verses that God declares the guilty innocent only by faith. We must depend on faith in other to please him. No amount of work we do can please Him. If we are able to do all the works of righteousness by ourselves, He will still not be pleased and we would still appear to be sinners in His sight. The best we can attain if we keep on with 100% works is a filthy rag and that can never please Him. Only faith in Christ alone can please Him.

Therefore faith alone can please the groom. The earlier the Church understands this the better for her because her wedding day draws nearer. My earnest prayer for the Church is that she falls not from grace. Has the law got any role to play in the bride’s life? Let’s see….

NOTES FROM ARTICLE 6

(1)                Without faith it is impossible to please Him

(2)                Neither Circumcision nor the lack of it makes any sense, only faith which worketh by love.

(3)                The bride must love and have faith in the groom

(4)                The Church can never be justified by the works of the law. The best of her works can only amount to a filthy rag in God’s sight

(5)                To depend on the law for justification is to fall from grace

(6)                Christ is of no effect to any church who depends on the law for justification. Such a church is cut off from Christ.

(7)                The only way God puts people right with Himself is via faith in Christ Jesus.

(8)                 A church whose dependence is on Christ is declared “not guilty” no matter what she does or does not.

(9)                Such a church has all her Sins forgiven