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............................................................................................. CHAPTER THREE
The Law of the gods
is this to be done? How will we be able to accomplish such a thing?
In the Old Covenant, God gave Israel laws to live by. But as we come to the New Covenant, He declares that there are only two laws relative to us.
Mark 12:29-31 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Jesus taught that all of the law He gave to Israel hung on these two commandments( Matthew 22:37-40). These two commands are also expressed as the righteousness of the law, and there was never a man in all Israel or the world who was able to keep them without transgressing. Therefore, sacrifices, divers washings and the sprinkling of the blood of rams and goats were added to the law to cover the sins of the people. However, with those sacrifices, God had no pleasure. You know the story. He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross and take away our sins. WHY? Because those sacrifices could not remove sin or bring forth God’ s perfection within them.
It is evident Israel could not keep the law because the motions of sin did work in their members( Rom. 7:5). In addition to dying for us, Jesus testified He came to set the captives free; referring to the fact that the spirit of iniquity( the spirit of the prince of the power of the air) worked in us( Eph. 2:2). This was the spirit of bondage. Therefore, no matter how much we might have delighted in the law of God, there was another law, working in our members, warring against the law of our mind, and bringing us into captivity to the law of sin which was at work in our members( Romans 7:23).
Now the question is,“ Is there another law given in the New Testament for the sons of God to live by?” The answer is yes. It is the Law of the Spirit of Life.
Romans 8:1-2 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.