There Outta Be A Law!

I have always been bothered by the Christian statement that we are not under the law.  This is a difficult one for me to discuss.  Can you imagine if I went downtown and parked and didn’t pay my parking ticket and told the judge…”I am not under the law.”?  How far do you think that would go?  The judge would think that I was not a respecter of the laws or of him.  So this is another point about “choosing” that we’ve talked about before that is important to think about.  We constantly make behavioral choices and moral choices in our lives. Little ones and big ones.  Paul says in First Corinthians that we are free from the law and we are free from condemnation for our choices.  Hmmm…. 

Is Paul saying we can do whatever we want without consequence?  Is he talking about the sins of the Ten Commandments, or is he talking about other things?  And where does the matter of “degree” in your choices come in to play?  If we decide to murder, commit adultery, or steal with impunity, do we really have a true relationship with God at all in the first place?  Do we really have true repentance instead of  saying “I’m sorry, forgive me” and then going right out and doing it again repeatedly?  Do we say, “oh well, it doesn’t matter because I am not under the law”?  Believe me, I have heard people say that, and I doubt that is what Paul is saying. I have a feeling mostly what was in his mind at the time was the abundance of Jewish customs, Old Testament requirements, and legalism that existed then.  Also, the church at Corinth was notorious for problems of a “fleshly” nature, and was considered a very immature church in it’s understanding of God.

It’s clear that Paul also says here not everything is good for us, and we shouldn’t be mastered by anything (which again makes me think he was not thinking specifically about the Ten Commandments.)  We can get carried away and take things beyond what is good like gluttony, drunkenness, jealousy, sensuality, conceit and other forms of behavior.  These are the kinds of footholds Satan loves to use to bring us down and make us cross the other boundaries between good and bad. Food, alcohol, sex, self-respect are not bad things, but they can lead to bad excess when they are not within God-given normal boundaries.

The bottom line is: YES, we are not under the law (including the Ten Commandments) if there is true repentance…and that word means to “turn from” what you are doing that is wrong. (And our unsuccessful commitment to turn may need to be repeated some!  We’re not perfect, I know from my own experience!!)  Paul made a point to expel those who chose to continue unrepentant in these sins from the church.  To blatantly continue in something that is wrong and use the excuse that you are not under the law is an insult to the faith and Christ’s work on the cross.