God and His Law are one in the same in the sense that His Law (Genesis to Revelation) is  Jehovah Himself in written form.  Jesus of Nazareth was the Law in human form–a God made flesh whose pre-human name was the Word (Jn. 1:1-4,14).  Jesus fulfilled the Law by “walking” (living) the Law.  For this reason He could say: “They who see Me have seen the Father.”  He set the example we must follow in order to be with Him in the Kingdom of God.  He was God’s written Law manifested/recreated as a man before all men.

Law, in both the secular and the spiritual realms, is not enforceable if it is not in written form.  For this reason the Holy Bible has been miraculously preserved for thousands of years.  This cannot be said about any other printed material.  That alone should alert us as to the importance God places on His written Law, which He graciously condensed into Ten Commandments that are as vital today as they were when the Word (Who later came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth) wrote them in stone with His finger.

The Messiah of God was prophesied to come to earth to “magnify the Law and make it honorable (again)”–Isaiah 42:21.  The Apostle Paul wrote that the Law is (now) “holy, just and good” (Rom. 7:12).  It is the Law that defines sin (and righteousness)–sin if we break it, righteousness if we obey it (1 John 3:4).  Whether saint or sinner, God’s eternal Law plays THE pivotable role in the life all human beings.

From the day God created man it has been Satan’s premiere objective to separate eternal life from God’s Law while making God-seekers believe that they were following God while breaking His Law.  He has been ultimately successful.  Among church people, his “Law nailed to the cross” lie is second only to “Adam made me do it” ruse.  Combined, these two church “truths” have held billions of unwitting captives in his church system since the Garden of Eden.  Recall that it was a lie that turned righteous (Law-obeying) Adam and Eve into sinners.  The lie was that they could disobey God’s Law and still receive eternal life.  Sound familiar?  It should, because that is a primary tenant of professing Christendom.

To get to the root of the Law-temptation-sin problem we need to turn to the third chapter of Matthew’s Gospel beginning with verse one where we find the man Jesus described as the holiest of the holy on earth–John the Baptist (baptizer).  In verse two we find the first recorded words spoken by this holy man.  His first recorded word carries importance that is impossible to overemphasize: “REPENT.”  The word itself indicates that something has gone wrong and needs to be corrected.  A close examination reveals this connection.  “Repent” connects directly to several words with which most of us are familiar.  These words are “penance,” as in “doing penance,” meaning to admit and correct a wrong.  It is from that concept come words such as “penal colony,” “penalize,” penalty, “penitent” and penitentiary.”

To “repent” means to admit and correct a wrong done by the penitent person who then reverses course then spends the rest of his life doing the exact opposite.  This is brought out in Ephesians 4:17-5:17 where the Apostle Paul tells people who have pledged their lives to the Lord that they must rid themselves of the old ways by receiving from God a new mind (the “mind of Christ”–1 Cor. 2:16/Phil. 2:5) with which to direct the “NEW MAN WHO IS CREATED IN A STATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TRUE HOLINESS” (vss 22-24).  Note that the converted (new) man is not a RE-CREATION of the old man, but rather a “NEW CREATION”–A RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY PERSON.  The newly created man is the exact opposite of the old man, for “old things must pass away, behold, ALL THING MUST BE MADE NEW” (2 Cor. 5:17).  The Apostle Peter calls this group of new creations a “chosen generation,” a “royal priesthood,” a “holy nation,” a “kingdom of priests,” a “peculiar people” (1 Pet. 2:5,9).  They are the exact opposite of what they were prior to conversion.  Following their conversion they live in stark contrast to the people around them.

As professing saints, they are commanded to be like their Lord in every humanly way possible: “BECAUSE He who called you is holy, be ye also holy” (1 Pet. 1:15,16).  This is not an ethereal, pie-in-the-sky bit of wishful thinking; THIS IS A COMMAND FROM GOD ALMIGHTY.  And it applies to the present time.  Peter said that in his day judgment was already being carried out in the church, and that only the righteous among the parishioners would be saved–and they just barely.  Nothing has changed.  To qualify to be part His church–the Kingdom of Heaven–God’s Very Elect have the same holiness as did Jesus so that, like Him, when men see them they see the Father living His life through them.  But there is one who is working to prevent that from happening.  He succeeds by replacing God’s Law with His grace.

It is Satan’s self-appointed task to cause mankind to reject the Law.  From the Garden of Eden to the present world system, he has accomplished his goal to perfection, with a miniscule exception (Mat. 7:13,14).  This “remnant,” this “chosen generation,” this “little flock,” this “royal priesthood” is composed of God’s “peculiar people” who walk through life on a totally different plane than all others.  These are they who do battle with Satan and his temptations with the only weapon they have and the only weapon they need–God’s Holy Word–His Law.  By obeying it defensively and attacking Satan’s temptations offensively (“violently”) the Very Elect are following in the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth as he faced the same enemy wielding the same “sword of the (Holy) Spirit.”

In Matthew 4:1-11 we find Jesus, having fasted for 40 days and nights and near death, being tempted by the devil.  Three times His enemy tried His soul using temptations that were neigh on to impossible to resist.  Temptation number one involved His physical condition–He was at the point of death.  Satan suggested that He create and eat physical bread.  Jesus began His reply with three words that set the stage for what would follow: “IT IS WRITTEN” (vs 4).  What was it? “IT” was the solution to the problem then and now.  Written where?  IN THE LAW–the same Law that He came to magnify and honor.  The second temptation was designed to tempt God as the Israelites had following their deliverance from Egypt.  Again the Lord’s response was: “IT IS WRITTEN.”  The third temptation concerned taking the easy way out of what both of them knew was coming.  Again Jesus replied with a quote from the Law.  Obviously, the Law was central to everything Jesus said and did.  The same is true for His true saints.  This is what makes them “peculiar” and totally separate from all other religious people.

The lesson this passage of Scripture teaches is that the Law of God is still in effect and Satan is determined to win salvation seekers to himself by convincing them that the Law was put to death on the cross.  Therefore, there is no Law to obey.  Not only that, but even if it was in effect, no one could obey it, thanks to Adam.  Questions: if the Law is dead, why does God define sin in the New Testament as the breaking of it? (1 Jn. 3:4).  And why has Satan worked so hard, and so successfully, to convince people to ignore that verse?  L.J.