Hebrews 9:11-14
“When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!” (NIV)
The law made men outwardly clean but inwardly filthy and depraved but CHRIST made men inwardly clean and pure that they may be outwardly clean and pure without anybody teaching them. But a lot of people have misunderstood the putting away of the law as the way of GOD saying, ‘you guys can now live however you want, CHRIST has paid the punishment of any sin you can ever commit’. But no, CHRIST did not only redeem us from the punishment of falling short of the law but from the nature that made us need the law. For the law is good, it’s the people that are not. Romans 7:14 "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin".
Without the law, man will only manifest the evil of his mind and the desperate wickedness of HIS heart.
Romans 3:31 “well then, if we are saved by GOD’S laws, does this mean that we no longer need obey GOD’S laws? Just the opposite, in fact, only when we trust JESUS can we truly obey HIM” (TLB)
JESUS’ mission was not merely to remove the law but to remove the rotten hearts that need the law to do what is right. The law that’s intended to force us to do good is not needed for people who are already eager to do good. JESUS according to Titus 2:14 redeemed us from all wickedness and purified us for HIMSELF to make us eager to do good. The law is meant for those who are unfit for doing anything good. Peter said in 1Peter 1:15 “but just as HE who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” but in case you’re wondering how difficult it would be, he further says in the same book chapter 2:9 that you are a holy person. It takes a perfect nature to have a perfect character without the law, so if you find 1Peter 1:16 that says "be holy in all you do" and Romans 7 that tells you that you've been released from the law which was intended to make you do holy things, it's because something has happened to you.
It is great error to think JESUS only saved us from the penalty of falling short of the law alone but ignoring that HE saved us also from sin thence making us perfect in behavior without the law. You hear some say, CHRIST has redeemed us from every law so we can choose to live our lives the way we want, but they don’t understand what it means to be saved from every law. It’s because we are saved from every filth that makes us want to do evil and lawlessly that we are free from the law. In other words, we are not led by rules but by the inner promptings to do what the rule would have told us to do.
That’s why we were transformed, changed, cleansed, and purified. This is the power of the blood, to cleanse our hearts from every dead works to serve the living GOD.
I actually think something is wrong when you only save someone from the punishment of his deeds and not help save him from disobedience. It shows that you advocate for disobedience. We are saved from the condemnation of our sins but we are also brought into regeneration Titus 3:5b says “GOD saved us from through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the HOLY SPIRIT”. We are not only washed from the filth of sin but we are also cleansed from the stubbornness of our heart. To redeem means to restore to an original state.
Now, love – the fulfillment of the law. In the New Testament JESUS says in John 15:12 ‘MY only command is this – love one another. It’s the only one. If we by the help of the HOLY SPIRIT obey this, we would need no other. When the HOLY SPIRIT sheds the love of GOD abroad in our hearts, we would not only follow the rules we’ve been given but also the ones that haven’t been mentioned. For example, some of the laws in the Bible are not applicable to our day, also, some of the things we should not do are not written in the law because they were not existent in Moses’ day, for example, ‘pornography’ came with the advent of technology. Satan hardens the heart of many Christians with the argument that what a preacher calls wrong is not written in the Bible as wrong since the Bible doesn’t mention it, this argument is destined to end when we discuss the new commandment called ‘love’. When we develop a loving heart, we have the right mindset to do everything GOD would have us do at every particular time, disposition, and age.
The law of Love is applicable to all systems, all cultures, all languages, every situation, and every era, now and forever! “Love is a timeless and universal law of GOD”. It is the purpose of GOD for every age and every race. It applies to people in Africa and also people in Europe, Asia, and everywhere else.
The New Testament is centered on ‘love’. When we live a life guided by love, we will fulfil the requirements of A HOLY GOD. This attitude called love is the beginning and essence of the Ten Commandments, the first of the fruits of the SPIRIT because it is the only way to satisfy a GOD who is HIMSELF love.
Anyone who has a loving heart will fulfill the purpose of the law and therefore needs no law. The law was useful to make men do what their minds were not set to do, to do what they do not have the kind of heart to do naturally without been told. JESUS then called ‘love’ the summary of the law. When we love somebody we would not do what the law prohibits because the GOD who gave the law is HIMSELF love. So, we are not free from the law ‘so that’ we can live however we want but ‘because’ we have a heart that is naturally set to do good without being told what to do.