‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 8 section ‘Still a Tutor’
Some people think and teach that if we have the Christ, then we “don’t need the Law” (there’s that lucky rabbit’s foot again). “Having Christ” to these teachers’ means to like Him a lot. Or ‘believe’ without action. Or to think that He’s a great teacher or prophet and nothing more. There’s a technical term for the “we don’t need the Law” teaching, which is ‘horse hockey.’ If we have the Christ, we have God, and we get God’s Words, including the Law. If we reject the Law, we are rejecting God’s Word to His people, which would show that we do not ‘have Christ.’ It’s a package deal.
If we say we “have Christ” yet do not do what the Christ says, then we are nothing more than clashing gongs and clanging cymbals (1 Corinthians 13:1). And that not even in time with God’s music. When we pick and choose through the Word for what we will do and what we won’t, it does not jive with the example that Jesus set. He did it all, and perfectly. He expects us to do the same. And ‘perfectly’ means confessing and repenting when we make mistakes instead of looking for excuses or rationalizing.
We need to understand that the Law still functions as a tutor to lead a person to the Christ. It tutors anyone on their way to maturity with God. This means that God still uses it to draw people to His Son, and by living it, we can draw people to Him, too.
Further, the Laws do not go away just because we are now old enough or ‘have Christ.’ When I was a child I learned not to stick the wrong object into an electrical socket. But when I ‘grew up’ that law did not cease to be. I just graduated to the proper use of the socket without having to be told. I still don’t stick the wrong object in the socket. In the same way, when we graduate to Christ, the Law still functions. It’s just that I don’t need to be told. It is written on my heart. Having reached maturity, the Law does not cease to function. Instead, it is written on my heart so that I do what it says automatically. The Law becomes ‘second nature.’