Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Holiness and Obedience

The Promises of the Law 23

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2019-07-07

Synopsis: John Weaver addresses whether the law of Christ is different from the law of God, arguing from Scripture that they are one and the same. He explains that the word 'law' (nomos) is used in various contexts (law of God, law of Christ, law of the Spirit, law of sin, law of faith) but refers to the same moral standard when applied to God's commands. Jesus Christ, being God, gave the law and fulfilled it perfectly; He did not abolish it but magnified it. The new covenant writes the law on hearts rather than stone, and the ceremonial aspects are fulfilled in Christ, but the moral law remains. The law of Christ is the law of God ministered by Christ with a new emphasis on love, exemplified in bearing one another's burdens.

[John Weaver] Today we're going to do number 23 of the Promises of the Law. I thought I was through with this last week, and I got another question this past week. I said, well, I'm going to do one more and try to answer that. And you know, the interesting thing is, years ago I heard about an old black preacher who was very successful in his ministry. And someone asked him, said, well, how is it that you are so successful and you taught your people so well? He said, well, three things. He said, when I start to preach, I tell them what I'm going to tell them. And then secondly, I tell them. And then thirdly, I tell them what I told them. So I hope today I won't be telling you what I've already told you, and you can kind of put everything together. But look in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 2, Galatians 6 and verse 2, and I hope this will answer all of the questions. But notice if you would, Galatians 6 and verse 2, we'll come back to this passage.

[John Weaver] The Bible just simply says,"...bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Now, there are plenty of individuals that will state very plainly that they follow the Law of Christ. The problem is, many people try to take the Law of Christ and make it completely and totally different from the Law of God. Many refer to the Law just simply as the Law of Moses. It was not the Law of Moses. It is and was the law of God. It was just given through Moses as the intermediary.

[John Weaver] Let me give you two scriptures. You don't have to turn to them. I'll quote them for you. But the first one is found in Ezra chapter 7 in verse 6. The Bible says, This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses. which the Lord God of Israel had given." Now, it is called the Law of Moses, but it also says,"...which the Lord God of Israel had given." When you get to Nehemiah chapter 10 and verse 29, the Bible said,"...they claimed to their brethren, their nobles, and they entered into a curse, and into an oath to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to observe, to do all the commandments of the Lord our God, and His judgments and His statutes." So, specifically, we are told at least twice, and other times I'm sure, that it is indeed the law of God. It was just given through the hands of Moses.

[John Weaver] Now, when you talk about the law of God, you have to understand that there is a vast difference between the law of God and the perversion and misinterpretation and misapplication that the Pharisees made of the law of God. So, the teaching of the Pharisees certainly is not the law of God by any stretch of the imagination. So, when we read in Galatians 6 and verse 2,"...bear ye one of those burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." The question that you have to ask is this, Is the law of Christ any different than the law of God? Are they one and the same? Now, to understand this, you have to understand how the word law is used in the Scripture.

[John Weaver] I don't know if you've ever noticed this or not, but the Bible talks about the law of works. It talks about the law of God. It talks about the law of Christ. It talks about the law of the Spirit. It also talks about the law of sin. And you have to look into context of each of these passages in order to ascertain what is being said and what is implied and what is meant. So, I want you to look in your Bibles, whole Galatians 6, but turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to Romans chapter 7, because I'm going to show you a distinction between the law of God and what is known as the law of sin. Notice, if you would, in Romans chapter 7, We're going to read v. 25 first. Romans 7 and v. 25, the Apostle Paul says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that with my mind, or the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. So here in one verse now, you have the law of God versus the law of sin.

[John Weaver] Now, if you'll go back to v. 12, Paul is discussing the law of God, and he says, wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

[John Weaver] Now skip down to verse 22. He says, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man. So here's the law of God, which is holy, just, and good, and it's that in which the apostle delighted. Now, I want you to look, if you would, down to verse 23. He's talking now about the law of sin. He says,"...but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." Now, when he says, I see another law, the Greek word there is heteros, which means another of a different kind. It's not the same as the law of God. That's why we talk about heterosexual marriage, which is a marriage between two different kinds, between a man and a woman. So, here is another, but it's another of a different kind. Now, that's why he said, I see another law in my members, and that's when he explains it in verse 25. but with the flesh the law of sin."

[John Weaver] In other words, the law of sin works in the flesh. Now, the interesting thing is this. The Greek word nomos is used in connection with God, with Christ, with the Spirit, with sin, and with faith as well as with works. So, if you look back in your Bibles to Romans 3 and verse 27, Romans 3 verse 27, you're going to see it used now with the law of faith. Romans 3 verse 27,"...whereas boasting then it is excluded by what law of works? Nay, but by the law of faith." So, we now have the law of God, we have the law of Christ, we have the law of sin, we have the law of faith. And if you look in Romans chapter 8 and verse 2, Romans 8 and verse 2, The Bible says, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. So now you have the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which has made us free from the law of sin and death.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. Do you think that anyone would suggest that there is a difference between the law of God, the law of Christ, and the law of the Spirit? And I would certainly hope that the answer would be no to that resounding no. Also, we could ask it like this. Do you think anyone would suggest that there would be a difference between the law of the Spirit and the law of faith? I would certainly say no.

[John Weaver] Yet the same word, nomos, is used in each one of these passages. Now, here's what I want to do just momentarily. I want to give you a broad overview of the word law. If you go to Strong's Concordance and look up the word law under nomos, you're going to find a variety of definitions. A lot of them are basically the same, but two or three have a little different flavor to them. And I want to read this to you. Listen carefully. There's three of them I really want to emphasize, but here they are. Nomos. Anything established, anything received by usage, custom, a law or command. Secondly, of any law whatsoever. But listen to this third one, a law or rule producing a state approved by God. A law or rule producing a state that is approved by God. Next it says, by the observance of that which is approved of God, Then a precept or injunction, the rule of action prescribed by reason, of the Mosaic law in referring to the context, either the volume of the law or its contents.

[John Weaver] And then it says the Christian religion, the law demanding faith, the moral instruction given by Christ, especially the precept concerning love. And then of course he mentions sometimes the word law refers not just to the Pentateuch, the verse 5 books of the Bible, but sometimes to the whole entire Old Testament. But note, if you would, the word here is used as a law or rule producing that which is approved by God, or the observance of anything that is approved by God, and the Christian religion which demands faith and moral instruction, and especially that which was in relationship to Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Let me give you another thought. This comes from Albert Barnes in his commentary, and he's commenting on Romans 8 in verse 2, where he says,"...for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Now listen carefully. He says,"...the word law here means that rule, command, or influence which the Spirit of life produces. It exerts a control which is here called a law. And often, for often, law means anything by which we are ruled or governed. Now, when you stop and think about that, that makes absolutely perfect sense because we talk about the law of sin. The law of sin does not have statutes.

[John Weaver] It does not have commands. The law of sin just simply means that we are governed and controlled by sin. We're regulated by sin. Our lusts, our desires, everything is contrary to the Word of God. The law of the Spirit would mean that we are now controlled and ruled by the Holy Spirit, of course, who leads us and guides us to bring our lives in conformity to the Word of God. So, you have then the word law used as a controlling or dominant influence in one's life. And it means that which we are ruled or that which we are governed.

[John Weaver] One author said it like this. He said, the law of the Spirit is the principle or authority exercised by the Holy Spirit which bestows life and which rests in Christ Jesus our Lord. And that's certainly true.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm going to give you just a couple of commentaries. Quotes and then I'm going to ask you some questions. Here's the first one. Matthew Poole. He said some understand talking about Romans 8 to some understand here by the doctrine of the gospel, which is called the law, the spirit of life, because it is the ministry of the spirit of life. And then Matthew Henry says, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus does it. The covenant of grace made with us in Christ is a treasury of merit and grace, and hence we receive pardon and a new nature, are freed from the law of sin and death, that is both from the guilt and power of sin, from the curse of the law and the dominion of the flesh, We're under another covenant, another master, another husband, and under the law of the Spirit, and that law that gives the Spirit spiritual life to qualify us for the eternal.

[John Weaver] The foundation of this freedom is laid in Christ's undertaking for us. in which he speaks." So, he's just simply saying again that the law of the Spirit is nothing more than the person and work of Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you some questions. I want us to look in Galatians 6 and verse 2 in just a little while. Now, these questions I'm going to ask you I am absolutely assured that you know the answers too. So my reason in asking these questions is not to elicit your answer per se, but to get you to thinking in a particular direction so that we can answer whether or not the law of Christ and the law of God are one and the same or are they different.

[John Weaver] So here is my first question. How many gods are there? And the answer is, one. There is only one true and living God. Deuteronomy 6 and verse 4, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. The burden of the Old Testament is the unity of God. God is one, and yet the truth is, the Scripture tells us that He has manifested Himself in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. So, the first question, how many gods are there? The answer is one. The second question is this, is Jesus Christ God? Is Jesus Christ God incarnate? Is Jesus Christ God in the flesh? And the answer is most definitely yes. For instance, John 1, 1 through 3, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

[John Weaver] All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And when you skip down to verse 14, the Bible tells us this, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And then there's that passage in 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16, and without controversy. Listen, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. But without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. So Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself said in John 10, verse 30, I and the Father are one.

[John Weaver] Now here's a good simple question. If Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, if He and the Father are one, did He give the law originally? And the answer would be yes. Well, if He gave the law, why would He now change the law? So you would have to say it was either not perfect or right before, or God was not omniscient enough to know that there would necessitate a change sometime in the future.

[John Weaver] Both would be absolutely blasphemous thoughts. Now, just stop and think with me. The only way that you can postulate a change in law is to postulate a change in God. We know that Malachi 3.6 says, I the Lord changed not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. So God is immutable. He is unchangeable. I believe it was a man by the name of Bishop Ocknam who said at one point, the God of the Old Testament is a dirty bully. Well now, if he believed the God of the Old Testament was a dirty bully, what would he then believe of the God of the New Testament? In other words, if the God of the New Testament is not like the God of the Old Testament, then there has to be a change in gods. You follow? You can't change law without changing God. So what he's saying is there's a different God in the Old Testament with a different law, and there's a different God in the New Testament with a different law as well.

[John Weaver] So, stop and think with me now. We already know that there's only one God. We know that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. We know that He gave the law. He made the law because He is God. And yet we are also told that He was made under the law. In Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5,"'But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.'" Okay? So here's my question. Why was Jesus Christ made under the law? Now, you're going to answer, Well, the Bible says to redeem us who were under the law. That is true. But the next question is, how did He redeem us?

[John Weaver] It is not just simply that He died as our substitute. It's not just simply that He was our sacrifice. I've pointed out in times past, you need more than forgiveness to get in the presence of God. To get in the presence of God, you not only need forgiveness of sins, you need an absolute perfect righteousness. And the Bible tells us He's made under the law. Why? In order that He might render to that law that personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience that the law demanded. So in every aspect, in every area of the law, Jesus Christ rendered an absolute perfect obedience. That is why, in Isaiah 42 and verse 21, in reference to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, the Bible says, the law is well pleased. For His righteousness sake, He will magnify the law.

[John Weaver] He will make it honorable. So, if Jesus Christ then came under the law and obeyed the law, and He magnified the law and made it honorable and rendered to it every demand that it demanded, why then would it now become worthless and useless and abrogated? Why would it be set aside? So as Paul said in Romans 7 verse 12, if the law is holy and the commandment just and good, why would he replace it?

[John Weaver] Now let me ask another question. If the law of God was important enough for Jesus Christ to be made under it, if the law of God was important enough for Jesus Christ to render perfect obedience to it, If the law of God was important enough to demand the sacrifice of the Son of God, and He willingly submitted Himself and died under the curse and the penalty of that broken law, how could anyone now say it's worthless, it's useless, it needs to be set aside, it needs to be nullified?

[John Weaver] Now, let me put it to you like this. When you think of the Old Covenant, you think of the Old Testament. When you think of the New Covenant, you think of the New Testament. In fact, the word Testament just simply means covenant. Okay? Here we go. Do you realize that the Old Covenant spoke of the New Covenant and talked about a new application and a new emphasis that was going to be brought to pass by the person and work of Jesus Christ? Let me show you.

[John Weaver] I want you to turn back in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 31. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31, and look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 31. Jeremiah 31 and verse 31. Look what he says. Jeremiah 31, verse 31. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord."

[John Weaver] Now, remember, he gave his covenant in the tables of stone. Watch verse 33, But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be to me my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. And I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more."

[John Weaver] Now, Jeremiah says, look, there's going to be a new covenant. It will be a different application. That covenant's no longer going to be written in tables of stone. It's going to be written in your heart.

[John Weaver] Now, if you would turn over in your Bibles, to the book of Hebrews chapter 8. And you're going to see in this passage, as well as another passage, it is practically quoting Jeremiah 31 verbatim. So look in Hebrews chapter 8, and let's begin reading there with verse 10. Hebrews 8 and verse 10. Hebrews 8 verse 10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord.

[John Weaver] I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For all shall know me, from the least even to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

[John Weaver] He talks about verse 13, in that he says,"...a new covenant he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." What part are we talking about? Well, if you were to go back and begin reading it, Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 13, and read all the way through chapter 9 and verse 14, we're talking all about the ceremonial law, the rituals, everything that's to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show it to you again. Look in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 15. So you'll see it clearly, I hope, in this passage. Hebrews 10 verse 15. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that, he said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Now watch carefully.

[John Weaver] Now where remission of these is, there's no more offering for sin. We do not continually bring oxen and lambs and rams for sacrifice. Why? Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, suffered once and for all. Now watch. Because of that, verse 19, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with

[John Weaver] a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised." I want you to understand when he's talking about this, he's talking about a new way into the holiest of all. In the old covenant, the high priest only went into the holiest of all once a year, and that not without the shedding of blood. The other priests couldn't even get into the holiest of all. The people could not even get into there. They could not even get into the holy place that was reserved for the priest. But now, He says, through this new covenant, through what Jesus Christ has done, we have boldness to enter into the holiest of all. We may freely and fully come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when you read Hebrews 8, 9 and 10, there are two main differences that are enunciated between the old covenant and the new covenant.

[John Weaver] The first one is this, that Jesus Christ is the reality. He is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament types, figures, emblems, and shadows. The second emphasis is this, that the law is no longer written in tablets of stone. It is now written in our minds and in our hearts. So there is a distinction that is made by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 3 between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

[John Weaver] I want you to go back there. So if you will turn to 2 Corinthians 3, and we'll begin reading there with verse 7. 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 7. I want you to see this. I wish I had time just to really deal with this passage in detail, but here is the distinction. Now watch carefully. He says in verse 7, but if the ministration of death, now he's talking about the law, because no one could keep the law, no one could render to the law that which it demanded, but if the ministration of death written and engraved in stones was glorious, and it was, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance." Which glory was to be done away? You remember how Moses came down from the mount, his face shone, they had to put a veil over, they couldn't look upon him, you know? Well, that was the glory. But he says that glory was to be done away with. In other words, it's to be eclipsed by a greater glory.

[John Weaver] Now watch. Verse 8,"...how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious, or more glorious?" In other words, if that which Moses did was glorious, that which God the Holy Spirit does is bound to be more glorious. Now watch verse 9,"...for if the ministration of condemnation," that would be the law,"...be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceeding glory." Jesus Christ is the end of righteousness. He is the fulfillment of righteousness. We are not made righteous by our law keeping. We are made righteous by Jesus Christ who kept the law perfectly. So he says, for if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceeding glory. Now watch verse 10, for even that which was made glorious, that is the old covenant, had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth." So everything that Jesus Christ has done is far greater than anything that Moses ever did. Then he says in verse 11,"...for if that which is done away was glorious," certain aspects of the Old Covenant,"...much more that which remaineth is glorious."

[John Weaver] So he says there's something that remains that is glorious as well. So it was not the law of God that was done away with. It was the glory, and that glory was eclipsed by Jesus Christ. So, the person and work of Jesus Christ is far greater and far more glorious Then all of the Old Testament types and emblems and figures and shadows because we now have the reality in the Lord Jesus Christ. But the law was not abrogated. It was the glory of it. It was eclipsed and done away with. by the fulfillment of all those ceremonial laws and rituals by the Lord Jesus Christ. There is something that remains, he says in verse 11, he says, for if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to give you three quotes, and I want you to listen very carefully Because I'm going to make a statement just a little bit, and I want you to understand the statement. But the first quote is by Albert Barnes. He said this,"...the thing that is to remain, that is permanent, abiding, perpetual, that has no principle of decay, and whose characteristic it is that it is everlasting, the gospel, is the permanent or abiding because it is designed to remain immutable through the remotest ages."

[John Weaver] So when he talks about verse 11,"...much for that which remaineth as glorious," he's talking about the gospel, he's talking about the personal work of Jesus Christ in fulfilling all of these Old Testament types. Here's Matthew Poole,"...the strength of his argument dependeth upon this principle, that any durable good is more excellent and glorious than that which is but transitory and for a time. The ministration of the law is done away, the law containing ordinance is itself done away, and therefore the ministration of it must need cease.

[John Weaver] There are now no priests and Levites No world is sanctuary, nor any ministrations in it or relating to it. But our Saviour hath told us that His gospel shall be preached to the end of the world, so that the ministration must, according to all the principles of reason, be more glorious as that which is eternal is more glorious than that which is fluid and vanishing." So again, he is saying that which remains is how Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and the gospel that has been established by the Son of God."

[John Weaver] Now, the next quote is by John Gill, and I want you to listen very carefully because in the very first sentence, you think that he's going to trash all of God's law, but he's not, and he's going to explain it. And if you can get these little points down, it will help you immensely. Listen carefully. He says, the law is that which is done away, not merely the ceremonial law or the judicial law, but the whole ministry of Moses and particularly the law of the Decalogue. Then he says this, for the better understanding of this, you must distinguish between the matter and the ministry of it. The ministry of it by Moses is done away. The matter of it, so far as of a moral nature, abides. You must also distinguish between the law as in the hands of Moses and of Christ. As in the hands of Moses, it is broken to pieces and abolished. As in the hands of Christ, as King of His church, it remains. You must also distinguish between precepts and precepts.

[John Weaver] Some are mixed, being partly moral, partly ceremonial as the fourth and fifth commands, and others are not, which is ceremonial or purely related to the Jews while in their civil policy and in the land of Canaan is done away. But what is purely moral is, as to the matter of it, still obliging. You must distinguish between the law as a covenant of works and as a rule of walk and conversation or conduct. As a covenant of works, it is done away, and it is. No man can be saved by the law. As a rule of walk and conduct, it still continues. You must distinguish between persons and persons, till them that are redeemed from it It is done away, to them that are under it, it remains. And lastly, distinguish between the right and wrong use of it. As to any use of it to justify us before God by our obedience, it is done away with.

[John Weaver] But as it may be of use to convince sinners of sin, and to direct saints in a course of righteousness, so it abides." So he says, once you begin to look at this thing, you have to distinguish between the matter and the manner, the ministry, the precepts, the hands of Moses, the hands of Christ. So Gil is not trashing the law. He's saying, look, there is a ministration of it, there is a ministry of it that has been done away with, but the law has not been done away with.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back and look in your Bibles to Galatians 6 and verse 2. I want you to see this. Look in Galatians 6 and verse 2, because some are going to try to take the law of Christ and make it to be different from the law of God. So, in Galatians 6 and verse 2, the Scripture says,"...bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Now, in order to understand verse 2, you must see it in the context. So, look at verse 1. He says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, that is, you've tripped up, you've been ensnared, you've been caught in something that is sinful and wicked. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. What is the law of Christ in this context? In this context, it is bearing one another's burdens. Which would be, help me out now, loving your neighbor as yourself, ministering to the saints of God, exhibiting what you and I would call brotherly love, In other words, what you have in Galatians 6, 1 and 2 is an application of God's law. It is not a new law, but it is the old law revealed in a new way with the heart and love of Jesus Christ. Now, look if you would at the remote context, Galatians 5, verse 14. I wish I had time to go through all of this passage, but look in Galatians 5, 5 and verse 14, he says,"...for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself."

[John Weaver] We've looked at that last week. We've looked at that in the weeks before. What is the summary of God's law? Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul. What is the second? Love thy neighbors thyself, of course.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you Hebrews 6 and verse 10. We're talking about bearing one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Hebrews 6 verse 10 says this, For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. What? God is not unrighteous to forget our love for Him? How do we exhibit our love for Him?

[John Weaver] By ministering to each other. That's exactly what he's talking about. I want you to turn back to John chapter 13. I covered this last week, but I'm just going to point it out this week in light of what we're talking about. John 13, look at verses 34 and 35. John 13, verses 34 and 35. Look what our Lord says. You will remember this when I point it out again. Our Lord says, A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another." Now, I'm going to comment on this. I'm not going to deal with the word new. I did that last week. But I do want you to look in John 15 and verse 12. I'm going to come back, John 15 and verse 12. He says, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Now, I pointed out last week, it is not a new commandment.

[John Weaver] Because Leviticus 19 verse 18 says,"...thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord." So it is not anew in the sense that this is something that Jesus Christ is just giving, What He is giving is a new application of it because He says now that we're to love one another as He loved us. How did He love us?

[John Weaver] He gave Himself for us. Now, look in John 15 and verse 12 again. He says, This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. That's how Christ loved us. He laid down His life for us.

[John Weaver] Now, let me point something out. Again, you must remember that love in the Bible is the fulfilling of the law. That's what he said very plainly in Romans chapter 13, verses 8 through 10. Love is the fulfilling of the law. What did he say in 1 John 5 and verse 3? And this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and they're not grievous unto us.

[John Weaver] So let me emphasize this once again. Love, according to the Bible, is obedient to God's law. Now, what someone comes along and says, well, we're under the law of love, and what they mean by that is some emotion or some feeling or some sentiment. Well, let me ask you a question. If love happens to be emotion or sentiment or feeling, How do you know when you have enough? How do you know when you have fulfilled the law of love?

[John Weaver] It's impossible to help without a standard. God's law happens to be our standard.

[John Weaver] Now, let me mention something else. Someone is going to say, The law of Christ happens to be for God's children. That means we're to love one another. Really? Okay. If we are under a new law, and that new law is just simply that we love one another, no one's going to define love by obedience to God's law. My question would be this. Under what standard is God going to judge the wicked? Because obviously they're not going to love the way Christ loved us, nor can they. So by what standard would God judge the wicked? And the answer would be, I don't know how He could unless He judged them by His law which He has revealed, which they are obligated to go by.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to give you a couple of quotes on Galatians 6 and verse 2. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Here's John Gill again. He said,"...this is a law or doctrine which Christ has clearly taught, and recovered from the false glosses of the Pharisees. It is His new commandment, which He has strengthened and enforced by His own example in dying for His people, and which He by His Spirit inscribes upon their hearts." Adam and Clark, and so fulfill the law of Christ. That law or commandment, you shall love one another, or that do unto all men as you would have them do unto you, we should be as indulgent to the infirmities of others as we can be consistently with truth and righteousness.

[John Weaver] Our brother's infirmity may be his burden, and if we do not choose to help him to bear Let us not reproach him because he is obliged to carry the load." So let me ask you this. Bury you in one of those burdens. In the context, the Bible says, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such in one. So let's say that David has fallen into a sin. He's become entrapped. He's been ensnared. And I see that. And Gary sees that. And we go to David and say, David, we would just like to share some things with you from the Word of God. Here's what you're doing, and here's why it is contrary to God and His law and His Word, and here's how it's hurting you and your family and hurting the testimony and hurting the church. And here's the remedy, and we want to help you. We want to pray with you. We want to share with you how you can be released Let me ask you a question.

[John Weaver] Is that not loving your brother as yourself? Of course it is. That's exactly what he's talking about in Galatians 6 and verse 2. Let me go a little bit further. Here's Matthew Poole. Listen carefully. The law of Christ, he means the will of Christ, revealed in the Gospel, particularly the law of love, so much enjoined by Christ, which is not called the law of Christ, because first given by him, for himself maketh it the sum of the ten commandments, but because he receiveth it, and vindicated it

[John Weaver] from the corruption of the Pharisees, because he so often urged it, and so seriously commanded and commended it to his disciples, and set us the highest precedent and example of it, and hath by his Spirit written it in our hearts." Wow! You know, he's saying exactly the same thing. One more. Listen to Matthew Henry. To excite us here into the apostle adds by way of motive that so we shall fulfill the law of Christ.

[John Weaver] That is to act agreeably to the law of his precept, which is the law of love and obliges us to a mutual forbearance and forgiveness to sympathy with and compassion toward each other. It would also be agreeable to his pattern and example, which have the force of a law to us He bears with us under our weaknesses and follies. He is touched with a fellow feeling of our infirmities.

[John Weaver] And therefore, there is good reason why we should maintain the same temper towards one another. Now, let me mention something to you. I realize I have not researched every Puritan and every scholar that has ever lived. I understand that. But I will tell you this. I have not found one scholar, I have not found one Puritan, I have not found one man who has said that the law of Christ is different from the law of God. It can't possibly be because Jesus Christ is God and He gave the law.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 21. I want you to see what the Apostle Paul said, and I'm going to give you just another quote in just a moment, and I'm going to try to tie it together for you. But look in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 21. You have to understand the context. In fact, let's read beginning there with verse 19, so you can see the context. He says, verse 19, 1 Corinthians 9,"'For though I be free from all men, Yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain them more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. To them that are without law, as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law." The law of God and the law of Christ here are the same.

[John Weaver] There are not two laws. There is only one law that is given to us now in a new and glorious ministration. Interestingly, he said, to them that are without law, that would be the heathen, I am without law. That is, he was not going to fulfill all those ceremonies and rituals that the Pharisees and the Jews did. No, he wasn't going to do that. But he said that he was not without law to God, but under the law to Christ. Here's one quote by Albert Barnes, being not without law to God, not regarding myself as being absolutely without law or as being freed from obligation to obey God, Even in all this I endeavored so to live that it might be seen that I felt myself bound by law to God. I was not a despiser and contemner and neglecter of the law as such, but only regarded myself as not bound by the peculiar ceremonial law of Moses."

[John Weaver] This is the instance of Paul's conscientiousness. He would not leave room to have it supposed for a moment that he disregarded all law. He was bound to God by law, and in conduct of which he is referring, he felt that he was obeying Him. He was bound by a higher law than those ceremonial observances which were now to be done away. This passage would destroy all the refuges of the antinomians. Whatever the privilege that the gospel has introduced, it has not set us free from the restraints and obligations of law. that is binding still, and no man is at liberty to disregard the moral law of God, Christ came to magnify, strengthen, and to honor the law, and not to destroy it."

[John Weaver] Now, the interesting thing is this. If you will look at verse 21, he says,"...to them that are without law, as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ." Literally, It says this,"...not being an outlaw of God, but an in-law of Christ." And the little word en is affixed to the word law, so it means in-law. So he says, I'm not an outlaw, I'm an in-law to Christ because Christ is indeed God and He has given us His law. Obviously, the law of Christ and the law of God are one and the same.

[John Weaver] Matthew Poole said this, to the Gentiles he behaved himself as if he himself had been a Gentile. that is, forbearing the observances of the Levitical law, to which the Gentiles had never any obligation at all. Yet he did not behave himself as one that had no regard to the law of God. That was yet in force and obligatory, but acknowledged himself to be under that, though a servant of Christ, so that he abated nothing of his necessary duty, only denied himself in some things, as to which the law of God had left him a liberty, both to the Jews and Gentiles, propounding to himself the same end to both, that is, the gaining of their souls to Jesus Christ." So, no one is saying that the law of Christ is different from the law of God.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn to one last passage. I want you to turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 3. Here is my application for today. Hebrews chapter 3. The law of God is the law of Christ under the ministration of Christ who has made it far more glorious than the ministration of Moses. It's not the law that has been done away with. It was the glory that Moses had that has been done away with. The rituals have been done away with. The law is still the same. Now, watch this.

[John Weaver] is the true builder and has all the honor. Now watch. Look in Hebrews chapter 3, beginning there, if you would please, with verse 1. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him that appointed Him. That is, Jesus Christ was the faithful one to the Father. You have to remember, Jesus Christ was not in opposition to His Father. He came as a servant of His Father. He was the sent One. He said over and over, I came not to do My will, but I came to do the will of My Father who has sent Me. So, he was faithful to Him who appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all of his house. Now, of course, Moses was faithful, but Moses' faithfulness could not reach the apex of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Now, look what it says about Jesus Christ, verse 3,"'For this man,' that is, Jesus Christ, was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who had built the house, hath more honor than the house.

[John Weaver] For every house is built by some man, but he that built all things is God. For Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast to confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." What does he say? You remember, it was Moses who built the tabernacle under the direction of God. It was Solomon who built the temple under the direction of God. But we, according to Ephesians chapter 2, are now the temple of God. We are the house of God.

[John Weaver] It's not stones any longer. It's living. beings and His law is not written in tables of stones but in our heart. And Jesus Christ in His ministry has surpassed the glory that Moses had because He now has this new emphasis and the new application in the fact that He's given us His life and His example and He tells us to love one another as He has loved us. The law of Christ is the law of God because Jesus Christ is God.

[John Weaver] There is no difference between the Father and the Son. He said the Father and I are one. One God revealed in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. Help us, Lord, to think clearly. Help us, Lord, to understand. And Lord, we pray that You would indeed teach us and build us up in the most holy faith. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

The Promises of the Law 23

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	723191532401735
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Holiness and Obedience
Genre	Sermon
Date	2019-07-07
Dictation Name
Book	Book 005: Promises Of The Law — Chapter 23
Source Timed Segments	72

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and the Law of Christ

Weaver introduces the topic by reading Galatians 6:2 and noting that many claim to follow the law of Christ but wrongly separate it from the law of God.

Today we're going to do number 23 of the Promises of the Law. I thought I was through with this last week, and I got another question this past week. I said, well, I'm going to do one more and try to answer that. And you know, the interesting thing is, years ago I heard about an old black preacher who was very successful in his ministry. And someone asked him, said, well, how is it that you are so successful and you taught your people so well? He said, well, three things. He said, when I start to preach, I tell them what I'm going to tell them. And then secondly, I tell them. And then thirdly, I tell them what I told them. So I hope today I won't be telling you what I've already told you, and you can kind of put everything together. But look in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 2, Galatians 6 and verse 2, and I hope this will answer all of the questions. But notice if you would, Galatians 6 and verse 2, we'll come back to this passage.

The Bible just simply says, "...bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Now, there are plenty of individuals that will state very plainly that they follow the Law of Christ. The problem is, many people try to take the Law of Christ and make it completely and totally different from the Law of God. Many refer to the Law just simply as the Law of Moses. It was not the Law of Moses. It is and was the law of God. It was just given through Moses as the intermediary.

The Law of Moses is the Law of God

Using Ezra 7:6 and Nehemiah 10:29, Weaver shows that what is called the law of Moses is actually God's law given through Moses.

Let me give you two scriptures. You don't have to turn to them. I'll quote them for you. But the first one is found in Ezra chapter 7 in verse 6. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Ezra 7:6

"This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given."

Now, it is called the Law of Moses, but it also says,

Scripture Reading — Ezra 7:6

"...which the Lord God of Israel had given."

When you get to Nehemiah chapter 10 and verse 29, the Bible said, "...they claimed to their brethren, their nobles, and they entered into a curse, and into an oath to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to observe, to do all the commandments of the Lord our God, and His judgments and His statutes." So, specifically, we are told at least twice, and other times I'm sure, that it is indeed the law of God. It was just given through the hands of Moses.

Now, when you talk about the law of God, you have to understand that there is a vast difference between the law of God and the perversion and misinterpretation and misapplication that the Pharisees made of the law of God. So, the teaching of the Pharisees certainly is not the law of God by any stretch of the imagination. So, when we read in Galatians 6 and verse 2, "...bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." The question that you have to ask is this: Is the law of Christ any different than the law of God? Are they one and the same? Now, to understand this, you have to understand how the word law is used in the Scripture. I don't know if you've ever noticed this or not, but the Bible talks about the law of works. It talks about the law of God. It talks about the law of Christ. It talks about the law of the Spirit. It also talks about the law of sin. And you have to look into context of each of these passages in order to ascertain what is being said and what is implied and what is meant. So, I want you to look in your Bibles, hold Galatians 6, but turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to Romans chapter 7, because I'm going to show you a distinction between the law of God and what is known as the law of sin. Notice, if you would, in Romans chapter 7, we're going to read verse 25 first. Romans 7 and verse 25, the Apostle Paul says,

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:25

"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that with my mind, or the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin."

So here in one verse now, you have the law of God versus the law of sin.

Various Uses of 'Law' in Scripture

Weaver surveys Romans 7–8 and Romans 3:27 to demonstrate that 'law' (nomos) refers to different controlling principles: law of God, law of sin, law of the Spirit, law of faith.

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:25

"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that with my mind, or the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin."

So here in one verse now, you have the law of God versus the law of sin.

Now, if you'll go back to verse 12, Paul is discussing the law of God, and he says, "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Now skip down to verse 22. He says, "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man." So here's the law of God, which is holy, just, and good, and it's that in which the apostle delighted. Now, I want you to look, if you would, down to verse 23. He's talking now about the law of sin. He says, "...but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." Now, when he says, "I see another law," the Greek word there is heteros, which means another of a different kind. It's not the same as the law of God. That's why we talk about heterosexual marriage, which is a marriage between two different kinds, between a man and a woman. So, here is another, but it's another of a different kind. Now, that's why he said, "I see another law in my members," and that's when he explains it in verse 25, "...but with the flesh the law of sin."

In other words, the law of sin works in the flesh. Now, the interesting thing is this. The Greek word nomos is used in connection with God, with Christ, with the Spirit, with sin, and with faith as well as with works. So, if you look back in your Bibles to Romans 3 and verse 27, Romans 3 verse 27, you're going to see it used now with the law of faith. Romans 3 verse 27,

Scripture Reading — Romans 3:27

"...whereas boasting then it is excluded by what law? of works? Nay, but by the law of faith."

So, we now have the law of God, we have the law of Christ, we have the law of sin, we have the law of faith. And if you look in Romans chapter 8 and verse 2, Romans 8 and verse 2, the Bible says, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." So now you have the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which has made us free from the law of sin and death.

Now, let me ask you a question. Do you think that anyone would suggest that there is a difference between the law of God, the law of Christ, and the law of the Spirit? And I would certainly hope that the answer would be no to that, resounding no. Also, we could ask it like this. Do you think anyone would suggest that there would be a difference between the law of the Spirit and the law of faith? I would certainly say no.

Definition of 'Law' and Its Broad Meaning

Citing Strong's Concordance and Albert Barnes, Weaver explains that 'law' can mean a rule producing a state approved by God or a controlling influence.

Yet the same word, nomos, is used in each one of these passages. Now, here's what I want to do just momentarily. I want to give you a broad overview of the word law. If you go to Strong's Concordance and look up the word law under nomos, you're going to find a variety of definitions. A lot of them are basically the same, but two or three have a little different flavor to them. And I want to read this to you. Listen carefully. There's three of them I really want to emphasize, but here they are. Nomos. Anything established, anything received by usage, custom, a law or command. Secondly, of any law whatsoever. But listen to this third one, a law or rule producing a state approved by God. A law or rule producing a state that is approved by God. Next it says, by the observance of that which is approved of God, then a precept or injunction, the rule of action prescribed by reason, of the Mosaic law in referring to the context, either the volume of the law or its contents.

And then it says the Christian religion, the law demanding faith, the moral instruction given by Christ, especially the precept concerning love. And then of course he mentions sometimes the word law refers not just to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, but sometimes to the whole entire Old Testament. But note, if you would, the word here is used as a law or rule producing that which is approved by God, or the observance of anything that is approved by God, and the Christian religion which demands faith and moral instruction, and especially that which was in relationship to Jesus Christ. Let me give you another thought. This comes from Albert Barnes in his commentary, and he's commenting on Romans 8 in verse 2, where he says, "...for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Now listen carefully. He says, "...the word law here means that rule, command, or influence which the Spirit of life produces. It exerts a control which is here called a law. And often, for often, law means anything by which we are ruled or governed." Now, when you stop and think about that, that makes absolutely perfect sense because we talk about the law of sin. The law of sin does not have statutes.

It does not have commands. The law of sin just simply means that we are governed and controlled by sin. We're regulated by sin. Our lusts, our desires, everything is contrary to the Word of God. The law of the Spirit would mean that we are now controlled and ruled by the Holy Spirit, of course, who leads us and guides us to bring our lives in conformity to the Word of God. So, you have then the word law used as a controlling or dominant influence in one's life. And it means that which we are ruled or that which we are governed.

One author said it like this. He said, the law of the Spirit is the principle or authority exercised by the Holy Spirit which bestows life and which rests in Christ Jesus our Lord. And that's certainly true.

Jesus Christ as God and Lawgiver

Weaver argues that since Jesus is God, He gave the law; a change in law would imply a change in God, which is impossible because God is immutable.

So here is my first question. How many gods are there? And the answer is, one. There is only one true and living God. Deuteronomy 6 and verse 4,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 6:4

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord."

The burden of the Old Testament is the unity of God. God is one, and yet the truth is, the Scripture tells us that He has manifested Himself in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. So, the first question, how many gods are there? The answer is one. The second question is this, is Jesus Christ God? Is Jesus Christ God incarnate? Is Jesus Christ God in the flesh? And the answer is most definitely yes. For instance, John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

Scripture Reading — John 1:1-3, 14

All things were made by Him, and without Him was not

anything made that was made." And when you skip down to verse 14, the Bible tells us this, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." And then there's that passage in 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16, "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory." But without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. So Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself said in John 10, verse 30, "I and the Father are one."

Now here's a good simple question. If Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, if He and the Father are one, did He give the law originally? And the answer would be yes. Well, if He gave the law, why would He now change the law? So you would have to say it was either not perfect or right before, or God was not omniscient enough to know that there would necessitate a change sometime in the future. Both would be absolutely blasphemous thoughts. Now, just stop and think with me. The only way that you can postulate a change in law is to postulate a change in God. We know that Malachi 3:6 says, "I the Lord change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed." So God is immutable. He is unchangeable. I believe it was a man by the name of Bishop Ocknam who said at one point, the God of the Old Testament is a dirty bully. Well now, if he believed the God of the Old Testament was a dirty bully, what would he then believe of the God of the New Testament? In other words, if the God of the New Testament is not like the God of the Old Testament, then there has to be a change in gods. You follow? You can't change law without changing God. So what he's saying is there's a different God in the Old Testament with a different law, and there's a different God in the New Testament with a different law as well.

Christ Made Under the Law to Fulfill It

Jesus was made under the law to render perfect obedience and to redeem us, magnifying the law and making it honorable, not abolishing it.

So, stop and think with me now. We already know that there's only one God. We know that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. We know that He gave the law. He made the law because He is God. And yet we are also told that He was made under the law. In Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5,

Scripture Reading — Galatians 4:4-5

"But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."

Okay? So here's my question. Why was Jesus Christ made under the law? Now, you're going to answer, well, the Bible says to redeem us who were under the law. That is true. But the next question is, how did He redeem us?

It is not just simply that He died as our substitute. It's not just simply that He was our sacrifice. I've pointed out in times past, you need more than forgiveness to get in the presence of God. To get in the presence of God, you not only need forgiveness of sins, you need an absolute perfect righteousness. And the Bible tells us He's made under the law. Why? In order that He might render to that law that personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience that the law demanded. So in every aspect, in every area of the law, Jesus Christ rendered an absolute perfect obedience. That is why, in Isaiah 42 and verse 21, in reference to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, the Bible says, "The law is well pleased. For His righteousness sake, He will magnify the law.

He will make it honorable." So, if Jesus Christ then came under the law and obeyed the law, and He magnified the law and made it honorable and rendered to it every demand that it demanded, why then would it now become worthless and useless and abrogated? Why would it be set aside? So as Paul said in Romans 7 verse 12, if the law is holy and the commandment just and good, why would he replace it? Now let me ask another question. If the law of God was important enough for Jesus Christ to be made under it, if the law of God was important enough for Jesus Christ to render perfect obedience to it, if the law of God was important enough to demand the sacrifice of the Son of God, and He willingly submitted Himself and died under the curse and the penalty of that broken law, how could anyone now say it's worthless, it's useless, it needs to be set aside, it needs to be nullified?

Old and New Covenants: Law Written on Hearts

Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8–10 show the new covenant writes God's law on hearts; the ceremonial law is fulfilled in Christ, but the moral law remains.

I want you to turn back in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 31. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31, and look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 31. Jeremiah 31 and verse 31. Look what he says. Jeremiah 31, verse 31,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 31:31-34

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord."

Now, remember, he gave his covenant in the tables of stone. Watch verse 33, "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be to me my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. And I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more."

Now, Jeremiah says, look, there's going to be a new covenant. It will be a different application. That covenant's no longer going to be written in tables of stone. It's going to be written in your heart.

Now, if you would turn over in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 8. And you're going to see in this passage, as well as another passage, it is practically quoting Jeremiah 31 verbatim. So look in Hebrews chapter 8, and let's begin reading there with verse 10. Hebrews 8 and verse 10. Hebrews 8 verse 10,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 8:10-13

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For all shall know me, from the least even to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

He talks about verse 13, in that he says,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 8:10-13

"...a new covenant he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away."

What part are we talking about? Well, if you were to go back and begin reading it, Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 13, and read all the way through chapter 9 and verse 14, we're talking all about the ceremonial law, the rituals, everything that's to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Now, let me show it to you again. Look in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 15. So you'll see it clearly, I hope, in this passage. Hebrews 10 verse 15,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 8:10-13

"Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that, he said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

Now watch carefully.

Now where remission of these is, there's no more offering for sin. We do not continually bring oxen and lambs and rams for sacrifice. Why? Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, suffered once and for all. Now watch. Because of that, verse 19,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 10:15-22

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised."

I want you to understand when he's talking about this, he's talking about a new way into the holiest of all. In the old covenant, the high priest only went into the holiest of all once a year, and that not without the shedding of blood. The other priests couldn't even get into the holiest of all. The people could not even get into there. They could not even get into the holy place that was reserved for the priest. But now, He says, through this new covenant, through what Jesus Christ has done, we have boldness to enter into the holiest of all. We may freely and fully come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when you read Hebrews 8, 9 and 10, there are two main differences that are enunciated between the old covenant and the new covenant.

The first one is this, that Jesus Christ is the reality. He is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament types, figures, emblems, and shadows. The second emphasis is this, that the law is no longer written in tablets of stone. It is now written in our minds and in our hearts. So there is a distinction that is made by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 3 between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. I want you to go back there. So if you will turn to 2 Corinthians 3, and we'll begin reading there with verse 7. 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 7. I want you to see this. I wish I had time just to really deal with this passage in detail, but here is the distinction. Now watch carefully. He says in verse 7,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"But if the ministration of death,"

now he's talking about the law, because no one could keep the law, no one could render to the law that which it demanded,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"but if the ministration of death written and engraved in stones was glorious,"

and it was,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance."

Which glory was to be done away? You remember how Moses came down from the mount, his face shone, they had to put a veil over, they couldn't look upon him, you know? Well, that was the glory. But he says that glory was to be done away with. In other words, it's to be eclipsed by a greater glory.

2 Corinthians 3: The Greater Glory of the New Ministration

The ministration of the Spirit and righteousness in Christ exceeds the glory of the old covenant; the law is not done away, but its glory is eclipsed by Christ.

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"But if the ministration of death,"

now he's talking about the law, because no one could keep the law, no one could render to the law that which it demanded,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"but if the ministration of death written and engraved in stones was glorious,"

and it was,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance."

Now watch. Verse 8, "...how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious, or more glorious?" In other words, if that which Moses did was glorious, that which God the Holy Spirit does is bound to be more glorious. Now watch verse 9, "...for if the ministration of condemnation," that would be the law, "be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceeding glory." Jesus Christ is the end of righteousness. He is the fulfillment of righteousness. We are not made righteous by our law keeping. We are made righteous by Jesus Christ who kept the law perfectly. So he says, "For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceeding glory." Now watch verse 10, "For even that which was made glorious," that is the old covenant, "had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth." So everything that Jesus Christ has done is far greater than anything that Moses ever did. Then he says in verse 11, "...for if that which is done away was glorious," certain aspects of the Old Covenant, "...much more that which remaineth is glorious."

So he says there's something that remains that is glorious as well. So it was not the law of God that was done away with. It was the glory, and that glory was eclipsed by Jesus Christ. So, the person and work of Jesus Christ is far greater and far more glorious than all of the Old Testament types and emblems and figures and shadows because we now have the reality in the Lord Jesus Christ. But the law was not abrogated. It was the glory of it. It was eclipsed and done away with by the fulfillment of all those ceremonial laws and rituals by the Lord Jesus Christ. There is something that remains, he says in verse 11, he says, "For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious."

Now, I want to give you three quotes, and I want you to listen very carefully because I'm going to make a statement just a little bit, and I want you to understand the statement. But the first quote is by Albert Barnes. He said this, "...the thing that is to remain, that is permanent, abiding, perpetual, that has no principle of decay, and whose characteristic it is that it is everlasting, the gospel, is the permanent or abiding because it is designed to remain immutable through the remotest ages."

Commentators on the Permanence of the Moral Law

Quotes from Barnes, Poole, and Gill clarify that the moral law abides while the ceremonial and judicial aspects are fulfilled; distinctions must be made.

So when he talks about verse 11, "...much more that which remaineth is glorious," he's talking about the gospel, he's talking about the personal work of Jesus Christ in fulfilling all of these Old Testament types. Here's Matthew Poole, "...the strength of his argument dependeth upon this principle, that any durable good is more excellent and glorious than that which is but transitory and for a time. The ministration of the law is done away, the law containing ordinance is itself done away, and therefore the ministration of it must need cease. There are now no priests and Levites, no worldly sanctuary, nor any ministrations in it or relating to it. But our Saviour hath told us that His gospel shall be preached to the end of the world, so that the ministration must, according to all the principles of reason, be more glorious as that which is eternal is more glorious than that which is fluid and vanishing." So again, he is saying that which remains is how Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and the gospel that has been established by the Son of God.

Now, the next quote is by John Gill, and I want you to listen very carefully because in the very first sentence, you think that he's going to trash all of God's law, but he's not, and he's going to explain it. And if you can get these little points down, it will help you immensely. Listen carefully. He says, the law is that which is done away, not merely the ceremonial law or the judicial law, but the whole ministry of Moses and particularly the law of the Decalogue. Then he says this, for the better understanding of this, you must distinguish between the matter and the ministry of it. The ministry of it by Moses is done away. The matter of it, so far as of a moral nature, abides. You must also distinguish between the law as in the hands of Moses and of Christ. As in the hands of Moses, it is broken to pieces and abolished. As in the hands of Christ, as King of His church, it remains. You must also distinguish between precepts and precepts.

Some are mixed, being partly moral, partly ceremonial as the fourth and fifth commands, and others are not, which is ceremonial or purely related to the Jews while in their civil policy and in the land of Canaan is done away. But what is purely moral is, as to the matter of it, still obliging. You must distinguish between the law as a covenant of works and as a rule of walk and conversation or conduct. As a covenant of works, it is done away, and it is. No man can be saved by the law. As a rule of walk and conduct, it still continues. You must distinguish between persons and persons, to them that are redeemed from it it is done away, to them that are under it, it remains. And lastly, distinguish between the right and wrong use of it. As to any use of it to justify us before God by our obedience, it is done away with.

But as it may be of use to convince sinners of sin, and to direct saints in a course of righteousness, so it abides." So he says, once you begin to look at this thing, you have to distinguish between the matter and the manner, the ministry, the precepts, the hands of Moses, the hands of Christ. So Gill is not trashing the law. He's saying, look, there is a ministration of it, there is a ministry of it that has been done away with, but the law has not been done away with. Now, I want you to go back and look in your Bibles to Galatians 6 and verse 2. I want you to see this. Look in Galatians 6 and verse 2, because some are going to try to take the law of Christ and make it to be different from the law of God. So, in Galatians 6 and verse 2, the Scripture says, "...bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Now, in order to understand verse 2, you must see it in the context. So, look at verse 1. He says, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault," that is, you've tripped up, you've been ensnared, you've been caught in something that is sinful and wicked. "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

Galatians 6:2 in Context: Love Fulfills the Law

Bearing one another's burdens is an application of God's law of love; the law of Christ is not new but the old law revealed with Christ's heart and example.

Now, let me ask you a question. What is the law of Christ in this context? In this context, it is bearing one another's burdens. Which would be, help me out now, loving your neighbor as yourself, ministering to the saints of God, exhibiting what you and I would call brotherly love. In other words, what you have in Galatians 6:1-2 is an application of God's law. It is not a new law, but it is the old law revealed in a new way with the heart and love of Jesus Christ. Now, look if you would at the remote context, Galatians 5, verse 14. I wish I had time to go through all of this passage, but look in Galatians 5, verse 14, he says, "...for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

We've looked at that last week. We've looked at that in the weeks before. What is the summary of God's law? Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul. What is the second? Love thy neighbor as thyself, of course.

Now, let me give you Hebrews 6 and verse 10. We're talking about bearing one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Hebrews 6 verse 10 says this, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister." What? God is not unrighteous to forget our love for Him? How do we exhibit our love for Him? By ministering to each other. That's exactly what he's talking about. I want you to turn back to John chapter 13. I covered this last week, but I'm just going to point it out this week in light of what we're talking about. John 13, look at verses 34 and 35. John 13, verses 34 and 35. Look what our Lord says. You will remember this when I point it out again. Our Lord says, "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another." Now, I'm going to comment on this. I'm not going to deal with the word new. I did that last week. But I do want you to look in John 15 and verse 12. I'm going to come back, John 15 and verse 12. He says, "This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you." Now, I pointed out last week, it is not a new commandment.

Because Leviticus 19 verse 18 says, "...thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord." So it is not anew in the sense that this is something that Jesus Christ is just giving. What He is giving is a new application of it because He says now that we're to love one another as He loved us. How did He love us? He gave Himself for us. Now, look in John 15 and verse 12 again. He says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." That's how Christ loved us. He laid down His life for us.

Now, let me point something out. Again, you must remember that love in the Bible is the fulfilling of the law. That's what he said very plainly in Romans chapter 13, verses 8 through 10. Love is the fulfilling of the law. What did he say in 1 John 5 and verse 3? "And this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and they're not grievous unto us."

So let me emphasize this once again. Love, according to the Bible, is obedient to God's law. Now, what someone comes along and says, well, we're under the law of love, and what they mean by that is some emotion or some feeling or some sentiment. Well, let me ask you a question. If love happens to be emotion or sentiment or feeling, how do you know when you have enough? How do you know when you have fulfilled the law of love?

The Law of Christ is the Law of God

1 Corinthians 9:21 shows Paul was 'under the law to Christ,' equating the law of God and the law of Christ; commentators affirm this unity.

Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 21. I want you to see what the Apostle Paul said, and I'm going to give you just another quote in just a moment, and I'm going to try to tie it together for you. But look in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 21. You have to understand the context. In fact, let's read beginning there with verse 19, so you can see the context. He says, verse 19, 1 Corinthians 9, "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain them more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. To them that are without law, as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law." The law of God and the law of Christ here are the same.

There are not two laws. There is only one law that is given to us now in a new and glorious ministration. Interestingly, he said, to them that are without law, that would be the heathen, I am without law. That is, he was not going to fulfill all those ceremonies and rituals that the Pharisees and the Jews did. No, he wasn't going to do that. But he said that he was not without law to God, but under the law to Christ. Here's one quote by Albert Barnes, "Being not without law to God, not regarding myself as being absolutely without law or as being freed from obligation to obey God. Even in all this I endeavored so to live that it might be seen that I felt myself bound by law to God. I was not a despiser and contemner and neglecter of the law as such, but only regarded myself as not bound by the peculiar ceremonial law of Moses."

This is the instance of Paul's conscientiousness. He would not leave room to have it supposed for a moment that he disregarded all law. He was bound to God by law, and in conduct of which he is referring, he felt that he was obeying Him. He was bound by a higher law than those ceremonial observances which were now to be done away. This passage would destroy all the refuges of the antinomians. Whatever the privilege that the gospel has introduced, it has not set us free from the restraints and obligations of law. That is binding still, and no man is at liberty to disregard the moral law of God. Christ came to magnify, strengthen, and to honor the law, and not to destroy it."

Now, the interesting thing is this. If you will look at verse 21, he says, "...to them that are without law, as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ." Literally, it says this, "...not being an outlaw of God, but an in-law of Christ." And the little word en is affixed to the word law, so it means in-law. So he says, I'm not an outlaw, I'm an in-law to Christ because Christ is indeed God and He has given us His law. Obviously, the law of Christ and the law of God are one and the same. Matthew Poole said this, "To the Gentiles he behaved himself as if he himself had been a Gentile, that is, forbearing the observances of the Levitical law, to which the Gentiles had never any obligation at all. Yet he did not behave himself as one that had no regard to the law of God that was yet in force and obligatory, but acknowledged himself to be under that, though a servant of Christ, so that he abated nothing of his necessary duty, only denied himself in some things, as to which the law of God had left him a liberty, both to the Jews and Gentiles, propounding to himself the same end to both, that is, the gaining of their souls to Jesus Christ." So, no one is saying that the law of Christ is different from the law of God.

Now, I want you to turn to one last passage. I want you to turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 3. Here is my application for today. Hebrews chapter 3. The law of God is the law of Christ under the ministration of Christ who has made it far more glorious than the ministration of Moses. It's not the law that has been done away with. It was the glory that Moses had that has been done away with. The rituals have been done away with. The law is still the same. Now, watch this.

Application: Christ's Superior Glory and Our Response

Hebrews 3 contrasts Moses and Christ; Christ's ministry surpasses Moses' glory, and believers are now God's house with His law written on their hearts.

is the true builder and has all the honor. Now watch. Look in Hebrews chapter 3, beginning there, if you would please, with verse 1. "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him that appointed Him." That is, Jesus Christ was the faithful one to the Father. You have to remember, Jesus Christ was not in opposition to His Father. He came as a servant of His Father. He was the sent One. He said over and over, I came not to do My will, but I came to do the will of My Father who has sent Me. So, he was faithful to Him who appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all of his house. Now, of course, Moses was faithful, but Moses' faithfulness could not reach the apex of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Now, look what it says about Jesus Christ, verse 3, "For this man," that is, Jesus Christ, "was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who had built the house hath more honor than the house.

For every house is built by some man, but he that built all things is God. For Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast to confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." What does he say? You remember, it was Moses who built the tabernacle under the direction of God. It was Solomon who built the temple under the direction of God. But we, according to Ephesians chapter 2, are now the temple of God. We are the house of God. It's not stones any longer. It's living beings and His law is not written in tables of stones but in our heart. And Jesus Christ in His ministry has surpassed the glory that Moses had because He now has this new emphasis and the new application in the fact that He's given us His life and His example and He tells us to love one another as He has loved us. The law of Christ is the law of God because Jesus Christ is God.

There is no difference between the Father and the Son. He said the Father and I are one. One God revealed in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. Help us, Lord, to think clearly. Help us, Lord, to understand. And Lord, we pray that You would indeed teach us and build us up in the most holy faith. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Unity of the Law of God and the Law of Christ

Summary: The law of Christ is not a different law but the same law of God ministered by Christ with a new emphasis on love and heart obedience.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'The law of Christ is the law of God because Jesus Christ is God.' He argues from 1 Corinthians 9:21 that Paul was 'under the law to Christ,' equating the two.

Immutability of God and His Law

Summary: Because God does not change, His moral law cannot change; a change in law would imply a change in God, which is blasphemous.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'The only way that you can postulate a change in law is to postulate a change in God. We know that Malachi 3:6 says, "I the Lord change not."'

Christ's Fulfillment, Not Abolition, of the Law

Summary: Jesus came under the law to obey it perfectly and to magnify it, not to set it aside; His death satisfies its penalty, but the moral standard remains.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'He was made under the law... to render to that law that personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience that the law demanded.'

New Covenant: Law Written on the Heart

Summary: The new covenant does not replace the law but internalizes it; the ceremonial shadows are fulfilled in Christ, but the moral law is written on believers' hearts.

Evidence: Citing Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8, Weaver says, 'I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.'

Love as the Fulfillment of the Law

Summary: The law of Christ is summarized in love for one another, which is the application of God's law; love is defined by obedience to God's commandments.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Love, according to the Bible, is obedient to God's law.' He references Galatians 5:14 and 1 John 5:3.

Distinction Between the Ministration and the Moral Content of the Law

Summary: The ceremonial and judicial aspects of the Mosaic law are fulfilled and done away, but the moral law remains as a rule of life for believers.

Evidence: Quoting John Gill: 'You must distinguish between the matter and the ministry of it. The ministry of it by Moses is done away. The matter of it, so far as of a moral nature, abides.'

Key Arguments

The word 'law' has multiple biblical uses but refers to the same moral standard when applied to God.

Summary: Weaver argues that 'law' (nomos) can mean a controlling principle (law of sin, law of the Spirit) or God's commands; the law of Christ is not a different set of commands.

Evidence: He says, 'Do you think that anyone would suggest that there is a difference between the law of God, the law of Christ, and the law of the Spirit? And I would certainly hope that the answer would be no.'

Jesus Christ is God, therefore He gave the law and cannot contradict it.

Summary: Since Jesus is God incarnate and one with the Father, He is the author of the law; He would not give a law and later replace it with a different one.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'If Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, if He and the Father are one, did He give the law originally? And the answer would be yes. Well, if He gave the law, why would He now change the law?'

Christ's obedience and death affirm the law's enduring validity.

Summary: If the law were worthless, Christ would not have needed to obey it perfectly or die under its curse; His work proves the law's ongoing importance.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'If the law of God was important enough for Jesus Christ to be made under it... how could anyone now say it's worthless?'

The new covenant internalizes the law, it does not abrogate it.

Summary: Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 promise the law written on hearts, not its removal; the change is in location (heart vs. stone) and ministration, not content.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'That covenant's no longer going to be written in tables of stone. It's going to be written in your heart.'

2 Corinthians 3 contrasts the glory of the ministries, not the law itself.

Summary: The 'done away' refers to the fading glory of Moses' ministry and the ceremonial system, not the moral law; the greater glory of Christ's ministry remains.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'It was not the law of God that was done away with. It was the glory, and that glory was eclipsed by Jesus Christ.'

Galatians 6:2 shows the law of Christ is the law of love, which is the summary of God's law.

Summary: Bearing burdens is an application of Leviticus 19:18; the law of Christ is not new but the old command to love neighbor, now exemplified by Christ's sacrifice.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'What is the law of Christ in this context? In this context, it is bearing one another's burdens. Which would be... loving your neighbor as yourself.'

1 Corinthians 9:21 equates the law of God and the law of Christ.

Summary: Paul says he is 'not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,' showing the two are identical; he is an 'in-law' to Christ, not an outlaw.

Evidence: Weaver notes, 'Literally, it says this, "not being an outlaw of God, but an in-law of Christ."'

Historical commentators affirm the unity of the law of God and the law of Christ.

Summary: Quoting Gill, Poole, Henry, and Barnes, Weaver shows that respected theologians see the law of Christ as the moral law of God clarified and enforced by Christ.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'I have not found one scholar... who has said that the law of Christ is different from the law of God.'

Scripture References

Galatians 6:2

Context: The key text: 'Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.' Weaver uses this to discuss the law of Christ.

Ezra 7:6

Context: Shows the law of Moses is actually the law of the Lord God of Israel.

Nehemiah 10:29

Context: Confirms the law given by Moses is God's law.

Romans 7:25

Context: Paul serves the law of God with his mind but the law of sin with his flesh.

Romans 7:12

Context: The law is holy, just, and good.

Romans 7:22-23

Context: Paul delights in the law of God but sees another law (law of sin) warring in his members.

Romans 3:27

Context: Mentions the law of faith in contrast to the law of works.

Romans 8:2

Context: The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus frees from the law of sin and death.

Deuteronomy 6:4

Context: The Lord our God is one Lord, emphasizing the unity of God.

John 1:1-3, 14

Context: Jesus is the Word made flesh, God incarnate.

1 Timothy 3:16

Context: God was manifest in the flesh, referring to Christ.

John 10:30

Context: Jesus said, 'I and the Father are one.'

Malachi 3:6

Context: God does not change, supporting His immutability.

Galatians 4:4-5

Context: Christ was made under the law to redeem those under the law.

Isaiah 42:21

Context: The Messiah will magnify the law and make it honorable.

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Context: The new covenant promise to write God's law on hearts.

Hebrews 8:10-13

Context: Quotes Jeremiah 31, showing the new covenant internalizes the law.

Hebrews 10:15-22

Context: The new covenant provides boldness to enter the holiest through Christ's blood.

2 Corinthians 3:7-11

Context: The ministration of death (law) had glory, but the ministration of the Spirit and righteousness exceeds in glory; what is done away is the glory, not the moral law.

Galatians 5:14

Context: All the law is fulfilled in one word: love your neighbor as yourself.

Historical References

Albert Barnes (commentator)

Context: Quoted on Romans 8:2 regarding 'law' as a controlling influence, and on 2 Corinthians 3:11 regarding the permanence of the gospel.

Matthew Poole (commentator)

Context: Quoted on Romans 8:2 and Galatians 6:2, affirming the law of Christ as the will of Christ revealed in the gospel.

Matthew Henry (commentator)

Context: Quoted on Romans 8:2 and Galatians 6:2, emphasizing the law of Christ as the law of love.

John Gill (commentator)

Context: Extensively quoted on 2 Corinthians 3:11 and Galatians 6:2, distinguishing between the matter and ministry of the law.

Adam Clarke (commentator)

Context: Quoted on Galatians 6:2 regarding bearing burdens as fulfilling the law of Christ.

Bishop Ocknam (historical figure)

Context: Mentioned as one who called the God of the Old Testament a 'dirty bully,' illustrating the error of separating the Testaments.

Strong's Concordance

Context: Cited for definitions of the Greek word 'nomos' (law).

Important Quotes

The only way that you can postulate a change in law is to postulate a change in God.

Significance: This encapsulates Weaver's argument that God's immutability necessitates the continuity of His moral law.

It was not the law of God that was done away with. It was the glory, and that glory was eclipsed by Jesus Christ.

Significance: Clarifies the 2 Corinthians 3 passage, distinguishing between the law and the glory of its ministration.

You must distinguish between the matter and the ministry of it. The ministry of it by Moses is done away. The matter of it, so far as of a moral nature, abides.

Significance: A key quote from John Gill that Weaver uses to explain how the law remains while its Mosaic administration ceases.

Love, according to the Bible, is obedient to God's law.

Significance: Defines biblical love not as mere sentiment but as conformity to God's commandments.

The law of Christ is the law of God because Jesus Christ is God.

Significance: The concluding thesis of the sermon, summarizing the unity of the law.

Discussion Questions

How does understanding that the law of Christ is the same as the law of God affect the way we read the New Testament commands?

Context: Weaver argues that the law of Christ is not a new law but the moral law of God applied with Christ's example.

In what ways does the new covenant write God's law on our hearts differently from the old covenant's tablets of stone?

Context: Weaver discusses Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8, emphasizing internalization of the law.

Why is it important to distinguish between the ceremonial law and the moral law when discussing the continuity of God's law?

Context: Weaver and John Gill stress the distinction between what is fulfilled in Christ and what remains as a rule of life.

How does the immutability of God provide a foundation for the enduring nature of His moral commands?

Context: Weaver states that a change in law would require a change in God, which is impossible.

What does it mean to 'bear one another's burdens' as a fulfillment of the law of Christ in practical church life?

Context: Weaver applies Galatians 6:1-2 to restoring a fallen brother with meekness and love.

How does Christ's perfect obedience to the law enhance our understanding of His role as our righteousness?

Context: Weaver explains that Christ rendered perfect obedience to the law to provide the righteousness we need.

In what sense is the 'law of Christ' a 'new commandment' if it is not actually new?

Context: Weaver notes that the command to love is old (Leviticus 19:18) but new in its application through Christ's example.

How can we avoid the error of antinomianism while still rejoicing in freedom from the law's condemnation?

Context: Weaver quotes Barnes: 'Whatever the privilege that the gospel has introduced, it has not set us free from the restraints and obligations of law.'

Applications

Restore the fallen with meekness and love

Summary: When a brother is overtaken in a fault, spiritual believers should gently restore him, bearing his burden as an act of love fulfilling Christ's law.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such a one... Is that not loving your brother as yourself? Of course it is.'

View God's law as a rule of life, not a means of justification

Summary: Believers are not under the law as a covenant of works for salvation but follow it as a guide for holy living out of love for God.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Gill: 'As a covenant of works, it is done away... As a rule of walk and conduct, it still continues.'

Love one another as Christ loved us

Summary: The new commandment is to love with the same self-sacrificial love Christ showed, laying down our lives for the brethren.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'He says now that we're to love one another as He loved us. How did He love us? He gave Himself for us.'

Hold fast to confidence in Christ, our greater Moses

Summary: Since Christ is worthy of more glory than Moses and we are His house, we must persevere in faith and hope.

Evidence: Weaver reads Hebrews 3:6: 'whose house we are, if we hold fast to confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.'

Reject the separation of the Testaments

Summary: Do not pit the God of the Old Testament against the God of the New; they are one, and His moral law is consistent throughout.

Evidence: Weaver warns against the idea that the God of the Old Testament is a 'dirty bully' and the New Testament God is different.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:00:19Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:45:08Z

Clean Transcript

The Promises of the Law 23

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Today we're going to do number 23 of the Promises of the Law. I thought I was through with this last week, and I got another question this past week. I said, well, I'm going to do one more and try to answer that. And you know, the interesting thing is, years ago I heard about an old black preacher who was very successful in his ministry. And someone asked him, said, well, how is it that you are so successful and you taught your people so well? He said, well, three things. He said, when I start to preach, I tell them what I'm going to tell them. And then secondly, I tell them. And then thirdly, I tell them what I told them. So I hope today I won't be telling you what I've already told you, and you can kind of put everything together. But look in Galatians chapter 6 and verse 2, Galatians 6 and verse 2, and I hope this will answer all of the questions. But notice if you would, Galatians 6 and verse 2, we'll come back to this passage.
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The Bible just simply says, "...bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Now, there are plenty of individuals that will state very plainly that they follow the Law of Christ. The problem is, many people try to take the Law of Christ and make it completely and totally different from the Law of God. Many refer to the Law just simply as the Law of Moses. It was not the Law of Moses. It is and was the law of God. It was just given through Moses as the intermediary.
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Let me give you two scriptures. You don't have to turn to them. I'll quote them for you. But the first one is found in Ezra chapter 7 in verse 6. The Bible says, "This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given." Now, it is called the Law of Moses, but it also says, "...which the Lord God of Israel had given." When you get to Nehemiah chapter 10 and verse 29, the Bible said, "...they claimed to their brethren, their nobles, and they entered into a curse, and into an oath to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to observe, to do all the commandments of the Lord our God, and His judgments and His statutes." So, specifically, we are told at least twice, and other times I'm sure, that it is indeed the law of God. It was just given through the hands of Moses.
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Now, when you talk about the law of God, you have to understand that there is a vast difference between the law of God and the perversion and misinterpretation and misapplication that the Pharisees made of the law of God. So, the teaching of the Pharisees certainly is not the law of God by any stretch of the imagination. So, when we read in Galatians 6 and verse 2, "...bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." The question that you have to ask is this: Is the law of Christ any different than the law of God? Are they one and the same? Now, to understand this, you have to understand how the word law is used in the Scripture.
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I don't know if you've ever noticed this or not, but the Bible talks about the law of works. It talks about the law of God. It talks about the law of Christ. It talks about the law of the Spirit. It also talks about the law of sin. And you have to look into context of each of these passages in order to ascertain what is being said and what is implied and what is meant. So, I want you to look in your Bibles, hold Galatians 6, but turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to Romans chapter 7, because I'm going to show you a distinction between the law of God and what is known as the law of sin. Notice, if you would, in Romans chapter 7, we're going to read verse 25 first. Romans 7 and verse 25, the Apostle Paul says, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that with my mind, or the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin." So here in one verse now, you have the law of God versus the law of sin.
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Now, if you'll go back to verse 12, Paul is discussing the law of God, and he says, "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good."
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Now skip down to verse 22. He says, "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man." So here's the law of God, which is holy, just, and good, and it's that in which the apostle delighted. Now, I want you to look, if you would, down to verse 23. He's talking now about the law of sin. He says, "...but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." Now, when he says, "I see another law," the Greek word there is heteros, which means another of a different kind. It's not the same as the law of God. That's why we talk about heterosexual marriage, which is a marriage between two different kinds, between a man and a woman. So, here is another, but it's another of a different kind. Now, that's why he said, "I see another law in my members," and that's when he explains it in verse 25, "...but with the flesh the law of sin."
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In other words, the law of sin works in the flesh. Now, the interesting thing is this. The Greek word nomos is used in connection with God, with Christ, with the Spirit, with sin, and with faith as well as with works. So, if you look back in your Bibles to Romans 3 and verse 27, Romans 3 verse 27, you're going to see it used now with the law of faith. Romans 3 verse 27, "...whereas boasting then it is excluded by what law? of works? Nay, but by the law of faith." So, we now have the law of God, we have the law of Christ, we have the law of sin, we have the law of faith. And if you look in Romans chapter 8 and verse 2, Romans 8 and verse 2, the Bible says, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." So now you have the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which has made us free from the law of sin and death.
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Now, let me ask you a question. Do you think that anyone would suggest that there is a difference between the law of God, the law of Christ, and the law of the Spirit? And I would certainly hope that the answer would be no to that, resounding no. Also, we could ask it like this. Do you think anyone would suggest that there would be a difference between the law of the Spirit and the law of faith? I would certainly say no.
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Yet the same word, nomos, is used in each one of these passages. Now, here's what I want to do just momentarily. I want to give you a broad overview of the word law. If you go to Strong's Concordance and look up the word law under nomos, you're going to find a variety of definitions. A lot of them are basically the same, but two or three have a little different flavor to them. And I want to read this to you. Listen carefully. There's three of them I really want to emphasize, but here they are. Nomos. Anything established, anything received by usage, custom, a law or command. Secondly, of any law whatsoever. But listen to this third one, a law or rule producing a state approved by God. A law or rule producing a state that is approved by God. Next it says, by the observance of that which is approved of God, then a precept or injunction, the rule of action prescribed by reason, of the Mosaic law in referring to the context, either the volume of the law or its contents.
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And then it says the Christian religion, the law demanding faith, the moral instruction given by Christ, especially the precept concerning love. And then of course he mentions sometimes the word law refers not just to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, but sometimes to the whole entire Old Testament. But note, if you would, the word here is used as a law or rule producing that which is approved by God, or the observance of anything that is approved by God, and the Christian religion which demands faith and moral instruction, and especially that which was in relationship to Jesus Christ.
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Let me give you another thought. This comes from Albert Barnes in his commentary, and he's commenting on Romans 8 in verse 2, where he says, "...for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Now listen carefully. He says, "...the word law here means that rule, command, or influence which the Spirit of life produces. It exerts a control which is here called a law. And often, for often, law means anything by which we are ruled or governed." Now, when you stop and think about that, that makes absolutely perfect sense because we talk about the law of sin. The law of sin does not have statutes.
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It does not have commands. The law of sin just simply means that we are governed and controlled by sin. We're regulated by sin. Our lusts, our desires, everything is contrary to the Word of God. The law of the Spirit would mean that we are now controlled and ruled by the Holy Spirit, of course, who leads us and guides us to bring our lives in conformity to the Word of God. So, you have then the word law used as a controlling or dominant influence in one's life. And it means that which we are ruled or that which we are governed.
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One author said it like this. He said, the law of the Spirit is the principle or authority exercised by the Holy Spirit which bestows life and which rests in Christ Jesus our Lord. And that's certainly true.
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Now, I'm going to give you just a couple of commentaries, quotes, and then I'm going to ask you some questions. Here's the first one. Matthew Poole. He said, some understand, talking about Romans 8:2, some understand here by the doctrine of the gospel, which is called the law, the spirit of life, because it is the ministry of the spirit of life. And then Matthew Henry says, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus does it. The covenant of grace made with us in Christ is a treasury of merit and grace, and hence we receive pardon and a new nature, are freed from the law of sin and death, that is both from the guilt and power of sin, from the curse of the law and the dominion of the flesh. We're under another covenant, another master, another husband, and under the law of the Spirit, and that law that gives the Spirit spiritual life to qualify us for the eternal.
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The foundation of this freedom is laid in Christ's undertaking for us, in which he speaks." So, he's just simply saying again that the law of the Spirit is nothing more than the person and work of Jesus Christ.
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Now, let me ask you some questions. I want us to look in Galatians 6 and verse 2 in just a little while. Now, these questions I'm going to ask you I am absolutely assured that you know the answers to. So my reason in asking these questions is not to elicit your answer per se, but to get you to thinking in a particular direction so that we can answer whether or not the law of Christ and the law of God are one and the same or are they different.
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So here is my first question. How many gods are there? And the answer is, one. There is only one true and living God. Deuteronomy 6 and verse 4, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." The burden of the Old Testament is the unity of God. God is one, and yet the truth is, the Scripture tells us that He has manifested Himself in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. So, the first question, how many gods are there? The answer is one. The second question is this, is Jesus Christ God? Is Jesus Christ God incarnate? Is Jesus Christ God in the flesh? And the answer is most definitely yes. For instance, John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
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All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." And when you skip down to verse 14, the Bible tells us this, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." And then there's that passage in 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16, "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory." But without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. So Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself said in John 10, verse 30, "I and the Father are one."
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Now here's a good simple question. If Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, if He and the Father are one, did He give the law originally? And the answer would be yes. Well, if He gave the law, why would He now change the law? So you would have to say it was either not perfect or right before, or God was not omniscient enough to know that there would necessitate a change sometime in the future.
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Both would be absolutely blasphemous thoughts. Now, just stop and think with me. The only way that you can postulate a change in law is to postulate a change in God. We know that Malachi 3:6 says, "I the Lord change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed." So God is immutable. He is unchangeable. I believe it was a man by the name of Bishop Ocknam who said at one point, the God of the Old Testament is a dirty bully. Well now, if he believed the God of the Old Testament was a dirty bully, what would he then believe of the God of the New Testament? In other words, if the God of the New Testament is not like the God of the Old Testament, then there has to be a change in gods. You follow? You can't change law without changing God. So what he's saying is there's a different God in the Old Testament with a different law, and there's a different God in the New Testament with a different law as well.
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So, stop and think with me now. We already know that there's only one God. We know that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. We know that He gave the law. He made the law because He is God. And yet we are also told that He was made under the law. In Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5, "But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Okay? So here's my question. Why was Jesus Christ made under the law? Now, you're going to answer, well, the Bible says to redeem us who were under the law. That is true. But the next question is, how did He redeem us?
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It is not just simply that He died as our substitute. It's not just simply that He was our sacrifice. I've pointed out in times past, you need more than forgiveness to get in the presence of God. To get in the presence of God, you not only need forgiveness of sins, you need an absolute perfect righteousness. And the Bible tells us He's made under the law. Why? In order that He might render to that law that personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience that the law demanded. So in every aspect, in every area of the law, Jesus Christ rendered an absolute perfect obedience. That is why, in Isaiah 42 and verse 21, in reference to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, the Bible says, "The law is well pleased. For His righteousness sake, He will magnify the law.
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He will make it honorable." So, if Jesus Christ then came under the law and obeyed the law, and He magnified the law and made it honorable and rendered to it every demand that it demanded, why then would it now become worthless and useless and abrogated? Why would it be set aside? So as Paul said in Romans 7 verse 12, if the law is holy and the commandment just and good, why would he replace it?
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Now let me ask another question. If the law of God was important enough for Jesus Christ to be made under it, if the law of God was important enough for Jesus Christ to render perfect obedience to it, if the law of God was important enough to demand the sacrifice of the Son of God, and He willingly submitted Himself and died under the curse and the penalty of that broken law, how could anyone now say it's worthless, it's useless, it needs to be set aside, it needs to be nullified?
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Now, let me put it to you like this. When you think of the Old Covenant, you think of the Old Testament. When you think of the New Covenant, you think of the New Testament. In fact, the word Testament just simply means covenant. Okay? Here we go. Do you realize that the Old Covenant spoke of the New Covenant and talked about a new application and a new emphasis that was going to be brought to pass by the person and work of Jesus Christ? Let me show you.
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I want you to turn back in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 31. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31, and look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 31. Jeremiah 31 and verse 31. Look what he says. Jeremiah 31, verse 31, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord."
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Now, remember, he gave his covenant in the tables of stone. Watch verse 33, "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be to me my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. And I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more."
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Now, Jeremiah says, look, there's going to be a new covenant. It will be a different application. That covenant's no longer going to be written in tables of stone. It's going to be written in your heart.
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Now, if you would turn over in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 8. And you're going to see in this passage, as well as another passage, it is practically quoting Jeremiah 31 verbatim. So look in Hebrews chapter 8, and let's begin reading there with verse 10. Hebrews 8 and verse 10. Hebrews 8 verse 10, "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord.
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I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For all shall know me, from the least even to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."
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He talks about verse 13, in that he says, "...a new covenant he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." What part are we talking about? Well, if you were to go back and begin reading it, Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 13, and read all the way through chapter 9 and verse 14, we're talking all about the ceremonial law, the rituals, everything that's to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
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Now, let me show it to you again. Look in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 15. So you'll see it clearly, I hope, in this passage. Hebrews 10 verse 15, "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that, he said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Now watch carefully.
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Now where remission of these is, there's no more offering for sin. We do not continually bring oxen and lambs and rams for sacrifice. Why? Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, suffered once and for all. Now watch. Because of that, verse 19, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with
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a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised." I want you to understand when he's talking about this, he's talking about a new way into the holiest of all. In the old covenant, the high priest only went into the holiest of all once a year, and that not without the shedding of blood. The other priests couldn't even get into the holiest of all. The people could not even get into there. They could not even get into the holy place that was reserved for the priest. But now, He says, through this new covenant, through what Jesus Christ has done, we have boldness to enter into the holiest of all. We may freely and fully come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when you read Hebrews 8, 9 and 10, there are two main differences that are enunciated between the old covenant and the new covenant.
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The first one is this, that Jesus Christ is the reality. He is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament types, figures, emblems, and shadows. The second emphasis is this, that the law is no longer written in tablets of stone. It is now written in our minds and in our hearts. So there is a distinction that is made by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 3 between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
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I want you to go back there. So if you will turn to 2 Corinthians 3, and we'll begin reading there with verse 7. 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 7. I want you to see this. I wish I had time just to really deal with this passage in detail, but here is the distinction. Now watch carefully. He says in verse 7, "But if the ministration of death," now he's talking about the law, because no one could keep the law, no one could render to the law that which it demanded, "but if the ministration of death written and engraved in stones was glorious," and it was, "so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance." Which glory was to be done away? You remember how Moses came down from the mount, his face shone, they had to put a veil over, they couldn't look upon him, you know? Well, that was the glory. But he says that glory was to be done away with. In other words, it's to be eclipsed by a greater glory.
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Now watch. Verse 8, "...how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious, or more glorious?" In other words, if that which Moses did was glorious, that which God the Holy Spirit does is bound to be more glorious. Now watch verse 9, "...for if the ministration of condemnation," that would be the law, "be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceeding glory." Jesus Christ is the end of righteousness. He is the fulfillment of righteousness. We are not made righteous by our law keeping. We are made righteous by Jesus Christ who kept the law perfectly. So he says, "For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceeding glory." Now watch verse 10, "For even that which was made glorious," that is the old covenant, "had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth." So everything that Jesus Christ has done is far greater than anything that Moses ever did. Then he says in verse 11, "...for if that which is done away was glorious," certain aspects of the Old Covenant, "...much more that which remaineth is glorious."
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So he says there's something that remains that is glorious as well. So it was not the law of God that was done away with. It was the glory, and that glory was eclipsed by Jesus Christ. So, the person and work of Jesus Christ is far greater and far more glorious than all of the Old Testament types and emblems and figures and shadows because we now have the reality in the Lord Jesus Christ. But the law was not abrogated. It was the glory of it. It was eclipsed and done away with by the fulfillment of all those ceremonial laws and rituals by the Lord Jesus Christ. There is something that remains, he says in verse 11, he says, "For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious."
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Now, I want to give you three quotes, and I want you to listen very carefully because I'm going to make a statement just a little bit, and I want you to understand the statement. But the first quote is by Albert Barnes. He said this, "...the thing that is to remain, that is permanent, abiding, perpetual, that has no principle of decay, and whose characteristic it is that it is everlasting, the gospel, is the permanent or abiding because it is designed to remain immutable through the remotest ages."
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So when he talks about verse 11, "...much more that which remaineth is glorious," he's talking about the gospel, he's talking about the personal work of Jesus Christ in fulfilling all of these Old Testament types. Here's Matthew Poole, "...the strength of his argument dependeth upon this principle, that any durable good is more excellent and glorious than that which is but transitory and for a time. The ministration of the law is done away, the law containing ordinance is itself done away, and therefore the ministration of it must need cease.
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There are now no priests and Levites, no worldly sanctuary, nor any ministrations in it or relating to it. But our Saviour hath told us that His gospel shall be preached to the end of the world, so that the ministration must, according to all the principles of reason, be more glorious as that which is eternal is more glorious than that which is fluid and vanishing." So again, he is saying that which remains is how Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and the gospel that has been established by the Son of God.
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Now, the next quote is by John Gill, and I want you to listen very carefully because in the very first sentence, you think that he's going to trash all of God's law, but he's not, and he's going to explain it. And if you can get these little points down, it will help you immensely. Listen carefully. He says, the law is that which is done away, not merely the ceremonial law or the judicial law, but the whole ministry of Moses and particularly the law of the Decalogue. Then he says this, for the better understanding of this, you must distinguish between the matter and the ministry of it. The ministry of it by Moses is done away. The matter of it, so far as of a moral nature, abides. You must also distinguish between the law as in the hands of Moses and of Christ. As in the hands of Moses, it is broken to pieces and abolished. As in the hands of Christ, as King of His church, it remains. You must also distinguish between precepts and precepts.
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Some are mixed, being partly moral, partly ceremonial as the fourth and fifth commands, and others are not, which is ceremonial or purely related to the Jews while in their civil policy and in the land of Canaan is done away. But what is purely moral is, as to the matter of it, still obliging. You must distinguish between the law as a covenant of works and as a rule of walk and conversation or conduct. As a covenant of works, it is done away, and it is. No man can be saved by the law. As a rule of walk and conduct, it still continues. You must distinguish between persons and persons, to them that are redeemed from it it is done away, to them that are under it, it remains. And lastly, distinguish between the right and wrong use of it. As to any use of it to justify us before God by our obedience, it is done away with.
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But as it may be of use to convince sinners of sin, and to direct saints in a course of righteousness, so it abides." So he says, once you begin to look at this thing, you have to distinguish between the matter and the manner, the ministry, the precepts, the hands of Moses, the hands of Christ. So Gill is not trashing the law. He's saying, look, there is a ministration of it, there is a ministry of it that has been done away with, but the law has not been done away with.
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Now, I want you to go back and look in your Bibles to Galatians 6 and verse 2. I want you to see this. Look in Galatians 6 and verse 2, because some are going to try to take the law of Christ and make it to be different from the law of God. So, in Galatians 6 and verse 2, the Scripture says, "...bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Now, in order to understand verse 2, you must see it in the context. So, look at verse 1. He says, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault," that is, you've tripped up, you've been ensnared, you've been caught in something that is sinful and wicked. "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."
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Now, let me ask you a question. What is the law of Christ in this context? In this context, it is bearing one another's burdens. Which would be, help me out now, loving your neighbor as yourself, ministering to the saints of God, exhibiting what you and I would call brotherly love. In other words, what you have in Galatians 6:1-2 is an application of God's law. It is not a new law, but it is the old law revealed in a new way with the heart and love of Jesus Christ. Now, look if you would at the remote context, Galatians 5, verse 14. I wish I had time to go through all of this passage, but look in Galatians 5, verse 14, he says, "...for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
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We've looked at that last week. We've looked at that in the weeks before. What is the summary of God's law? Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul. What is the second? Love thy neighbor as thyself, of course.
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Now, let me give you Hebrews 6 and verse 10. We're talking about bearing one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Hebrews 6 verse 10 says this, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you have showed toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister." What? God is not unrighteous to forget our love for Him? How do we exhibit our love for Him?
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By ministering to each other. That's exactly what he's talking about. I want you to turn back to John chapter 13. I covered this last week, but I'm just going to point it out this week in light of what we're talking about. John 13, look at verses 34 and 35. John 13, verses 34 and 35. Look what our Lord says. You will remember this when I point it out again. Our Lord says, "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another." Now, I'm going to comment on this. I'm not going to deal with the word new. I did that last week. But I do want you to look in John 15 and verse 12. I'm going to come back, John 15 and verse 12. He says, "This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you." Now, I pointed out last week, it is not a new commandment.
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Because Leviticus 19 verse 18 says, "...thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord." So it is not anew in the sense that this is something that Jesus Christ is just giving. What He is giving is a new application of it because He says now that we're to love one another as He loved us. How did He love us?
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He gave Himself for us. Now, look in John 15 and verse 12 again. He says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." That's how Christ loved us. He laid down His life for us.
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Now, let me point something out. Again, you must remember that love in the Bible is the fulfilling of the law. That's what he said very plainly in Romans chapter 13, verses 8 through 10. Love is the fulfilling of the law. What did he say in 1 John 5 and verse 3? "And this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and they're not grievous unto us."
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So let me emphasize this once again. Love, according to the Bible, is obedient to God's law. Now, what someone comes along and says, well, we're under the law of love, and what they mean by that is some emotion or some feeling or some sentiment. Well, let me ask you a question. If love happens to be emotion or sentiment or feeling, how do you know when you have enough? How do you know when you have fulfilled the law of love?
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It's impossible to help without a standard. God's law happens to be our standard.
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Now, let me mention something else. Someone is going to say, the law of Christ happens to be for God's children. That means we're to love one another. Really? Okay. If we are under a new law, and that new law is just simply that we love one another, no one's going to define love by obedience to God's law. My question would be this. Under what standard is God going to judge the wicked? Because obviously they're not going to love the way Christ loved us, nor can they. So by what standard would God judge the wicked? And the answer would be, I don't know how He could unless He judged them by His law which He has revealed, which they are obligated to go by.
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Now, I want to give you a couple of quotes on Galatians 6 and verse 2. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Here's John Gill again. He said, "...this is a law or doctrine which Christ has clearly taught, and recovered from the false glosses of the Pharisees. It is His new commandment, which He has strengthened and enforced by His own example in dying for His people, and which He by His Spirit inscribes upon their hearts." Adam Clarke, "...and so fulfill the law of Christ. That law or commandment, you shall love one another, or that do unto all men as you would have them do unto you, we should be as indulgent to the infirmities of others as we can be consistently with truth and righteousness.
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Our brother's infirmity may be his burden, and if we do not choose to help him to bear it, let us not reproach him because he is obliged to carry the load." So let me ask you this. Bear ye one another's burdens. In the context, the Bible says, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such a one. So let's say that David has fallen into a sin. He's become entrapped. He's been ensnared. And I see that. And Gary sees that. And we go to David and say, David, we would just like to share some things with you from the Word of God. Here's what you're doing, and here's why it is contrary to God and His law and His Word, and here's how it's hurting you and your family and hurting the testimony and hurting the church. And here's the remedy, and we want to help you. We want to pray with you. We want to share with you how you can be released. Let me ask you a question.
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Is that not loving your brother as yourself? Of course it is. That's exactly what he's talking about in Galatians 6 and verse 2. Let me go a little bit further. Here's Matthew Poole. Listen carefully. "The law of Christ, he means the will of Christ, revealed in the Gospel, particularly the law of love, so much enjoined by Christ, which is not called the law of Christ, because first given by him, for himself maketh it the sum of the ten commandments, but because he receiveth it, and vindicated it
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from the corruption of the Pharisees, because he so often urged it, and so seriously commanded and commended it to his disciples, and set us the highest precedent and example of it, and hath by his Spirit written it in our hearts." Wow! You know, he's saying exactly the same thing. One more. Listen to Matthew Henry. "To excite us hereunto the apostle adds by way of motive that so we shall fulfill the law of Christ.
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That is to act agreeably to the law of his precept, which is the law of love and obliges us to a mutual forbearance and forgiveness to sympathy with and compassion toward each other. It would also be agreeable to his pattern and example, which have the force of a law to us. He bears with us under our weaknesses and follies. He is touched with a fellow feeling of our infirmities.
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And therefore, there is good reason why we should maintain the same temper towards one another." Now, let me mention something to you. I realize I have not researched every Puritan and every scholar that has ever lived. I understand that. But I will tell you this. I have not found one scholar, I have not found one Puritan, I have not found one man who has said that the law of Christ is different from the law of God. It can't possibly be because Jesus Christ is God and He gave the law.
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Now, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 21. I want you to see what the Apostle Paul said, and I'm going to give you just another quote in just a moment, and I'm going to try to tie it together for you. But look in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 21. You have to understand the context. In fact, let's read beginning there with verse 19, so you can see the context. He says, verse 19, 1 Corinthians 9, "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain them more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. To them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. To them that are without law, as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law." The law of God and the law of Christ here are the same.
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There are not two laws. There is only one law that is given to us now in a new and glorious ministration. Interestingly, he said, to them that are without law, that would be the heathen, I am without law. That is, he was not going to fulfill all those ceremonies and rituals that the Pharisees and the Jews did. No, he wasn't going to do that. But he said that he was not without law to God, but under the law to Christ. Here's one quote by Albert Barnes, "Being not without law to God, not regarding myself as being absolutely without law or as being freed from obligation to obey God. Even in all this I endeavored so to live that it might be seen that I felt myself bound by law to God. I was not a despiser and contemner and neglecter of the law as such, but only regarded myself as not bound by the peculiar ceremonial law of Moses."
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This is the instance of Paul's conscientiousness. He would not leave room to have it supposed for a moment that he disregarded all law. He was bound to God by law, and in conduct of which he is referring, he felt that he was obeying Him. He was bound by a higher law than those ceremonial observances which were now to be done away. This passage would destroy all the refuges of the antinomians. Whatever the privilege that the gospel has introduced, it has not set us free from the restraints and obligations of law. That is binding still, and no man is at liberty to disregard the moral law of God. Christ came to magnify, strengthen, and to honor the law, and not to destroy it."
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Now, the interesting thing is this. If you will look at verse 21, he says, "...to them that are without law, as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ." Literally, it says this, "...not being an outlaw of God, but an in-law of Christ." And the little word en is affixed to the word law, so it means in-law. So he says, I'm not an outlaw, I'm an in-law to Christ because Christ is indeed God and He has given us His law. Obviously, the law of Christ and the law of God are one and the same.
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Matthew Poole said this, "To the Gentiles he behaved himself as if he himself had been a Gentile, that is, forbearing the observances of the Levitical law, to which the Gentiles had never any obligation at all. Yet he did not behave himself as one that had no regard to the law of God that was yet in force and obligatory, but acknowledged himself to be under that, though a servant of Christ, so that he abated nothing of his necessary duty, only denied himself in some things, as to which the law of God had left him a liberty, both to the Jews and Gentiles, propounding to himself the same end to both, that is, the gaining of their souls to Jesus Christ." So, no one is saying that the law of Christ is different from the law of God.
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Now, I want you to turn to one last passage. I want you to turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 3. Here is my application for today. Hebrews chapter 3. The law of God is the law of Christ under the ministration of Christ who has made it far more glorious than the ministration of Moses. It's not the law that has been done away with. It was the glory that Moses had that has been done away with. The rituals have been done away with. The law is still the same. Now, watch this.
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is the true builder and has all the honor. Now watch. Look in Hebrews chapter 3, beginning there, if you would please, with verse 1. "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him that appointed Him." That is, Jesus Christ was the faithful one to the Father. You have to remember, Jesus Christ was not in opposition to His Father. He came as a servant of His Father. He was the sent One. He said over and over, I came not to do My will, but I came to do the will of My Father who has sent Me. So, he was faithful to Him who appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all of his house. Now, of course, Moses was faithful, but Moses' faithfulness could not reach the apex of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Now, look what it says about Jesus Christ, verse 3, "For this man," that is, Jesus Christ, "was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who had built the house hath more honor than the house.
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For every house is built by some man, but he that built all things is God. For Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast to confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." What does he say? You remember, it was Moses who built the tabernacle under the direction of God. It was Solomon who built the temple under the direction of God. But we, according to Ephesians chapter 2, are now the temple of God. We are the house of God.
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It's not stones any longer. It's living beings and His law is not written in tables of stones but in our heart. And Jesus Christ in His ministry has surpassed the glory that Moses had because He now has this new emphasis and the new application in the fact that He's given us His life and His example and He tells us to love one another as He has loved us. The law of Christ is the law of God because Jesus Christ is God.
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There is no difference between the Father and the Son. He said the Father and I are one. One God revealed in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. Help us, Lord, to think clearly. Help us, Lord, to understand. And Lord, we pray that You would indeed teach us and build us up in the most holy faith. In Thy name we pray, Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:00:19Z

The Promises of the Law 23

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver addresses whether the law of Christ is different from the law of God, arguing from Scripture that they are one and the same. He explains that the word 'law' (nomos) is used in various contexts (law of God, law of Christ, law of the Spirit, law of sin, law of faith) but refers to the same moral standard when applied to God's commands. Jesus Christ, being God, gave the law and fulfilled it perfectly; He did not abolish it but magnified it. The new covenant writes the law on hearts rather than stone, and the ceremonial aspects are fulfilled in Christ, but the moral law remains. The law of Christ is the law of God ministered by Christ with a new emphasis on love, exemplified in bearing one another's burdens.

Introduction and the Law of Christ

Weaver introduces the topic by reading Galatians 6:2 and noting that many claim to follow the law of Christ but wrongly separate it from the law of God.

The Law of Moses is the Law of God

Using Ezra 7:6 and Nehemiah 10:29, Weaver shows that what is called the law of Moses is actually God's law given through Moses.

Let me give you two scriptures. You don't have to turn to them. I'll quote them for you. But the first one is found in Ezra chapter 7 in verse 6. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Ezra 7:6

"This Ezra went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given."

Now, it is called the Law of Moses, but it also says,

Scripture Reading — Ezra 7:6

"...which the Lord God of Israel had given."

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:25

"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that with my mind, or the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin."

So here in one verse now, you have the law of God versus the law of sin.

Various Uses of 'Law' in Scripture

Weaver surveys Romans 7–8 and Romans 3:27 to demonstrate that 'law' (nomos) refers to different controlling principles: law of God, law of sin, law of the Spirit, law of faith.

Scripture Reading — Romans 7:25

"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that with my mind, or the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin."

So here in one verse now, you have the law of God versus the law of sin.

Scripture Reading — Romans 3:27

"...whereas boasting then it is excluded by what law? of works? Nay, but by the law of faith."

Definition of 'Law' and Its Broad Meaning

Citing Strong's Concordance and Albert Barnes, Weaver explains that 'law' can mean a rule producing a state approved by God or a controlling influence.

Jesus Christ as God and Lawgiver

Weaver argues that since Jesus is God, He gave the law; a change in law would imply a change in God, which is impossible because God is immutable.

So here is my first question. How many gods are there? And the answer is, one. There is only one true and living God. Deuteronomy 6 and verse 4,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 6:4

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord."

Scripture Reading — John 1:1-3, 14

All things were made by Him, and without Him was not

Christ Made Under the Law to Fulfill It

Jesus was made under the law to render perfect obedience and to redeem us, magnifying the law and making it honorable, not abolishing it.

Scripture Reading — Galatians 4:4-5

"But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."

Old and New Covenants: Law Written on Hearts

Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8–10 show the new covenant writes God's law on hearts; the ceremonial law is fulfilled in Christ, but the moral law remains.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 31:31-34

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord."

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 8:10-13

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For all shall know me, from the least even to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

He talks about verse 13, in that he says,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 8:10-13

"...a new covenant he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away."

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 8:10-13

"Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that, he said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."

Now watch carefully.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 10:15-22

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised."

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"But if the ministration of death,"

now he's talking about the law, because no one could keep the law, no one could render to the law that which it demanded,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"but if the ministration of death written and engraved in stones was glorious,"

and it was,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance."

2 Corinthians 3: The Greater Glory of the New Ministration

The ministration of the Spirit and righteousness in Christ exceeds the glory of the old covenant; the law is not done away, but its glory is eclipsed by Christ.

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"But if the ministration of death,"

now he's talking about the law, because no one could keep the law, no one could render to the law that which it demanded,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"but if the ministration of death written and engraved in stones was glorious,"

and it was,

Scripture Reading — 2 Corinthians 3:7-11

"so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance."

Commentators on the Permanence of the Moral Law

Quotes from Barnes, Poole, and Gill clarify that the moral law abides while the ceremonial and judicial aspects are fulfilled; distinctions must be made.

Galatians 6:2 in Context: Love Fulfills the Law

Bearing one another's burdens is an application of God's law of love; the law of Christ is not new but the old law revealed with Christ's heart and example.

The Law of Christ is the Law of God

1 Corinthians 9:21 shows Paul was 'under the law to Christ,' equating the law of God and the law of Christ; commentators affirm this unity.

Application: Christ's Superior Glory and Our Response

Hebrews 3 contrasts Moses and Christ; Christ's ministry surpasses Moses' glory, and believers are now God's house with His law written on their hearts.

The Promises of the Law 23

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	723191532401735
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Holiness and Obedience
Genre	Sermon
Date	2019-07-07
Dictation Name
Book	Book 005: Promises Of The Law — Chapter 23
Source Timed Segments	72

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and the Law of Christ: Weaver introduces the topic by reading Galatians 6:2 and noting that many claim to follow the law of Christ but wrongly separate it from the law of God.
The Law of Moses is the Law of God: Using Ezra 7:6 and Nehemiah 10:29, Weaver shows that what is called the law of Moses is actually God's law given through Moses.
Various Uses of 'Law' in Scripture: Weaver surveys Romans 7–8 and Romans 3:27 to demonstrate that 'law' (nomos) refers to different controlling principles: law of God, law of sin, law of the Spirit, law of faith.
Definition of 'Law' and Its Broad Meaning: Citing Strong's Concordance and Albert Barnes, Weaver explains that 'law' can mean a rule producing a state approved by God or a controlling influence.
Jesus Christ as God and Lawgiver: Weaver argues that since Jesus is God, He gave the law; a change in law would imply a change in God, which is impossible because God is immutable.
Christ Made Under the Law to Fulfill It: Jesus was made under the law to render perfect obedience and to redeem us, magnifying the law and making it honorable, not abolishing it.
Old and New Covenants: Law Written on Hearts: Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8–10 show the new covenant writes God's law on hearts; the ceremonial law is fulfilled in Christ, but the moral law remains.
2 Corinthians 3: The Greater Glory of the New Ministration: The ministration of the Spirit and righteousness in Christ exceeds the glory of the old covenant; the law is not done away, but its glory is eclipsed by Christ.
Commentators on the Permanence of the Moral Law: Quotes from Barnes, Poole, and Gill clarify that the moral law abides while the ceremonial and judicial aspects are fulfilled; distinctions must be made.
Galatians 6:2 in Context: Love Fulfills the Law: Bearing one another's burdens is an application of God's law of love; the law of Christ is not new but the old law revealed with Christ's heart and example.
The Law of Christ is the Law of God: 1 Corinthians 9:21 shows Paul was 'under the law to Christ,' equating the law of God and the law of Christ; commentators affirm this unity.
Application: Christ's Superior Glory and Our Response: Hebrews 3 contrasts Moses and Christ; Christ's ministry surpasses Moses' glory, and believers are now God's house with His law written on their hearts.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

The word 'law' has multiple biblical uses but refers to the same moral standard when applied to God.

Weaver argues that 'law' (nomos) can mean a controlling principle (law of sin, law of the Spirit) or God's commands; the law of Christ is not a different set of commands.

He says, 'Do you think that anyone would suggest that there is a difference between the law of God, the law of Christ, and the law of the Spirit? And I would certainly hope that the answer would be no.'

Jesus Christ is God, therefore He gave the law and cannot contradict it.

Since Jesus is God incarnate and one with the Father, He is the author of the law; He would not give a law and later replace it with a different one.

Weaver asks, 'If Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, if He and the Father are one, did He give the law originally? And the answer would be yes. Well, if He gave the law, why would He now change the law?'

Christ's obedience and death affirm the law's enduring validity.

If the law were worthless, Christ would not have needed to obey it perfectly or die under its curse; His work proves the law's ongoing importance.

Weaver states, 'If the law of God was important enough for Jesus Christ to be made under it... how could anyone now say it's worthless?'

The new covenant internalizes the law, it does not abrogate it.

Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 promise the law written on hearts, not its removal; the change is in location (heart vs. stone) and ministration, not content.

Weaver says, 'That covenant's no longer going to be written in tables of stone. It's going to be written in your heart.'

2 Corinthians 3 contrasts the glory of the ministries, not the law itself.

The 'done away' refers to the fading glory of Moses' ministry and the ceremonial system, not the moral law; the greater glory of Christ's ministry remains.

Weaver explains, 'It was not the law of God that was done away with. It was the glory, and that glory was eclipsed by Jesus Christ.'

Galatians 6:2 shows the law of Christ is the law of love, which is the summary of God's law.

Bearing burdens is an application of Leviticus 19:18; the law of Christ is not new but the old command to love neighbor, now exemplified by Christ's sacrifice.

Weaver says, 'What is the law of Christ in this context? In this context, it is bearing one another's burdens. Which would be... loving your neighbor as yourself.'

1 Corinthians 9:21 equates the law of God and the law of Christ.

Paul says he is 'not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,' showing the two are identical; he is an 'in-law' to Christ, not an outlaw.

Weaver notes, 'Literally, it says this, "not being an outlaw of God, but an in-law of Christ."'

Historical commentators affirm the unity of the law of God and the law of Christ.

Quoting Gill, Poole, Henry, and Barnes, Weaver shows that respected theologians see the law of Christ as the moral law of God clarified and enforced by Christ.

Weaver says, 'I have not found one scholar... who has said that the law of Christ is different from the law of God.'

Scripture References

Galatians 6:2: The key text: 'Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.' Weaver uses this to discuss the law of Christ.
Ezra 7:6: Shows the law of Moses is actually the law of the Lord God of Israel.
Nehemiah 10:29: Confirms the law given by Moses is God's law.
Romans 7:25: Paul serves the law of God with his mind but the law of sin with his flesh.
Romans 7:12: The law is holy, just, and good.
Romans 7:22-23: Paul delights in the law of God but sees another law (law of sin) warring in his members.
Romans 3:27: Mentions the law of faith in contrast to the law of works.
Romans 8:2: The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus frees from the law of sin and death.
Deuteronomy 6:4: The Lord our God is one Lord, emphasizing the unity of God.
John 1:1-3, 14: Jesus is the Word made flesh, God incarnate.
1 Timothy 3:16: God was manifest in the flesh, referring to Christ.
John 10:30: Jesus said, 'I and the Father are one.'
Malachi 3:6: God does not change, supporting His immutability.
Galatians 4:4-5: Christ was made under the law to redeem those under the law.
Isaiah 42:21: The Messiah will magnify the law and make it honorable.
Jeremiah 31:31-34: The new covenant promise to write God's law on hearts.
Hebrews 8:10-13: Quotes Jeremiah 31, showing the new covenant internalizes the law.
Hebrews 10:15-22: The new covenant provides boldness to enter the holiest through Christ's blood.
2 Corinthians 3:7-11: The ministration of death (law) had glory, but the ministration of the Spirit and righteousness exceeds in glory; what is done away is the glory, not the moral law.
Galatians 5:14: All the law is fulfilled in one word: love your neighbor as yourself.

Historical References

Albert Barnes (commentator): Quoted on Romans 8:2 regarding 'law' as a controlling influence, and on 2 Corinthians 3:11 regarding the permanence of the gospel.
Matthew Poole (commentator): Quoted on Romans 8:2 and Galatians 6:2, affirming the law of Christ as the will of Christ revealed in the gospel.
Matthew Henry (commentator): Quoted on Romans 8:2 and Galatians 6:2, emphasizing the law of Christ as the law of love.
John Gill (commentator): Extensively quoted on 2 Corinthians 3:11 and Galatians 6:2, distinguishing between the matter and ministry of the law.
Adam Clarke (commentator): Quoted on Galatians 6:2 regarding bearing burdens as fulfilling the law of Christ.
Bishop Ocknam (historical figure): Mentioned as one who called the God of the Old Testament a 'dirty bully,' illustrating the error of separating the Testaments.
Strong's Concordance: Cited for definitions of the Greek word 'nomos' (law).

Important Quotes

The only way that you can postulate a change in law is to postulate a change in God.

This encapsulates Weaver's argument that God's immutability necessitates the continuity of His moral law.

It was not the law of God that was done away with. It was the glory, and that glory was eclipsed by Jesus Christ.

Clarifies the 2 Corinthians 3 passage, distinguishing between the law and the glory of its ministration.

You must distinguish between the matter and the ministry of it. The ministry of it by Moses is done away. The matter of it, so far as of a moral nature, abides.

A key quote from John Gill that Weaver uses to explain how the law remains while its Mosaic administration ceases.

Love, according to the Bible, is obedient to God's law.

Defines biblical love not as mere sentiment but as conformity to God's commandments.

The law of Christ is the law of God because Jesus Christ is God.

The concluding thesis of the sermon, summarizing the unity of the law.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does understanding that the law of Christ is the same as the law of God affect the way we read the New Testament commands?

[Context]

Weaver argues that the law of Christ is not a new law but the moral law of God applied with Christ's example.

[Question]

In what ways does the new covenant write God's law on our hearts differently from the old covenant's tablets of stone?

[Context]

Weaver discusses Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8, emphasizing internalization of the law.

[Question]

Why is it important to distinguish between the ceremonial law and the moral law when discussing the continuity of God's law?

[Context]

Weaver and John Gill stress the distinction between what is fulfilled in Christ and what remains as a rule of life.

[Question]

How does the immutability of God provide a foundation for the enduring nature of His moral commands?

[Context]

Weaver states that a change in law would require a change in God, which is impossible.

[Question]

What does it mean to 'bear one another's burdens' as a fulfillment of the law of Christ in practical church life?

[Context]

Weaver applies Galatians 6:1-2 to restoring a fallen brother with meekness and love.

[Question]

How does Christ's perfect obedience to the law enhance our understanding of His role as our righteousness?

[Context]

Weaver explains that Christ rendered perfect obedience to the law to provide the righteousness we need.

[Question]

In what sense is the 'law of Christ' a 'new commandment' if it is not actually new?

[Context]

Weaver notes that the command to love is old (Leviticus 19:18) but new in its application through Christ's example.

[Question]

How can we avoid the error of antinomianism while still rejoicing in freedom from the law's condemnation?

[Context]

Weaver quotes Barnes: 'Whatever the privilege that the gospel has introduced, it has not set us free from the restraints and obligations of law.'

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:45:08Z