The Law of Liberty (29)

“I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them he shall live by them: I am the LORD.” Leviticus 18.4, 5

The Law of God is the “Law of liberty.” It sets us free in Christ to know, love, and serve the Lord. It frees us from the tyranny of the devil and his minions. It liberates us to grow into ever-increasing fullness of the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ. The Law of God does not save us; only Jesus can do that. However, the Law of God enables us to know and enjoy the freedom we have in God’s truth as His sons and daughters (Jn. 8.32; Rom. 8.21).

One of the great hindrances to liberty from which the Law of God frees us is fear – fear of death, judgment, failure, insignificance, of being displeasing to God, not knowing how to love, or of living an irrelevant life. All these fears stalk and intimidate many of our contemporaries – especially the fear of death (Heb. 2.15).

How is it evident that people fear death? Consider the many ways they euphemize it – “passing away,” “crossing over,” “going beyond,” “no longer with us.” Consider how hard people work to postpone or forestall death – fitness regimens, healthy diets, specialized medical care, and so forth. Everyone knows he’s going to die. We just don’t find the prospect of it all that, well, enticing.

One reason this is so is because of the uncertainty of what lies beyond death. Are we going to have to face up to the record of our lives and give an accounting? Most people are aware that Christianity teaches precisely that, and it may be that, being made in the image of God and having the works of His Law written on their hearts (Rom. 2.14, 15), they just can’t quite shake the prospect that judgment might, in fact, be a reality with which they will have to contend.

But death holds no such fear for those who walk as Jesus did, trusting in the Lord and obeying His Law (Matt. 5.17-19; 1 Jn. 2.1-6). They know the Law to be a source of life – righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit – here and now, and their experience of life according to the Law gives them full assurance that, in Jesus Christ, they will stand confidently before God on that great and fearful day.

Keeping the Law of God we bask in the joy of freedom and eternal life with God. And this gives us peace and courage to face death, whenever it may come, for we know that, beyond death, there awaits us only the realized hope of glory, available to all who love Jesus and walk in His way.

Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, and The Ground for Christian Ethics, by T. M. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, click Publications, then click Waxed Tablet, and scroll down until you see these companion volumes.