Today, in many of our evangelical churches, God's Law (including the Ten Commandments) in the Old Testament is being proclaimed as "bad, burdensome, only being a type or shadow, having been done away with (fulfilled), no longer applicable to New Testament Christians, etc. etc." However, one of the greatest apostles of all time, the Apostle Paul, declared in Romans 7:12 - "Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good." Obviously, Paul was never taught what many of the ministers of our churches have been taught in their seminaries - that "The Age of Grace" or "The Dispensation of Grace" has made God's Law obsolete! So, who are we to believe...these ministers, who I believe are false prophets, or God's Word?
Since Romans 7:12 begins with the word, "Therefore", we need to look at the previous verses to see what made Paul come to the conclusion that God's "Law is holy and God's Commandment holy, just and good." In Verse 7, Paul states that God's Law helped him to know sin: "...For I would not have known sin except through the Law." To me, that doesn't sound like such a bad thing, is it? In Verse 10, Paul states that "And the Commandment, which was to bring LIFE, I found to bring death." What? The purpose of the Commandment was to bring LIFE? Again, what is so bad about that?
Let's continue on with some verses that follow Romans 7:12. In Verse 14, Paul declares God's Law to be "spiritual". In Verse 22, Paul states that he "delights in the Law of God"! Lastly, in Verse 25, Paul states that he "serves the Law of God". Please remember that the New Testament had not been written yet, so Paul WAS NOT referring to any "New Testament Law" - but had to be referring to God's Law, (including the Ten Commandments) in the Old Testament.
Contrary to what many of us have been taught in our churches and in our Bible colleges and seminaries, this is what God says about His Law in the Old Testament, according to Paul:
1. God's Law is Holy.
2. God's Commandment is Holy.
3. God's Commandment is Just.
4. God's Commandment is Good.
5. God's Law Reveals Sin.
6. God's Law Gives LIFE.
Oh, I know that Romans 7:10 says, "And the commandment which was to bring life, I found to bring death." However, we must look at the next verse - Verse 11: "For SIN, taking occasion by the commandment, DECEIVED me, and by IT killed me." God's Commandments are to give LIFE, not death! It is SIN that is deceiving everyone to BELIEVE that God's holy, just and good Commandments are in fact, bad!! This takes us directly back to the Garden of Eden, where Satan cast doubt on the "goodness" of God's Commandment and deceived Eve when he declared to her, "You will not surely die" (Gen. 3:3) IF she disobeyed and broke God's Commandment. However, God had told her that she would surely die. Was it God's Commandment that was going to kill her? Or, was it her disobedience to the Commandment of God (sin) that would kill her? Of course, it was her sin.
Just like our courts of law today in the U.S. - God's Law either declares us "Guilty" or God's Law can declare us "Not Guilty". It all depends IF sin has deceived us into breaking God's Law - the Ten Commandments. I John 3:4 says - "Sin is lawlessness." (NKJV) The King James Version says, "Sin is the transgression of the Law." Living without the Law of God (lawlessness) by breaking it or being disobedient to it (transgressing it) is what will sentence us to eternal death at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Speaking of the "Judgment Seat of Christ", let us not forget WHO "the Lawgiver" is. The logical response to that is "the Lawgiver is the One Who will be sitting on the Judgment Seat" - and that is Jesus Christ! James 4:12 says, "There is one Lawgiver and Judge, Who is able to save and to destroy." God's Law does not save or destroy us - it only declares us "Guilty" or "Not Guilty", and even that is good!
When you stand before Jesus Christ, the Lawgiver, on the day of Judgment - will He declare you to be "Guilty" or "Not Guilty" according to His Law - The Ten Commandments?
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