Romans 2.11 : "For before God there is no acceptance of persons: all who sin without the law shall also perish without the law, and all who have sinned with the law shall be judged by the law." for those who hear the law are not righteous before God, but those who put it into practice will be justified."
Introduction : God made a covenant with Abraham through which he promised him that "all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in his seed" (Genesis 22:18, Genesis 26: 4, Genesis 18:18). Notice that God announced that this blessing would be for all the nations of the earth and would be possible through the seed of Abraham, that posterity is Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16). The Divine Law is revealed by God to His prophets, it is the foundation of the Old Testament that prepares and disposes of the chosen people in the coming of the Messiah: Jesus Christ. The Word of God manifested is more than a book of stories because it gives the meaning of human existence. Man can discover what God, his Creator, still does for him today. Named also the Holy Scriptures, they provide a teaching that speaks to everyone's conscience. The Divine Law is the Prescription established by the authority of God, applicable to all and defining the rights and duties of each.
Proverbs 13.13 : "He who despises the word is lost, but he who fears the precept is rewarded."
The old Alliance:
Jacob lived in Egypt with his children, thanks to Joseph, his son who ruled as governor, their people grew. In Egypt this people became slaves for four centuries, something that God had previously told Abraham (Genesis 15:13). The people of Israel groaned with grief under the yoke of Pharaoh. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He had compassion on his people (Exodus 2:24). He sent his servant Moses as mediator to deliver the Hebrew people from Pharaoh's hand. The people were thus delivered from the Egyptians, 430 years later (Exodus 12:41). On leaving Egypt God led the people of Israel into the desert and dealt with him an alliance. It was based on a set of ordinances called "The Law", Moses was the mediator of this covenant (Deuteronomy 6).
Deuteronomy 10.11: "The LORD said to me," Arise, go, walk at the head of the people. Let them take possession of the land I swore to their fathers to give them."
In the Old Testament, at Mount Sinai the Ten Commandments of God for Moses and His people are a short written set of moral instructions. The covenant covenanted with the Hebrew people through Moses was intended to bring him into the land of Canaan, a land that God swore to Abraham to give to his children (Exodus 33: 1). The "Law" has not given as a means of salvation, but as a preparatory tool, to train man to see his need for a Savior. It is only when we understand our utter helplessness, that we experience the desire of Christ the Savior for our lives. God to a plan for each of us, an eternal destiny, His commandments are safety barriers. The resulting "restrictions" are there for our protection, they prevent us from going beyond the limits.
1 Kings 2.3 : "Observe the commandments of the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and keeping his laws, his judgments, his judgments, and his precepts, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you succeed in everything you do and everywhere you turn."
The New Alliance :
The New Testament is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham by God, of which Jesus Christ is the only mediator of an alliance more excellent than that made through Moses (Hebrews 8: 6, Hebrews 7:22). It is the covenant that brings all the nations of the world into God's plan, unlike the Old Covenant that was meant for the Jewish people. Indeed, non-Jews were previously strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12). But they were brought together by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13).
2 Corinthians 3.14 : "But they have become hard of hearing, for until that day the same veil remains when they read the Old Testament, and it does not rise, because it is in Christ that he disappears."
The New Covenant, therefore, does not reject the Old but allows it to be accomplished in one person called Jesus Christ. God has established the new covenant so that death is no longer definitive through Christ. In all his conduct, man is free, which is why God has given us His commandments to protect us from evil. If God forbids us certain things, it is because of his deep and sincere love for us and not to prevent us from having fun in life.
1 Corinthians 4.3 : "For me it does not matter to me to be judged by you, or by a human tribunal, nor do I judge myself, for I do not feel guilty about anything; This is not why I am justified, the one who judges me is the Lord. "Here, Paul's answer is that men are not responsible for their state of sin. They are born that way, without being asked even if they want to exist. Adam was not created with a sinful nature, says Paul. This means that there are two completely different ways of living: the way of Christ or his personal way. Christ is the only one who will allow us to reach the summit and fulfill our destiny.
Galatians 5.13: "Brethren, you have been called to liberty, but do not make this freedom a pretext for living according to the flesh, but appoint, through love, servants of one another."
The work of the cross :
Is offered for the atonement of sins and the propitiation of men before God. It is a grace given to us by the fulfillment of the law. So we walk in the will of God who established this perfect New Covenant through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the fulfillment of the promise of God made to Abraham and his prophets: that of blessing all the nations of the earth by the coming of a Messiah Savior of the world. As a reminder, this blessing consisted in diverting the people of God from their iniquities, and allowing them to serve God without fear, and to walk before him in holiness and justice (Acts 3:25, Luke 1:67).
Hebrews 9.16 : "For where there is a testament, it is necessary that the death of the testator be ascertained, A testament, in fact, is valid only in the case of death, since it has no force so much that the testator lives.Therefore it is with blood that even the first covenant was inaugurated...."
If we are no longer under the law and Christ forgives our sins, then why not continue to sin? Such an attitude is inconceivable, born again, sin brings ill-being that can not subsist in us, it disgusts us. Christ died to offer us freedom. We are infinitely grateful, his forgiveness is meant to make us hate our sins. Whoever refuses Christ will have to assume the consequences of his choice. The legalist will also find that only those who have remained on the path of Christ have reached the summit.
2 Corinthians 3.3 : "You are clearly a letter of Christ, written by our ministry, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tables of flesh, on hearts."
Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world, and delivered mankind from the yoke of sin to enable him to serve God without fear and in holiness. This is why it is written: In Christ we have been blessed with all kinds of spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Ephesians 1: 3). And if we are Christ's, then we are the posterity of Abraham, and so we are heirs of that promise (Galatians 3:29). Those who have faith in Christ are sons of Abraham (Galatians 3: 7). Thus, even for the Gentiles, the blessing of Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:14).
Romans 3.31: "The apostle Paul will say," Let us destroy the law by faith? Far from there ! On the contrary, we confirm the law."
We can not, therefore, "suppress" the writings of God because the Bible says that "until heaven and earth pass away, there shall not depart from the law one iota or one letter" (Matthew 5: 18). Jesus himself said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill "(Matthew 5:17). Jesus Christ does not cancel the law and the prophets, but he does them!
Conclusion : God wants to profoundly change the heart of man to come back to him. How not to take it into consideration? The Bible describes the Lord's life, his teaching, his death, and his resurrection. Jesus Christ is the manifest Word of God calling anyone to follow him. It is the illustration of the perfect way above time for all sincere souls who receive the Word of truth and apply it in their lives. There is thus a difference between "recognizing the law and the prophets as the word of God," and "following the law as a means to salvation." We Christians recognize the law and the prophets as the word of God; we follow and meditate to understand it, but we do not follow the law of Moses as a means of achieving salvation and eternal life. It is only by faith in Christ that we are saved and not by the works of the law of Moses, so that it is by grace and not by merit. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" says John 1:17. This is how God always strikes the door of our heart, desiring more than anything that we are the actors of a personal relationship with him.
Philippians 1.6 : "I am persuaded that whosoever has begun this good work in you will make it perfect for the day of Jesus Christ." Amen !
