THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY
From The HeartPublish date: 06/01/2004
For whosoever keeps the Law [as a] whole but stumbles and offends in one [single instance] has become guilty of [breaking] all of it. 11 For He Who said, You shall not commit adultery, also said, You shall not kill. If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become guilty of transgressing the [whole] Law. 12 So speak and so act as [people should] who are to be judged under the law of liberty [the moral instruction given by Christ, especially about love]. 13 For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment. James 2:10-13 AMP
There are some legalistic Christians who say that without the law, you cannot be convicted of sin and therefore you cannot be saved. Also, many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, wrongly believe that your good deeds save you and your bad deeds damn you. This is not scriptural. You are saved by faith alone in the precious blood of Jesus and it is the goodness of God that leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4)!
If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from grace (from God's gracious favor and unmerited blessing). 5 For we, [not relying on the Law but] through the [Holy] Spirit's [help], by faith anticipate and wait for the blessing and good for which our righteousness and right standing with God [our conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action, causes us] to hope. 6 For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love. Galatians 5:4-6 AMP
Under the New Covenant, you cannot and do not rely on the law to save you or to help you, but on the Holy Spirit instead. If you are washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything. Your own works and your own righteousness are worthless. The only thing that counts is your faith, which is activated, energized, expressed, and works through love.
James, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says that you, as a Christian, will not be judged by the Law of Moses, but you will be judged under the law of liberty! What is the law of liberty? The Amplified Bible says that it is “the moral instruction given by Christ, especially about love.” You will be judged by the Laws of Love! Jesus gave you your New Commandment, to love God and love your neighbor, which fulfills and supercedes all others. Paul repeats it here in Romans 13:8-10 AMP
Keep out of debt and owe no man anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor [who practices loving others] has fulfilled the Law [relating to one's fellowmen, meeting all its requirements]. 9 The commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet (have an evil desire), and any other commandment, are summed up in the single command, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. 10 Love does no wrong to one's neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law.
Love fulfills the law. When you stand before Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ, you will be judged not on whether you kept the law or not, but you will be judged on your love walk! Did you walk in the love of God, which was shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Spirit? Did you show mercy and grace to other people or did you judge and condemn them?
You set the standard of your own judgment by the way you have treated others. If you have shown mercy, mercy will be shown to you. If you have been hard and judgmental, you will be judged by the same high standards of judgment that you meted out on others.
With this in mind, you would be wise to put a guard over your own mouth and mind your own business. You would be wise to judge your own heart, life and attitude and allow God, alone, to judge those around you. You would be wise to choose a lifestyle of love, mercy and graciousness toward others.
But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience). James