Fulfilling the Law of Christ

(Galatians 6:2-3)

These are two verses that have a powerful message for all who would seek the salvation of the Lord.

They speak to several things. Firstly, the need to fulfil the law of Christ, whatever that is, and secondly, how we ought to go about doing this.

And one of the first things we must understand is that the law of Christ is not the same as the law of Moses. There is a wealth of scripture to show us exactly that, and in fact if we attempt to rebuild the law of Moses in our live after Christ tore it down, we end up separating ourselves from Christ. So let us look at the power of these two verses to understand what Paul meant by these things.

Law of Moses

First, let us look at the law of Moses. God gave the law to Moses for the purpose of containing and condemning sin among the people of Israel.

Moses went and stood on the mountain and was given the Ten Commandments by which the people of Israel were to live. These are the laws given by God to man. And they were expanded over time until the whole of the law was complete, giving us a little more than 650 laws, commandments and ordinances that make up the totality of the Mosaic law.

We are told that the law was given because of sin. Sin was running rampant in man, and you only need look at the account of the exodus of the people from Egypt and the ways they sinned over the forty year period they spent in the wilderness to see how bad things had become. Remember, prior to leaving Egypt, the Israelites had no law and they followed the laws and the ways of the Egyptians, which may explain their fall into idolatry and the making of the golden calf.

The focus of the law of Moses was to show sin for what it was, and to condemn sin for what it is. But it also included many laws to do with the forms of worship, the requirements for the priesthood of the Levites, food and clothing laws and so on.

Apart from sin then, the laws of Moses were given to promote a better way of life. For example, the food and clothing laws ensure that the people would not suffer as badly as others by establishing clean and unclean foods, and how they should be prepared and eaten. If we think about some of the unclean foods that were identified, which included things like pork, ham, camel meat, horse flesh, carrion birds, shellfish, crustaceans and so on, it is evident that there is much wisdom in these food laws. Typically today if someone is going to get food poisoning from meats, it will be from one of these unclean foods. And how much worse would it have been in biblical times when they did not have modern refrigeration.

So these were the laws of Moses and the focus of why they were given. But they are not the same as the law of Christ.

Law of Christ

The law of Christ is quite different from the law of Moses for we know that when Christ came, He did away with the law. He died to set us free from the law of Moses so that we would no longer be condemned as sinners.

We also see in various places, a number of scriptures that tell us we have been set free from the Mosaic law and that the law of Christ is different from the law of Moses, as administered by the priesthood of the Levites. Consider this for a moment.

11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levit’ical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchiz’edek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. (Hebrews 7:11-14)

The priests under the law were all descended from Aaron, who was descended from the tribe of Levi. All of the priestly duties in the temple could only be done by the members of the Levites, and all the high priests could only be direct descendants of Aaron, who was the first high priest. These things were not just traditions, they were enshrined in the law, and if anyone else sought to be a priest who was not both of the tribe of Levi and a descendant of Aaron, they were breaking the law.

But here we see that Jesus became a priest, although He was not a priest of the Levites but of God. Jesus could not be a priest under the Mosaic law because He was not descended from Levi nor Aaron as Jesus was of the tribe of the kings, Judah. He became a priest after the order of Melchizedek.

This may seem a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, but the point and importance of this whole priesthood discussion is contained in verse 12 in the quoted section above.

12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.

The priesthood administered the law under the old covenant. The Levites administered the law of Moses, but Jesus was neither a Levite nor a priest descended from Aaron. And as a result the law under the new covenant and the new priesthood of Melchizedek HAD to be different. It HAD to change because it was not a priesthood of Aaron under Levi. And this clarified as you continue to read this section of Hebrews where it says:

18 On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. (Hebrews 7:18-19)

And;

13 In speaking of a new covenant he treats the first as obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13)

So we see the process by which the old law under the old covenant has become superseded and replaced by the better way under the new covenant. The law of Moses has been replaced by the law of Christ. But what is the law of Christ?

In a word…love.

Love is the fulfilling of the law and we see that the new commandment that Jesus gave was that we learn to love God and to love one another.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (John 13:34)

Love is the only commandment Jesus gave to us. He even went so far as to say that this commandment of love was the underpinning of the old covenant as well, and that the two greatest commandments of the old covenant were to love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves.

Love is eternal because it is the nature of God. The old Mosaic law was based upon God’s love for man in that He did not want to see man suffer. Instead He wanted man to learn what was good and right and pleasing to God so that man could learn right from wrong.

Jesus brought us closer to the love of God by providing the way to come into His love and His presence through faith. When we believe what God achieved in the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can begin to understand the depth of God’s love for mankind, that the Son of God, who was created perfect, should empty Himself of all His glory and His power and His seat at the right hand of the Father, so that we could have the chance and the hope of salvation.

There is no greater love than to lay down a life for another, and Jesus laid down His life for ALL mankind, even those who were His enemies.

Love is the fulfilling of the law, and love is the fulfilling of the law of Christ. Seek to find God’s love and live in it and so fulfil the law of Christ.

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