Mar 19
4
FREE TO COMMIT MURDER
We believe the word of God which declares that Christ established the
law for his people so that every believer called to faith in Christ is
not under law but under grace. Therefore, we are accused of being
antinomians. One of the common arguments involves picking out one of the
ten commandments and saying something absurd like, “So are you free to
commit murder?” It is telling that they always speak of breaking the law
outwardly but never inwardly. The Pharisees of old thought that way. But
our Master said that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause
has broken the law (Mt 5: 21-22; Mr 7: 20-21). Men who think outward
morality is holiness are men that the Lord likened to whited sepulchers
which are beautiful outwardly but within full of dead mens’ bones, and
all uncleaness (Mt 23:27).
No child of God in whom Christ dwells desires to abuse our liberty by
breaking any commandment of God outwardly. In fact, my brethren in
Christ encourage me by their honorable conduct. But though the Spirit of
God has made us “put off concerning the former conversation the old man,
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts”, and has made us “put
on on the new man, which after God, is created in righteousness and true
holiness”, still, we know that in our “flesh dwelleth no good thing.”
(Eph 5: 22-24; Rom 7: 18) The thing we mourn continually is “O wretched
man that I AM.” By continually crying unto God to deliver us through
Christ Jesus our Lord, God keeps us from the mirage of progressive
sanctification with its progressive sinlessness (Rom 7: 24).
Of course we are not free to commit murder! But make no mistake, we are
free! If we were to commit murder we would be forgiven as was David. It
is because our old man is crucified with Christ, our body of sin is
destroyed and we are no longer the servants of sin “for he that is dead
is freed [justified] from sin” (Rom 6: 6-7). We have “become dead to the
law by the body of Christ” so that we are free from the law. Now we are
“married to another, even to Christ who is raised from the dead, that we
should bring forth fruit unto God” (Rom 7: 3-4). By the faithfulness of
Christ living in us, we have “become servants unto God” that we might
freely live unto our Father (Rom 6: 22) When our Redeemer returns for
his purchased possession and raises our bodies in incorruption we shall
be free from “the body of this death” (Eph 1:14; 1 Cor 15: 42). Until
then—as our accusers live in the deception that legal fear and torment
is freedom—we will live under our Savior’s light and easy yoke of “faith
which worketh by love.” We give God all the glory that “the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made [us] free from the law of sin
and death” (Rom 8: 2; Jn 8: 32; Gal 5:6).
Clay Curtis.