The spirit of the law. The letter of the law. These are phrases often used by religious theologians who erroneously teach a mixed covenant message of law and grace. The way they try to explain it, one might be led to believe that “the spirit of the law” is a phrase actually found within the written pages of the Bible (it’s not). Generally, this talk about the spirit vs. the letter of the law is rooted in the assumption that believers in Christ have been mandated by God to follow certain portions of the old covenant ministry which was arranged with Israel through Moses. Good luck with that.
We look at one of the passages today which is sometimes used by legalists regarding this topic. The next time someone tries to drag you into the theological weeds while trying to convince you about the spirit of the law, realize the Greek word for it is mumbo jumbo.
Legalists from the Christian religion who promote and teach a combination of the Old and New Covenant will use ambiguous language which is often misleading and leaves the hearers in the state of confusion. The double talk tries to convince people they need to do something in order to become more like God, become more righteous, more holy, more sanctified and the list goes on. It begins to take the spotlight off of the finished work of Jesus Christ and put the focus on us as we try to maintain forgiveness and fellowship with God by following some sort of “Judeo Christian” mixture based upon a sandy foundation of law and grace. As believers begin hearing “Moses” out of context, they become blinded to a greater knowledge of the truth, while missing out on many blessings God has already provided. One example is where they use the fabricated phrase “the spirit of the law” when the Scripture clearly defines the passage as the Spirit of the living God.
When mixed covenant teaching attempts to suggest Christians should follow the Mosaic Law from the Old Covenant, a concept or phrase has been known to be used to build their case as they refer to “the spirit of the law.” They will complicate the simple gospel by convincing people of the differences between what they call the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. As is typically the case, people will be begin to believe the phrase actually appears in Scripture (it doesn’t). Bible “verses” get used out of context from various passages and the message of the good news becomes confusing as the waters get muddied with misleading theories which lack clarity, while leading people into a type of spiritual bondage. If you find yourself traveling on the road of lifeless religion, watch for the warning signs: “Dead End Ahead.”
EXTRAS: On this week's podcast we mentioned Kap's 'preaching' at Heartland Vineyard Church. Here is his 40 minute message on YouTube.
We also mentioned Ralph Harris and his new book "Life According to Perfect," as well as Joel's past interviews of Ralph. Check out the book here, as well as Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview.
When believers fall into the trap of getting focused on improving behavior, it often leads them back into a place of bondage rather than the freedom Jesus came to give us. Your behavior will never reach the perfect standard God required under the law of commandments given to Israel. Trying to follow those rules and statutes only caused sin to increase. The letter of the law killed, but we now live in a New Covenant of the Spirit, which gives life. The power of grace found within the Spirit of God who lives in us is a very different ministry than what Israel went through under a system of works which did not lead to righteousness within their hearts. On this week’s program, our encouragement is to abandon the attempt to mix Old Covenant commands with New Covenant grace … because in spite of what the religious world has been teaching, they are not compatible.
It’s an important chapter for Christians to familiarize themselves with: 2 Corinthians Chapter 3. There is a significant contrast that the Apostle Paul presents between the former ministry of the Mosaic law the Jews were under before the cross, and the ministry of the Spirit that we live under the New Covenant. Sadly, many Christians will never hear this exciting news taught in their church. This week, we look at Paul’s introduction from the first part of this chapter, as he explains how the former ministry written with ink and on stones did not bring life, but its ministry was to kill.
