The Law of Love Explained, where Jesus is the end of the law to those who believe, or Christians are obligated to keep the moral law. Continuing our series on perversions of the gospel, today we're going to look at the heresy of the wholesale rejection of biblical law, or rather the neglecting of the moral law. In modern terminology, it is the profession of Jesus is the end of the law for those who believe. Some other statements from the visible church include, one, we are no longer the law. We're no longer under the law, but under grace. Why do you keep trying to put us back under the law? Or keeping the law is legalism. And finally, we only have one law and it is the law of love. There are others I'm sure, but I'm sure that you get the point that I'm trying to make. Professing Christians are absolutely disgusted at the prospect of having to keep the moral law or any law for that matter. They believe that they are at liberty to do as they please under this alleged law of love and they do not have to bear any responsibility for their thoughts or their actions because, and this is the phrase that they usually use, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin therefore we are free and our lips are our own. Brothers and sisters, this could not be further from the truth. To begin with, I'm going to illustrate here a fictional conversation between one who is elect of God and also the liberal professing Christian. And the presupposition to the conversation is, simply put, Jesus Christ is the physical embodiment of the Word of God and is also the author of it. John 1 verse 1. The preface of the conversation is this statement. To say that the law ceased in its entirety is absurd. How are we to have any form of ethics and morality without that which was given in the law of Moses? So, If it is universally accepted among professing Christianity that Jesus Christ fulfilled the law of Moses, how can you, as a professing Christian, state that you are no longer under the law? Well, I know I've had this conversation with people recently. I'm sure that there are others who have had this conversation. I don't know whether anybody who's listening to this may have had it, but You know, I'm pretty certain that the conversation will have taken place something like this. The person will come back and reply saying, Jesus is the whole law. He is the law of love. Then I would ask them, how do you explain according to the scriptures, meaning basically how God describes what love is, how do you explain what love is? And you will say, love your neighbor as yourself. And I'll ask, well, how and where are you to know and execute in practice this commandment? And the smart person, I'm going to assume that people who are even going to be involved in this kind of conversation, at least know something of their Bible. Not that they'll know offhand, but it could be any number of these verses here. Leviticus 19 verse 18. You shall not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. Or Matthew 19 verse 19. Honor thy father and mother and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Or perhaps Matthew 22 verse 39. the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Or perhaps they'll use Mark chapter 12 verse 31. And the second is like namely this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. The first commandment obviously having been in the conversation with Simon the Pharisee that It was said that the first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart soul strength and mind And then he continues in the second is like namely this thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself There is none other commandment greater than these or The person may go to Romans 13 verse 9 and For this, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and, if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Perhaps they'll use Paul's epistle to the Galatians, chapter 5, verse 14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." And finally, if they haven't used any of those references to how they understand what God means or how God describes to love someone, James chapter 2 verse 8. If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, you do well. So in the event that the person comes back with any one of those verses, my next response would be, from where did you find these verses? Now, if the person is a Bible student, which nine times out of 10, they probably will not be, They will not even be able to find all of these, but certainly they will not find it where it was first stated in Leviticus chapter 19, verse 18. Because that's where my answer is going to come from. The law. Because that's where the Lord Jesus got it from. Why? Because he wrote it. That's right, friends. He wrote the law himself. Okay. Hopefully, you will say, I first found them in the Law of Moses. I'll say, did you not also find in Romans 13 verse 9 the five commandments drawn from the ten commandments? And at that time the response would be, yeah, I guess I did. Though I would say to them, are we not independent on the Law of Moses as our biblical example of what it means from God's perspective? to love and then you will say hopefully I guess we have to keep the law after all so for those of you who know this already I'm hoping that this actually gives you confidence to be able to to discuss these things with your friends, you know, the ones that say that we don't have to follow the law, because obviously we do. And it's the moral law. I had a conversation with a fellow yesterday named Glenn on Facebook, um, who tried to say that, that the law doesn't need to be followed anymore. And I just, I don't know. I know I'm stammering here, and just the whole concept of this, why I'm even having to do this in the first place is just blowing my mind. It's blowing my mind because we find out right away what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 13 verse 9, where he actually takes five of the commandments, half of the 10 commandments, the Decalogue, And that right there is what it means to love according to Jesus. So you can't say we are not, we're not bound to keep the law because you are, you are. Now, again, the scenario that I just went over is a probable exchange between the preacher and the crowd. There may be an objection or two. I'm not going to go through all the potential objections for the purpose of this discourse. I'm going to just, layout what I wrote down here. It says, it's fairly certain that there will be those who will not see the simplicity of what has been expounded, but will rather take exception to the truth. After all, didn't we do the same prior to our regeneration? And again, for example, and this is what happened yesterday, which moved me to write this thing in the first place. On Facebook, someone posted the MEM of a stop sign with a hand in the halt position. The MEM stated, stop. The law ends here. The person then used Luke 16 verse 16 as a stand-alone statement to validate the mem. And the statement was this, Luke 16 16, Now, as a stand-alone statement separate from the rest of the Word of God, I suppose that, you know, perhaps you could make that into a doctrine of the law ending there. The scripture doesn't support it. That right there, even in that verse alone, it doesn't imply that the laws has ceased, but rather the following verse completes the previous verse. The one I just read, this next verse completes it. Luke 16 verse 17, and it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail. Now, my dear brethren, this is the embodiment of what you have heard me say in the past of cut-and-paste theology, where a person takes a verse and then copies it to another verse and then forms a doctrine from what he has just cut and paste and And voila, instant theology. It's the devil's theology because that's exactly how Satan does it. But you know, I'm sure some people, and I'm sure you know them, that's good enough for them. It's not good enough for anybody. That's heresy. Let's look at Matthew 11, verse 13. This here's another verse that was used in support of Luke 16, 16. And it simply reads, for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. Now, again, that verse standing alone, you know, it makes, I guess it makes sense to somebody that, you know, that once John the Baptist was revealed to the world, then, well, the law stopped. And again, for the unlearned, this would seem on the surface to support it. However, The verse has been ripped from its context. Remember, cut and paste theology. And it has to do only with that which was concerning John the Baptist in his ministry. In fact, here is the verse in its context from Matthew 11. We're going to start in verse seven and continue through verse 19. And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, what went ye out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Well, behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet, for this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. Notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. If you will receive it, this is Elijah. for which was for to come. He that has ears to hear, let him hear. Again, listen to that. He that has ears to hear, let him hear. I wonder what that means. I know what it means and you should too. But anyway, I digress. But where unto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets and calling unto their fellows and saying, we have piped unto you and you have not danced. We have mourned unto you and you have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He is a devil. The son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of our children. Now, clearly this verse has nothing to do with the wholesale obliteration of the law and our obligation to keep it. The facts are clear, brethren, that Jesus Christ is indeed the completion of the law, but completion does not mean we are free from the law and Christ. Rather, you are even more obligated to keep the law for the moral law, and you have no more excuses to reject it. Rather, it is written, John chapter 14 verse 15, if you love me, keep my commandments. I'm going to read that again for those who don't want to hear it. You're going to hear it anyway. If you love me, keep my commandments. And so that I'm not accused of trickery or manipulating the scriptures to keep the church under the law, I'm going to recite the entire 14th chapter of John. Now notice here, before I start, that this is an entire chapter. This is not a verse here. This is not a verse there, ripped out of their context. This is the entire context. Okay, so listen. John 14, 1 through 31. Let not your heart be troubled, ye who believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That where I am, there you may be also. And whither I go, you know, and the way you know. That's whither is where and where I go, you know, and the way you know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we not know where you go, so how can we know the way? Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me. If you had known me, you should have known my father also. And from henceforth, you know him and have seen him. Here Jesus is making the statement. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. There's no separation between Jesus and God. They are the same. Okay, let me continue. Philip saith unto him, Lord show us the Father and it will suffice us. Jesus said unto him, have I been so long a time with you and yet you have not known me Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father. So how is it that you say show us the Father? Do you not believe that I'm in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself but the Father that dwells in me. He does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very work's sake. Verily, verily, or truly, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, that he may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, Because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. But you know him, for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you yet a little while, and the world sees me no more. But you see me because I live. Because I live, you shall live also. At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loves me. And he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and I will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Judas Iscariot, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself unto us and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. He that loveth me keepeth not my sayings, for he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings. And the word which you hear is not mine, but the father's which sent me. These things I have spoken to you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard how I said unto you, I go away and come again unto you. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father, for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it is come to pass, you might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world cometh, and has nothing in me. But the world and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence. So we see there in John chapter 14 that the Lord Jesus says out of his own lips to keep his commandments. That if you love the Lord Jesus, if you profess his name, you will keep his commandments. I cannot see anywhere in there in that entire chapter, much less anywhere else in scripture, where it is alluded to, illustrated, implied, anywhere in there that says that you are free from keeping the law. Nowhere. Now I'm not talking about the ceremonial law. I'm not talking about sacrifices. I'm not talking about keshrut, which is kosher. I'm talking about the moral law, ethics, morality. Right there in the very Ten Commandments that you say, as in ignorance, I don't have to keep the Ten Commandments anymore because I have Jesus. Be very careful, brethren, to search the scriptures before you open your mouth. You do more damage to our credibility as a church by your ignorant use of the scriptures and only in order to satisfy the minds and hearts of the unregenerate. You weaken our cause, okay? For anyone like me out there or like you out there who's listening, who sits there and groans in your spirit every time you try to preach the truth to someone and they just won't hear it because they're holding on to the lie that they've been taught. You know what I'm talking about. And it all is because of stupid people who call themselves Christians, who think that they're doing a service to the church and to the kingdom of God by preaching something they know nothing about, by using cut and paste theology to try to win souls for Christ. Listen, friend, nobody wins souls for Christ, okay? God draws people to Jesus, John 6, 44. It's impossible. There is no ability in man to come to the Father unless the Father draws him to Christ. So you're not winning anybody for Christ. Instead, you're damaging the testimony of those of us who really are regenerate. Okay? Now, for those of you who hear all of this and still say stubbornly, like an impudent man, We do not have to keep the law, period. Okay? I'm going to tell you something. There is a word for people like you. It's called antinomian. Antinomian. The practice is antinomianism. In short, those of you that are like that are guilty of the heresy of antinomianism. And antinomianism is simply defined as this. One who holds that under the gospel dispensation of grace, the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation. Okay. That is antinomianism. That is what people like you are doing. Those of you who say we are not under the law anymore, but under grace, you are antinomian. You are a heretic. This is like saying I want Jesus but not the Jesus of the Bible. I want to have my own personal Jesus. One who is not really God. One who is devoid of morals and ethics. A Christless Jesus. A lawless Jesus. A Jesus that serves me and not I, Him. Now proof for this is the first chapter and verse of the gospel of John that states that Jesus is the word. Just so if you don't you think that I'm making all of this up, you know, that, you know, Hey, the word of God, you know, is the word of God. You know, I like reading it sometimes, but I really don't want to obey it. Jesus Christ is the gospel. That Bible you hold in your hand is Jesus Christ present on earth. His words are Him, and I can prove it. I can prove this statement. John 1, 1-14, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that has been made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not. They didn't get it. There came a man sent from John, or sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. There was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world and they that were his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, didn't make a decision, nor of the will of man, but of God. and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." You see that? Jesus is the Bible. The Bible is Jesus in a bodily form. We can hold him in our unworthy hands. To say that we're free from the law completely is to reject the very person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Period. Period. So if anything is left to be said after all of this, if you still don't get it, you know, hey, the best you can do is to read more and talk less. Read more, talk less. May the Lord bless and preserve you.