Graceful Truth

The REALITY of the LAW

February 16, 2022

The REALITY of the LAW


There is confusion among many Christians regarding the Old Testament laws. There are some laws that we realize we are not bound by in our era. Most of these are particular CEREMONIAL laws that were tied to a pre-Christ system. These laws, given to the Jews, were designed to fulfill the spirit of the law, but done in ways that pictured the coming Christ.

Leviticus 6:1-7 gives us a great example as it tells the Israelites what to do when a man steals and lies to another.

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
 2 “When a person sins and acts unfaithfully against the Lord, and deceives his companion in regard to a deposit or a security entrusted to him, or through robbery, or if he has extorted from his companion,
 3 or has found what was lost and lied about it and sworn falsely, so that he sins in regard to any one of the things a man may do;
 4 then it shall be, when he sins and becomes guilty, that he shall restore what he took by robbery or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him or the lost thing which he found,
 5 or anything about which he swore falsely; he shall make restitution for it in full and add to it one-fifth more. He shall give it to the one to whom it belongs on the day he presents his guilt offering.
 6 “Then he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering,
 7 and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt.”

 

The basic principle of this law is this: if you have stolen or lied to your neighbor it is a sin, not only against him, but against God. So, you need to do two things:

1. You must realize your sin against God and get right with Him.

In the OT era you were to bring a "guilt offering to the Lord." Now that Christ has come, we come to the cross, confessing our sins (getting honest and repentant) and finding our forgiveness through Christ at the cross.

2. You must realize your sin against another, confess it, and make restitution.

You must pay them back, plus 20% more in restitution. If you will remember, this is what Zacchaeus did when he got right with the Lord (Luke 19). He immediately made amends with those he'd defrauded. It's exactly what Jesus tells us to do in the sermon on the mount. If our brother has something against us, we need to go get it right with our brother (Matthew 5:23-24).

The spirit of the law is the same. The only difference is the ceremonial sacrificial system of the OT is replaced by the fulfillment of Christ--His cross and resurrection--of the NT.

But here’s the most important thing as we read this passage: have YOU sinned against God and against your brother? If so, heed what God has said (in both OT and NT). Clear your conscience fully with both God and man!

Father, search my heart. Show me everything and anything that I have done against You or others. Give me the grace to humbly admit my sin and seek your forgiveness. And help me approach those I’ve sinned against to clear my conscience and make restitution as needed. Help me not delay, but to do this today.

 

 

 

 

 



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