Love and the Structure of the Law (No. 200)

God is Love, as we see in 1John 4:8,16.

1John 4:7-21 Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. ⁹In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his own Spirit.¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love. ¹⁹We love, because he first loved us. ²⁰If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also. (RSV)

This text in 1John develops the theme that God is love and that love of one’s neighbour is a demonstration of the perfection of the love of God in us, and the fact that God abides in us. We see from the text that God is love and that no man has ever seen God. God sent His Son into the world that we might live through him.

From the papers Distinction in the Law (No. 096) and The Government of God (No. 174), we see that there are two elements of the Faith. The first is knowledge of God. This is termed the Theologia. The second element is the knowledge of God’s will. This will is an extension of God as His divine nature and is termed the economy of salvation as His system of Law-order. This Law is the Law of Eloah (Ezra 7:14) and He was the object of worship and sacrifice at His Temple where He had caused His name to dwell (Ezra 6:8,9,10,12).

Thus, we are speaking of the One True God (Jn. 17:3) who is entirely singular and who is Eloah. This name admits of no plurality whatsoever. From this word in the Chaldean Elahh, we develop the Eastern Aramaic and from that we develop the Singular Arabic Alahh. The Hebrew and Chaldean plural is Elohim and refers to the created Sons of God of the heavenly council of which Eloah is Ha Elohim or the God. Everything stems from Eloah and his nature and law.

We know also that God is righteous (Ezra 9:15), perfect (Mat. 5:48), holy (Lev. 19:2), good (Ps. 34:8) and truth (Deut. 32:4).

We know that God’s Law is righteous (Ps. 119:172), perfect (Ps. 19:7), holy (Rom. 7:12), good (Rom. 7:12) and truth (Ps. 119:142).

From these texts, we deduce that the nature of God is reflected in His Law. Thus, the fact that God is love must reflect also that the Law of God is love.

God is unchanging (Mal. 3:6). God specifically links this text to the tithes, because it is the tithes that most people pervert when they alter the system God has established. The tithe is a sign of the return to God and the entire nation is cursed from this point, for their failure to observe the Law.

The elect partake of the Nature of God (2Pet. 1:4). The world is required to keep God’s Laws and is punished because they keep no law (Ps. 55:19 RSV; see the paper Distinction in the Law (No. 096)).

The keeping of the Commandments of God is essential to the knowledge and love of God (1Jn. 2:3-4; 3:22; 5:3) and of Christ (Jn. 14:15, 21). It is also essential for the receipt and retention of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:21; 1Jn. 3:24; Acts 5:32).

Breaking of the Commandments of God, or teaching their breach or relaxation, was prohibited by Christ (Mat. 5:19). Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything but keeping the Commandments of God. The distinction in the Law referred to in texts such as Galatians 3:10 is dealt with in the papers Distinction in the Law (No. 096) and also in The Works of the Law Text - or MMT (No. 104).

There is a structure of the Law which shows the whole aspect of the love of God. This aspect of love is identified as being in two distinct aspects of the Law.

Christ identified the Law as being based on love.

Matthew 22:34-40 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sad'ducees, they came together. ³⁵And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. ³⁶"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" ³⁷And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ³⁸This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." (RSV)

From this text we see that the entire structure of the Law and the prophets depends on the Two Great Commandments. Thus, we see that the Ten Commandments themselves are structured within these two. Hence there is a structure or hierarchy of the Law, which subtends from these two commandments and proceeds to and then goes beyond the Ten to the other commandments. For example, fornication and homosexuality are not found in or prohibited by the Ten Commandments. They are found as substructures within the Law extraneous to them but depending upon the Ten, which in turn depend on the Two Great Commandments (cf. the papers The Law of God (No. L1) and the Law Series (Nos. 252-263)).

The First Great Commandment is found in Deuteronomy 6:5.

Deuteronomy 6:5 and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. (RSV)

The Second is like unto it. Thus, they reflect the same nature of God and the same application of the Law. It is found in Leviticus 19:18.

Leviticus 19:18 You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. (RSV)

The interpretation of this text in a narrow sense was made by the rabbis so that they did not have to extend the remedies of the Law to the Gentiles; thus, they perverted the Law. The mainstream Catholic system sought to do likewise in the Middle Ages by declaring that contracts made with non-Catholics were unenforceable. More particularly, they sold indulgences up to set values for crimes not yet committed. This, of itself, was a scandalous mockery of the Laws of God.

Christ answered this spurious legal argument in very straightforward terms.

Luke 10:25-37 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" ²⁶He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read?" ²⁷And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." ²⁸And he said to him, "You have answered right; do this, and you will live." ²⁹But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" ³⁰Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, ³⁴and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, `Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" ³⁷He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." (RSV)

The First Great Commandment is broken into four elements. These are reflected in the first four commandments. These are found in Exodus 20 and also Deuteronomy 5.

Exodus 20:1-11 And God spoke all these words, saying, ²"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

[1st commandment] ³"You shall have no other gods before me.

[2nd commandment] ⁴"You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁵you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

[3rd commandment] ⁷"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

[4th commandment] ⁸"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; ¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; ¹¹for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. (RSV)

The Roman Catholic Church seeks to merge the Second with the First Commandment and so obscure the intent of the Second. This leaves them with only nine: so they break the Tenth into two using the version in Deuteronomy which has the word wife before house and, thus, the Tenth Commandment concerning coveting is made into two commandments – one about coveting wives and the other about coveting goods. Unfortunately, the version in Exodus exposes this for the sham that it is as wife is placed after house showing the Tenth is one commandment about coveting. We shall examine this below.

The commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your being or soul is thus explained by the first four of the Ten Commandments.

These four commandments have subtended from them a number of aspects of the Law which depends upon, or gives meaning to, their application. Thus, the Ten Commandments do not stand alone, and the Law is not divorced from them. In this way, as Christ said, not one jot or tittle (i.e. the smallest comma or notation mark used in the text to write it down), will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Matthew 5:17-20 "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. ¹⁸For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (RSV)

This text tells us that Christ is obedient to God and that the Law given at Sinai will be used to bring the world to repentance and judgment. It thereby stands for all the time of the physical creation. The modern Christian arguments against the Law are thus false.

The hierarchy of the Law is thus based on a substructure that runs as follows:

· First Great Commandment

· First Commandment

· Second Commandment

· Third Commandment

· Fourth Commandment

The First Commandment has been examined in the paper The First Commandment: The Sin of Satan (No. 153) and Law and the First Commandment (No. 253).

The first commandment concerning having no other elohim before Eloah is very extensive as are all of the commandments.

The laws relating even to the wearing of blue ribbons on the garments are identified as an indispensable part of this commandment (see J R Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1973, p. 22); (cf. also the paper Blue Ribbons (No. 273)).

The First Great Commandment (No. 252) relates to God and the Individual, which is by prayer.

Pray without ceasing (Col. 1:19).

Prayer is between the person and the One True God. It is not to be by rote and is to be to no other being. It is always in the name of Christ.

The Second Great Commandment (No. 257) is that we shall love our neighbour as ourselves. The way to love one another is a simple process but not well practiced. The Bible provides guidance in many places. Simple rules are:

Listen without interrupting (Proverbs 18).

This rule conveys love and respect to all aspects of the creation.

Speak without accusing (James 1:19).

This aspect requires moderate language and respect for all people.

When a person is baptised and given the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, God then places their sins as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). Let no one then make a railing accusation and revisit accusations against them. Paul was instrumental in the murder of Stephen yet he was forgiven by God and called by Christ. So is it with us all.

Answer without arguing and strife in feasting (Proverbs 17:1).

The wicked covets. The righteous gives without sparing (Proverbs 21:26).

Speaking the truth in love, grow in every way into him who is the head. Thus the body grows into one fitly working together. In giving in the body, share without pretence (Ephesians 4:15).

Enjoy all things without grumbling or complaint (Philippians 2:14). Be content with what you have (Hebrews 13:5).

Love bears all things, hopes and endures all things, trusting in the Lord without wavering (1Corinthians 13:7; Ps. 26:1; Heb. 10:23).

Forbear with one another and forgive without punishing in love which binds all together (Colossians 3:13)

Let your yes be yes and your no be no. (Jas 5:12). Keep your feasts and fulfil your vows and the wicked will not come against you (Nahum 1:15).

In all our dealings with each other make no railing accusation, nor any defamation. In all things determine:

Is it true?
Does it need to be said?
Will it uplift the speaker, the hearer or the person about whom it is spoken?

If it does not need to be said and is not provably true and will do none of these things then it is violence to the person and should not be uttered. The repetition of matters before a person’s baptism is repetition of matters already forgiven by God and is judgment of God.

The First Commandment is thus structured as follows:

First Commandment:

Thou shall have no other elohim before me.

Substructure:

The Shema and the principles of the substructure of the decalogue.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; ⁵and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. ⁶And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; ⁷and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (RSV)

Thus, the ten are dependent upon the First Commandment, and the first subtends from the First Great Commandment. This first element of the First Commandment, then, has these structures, which make it a matrix interlinked to all else. These are:

· Total physical, intellectual and spiritual commitment to the One True God, Eloah, who is the Father.

· This commitment is demonstrated in:

· Dress

· Conduct

· Worship

· The Law is to be internalised in the heart and, hence, reflected in the speech and actions.

· It is to be taught to children on an ongoing basis, both in the home and outside of it.

The Law itself is to become a sign of the covenant people of God.

The basic principle of the Shema is reflected in the singular aspect of God – Shema Israel Yahovah Elohenu Yahovah Ehad (cf. Companion Bible and Soncino commentaries).

This concept precludes the Trinity as lawful worship. Rushdoony fails to apprehend this aspect (see ibid., p. 16).

The consequence for the Philosophy of Law and the structure of law is that there is only one Law-order possible and that means One God: One Law. Polytheism permits multiple law systems, as it is not a universe as emanating from God and thus laws are expedient. Law emanates from the nature of God as we have seen and, therefore, there is only one Law-order possible. Thus, a change in law involves a change in the nature of God and God has said through His servants the prophets that He does not change (Mal. 3:6). Therefore, His Law does not change nor, mercifully, do His promises.

The Philosophy of Human Law bases itself on Positivism and hence has no absolutes. It is attempting to impose an international legal system on the planet, which is based on the structure of no absolutes and is doomed to failure. The struggle for the control of the international legal system is thus seen as essentially a politico-religious dispute. In order to make the New World Order acceptable, there can be no religious absolutes and, so, the modern process theology of the New Age multi-faceted system is advanced. It claims there is no truth in any absolute sense and denies that right to any religious system. Hence, there can be no missionary activity permitted to any of the system. It is inherently flawed and will result in war and the final destruction of the planet. This is the final culmination of the war commenced in the heavens under the fallen Host. Thus, the Shema is central to the structure on both planes of existence. There is only one Law and one order and one truth (see the paper Truth (No. 168)) and all else must fail.

The second portion of the Shema is echoed in Deuteronomy 10:12-13.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I command you this day for your good? (RSV)

Thus, the service of Yahovah was in fear, to walk in all His ways, to love Him and to serve Him and to keep the Commandments and statutes of Yahovah for our own good.

Thus, the Law confers benefit on mankind. Man does not do God a favour by keeping the Law. He blesses himself by taking on the nature of God and serving Him so that God can become all in all (cf. Eph. 4:6).

The love of God is also reflected in our relationships with each other in worship and not just in our daily lives. Worship in an unknown tongue (1Cor. 14) is thus a violation of the First Commandment.

The violation also occurs with worship that lacks the faithful proclamation of God’s word. Thus, form and meaningless prayers and repetition violate the First Commandment. This follows on the next requirement, which is education of the covenant people, in the required covenant Law-order as expressed in Scripture. The response to grace is the keeping of the Law (see the paper The Relationship Between Salvation by Grace and the Law (No. 082)). Education of the elect is based on the fact that God redeemed us from bondage and so that He might keep us alive. He commanded us to do all these statutes, fearing God for our good always (Deut. 6:20-25). This activity stems from His love for us. Rushdoony says of this text in Deuteronomy 6:20-25 (especially verse 24) that “there is no warrant for setting this aside in either the Old or New Testament” (Rushdoony, ibid., p. 23).

On the grounds of relativism or pragmatic law (whether of positivism or relativism or existentialism or any other process-type theology) there can be no grounds for unification under law. Such an argument rests only on the coercion of the individual, because there is no absolute law-order system. Thus, anarchy must result and there can be no love between mankind. There is no bridge between individuals other than force. Love is no more valid than hate. In this way, logically, there can be no crime in murder and the Commandments are struck down one by one. Every man is his own law when there is no absolute law. In the days of the Judges every man did what was right in his own eyes (Jdg. 21:25; cf. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1). They had rejected God as king and they had not yet seen the logic of their predicament. However, they did not return to God. They asked for a physical king and degenerated under the whims of that system.

This break-down in the social order is at present under way among the English-speaking peoples. Their capacity to exist as a free people is seriously in doubt. The churches are collapsing into mindless anarchy through the failure to understand the essential unity of truth and of God. The Law is coherent because God is One and truth is One. The Law of God is one unified whole. Christianity has perverted this and Trinitarianism does not comprehend its role in this matter (see e.g. Rushdoony, pp. 18-19).

One cannot love God without obedience and keeping His Commandments. Through fidelity they are proof of love. Thus, doing something right is of no value of itself unless the intrinsic love of God is the central element. Love is that we keep God’s Commandments (cf. Darby, On the Law, pp. 3-4).

The concept that the Law, of itself, can give salvation is the error of legalism that brought about the downfall of Judah.

John 5:30-47 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. ³¹If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. ³²There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. ³³Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. ³⁴But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. ³⁵He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. ³⁶But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.³⁷And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. ³⁸And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. ³⁹Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. ⁴⁰And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. ⁴¹I receive not honour from men. ⁴²But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. ⁴³I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. ⁴⁴How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? ⁴⁵Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. ⁴⁶For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (KJV)

John 5:42 shows that it is the love of God that is not in them and so they cannot hear Moses and they pervert the intention of the Law as given to Moses. Christ said himself that eternal life does not rest in the Scriptures. Eternal life is knowledge of the One True God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (Jn. 17:3). Thus, the knowledge of God is the essential prerequisite. The glory that comes from one another is not the glory that comes from the only God. Christ said that the Father was the only True God from this text at John 5:44. From the failure of Judah, Moses accuses them to the Father by their perversion of His Law as given to Moses by Messiah.

Note also that Christ states clearly that no man has heard the voice of God at any time. Who, then, spoke at the baptism of Christ? (Mat. 3:17; Mk. 1:11). It can only have been either one of the Archangels speaking for the Father, or the Holy Spirit impressing upon the minds of the people there, a concept that they heard as a voice.

The promise made to the descendants of Abraham was not made in the concept of keeping of the Law, but through the concept of faith. God is love and the liberty inherent in the Law makes us justified by faith and bound to God in the Holy Spirit. From this process we see the promise given to Abraham inherited in the elect by faith.

Romans 4:13-25 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: ¹⁵Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. ¹⁶Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, ¹⁷(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. ¹⁸Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. ¹⁹And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: ²⁰He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; ²¹And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. ²²And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. ²³Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; ²⁴But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; ²⁵Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (KJV)

We are justified through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, whom God has raised; for our faith is in Him that raised Jesus Christ from death. Christ was put to death for our transgressions and raised for our justification.

So, not by our own deeds are we saved. Paul explains the complex issue of the saving grace of Jesus Christ in Romans 5:1-21.

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: ²By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; ⁴And patience, experience; and experience, hope:⁵And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (KJV)

Here in this first section, Paul shows us that it is because we are justified by faith that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It was through Christ that we obtained access to the grace on which we stand. Our hope is in sharing eternal life in the glory of God, as Christ mentions in John 17:3,5,24.

We learn endurance by the things we suffer as Christ learnt endurance by what he suffered.

We are not disappointed in our hope because God’s love is poured out in us through the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:6-11 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.⁷For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. ⁸But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.⁹Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. ¹⁰For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. ¹¹And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (KJV)

We were reconciled to God by the death of Christ while we were still enemies. Why? Because the carnal mind is enmity towards God (Rom. 8:7). We will see how this works. Sin entered the world with disobedience of one man – Adam. However, it spread to all men because all men sinned.

This has enormous implications for the doctrine of original sin. That doctrine has been examined separately (cf. The Doctrine of Original Sin Part 1 The Garden of Eden (No. 246) and Doctrine of Original Sin Part 2 The Generations of Adam (No. 248)).

Romans 5:12-14 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: ¹³(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. (KJV)

Sin was in the world, yet it is not counted where there is no law. There was sin and, thus, the Law must have existed as an inherent basis of the creation and the organisation of the planet. That sin was there – even over those whose sins were not as the sin of Adam.

Romans 5:15-17 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. ¹⁶And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. ¹⁷For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. (KJV)

The sin of Adam and the condemnation of the planet were to show that the salvation of the planet could also be achieved by one man – Jesus Christ. For without the understanding of the failure of the first Adam, we could not understand the salvation in the success of the second Adam. The salvation of Christ through the gift and the grace of God enabled us to achieve a higher relationship with the Father in the perfect Law of liberty.

Romans 5:18-21 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. ¹⁹For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. ²⁰Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: ²¹That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (KJV)

So, by obedience came salvation and, through grace, that gift of salvation was extended to all so that we might live to the glory of God in the obedience we find through the grace of God. We find we can be obedient because the love of God is poured out to us in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5).

What, then, do we continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. We are dead to sin. How can we live in it? And sin is transgression of the Law.

Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? ²God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? ³Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? ⁴Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (KJV)

We were baptised into Christ’s death. Therefore, the old man who was dead to God and to eternal life was made alive to the love of God. Christ was raised as a son of God in power from his resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4). He was raised, as we see, from the dead by the glory of the Father and by no power of his own. So too, are we made to walk in newness of life by the glory of the Father who now dwells in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are dead to sin in Christ, so that the body is no longer enslaved to sin as the sinful body is destroyed; Christ died to sin once for all. The life he lives he lives to God. So too, we live to God being dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:5-11).

Romans 6:12-14 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. ¹³Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. ¹⁴For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (KJV)

The love of God is now in us through His grace and we are thus able to be obedient unto death as we are no longer under the bondage of sin.

So, do we then sin? No. Sin is transgression of the Law. Thus, we are obedient to God as slaves of God. If we sin, we are slaves of the flesh and of sin and, thus, we are subject to death. We are slaves to obedience, which leads to righteousness (Rom. 6:15-17). But, obedience to what?

Romans 6:17-19 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. ¹⁸Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. ¹⁹I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. (KJV)

Righteousness is justice and justice is obedience to the Laws of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot turn to those things of which we were ashamed for the end of them is death (Rom. 6:20-21).

We have been set free from sin and given the gift of eternal life. That gift flows from the knowledge of God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:22-23 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. ²³For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (KJV)

We are now dead to the Law so that we serve not under the old written code but under the spirit of the Law (Rom. 7:4-6).

Through the Law we understand sin. Covetousness itself does not come from an understanding of the Law. The knowledge of what it means to be covetous comes from an understanding of the Law. The power not to be covetous comes not from the Law but from the grace of God, who has given the Holy Spirit so that the love of God abides in us. How can we love our neighbour if we covet that which is his? If we covet what is our neighbour’s, we envy and then we murder and steal. If we place another thing above the Laws of God, then we are in breach of the First Commandment and, thus, the entire Law is breached. Without the Holy Spirit, the sin that comes from the iniquity of the mind finds opportunity and kills the individual because, without the love of God in the Holy Spirit, sin overcomes the capacity of the individual to obey the Law.

The Law, then, is not the problem; it is the weakness of the individual that cannot overcome sin without the power of the Holy Spirit given by the love of God through the obedience of His Son. The Law is holy and the Commandments are holy and just and good, because God is holy and just and good.

Romans 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. (KJV)

Paul could not entirely overcome sin. The lust of the flesh battles with the desires of the heart and the love of God in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 7:13-25 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. ¹⁴For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. ¹⁶If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. ¹⁷Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. ¹⁸For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. ¹⁹For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. ²⁰Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. ²¹I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. ²²For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: ²³But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? ²⁵I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (KJV)

It is not by our own power that we overcome sin but by the power of the Holy Spirit working within us. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Does this mean they are no longer under the requirement to obey God as He has given His Law of liberty to Messiah and through Moses? No. The Laws of the Temple and the sacrifice are given away, being fulfilled once and for all in Christ Jesus. The Laws of the worship of God are not so fulfilled. The entire problem comes from the mind. To set the mind on the flesh is death but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace (Rom. 8:6).

We are not in the flesh; we are in the spirit.

Romans 8:9-17 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. ¹⁰And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. ¹²Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. ¹⁴For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. ¹⁵For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. ¹⁶The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: ¹⁷And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (KJV)

How then are we to regulate ourselves? Is it to be like the old man dead to the glory of God and the power of the resurrection? No. We are children of God and heirs of God as co-heirs with Christ. Thus, there must be a purpose in the Law of God, which proceeds from His very nature.

The antinomians would have us do away with the Law, holding that it was nailed to the stake, from Colossians 2:14. But we know that what was nailed to the stake was the cheirographon or the bill of indebtedness that came from our transgressions. It was not the Law of God itself, which was holy, righteous and good.

How, then, do we proceed? What is required of us?

We see that the Laws of God rest on the Two Great Commandments (cf. the papers The First Great Commandment (No. 252); The Second Great Commandment (No. 257)). These are subdivided into the four and six. From the four and the six, the ordinances, which regulate the society according to the will of God, are regulated according to the love of God, and this is interpreted by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. Through this power of the Spirit of God, both God and Christ live within us and God becomes all in all (Eph. 4:6).

The Philosophy of Biblical Law thus assumes the regulation of society. But there is only one structure by which God’s Law can be interpreted and by which it can operate. It does not change, because God does not change (Mal. 3:6). Thus, there can only be one system for regulating God’s society.

We find from this structure that another cross-structure emanates from the matrix of the Commandments of God.

We see that the pillars of law are embodied in the Commandments and the ordinances that form the sub-matrix to the Two Great Commandments and the Ten Commandments of God.

We find that the religio-political system is enshrined, flowing from the First Great Commandment. From the Laws of God relating to His worship and obedience, we regulate the calendar and our daily lives from the First Second, Third and Fourth Commandments.

Our environment is regulated also by our food consumed under His Law and by His authority under these laws.

Family law flows from the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Tenth Commandments specifically and as interpreted by the others in relation to all the sub-ordinances.

Crime and punishment (or criminal law) is regulated according to the system He laid down. Cruel and unnatural punishment is prohibited under the Laws of God.

Equity law is also regulated by the land and social structure. Commerce is regulated by the rules relating to debt and usury and respect of persons.

In order to understand the substructure of the Law and the way in which the society is regulated, it is necessary to develop the Philosophy of Biblical Law in its entirety.

This can only be done by the careful exposition of the entire structure of the Law over the Sabbath years commencing with the First month (Abib/Nisan) of the Sacred Years 1998, 2005, 2012, 2019 and 2026.

The Reading of the Law was the most important task undertaken by the priests in the Sabbath year of the Jubilee system. These years occurred every seven years in the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, twenty-eighth etc. years of the cycle until the forty-ninth year. At Atonement in the forty-ninth year, the Jubilee was blown and lasted until the following Atonement of the fiftieth year when the entire restoration of the new system was affected and commenced anew for the harvest of the first year of the new Jubilee (cf. the papers The Law of God (No. L1) and the Law Series (Nos. 252-263)).

God has given us His Spirit so that we might see how we can make the system work correctly when we have a true and Spirit-begotten love for Him and for each other as true sons of God. We are given control of the planet in the millennial system so that we might show the fallen Host how it should have been done according to the will of God our Father (cf. Rev. 20:4-6).

Revelation 20:4-6 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (KJV)

We will reign with Christ for the thousand years and run the planet according to the Law-order given by Christ to Moses at Sinai. God did not give Moses a stacked deck when he was issued the Law. Not one jot or tittle, in other words, not the smallest part of the Law will pass from the Law until all is accomplished (Mat. 5:18; Lk. 16:17). We will make the planet function in accordance with the Laws of God over the entire 1,000-year period by using the Spirit of God, which will be made available to mankind under the supervision of Christ and the Church. All will be accomplished only when God rules from the Earth in the City of God, in all of us, as God (see the paper The City of God (No. 180)).

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