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Galatians 2:19 says, “I through law have died to law that I might live to God.” This verse mentions two goals: one is the law, and the other is God. Philippians 3:6b-8 says, “As to the righteousness which is in the law, become blameless. But what things were gains to me, these I have counted as loss on account of Christ. But moreover I also count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ.” Here Paul counts the righteousness in the law as loss, and even casts it aside, that he might gain Christ. Then in verses 9 through 11 Paul says that he was found in Christ, not having his own righteousness which is out of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith, so that he might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if perhaps he might attain to the out-resurrection from the dead.
These two portions of the Scriptures refer to the question of the law, and they both point out that the law is versus God. The apostle Paul was previously a keeper of the law; as such, he declared to all that as to the requirements of the law, he was blameless. He served God zealously according to the law, thinking that in this way he could please God. One day, however, while he was zealously serving and doing things for God, the Lord came and shone upon him, saying, “Why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:3-4). Paul was a person who was serving God zealously and keeping the law of God, yet he turned out to be a persecutor of God. Whether or not we are as good as Paul according to the law, we have offended God. Even if we were as good as Paul was, we would still turn out to be persecutors of God.
Because we are all living under the law, whenever we transgress the law and its regulations, we are convicted inwardly. In addition, afterward we may be afraid that we will transgress again, so we confess, make a resolution, and pray to ask for the Lord’s help. Before we were saved, we were loose and careless. However, on the day we were saved, we became religious. In putting ourselves under the law, we daily face the difficulty of being good and moral. We put the Lord aside in order to improve our behavior and to do good. Not only so, we even ask the Lord to strengthen us to do good. In reality, this is a paradox. We ought to take the Lord as our goal by living to Him, yet instead we take goodness, which is outside the Lord, as our goal by living to the law. We even ask the Lord to help us to attain to goodness and to live to the law.
In the beginning when God created man, He did not designate goodness as man’s goal. Rather, He made Himself the goal of man. We may use a glass as an illustration. A glass is for containing water; thus, the goal of the glass is water. If we put other things in the glass, the glass loses its meaning. Likewise, man was created to contain God; therefore, God is the goal of man. Why is this? It is because God wants man to be mingled with Him, and He also wants to be one with man. We really need the light of the truth to see that man was created not for goodness but for God.
In the garden of Eden after Adam was created, God placed him in front of the tree of life, which denotes God Himself. At that time Adam knew neither good nor evil; to him God was everything. Adam was before God, but God had not yet entered into him. At that time Adam did not have the thought of sin, nor did he have the thought of good. It was not until the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil had entered into Adam that the elements of good and evil entered into man. Thereafter, man began to know love and hate, because good and evil are the two sides of one thing; the two are actually one. We must remember that good and evil are one. They both entered into man at the same time after man had failed, sinned, and fallen. Since then, man has had both good and evil within him.
Galatians 2:19 says, “Died to law...live to God.” This verse is very important and has a special place in the truth. Why is this verse so important? It is important because here it says, “Died to law...live to God.” There are two goals here: one is the law, and the other is God. Moreover, there are two kinds of dealings: one is to be dead, and the other is to live, that is, to deal with the law by being dead and to deal with God by living. We cannot have dealings with the law and God at the same time, and neither can we deal with them in the same way, because they are absolutely different.
Galatians 2:19 says, “I through law have died to law that I might live to God.” What does I through law have died to law mean? As through law is not too easy to understand, we can first look at died to law...live to God. On the one hand, there is the law, while on the other hand, there is God. To the law, I have died; to God, I live. This means that we deal with the law by being dead, and we deal with God by living. Whenever we live to God, not only do we live, but God also lives in us. Whenever we are dead to the law, not only are we dead, but the law is also dead. The two die together. When we live to God, both we and God live. We and God, God and we, live together. This is really wonderful and is truly a mystery.
On the other hand, for God to live in us, the law has to die: “I through law have died to law that I might live to God.” Through is needed here; only by being dead through law can we live to God. We all know that the God in whom we believe is the living God, but is this living God living in us? If we want God to live in us, the law has to die. Only when the law is absent can God live in us. If there is a place for the law, then there is no place for God. Living to God is the result, whereas being dead to law is the cause.
What is the law? Ordinances, letters, resolutions, determinations — all these are included in the law. For instance, suppose I consider myself to be a Christian, yet I do not have the desire to know God. There are, however, obligations and responsibilities to being a Christian. Since this is the case and since in the church we are encouraged to visit the saints, I decide that every Wednesday or Saturday I will go out for visitations and that I will visit at least two persons every week. As another example, a sister may feel that she has a bad temper, so she makes up her mind to endeavor to change herself. She is determined that from now on she will learn to be as gentle as a lamb in dealing with others. Such a determination, such a decision, and even such a desire to love the Lord and the brothers and sisters are also part of the law. The law not only includes the Ten Commandments and other commandments found in the Scriptures; it also includes all our hopes, decisions, resolutions, expectations, aspirations, longings, and desires, including the desire to have a certain kind of living.
We all acknowledge the fact that whether we are unbelievers or Christians, as long as we are human beings, we cannot avoid facing the law in our human living. We will surely encounter the law. The law requires us to do good, to cultivate our conduct, to improve ourselves, and to pursue good. In our youth we acquire the law from our parents. We have to be quiet when visitors come — this is a law. We have to be polite in front of others — this is also a law. Then later we also make our own laws. We think it is wrong to cause our mother who loves us so much to be so angry and cry, so we determine not to make her angry again. This is also a law. Then when we grow older, we have the laws of the older people. For example, I was doing very well when I was praying a short while ago, but then a few minutes later, when my grandson talked back to me, I became angry. After thinking about it, I regretted it, so I made up my mind that I would never lose my temper again but rather would be patient and forgiving. What is this thought? It is still a law. Therefore, laws are innumerable; they are present everywhere. We make laws not only for ourselves but for others as well. For human beings this is both proper and commendable; however, for Christians this is a problem.
God and the law are opposite to each other. Although the law includes ordinances, regulations, resolutions, expectations, and longings, the Scriptures teach us to be dead to law and living to God. This is because the law consists of dead ordinances, while God is the living law. The law and God are always present in our daily living. Just as we cannot escape from the law, so we also cannot escape from God. Therefore, we often put these two opposing things, the law and God, together. For instance, we may decide to be humble and gentle; this is the law. Yet we also discover that there is no way for us to be gentle and that it is also difficult for us to be humble, so we pray, asking for God’s help. Usually we make a law first, and then we ask God to help us fulfill the law. Actually, God does not want this. Rather, God wants us to be dead to law. God wants both us and the law to die.
This situation is the same as the situation in the garden of Eden. Adam was standing in front of the two trees — the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that he ate of it he would surely die (Gen. 2:17). What does the tree of the knowledge of good and evil denote? There was good and there was also evil. What is this? It is the law. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is in front of us every day. The law in front of us is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; God in front of us is the tree of life. Do not think that only Adam faced these two trees. We are in fact facing them daily. Unfortunately, we mistakenly think that we must reject that which is evil but must try to fulfill that which is good. This has resulted in man’s failure to reject the tree of the knowledge of good and evil throughout the ages.
We consider ourselves to be capable of rejecting that which is evil and fulfilling that which is good. However, according to God’s command, we should touch neither good nor evil. Whenever we touch good and evil, we touch death. To be dead to law is to be dead to good and evil. We can understand what it means to be dead to evil, and it is also easy to do; however, to be dead to good is not easy. For example, when the thought of hatred comes, we deal with it by being dead. Of course, this is right. However, when love comes, should we also deal with it by being dead? We may have doubts. Therefore, please remember that God wants us to be dead in dealing with evil and with good as well. Whenever we draw nigh to God and touch God, unconsciously we have the thought of doing good. This comes between God and us. Being dead to the law means that we reject any good thought that enters into us, just as we reject any evil thought.
Because the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is beautiful and pleasant to the sight, when any good thought comes, we are always attracted to it. However, we have to be careful and afraid of that which is good, such as humility and meekness. As long as it is from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we have to be afraid of it. We only want the Lord Himself. Although humility and meekness are good, they are not the Lord; therefore, we do not want them. This is to be dead to law. We have to realize further that just as pride causes us to be severed from the Lord and to become independent of Him, so humility also can cause us to be severed from the Lord and to become independent of Him.
To live to God is to be filled with God and to have fellowship with God by putting aside all the ordinances of our human life as well as all our hopes, resolutions, and longings, so that God can have the ground in us to reign and operate in us, thereby living in us. If we live to the law, we are dead to God. If we maintain a relationship with the law, our relationship with God is severed. If we fellowship with God day by day and allow Him to live in us moment by moment, then we are dead to law, our relationship with the law is severed, and we are living to God. Living to God is not ordinances, hopes, letters, or methods, but it is the living God being our life within us. We need to contact Him every day and enjoy Him every moment so that He can be our life and power within to live with us and to lead us in walking the path before us. This is to be dead to law and living to God.
