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For centuries, Christians have not had a clear understanding of the law. On the one hand, in Romans and Galatians we are told that the law is over. For example, Rom. 10:4 says, “Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one who believes.” Based upon this, many Christians think that they can forget the law. On the other hand, in Matt. 5:17 the Lord Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” This word has troubled a great many Christians. We praise the Lord that He has given us the clear light on this matter.
In order to understand this matter of the law, we must know the three aspects of the law: the principle of the law, the commandments of the law, and the rituals of the law. If you do not differentiate between these three things, you will never have a proper understanding of the law. As we have seen, the principle of the law is over. Today, in the dispensation of grace, God does not deal with us according to the principle of the law; rather, He deals with us according to the principle of faith. Whether or not we shall be justified, saved, and accepted by God depends on the principle of faith, not the principle of the law. As long as we have faith in Christ, we are justified by God, accepted by Him, and saved. This is what it means for the principle of the law to be abolished in Christ under the dispensation of grace.
Although the principle of the law has been abolished, the commandments of the law have not been annulled. Instead, the standard of these commandments has been uplifted. Thus, the commandments, related to the moral standards, have not been abolished; they will remain for eternity. Even for eternity we should not worship an idol, murder, steal, or lie. In His heavenly kingdom the King has uplifted the standard of the law in two ways: by complementing the lower laws and by changing the lower laws into higher laws. In this way the morality in the commandments of the law has been uplifted to a higher standard.
The kingly Savior Himself kept all the commandments of the law when He was on earth. Then He went to the cross to die for us. Through His substitutionary death, He fulfilled the law on the negative side. Furthermore, through His substitutionary death, He released His resurrection life into us, and we now have this resurrection life in our spirit. Because we are able to live by this resurrection life, we have the strength, ability, and capacity to have the highest standard of morality. As we walk according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4), we fulfill the righteous requirements of the law, fulfilling even more than the law requires. Therefore, we do not abolish the law; rather, we fulfill it in the highest way.
The third aspect of the law is the rituals of the law. For example, offering sacrifices and keeping the Sabbath are outward rituals of the law. These rituals were also terminated because they were part of the old dispensation of shadows, figures, and types, all of which have been fulfilled by Christ as the reality. We are no longer obligated to observe the rituals of the law. Therefore, the principle of the law and the rituals of the law have been terminated, but the commandments of the law, which require a high moral standard, have not been terminated. Rather, these commandments have been uplifted. By means of Christ as the resurrection life in our spirit, we can fulfill the standard of morality required by the higher law of the kingdom of the heavens. This word should make us clear concerning the law according to its three aspects: the principle of the law, the commandments of the law, and the rituals of the law.
At the end of Matthew 5 the Lord Jesus said, “You, therefore, shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (v. 48). This word concludes this section of the constitution, a section which is exceedingly high. After reading all these requirements, we all would say that we cannot possibly fulfill them. Then we come to verse 48 which tells us that we must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. This verse is an indicator that we have the Father’s life and nature within us. We have been born of Him and we are His children. Because we are His children possessing His life and nature, there is no need for us to imitate Him or copy Him. As long as we grow in His life, we shall be the same as He is. Thus, all the requirements of the law of the kingdom of the heavens reveal how much this divine life and nature can do for us. Our only need is to be exposed so that we may give up all hope in ourselves, When we are exposed, we shall realize that our natural life is hopeless. Then we shall renounce our natural life, turn to the life of our Father, and stay with the divine nature. Spontaneously, this life will grow in us and fulfill the requirements of this highest law. Our need today is to turn to our spirit and walk in our spirit. Whenever we do this, we live by our Father’s life and nature; then spontaneously we fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. It is crucial that we understand this matter, for it is altogether different from our natural concept.
From my experience I can testify that today I am not under the principle of the law. Hallelujah, I am under the principle of faith, and I have the life of my heavenly Father within me! This life is nothing other than the Father’s dear Son. I am now living by this life in my spirit and walking according to the spirit. By this life in my spirit I spontaneously fulfill the highest requirements of the law of the kingdom of the heavens. This is not my boast; it is my humble testimony to give glory to the Lord. This does not mean that I am able to do anything. It means that He is able, for He is in me as my life. He is able to do the same in you and for you. In order for this to be your experience, you need to have a vision of the hopelessness of your natural life. After your natural life has been thoroughly dug out and exposed, you will realize that it is a hopeless case, that you should have no trust in it, and that you must turn to the Father’s divine life and nature within you. Turn to the Father’s life, stay with the Father’s life, and live by the Father’s life. You can easily turn to the Father’s life because at this very moment it is in your spirit. Simply walk according to your spirit, and all the righteous requirements of the law will be fulfilled in you.
At this point we need to consider some verses in Romans 8. Romans 8:3 says, “For what is impossible to the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Due to the weakness of our flesh, it is impossible for us to fulfill the law. We can do nothing. As far as the law is concerned, our case is impossible. Therefore, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh, so that “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh, but according to spirit” (v. 4). Because it was impossible, due to the weakness of our flesh, for the law to be fulfilled, God sent His Son to keep the law on the positive side, and to die for our weakness on the negative side. His purpose in doing so was that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. The “us” in verse 4 refers to those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. God sent His Son to keep the law and to die for us that we may walk in the spirit to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law.
Romans 8:16 reveals how our spirit is formed: “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God.” This verse reveals that our spirit in which we walk to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law is formed through the witnessing of the Holy Spirit with our spirit. This indicates that the Holy Spirit of God has come into our spirit. This took place at the time of our regeneration. The Spirit of God came into our spirit to regenerate us. From that time onward, the Holy Spirit has been witnessing with our spirit that we are the children of God. Thus, verse 14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
With these verses before us, we can understand why the Lord concluded His word in Matthew 5 by saying, “You, therefore, shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We are not only God’s creatures; we are also His regenerated children, possessing His life and nature. Thus, we are not God’s creatures trying to copy and imitate Him; we are the Father’s children living the Father’s life. How did we become the children of God? It was by the coming of the Spirit of God into our spirit to regenerate us and to make our spirit the very habitation of God Himself (Eph. 2:22, Gk.). Here, in our spirit, we have become God’s children having God’s life and nature. If we walk according to this regenerated spirit, we are the children of God living by God’s life. When we live and walk in the spirit, spontaneously we shall be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
Consider a brother who has four children. The more these little ones grow, the more they live like their father. These children are not four monkeys trying to imitate a human being. No, they are children of their father who are growing into the image of their father. The more they grow, the more they live their father’s life. Likewise, we are not monkeys — we are children of God. Although some of us may be rather babyish or childish, we are growing nonetheless. These young ones may be naughty, but they are growing. Wait for a certain number of years, and you will see that all these naughty little ones will be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect. I am so happy that all the saints in the churches are not monkeys, but dear children. Let these children be naughty for a while. Eventually they will grow. We are not trying to imitate God. Rather we are the Father’s children growing in the Father’s life. This is the reason the Lord Jesus said that we should be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.
Now we can understand why in Matthew chapter five the Lord refers to us as the children of God or the sons of God. He was not giving a word to unbelievers, to those who were merely God’s creatures; He was giving a word to the sons of God. God is no longer merely our Creator; He is also our heavenly Father. Because He is our Father, we have His life and nature. Eventually, through our growth in life, we shall be the same as He is. Wait for another period of time, and you will see that many of us will have become perfect as the Father is perfect.
Some may wonder how the disciples on the mountain could have been regenerated. Since the life-giving Spirit had not yet entered into them, how can we say that those disciples were regenerated? Remember, there is no time element with God. Instead, there is the principle. When the Lord Jesus was speaking with the disciples on the mountain, giving them the decree of the constitution of the kingdom, He spoke according to the principle, not according to the time element. God has no time element; He does things once for all. In our mind there is such a thing as before and after, but not in God’s mind. Yes, one day Christ accomplished the work of redemption on the cross, and one day the life-giving Spirit was formed. But in God’s eyes it is difficult to determine when these things took place, for in God’s economy they are eternal. Both the cross and life-giving Spirit are eternal. Because those disciples on the mountain had believed in the Lord Jesus and had decided to follow Him, in principle they had been regenerated, and the Lord regarded them as regenerated people.
