Sin is Lawlessness

Another post in the “Christ is the Fulfillment of the Law” series. 1 John 3:4 tells us that “sin is lawlessness”. Since Christ is the fulfillment of the law (Matthew 5:17-20) lawlessness is the same as Christlessness. It is refusing to believe that Christ has fulfilled the law. It is refusing to submit to the finished work of Christ. It is rejecting the savior.

This is completely in keeping with Christ’s words in John Chapter 3 that “whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s only son.” Think about that. The entirety of the law was kept in Christ. Fulfilled, sated, exhausted – however you want to put it – he did it. He accomplished it. He stands today beside the Father, still incarnate, as the law. Again, not as a new law - some gospel set of regulations to do - but as the law of God itself. He is the personal embodiment of the law in its fulfilled state.

So to keep the law, I must have a personal relationship with Christ. Period. There is no law-keeping apart from that relationship to the person of Christ. If I am living in Christ, I have kept the law and will live as a law-keeper because it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. That is good news! That is the gospel truth!

God Bless