Law and Grace: the Great Struggle in the Inner Life - Part 1 Internal Struggle

Psalms 119:65 "Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble."

The Legalistic Mind

A legalistically influenced mind, psyche, attitude and approach to Christianity is fundamentally opposed to the ways of God. God commands us, live by faith, your have died to the law, you are free of its demands, live by the supply and power of the Spirit and on my promise of my Spirit which I will surely supply to you.

Yet being conscious of the law is an important step in journeying on towards forming a mind and heart which is empowered to walk in the grace of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is an important stage of development on the way to the Holiness which God Himself creates in us. It is a milestone in the Christian's journey in finding and entering "the promise of His rest for the people of God". (Hebrews 4).

The Conflict

Yet there is a huge conflict awaiting the believer and a huge internal struggle which he goes through this particular phase of his journey. Leaning to overcome the legalistic mind, without doing away with the law is essential if one is to gain victory over the evil thoughts intents and passions "which war against the soul".

How do we develop a mind which is influenced by the Grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, how do we overcome the passions and Sin nature which rages within? Are we damned to stay in the place as which Paul describes as "the good I will to do, I do not (cannot) do, but it is the evil I hate that I continually practice"? (Romans 7)

The Milestones along the journey

Consider the following purposes that God's perfect moral standard, the ten commandments has on the believer:

The Law's job is to activate sin as a living experience in the believer, bringing the knowledge of "hell within" to the believer as a living experience to which the believer would desire escape.

Romans 7:5, 7-11 

For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet (lust/greed).” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness (greed). For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

The Law: a mighty torpedo which destroys the fortress of fierce self reliance and self-powered moral living

The law destroys the identity and the very life of a person, when fully understood, that God is perfect and holy and his commands are holy and perfect, it enters the heart, "the commandment came, sin comes alive and I died". Its ultimate fruit is death. To bring forth the knowledge that we can of ourselves do no good work. It destroys the strong attitude of fierce independence and self-powered righteousness.

"And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't." Romans 7:18

The law promises life and points out the way to life 

"The very commandment that promised life" (Rom 7:11) clearly,  the law was intended to bring life "Do not murder (even anger is murder), do not covet, do not commit adultery." We instinctively know this is right and the law attempts to show us the beauty of holy living, we hope we can become perfect, our appetite for beauty and a holy life is sharpened by the law.

"But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good." Romans 7:16

The Law births forth a desire for perfect obedience to God and a higher, God born desires for that which is right, (inward holiness) and integrity (faithfulness to God) which only God can create.

The law brings forth condemnation and death 

But, and this is a huge but! The law brings death instead of the life which it previews in the heart of the believer. Law paints a paradise of sinless living but brings Satan and our consciences's condemnation instead.

But it has done its job, without the law, our conscience would be dead towards God. With the law, the conscience awakens and desire is set ablaze for a better life.

Burning its way into the very heart and conscience of the believer, the believer's conscience and Satan's accusations bring the worst damage to the believer's mind and heart at this stage. 

The ultimate aim of the Law

The Law ultimately functions to bring us to a realisation of the depth of our need for a living Christ, a messiah, a Savior who can save from sin, raise us from the dead and create a new heart within us.

"Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith" Galatians 3:24

The ultimate intention of the Law is really to reveal the lavish and abundant grace of God. And cause us to focus and give ourselves fully to the only one who can set us free. A living and dynamic relationship with the one Who is your Holiness, the One who is your righteousness, Jesus Christ alone. We will continue on being Christ conscious in the next part of this series.