The Naked Gospel: Truth You May Never Hear in Church (4 page)

I
N 1998, MY FATHER WAS KILLED IN A CAR ACCIDENT
. M
Y FATHER
was a loving husband, a successful businessman, and a great dad. His intellect was only rivaled by his sense of humor. He is greatly missed in our family.

Imagine for a moment that you and I sit down to dinner, and I take the opportunity to break out the family album to show you photos of my dad. As I turn pages, point to photos, and tell stories about him, something unpredictable happens. By some miracle, my father suddenly walks through the door! Strangely, though, I keep pointing at photos and telling old stories. Even after I notice his arrival, I still seem to be occupied with the album.

Ridiculous, right? Why would I fixate on a two-dimensional photo of my father when the real thing is standing right in front of me?

But in the same way, some Christians are fixated on the law when it’s only a shadow. The reality, we’re told, is found in the New.

To look to the Old after learning of the New is like my returning to my dad’s photo album when he’s standing right there. I am caught up in something two-dimensional and lifeless, even as his living presence is with me.
Here is God’s announcement about the superiority of the New: “The ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6).

If the law were able to save, there’d be no reason for the New. The Old is old news. Something greater is now in effect, so why wouldn’t we hold fast to the New?

Interestingly, even Old Testament believers were justified by faith alone, apart from the law. Does the law involve faith? No, the Bible clearly shows that “the Law is not of faith” (Galatians 3:12 NASB). After all, does it take faith to adhere to regulations and carry out religious tasks?

Old Testament saints such as Abraham were made right because they put confidence in God and in a coming Messiah (Romans 4:13). Abraham lived
long before
the law, but he was declared righteous. So being right with God never had anything to do with the law.

Imagine that you put aside money to purchase a brand-new car. Once you have enough saved, you call the dealership to negotiate a price. Fortunately, the dealer agrees to let the car go at a price you can afford. Within the hour, you’re in the dealership to close the deal. The price with delivery charges, taxes, and tags comes out to $19,550.00. A great deal. You happily sign the paperwork and take the car home. It’s finally yours!

More than a year later, you receive a peculiar message in your voice mailbox. It’s from the dealership. You recognize the salesman’s voice as he explains that he accidentally charged you
too little
for the vehicle. He says you owe $2,000.00 more on the car. He
invites you to the dealership so you can redraft the sales contract and “work things out.”

After the message ends, you stand there in disbelief. You look at the calendar and begin counting the days. It’s been 430 days since you signed the contract to purchase the car! How can they do this?
Can
they do this? It’s time to call your attorney.

Your legal counsel explains that the dealership is out of line. They can’t require you to change the terms of the contract you signed 430 days ago. If they could force a person to renegotiate after signing, no one would ever place confidence in a contract.

Now see if you can catch the parallel between your car purchase turned sour and Paul’s point about the New—the New that was promised to Abraham:

Even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it…What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later,
does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified
by God, so as to nullify the promise.

G
ALATIANS
3:15, 17 NASB, italics added

The promise of the New was made to Abraham not 430 days but 430 years
before
the law. Just as the car dealership couldn’t legally renegotiate a contract previously signed, the covenant made to Abraham was not renegotiated just because the law came on the scene later.

Although not in effect yet, the New was promised to Abraham and ratified by God himself. The fact that 430 years later the law was introduced does not affect the stipulations of the covenant previously ratified. So hundreds of years separate the promise of the New from the Old. We shouldn’t mix
them together, nor should we extract elements from the Old and impose them on the New. That’s a breach of contract.

While introducing the New, we’ve already spent significant time in Hebrews. Hebrews may well be the least-studied epistle among Christians today. Essentially, it’s a lengthy argument for abandonment of the Old and adoption of the New. Its style reads like that of a brilliant trial lawyer, and Hebrews alone can put to rest many of the issues dividing Christians today. Throughout
The Naked Gospel,
you’ll get to know Hebrews and other New Testament letters that shout in unison, “Jesus plus nothing.”

H
AVE YOU EVER HAD TO SLIP ON SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES
? I
F SO, YOU
know what it’s like to wear something that’s not made for you. At first glance, the shoes may appear similar to any of your own. But they simply don’t match the dimensions of your foot.

In the same way, we’re informed that the law of Moses is indeed for someone—but it’s
not
a good fit for New Testament believers. Paul wrote to Timothy:

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that
the law is made not for the righteous
but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious…And it is for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

1 T
IMOTHY
1:8-11, italics added

What purpose does the law serve? Paul says that it is exclusively for
un
believers. Under the Old, God recognized two kinds of people—Jews and Gentiles. Today, he recognizes two different groups—believers and unbelievers. In the Old Testament, the law was only for Jews. Today, the law speaks to only one group, namely, unbelievers.
So if you’re a Christian, what place should the law have in your life?

The law has one intended audience—unbelievers. But what is the law saying to them? And what is the typical response when the law speaks? The best way to summarize the law’s message is by using an expression that was forbidden in my home as I was growing up: “Shut up!” My mother never tolerated that phrase. But this is precisely what the law says to the unbeliever. In fact, the whole world is silenced by the law:

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

R
OMANS
3:19-20

Sometimes people aren’t listening. If you want their attention, you have to shout. Through the law, God shouts that he demands no less than perfection. When we see the standard, we have no choice but to “shut up.” Our mouths are silenced. We’re not empowered to try harder. Nor are we safe just giving up and making a go at it without righteousness. We’re caught in a predicament. And without intervention, we’d remain in a bewildered state.

Like Adam and Eve, we become conscious of our nakedness before God. But there’s no covering on earth that will hide our unrighteousness. The law exposes our addiction to sin and our need for Christ:

Why the Law then?…But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

G
ALATIANS
3:19, 22 NASB

Once in a while, I have the privilege of speaking to prison inmates about the gospel. Some of the men are under life sentences. They’ll be locked up until they die. As I enter these prisons, and the heavy metal doors close behind me, I imagine what it’d be like to be incarcerated. (I’ve even imagined a mistake with the paperwork that leaves me trapped inside!)

Being held prisoner, locked up indefinitely, is not generally seen as desirable. But this is precisely how Paul describes life under the law. It’s like being locked up as a prisoner:

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

G
ALATIANS
3:23-24 NIV

Being under the law is like being in prison. You’re constantly reminded that you’re guilty and awaiting your sentence. The law doesn’t encourage us, nor does it build us up. With its perfect standard, it only tears down our pride. It shows us that we’ll never succeed. As Paul says, the law has been “put in charge to lead us to Christ.” How does it lead us to Christ? By showing us our spiritual death and our need for new life.

As a teenager, I accrued many violations in my pursuit of speed on America’s highways. I seldom struggled with the most common
temptations that teens deal with. But for some reason, the allure of a speeding automobile always seemed to get the better of me.

For a few years, I was constantly receiving warnings and speeding tickets. I was even once charged with reckless driving due to excessive speed. Of course, there were times when I would feel remorse for my actions—and I’d slow down for a while. But nothing really curbed my addiction to speed.

But imagine, as I make my way to school one morning, driving at the legal speed limit, I notice the familiar flashing blue lights in my rearview mirror. So I pull over to the side of the road and watch as the police officer exits his patrol car and motions for me to roll down my window.

But strangely, the officer has a friendly smile on his face this time. Let’s say he approaches my window with a gleam in his eye and says, “Mr. Farley, I just wanted to say thank you for driving at a safe speed. You’re a good man. The state of Virginia appreciates your efforts to keep our highways safe. This morning, I want to award you the Virginia Drivers Excellence Award. This award includes a certificate redeemable for merchandise at any Division of Motor Vehicles office. Congratulations.” Then he hands me the certificate and says, “You have a great day!”

Wow! I would be stunned, wouldn’t you? Of course you would, because episodes like this don’t find their way into our lives very often. In fact, I doubt if anything like this has ever happened. I’ve never heard of a police officer pulling someone over in order to compliment them on their good driving.

For some reason, the law only gives us its attention when we are in the wrong.

Similarly, the law of Moses only points out where we’ve fallen short. Looking for love and encouragement? You’ll never find them in the law. This is why the strictest legalist you know can
fabricate an appearance of morality. But legalism will never produce love. Living under a law mentality is like being a slave to a most demanding taskmaster. There’s always more to do. And you’ll
never
do enough to please him. James teaches, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking
all
of it” (James 2:10, italics added).

Keeping 1 percent or 99 percent of the law is one and the same. Imagine a person who’s able to abide by most of the law. Let’s say they only struggle occasionally with one tiny regulation. But whether we obey none of the law or most of the law, we’re still cursed under it. As the apostle Paul states, “All who rely on observing the law are
under a curse,
for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do
everything
written in the Book of the Law’” (Galatians 3:10, italics added).

How can Paul be so extreme in his view? We know that Paul (formerly Saul) was a man who tried to obey every aspect of the law. Speaking of himself to the Philippians, he even writes, “…as for righteousness based on the law, [I was found] faultless” (Philippians 3:6).

Those around Paul may have thought he was blameless. But Paul knew better. He was acquainted with the failure that all of us find when we try to obey the law. Speaking of his failure, Paul writes:

I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting.

R
OMANS
7:7-8

Law is an all-or-nothing proposition. Either you comply with every ounce of the law, or you’re cursed. There’s no other option. Do we have a right to pick and choose from the law? Or have we been awarded the luxury of mixing a portion of the law with Christ? Paul warns that if we add even a pinch of law to our life in Christ, he’ll be of no value to us:

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that
he is obligated to obey the whole law.

G
ALATIANS
5:2-3, italics added

It’s preposterous for Christians to adopt portions of the law of Moses as our guide for living. We’re presuming that God grades on a curve. But the law is completely incompatible with our attempt to “do our best.” Law is a pass-or-fail system.

And one strike means you’re out.