There is a foolish group of people in this world whom we might call “antinomians.” I have never heard of anyone calling himself an “antinomian,” but that doesn’t mean some are not. “Antinomian” is a derivative of 2 Greek words “anti” which means against and “nomos” which speaks of law. Usually when the word is used today it is in a theological or religious context, but not always. Some professing Christians say that because of God’s grace they are under no Biblical laws. They say that grace and law are opposites, and since they are saved by grace, they are freed from the law. That is an extreme position and utterly unbiblical.
I just suggested that it is foolishness to be an antinomian. The obvious reason is that we are all under a variety of laws. Some would like to say that the United States has no lawful jurisdiction over them. This is foolish. Some appear to live above the law – some politicians, some government agents, some police. The Christian is freed from the Law of Moses for salvation, but some basic principles still apply. The vast majority of our neighbors have ignored the fact that there is a Divine Moral Law over them. There are natural laws which no creature can avoid very long – like the law of gravity. There is a law – you might call it divine, but in another sense it is a natural law – it is the law of death. The Bible speaks about a “law of sin and death” and even a “law of liberty.” No man can ever be a successful antinomian, and he is a fool who tries – BUT many people do try.
Out of a dozen varieties of law which we find in the Bible, I want us to think about the law which is mentioned in verse 2. Paul directs these words to Christians – to “brethren” – brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not a book written to just Hebrews or to heathen Gentiles; it is directed to saints of God. It also suggests that some of God’s saints are more spiritual than others. We have probably found it true in ourselves that sometimes we are more spiritual than at other times. And by “spiritual” I think Paul means – “more under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.” “Ye, who are more filled with the fruit of the Spirit; Ye who are more surrendered to the Spirit.” “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Then he says, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” In bearing each others burdens – referring to faults in others – spiritual people fulfill the law of Christ.
What is the law of Christ?
We can make this a complicated question, ending with one kind of answer, or we can keep it simple. And since I am a simple person, I’ll have to go with the second choice. But in regard to the first, we could argue Christ’s position in the God-head, and conclude that the law of Christ is the law of God. That is a logical thought. Someone else might suggest that since Moses was a servant of GOD, he was therefore a servant of CHRIST, and thus the Law of Moses is the Law of Christ. We could say that since Christ is the Creator, then under whatever laws Adam, Noah and Abraham lived, those were the Law of Christ. That would obviously include the Moral Law, those which were specified in the Decalogue – the Ten Commandments. One might even say that “the law of sin and death” are the law of Christ, because it was the Second Person of the God-head who told Adam, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Logically, we could give the Law of Christ any number of definitions and descriptions.
But if our only resource was Galatians 6, what would our definition be? Actually, there is no definition offered here – only an expression of its use. Doesn’t it say “the Law of Christ is to bear one another’s burdens”? There is another law which says “Every man shall bear his own burden” (verse 5), but the Law of Christ is that we deliberately choose bear one another’s burdens. The word “bear” means to “pick-up” and “carry” those burdens. The idea seems to be to help the person carry his burden, or perhaps it means to carry it away. There is certainly no room for the idea to pick that burden up and beat the man over the head with it.
While there is no specific definition of the “law of Christ” in chapter 6, we come close to a definition in the previous chapter. Notice verse 12 – “I would they were even cut off which trouble you. For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Again, without calling this the “Law of Christ,” loving one’s neighbour is placed extremely high.
For an actual definition of the law of Christ, we have to look to the words of its author, Christ Jesus. In John 13, we have a description of the last evening Christ spent with His disciples. There was the washing of the disciple’s feet, and His exhortation to show our love for Christ by following His example. There was another declaration of His upcoming betrayal and death. In that chapter Judas left to make preparations for his part in the betrayal. After his departure Christ offered some words of comfort and instruction to those who remained. And in John 13:34-35 He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Christ used a rather strong word in this statement – “commandment.” That was not a word He used when speaking about washing each other’s feet. A commandment is usually considered a law, and this commandment came from Christ. “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you.”
In John 15 the Lord gives to us His great discourse on “the True Vine and His branches.” “I am the vine, ye are the branches.” He reminds us of the obvious – our inability to produce fruit pleasing to the palate of God, unless we abide in Christ, the Vine. Then in verse 8 he says, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Again we have the word “commandment” – “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”
In the second chapter of his epistle, James was pummeling those professing believers whose talk was all about grace and faith, but whose lives were filled with pride and other sins. The first third of the chapter his thoughts were directed toward those bigoted church-members who looked down their noses at the poor. Before going on he wrote, “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.” I know that James called this “the royal law” instead of “the law of Christ,” but he was certainly repeating the instruction of Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of Lords. Mark 12:28-31 – “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”
The Law of Christ is love, but how is that law obeyed?
First and foremost in our love towards God. I am talking, of course, about Jehovah, including the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That man who worships out on the lake or climbing to the top of some majestic mountain peak, should love the God who created those things – but of course he doesn’t. All God’s creatures should love the Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ. But “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,” so he never will love or worship the Lord Jehovah. But for the regenerated man, there is not only the command and argument, but there is the opportunity and ability. Christians often quote the Apostle John – “We love Him (God) because He first loved us.” Early in chapter 4, John wrote – “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
The Law of Christ certainly includes the command to love the Lord. Matthew 22:37 – “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” And what are the words in Christ’s next three sentences? “This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Christ couples love of our neighbors to our love of God. And many of the other scriptures what we’ve used this evening bring together love of the brethren and love toward God.
John is often described as the “Apostle of Love,” because, along with other things, his books are filled with that subject. What is in the context of John’s words about love for God in the chapter to which we just referred? John 4:7 – “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another…. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” Are we given an excuse to limit our love with words like – “Love your brother if he is as godly, spiritual and sinless as you are?” The law of Christ is to love as unconditionally as we have been loved.
So how are we to obey Christ’s law? By “bearing one another’s burdens.” By putting ourselves in that man’s shoes and endeavoring understand the burden which is crushing him. We obey Christ’s law by trying to help him. Help him to grow in Christ. Help him to grow in Biblical doctrine; to learn of God’s promises, and to rest upon those promises. Help him to grieve if that is his burden and to bring him out of his grief if at all possible. Help him to lean upon the Holy Spirit. Help him to see his sins, to repent of his sins, and to make the most of his life now that he has sinned. Sometimes bearing another’s burdens, means simply walking with him and listening to him. At other times it means reaching into our pockets, like the good Samaritan. It means praying for him and with him, not against him.
I John 4:21 – “And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” This the commandment of Christ – this is the Law of Christ. How obedient are we?