The law was to work from the outside to transform and change. But in the New Covenant, the Spirt works from within, from the inside out, to bring transformation and change. However, there is a catch. We have to be willing to change, there must be a “want to” and that “want to” is lacking in those that are perishing, the unbelievers, the disobedient, those walking in darkness.
Vs. 7 – The Law brought condemnation and eternal death to those that did not follow the law. Sin is a willful transgression of the known will of God!
…we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.
Galatians 2:16 (NLT)
The law told the Jews what sin was, the Jews inability to keep the law pointed out the need for something more, something better, that would help them or enable them to be what the law could not. And that was, and is, Jesus and the Spirit.
But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.
Galatians 2:17-21 NLT
IF you are a believer then the Spirt of God gives you the power to overcome and live above sin.
Vs 12…Great boldness.
There is no veil, there is nothing between you and the glory of God, but your own unwillingness to boldly take that next step and share the Gospel.
Vs. 14 – We cannot become hung up on the Law, become legalistic, like they did. We are not under the Law, but under grace!
The veil to the Jews was blindness to the fact that the Old Covenant was fading away in the presence of Christ. They were, and some now are, unable to see that the old covenant glory is faded, that it is veiled and the glory behind the veil has faded in the light of the coming of Christ and the Spirit, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:2).
Think of it this way, Moses, with unveiled face, showed Israel the glory, but then would veil his face so that they could not see that the glory was fading… “but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (vs. 16). When we turn to God we receive the Spirt of God, the veil is removed, and the Spirit is the deposit, the guarantee, the seal of what is to come if we continue to believe and follow Jesus.
We are free in Christ, not free to sin, but freed from sin to live for Christ, to fulfill our purpose in the body of Christ, His Church, “Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price…” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
How are we led? In and by the love of God and in loving God all things… transformed, becoming more and more Christ like (Romans 8:9-16).
It is the New Covenant that brings the Spirit inside us, it is He that guides us into all Truth (the Bible), who is our helper, and comforter, who strengthens and helps us in our weakness, who transforms us from sinner to saint (Romans 8:28-29). Today we celebrate the birth of the Church and the empowerment of the Spirit!
Digging Deeper:
- Are you being transformed?
- Have you examined yourself for spiritual growth and change?
- Are you a part of the New Covenant Church?
Further Reading: Exodus 34:29-35, Galatians 3:19-26, Romans 6:14-16, 39, Romans 7:7-13, Romans 8:1-16, John 14:15-17, 26, John 16:7-15, Acts 2:1-28, Titus 3:1-11, Romans 6:1-13, Romans 12, Colossians 3
Dayton First Church of God 