As we read through the Gospel according to John, we will be looking at law and gospel distinctions. My aim is to pick a few verses from each chapter in the book of John, and give a commentary on categories of law and gospel distinctions. I believe John wrote this book to show that the law that was given through Moses, at Mount Sinai, is not to rule over the believer in Christ. Jesus’ commands are not the 10 commandments. “The Jerusalem above is free, (from Mount Sinai) and she is our mother.” Galatians 4:26

 

As Christians, our goal is to move our minds away from a righteousness that comes through the law, and move our minds into a righteousness that comes by faith in Christ, crucified and resurrected. “If righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing,” Galatians 2:21. To set the conscience free from being obsessed with what we are doing and not doing, the law of Moses, the wisdom of the world, for sanctification. The Spirit’s ministry is to convict our conscience of a righteousness that we received from the law of faith in Christ. Jesus has new covenant commands for us: believe in the one whom He has sent, and love others as I have loved you. How does Jesus love us? He loves us by setting us free from the law, because the law is the power of sin in us.

Law Words

Before we start let’s clarify some things. Not every word written in the four gospels are gospel words. Some words fall under the category of law, such as “love God and love neighbor”. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself is the summary of the law that was given through Moses. There is a paradox to the law. “We know that the law itself is good.” “The law itself is not sin,” Romans 7:7b. The law tells us what we are to do and not to do. The paradox is that sin in us seizes on these commands, and sin abounds more and more. Romans 7:7c, Paul teaches, “I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet. 8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead.” And verse 13 “so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure.” 1 Corinthians 15:56 confirms, “The power of sin is the law.” The paradox is that the good and holy law is also the ministry of death that stirs up sin in us to become more sinful. 

 

2 Corinthians 3:7 states, “Now if the ministry that brought death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to gaze steadily at Moses’s face because of its glory, which was set aside, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry that brought condemnation had glory, the ministry that brings righteousness overflows with even more glory. 10 In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was set aside was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.” The ministry of the 10 commandments is the ministry of death. It was glorious when it was given, but now the ministry of the Spirit is more glorious. The Spirit sets our conscience free from the ministry of death, the law of Moses. Any teacher of the law that says, we can obey the law imperfectly, and not be under condemnation is confused. Verse 9 says that the ministry of the law does bring condemnation. Verse 11, “For if what was set aside” the law, “was glorious, what endures” the ministry of the Spirit is to convict us of a gift of righteousness received by faith “will be even more glorious.”

 

The Gospel according to John to going to disciple us, or teach us, that Jesus’ commands are not the commands that came through Moses. The law that was given through Moses is set aside, but only in Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:13 says, “We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadily until the end of the glory of what was being set aside, 14 but their minds were hardened. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. 15 Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

 

The law demands perfect perpetual obedience. It is a certificate of debt, that is opposed to us and against us. The law of Moses does promise eternal life on the condition that it is obeyed perfectly. Jesus meets that condition on our behalf. Because, the law is not compassionate, merciful, gracious, forgiving or abounding in love. God shows His character to us in Nehemiah 9:17 as being “But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.” in response to our disobedience to the good and holy law. The law does not accept imperfect obedience, and keeps us always striving, bearing fruit for death, never to find rest in the finished work of Christ. A person who is living under the law is a person who has to obey the law, their mind is set on the flesh, and they cannot please God. Indeed, they are unable to because they cannot submit their minds to the law. Romans 8:7 “The mind-set of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Marissa Namirr says, “If we hear the law and think we can obey it, we are misreading it.” A mind set on the Spirit knows that it is God’s will that our sins are forgiven and we are holy and righteous entirely on account of Christ, crucified and resurrected. This is grace and peace that comes through Jesus Christ.

Gospel Words

Let us now look at gospel words. Gospel words are words that are exclusive to the person and work of Christ for you. The law demands perfect obedience, Christ provides perfect obedience on our behalf. Christ for you. The law demands a blood sacrifice, Jesus provides the blood sacrifice by dying on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. “Christ is my life” means there is nothing you can do to add to Christ’s works, and there is nothing you have to do. Your mind is set on the Spirit, at rest in Christ’s righteousness for you. Christ’s righteousness is a gift, not a standard to live up to. You don’t have to do anything to please God. God is already pleased with you on account of Christ’s merits. Romans 7:4b “you also were put to death in relation to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another.” And verse 6 “But now we have been released from the law” “so that we may bear fruit for God.” See my Commentary on Romans 7. 

 

“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” Romans 10:4. Repentance is turning away from the law for righteousness, and turning to Christ for righteousness. Our minds and hearts are bent towards the darkness of the law. The new covenant says we are lawless, when we try to obey the law given through Moses. When we bring the 10 commandments into the Christian life.

 

A common confusion of law and gospel is to say that now that we have received faith in Christ we should “live the gospel”. This turns the gospel into something that we “do”, and the gospel becomes law. It becomes a different “gospel”. Let’s clarify, we do not live the gospel. Jesus is the only one who lived the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15 gives us the Cliffs Notes, or summary of the Gospel. 

 

1 Corinthians 15:1 “Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you ​— ​unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.”

 

The Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of sin. We don’t live the gospel. We live in light of the gospel. We live in the absolution: 1 John 2:12 “I am writing to you, little children, since your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.” And 2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We live in the light of Christ crucified and resurrected. We are the righteousness of God by faith, apart from what we are doing or not doing. This mind-set is called obeying the gospel. Our sins are forgiven, and we have a holiness in which we can see the Lord on account of Christ, crucified and resurrected. 

 

Gospel words in Colossians 2:13b-15 Christ “forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.” Some interpret “the certificate of debt” to mean our sin is a certificate of debt. I interpret it to mean that the law is a certificate of debt, it always demands perfect obedience from us. Jesus takes the law away by nailing it to the cross. The Spirit sets us free from the law, the certificate of debt, so that we can bear fruit for God. To clarify, the good and holy law still rules over the rest of the world, as the wisdom of the world. 1 Corinthians 1: 18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved. 19 For it is written,

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent.

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish?” The law has not been abolished, it is still at work to increase sin and is the wisdom of the world. 

 

According to 1 Timothy 1:5-9 “Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, although they don’t understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on. 8 *But we know that the law is good, provided one uses it legitimately. 9 We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person*, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers.” A lawful use of the law is that the law is not meant for us who are righteous by faith, because Christ is now our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. “It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us ​— ​our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:30-31. To say that “Jesus is Lord” means we have to live under the law, obeying it, is confusion, and Christ is a stumbling block.

 

Regarding works, Martin Luther said, “God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does.” Instead of living under the law, you are free. In Christ we live apart from the law, “For apart from the law sin is dead.”, Romans 7:8b. We have permission to use our gifts, abilities, and vocation to help our neighbor, as we are willing and able to. Our sins are forgiven and we are holy, we are sanctified, for the sake of His name. We are free in Christ. Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.

 

Do not return again to the law, a yoke of slavery, Galatians 5:1. There are a lot of things that we tend to turn into a “law”. The fruit of the Spirit will show up when and where God wants them to, instead of being something we have to “work” on. Christ’s righteousness is a gift, instead of being a high standard to live up to. We don’t have to do spiritual disciplines to grow in Christ or to get closer to God. The blood of Christ has brought us as close to God as we can get. Does “deny yourself” mean don’t be selfish? Or does “Deny yourself” mean deny yourself a righteousness that comes through the law? I believe it’s the second one.  “Following Jesus” is this another law, or is it freedom from law? It’s freedom from the law.

 

Now that we have some foundation of law and gospel distinctions, the Gospel according to John will untangle our confusion of Jesus and Moses, and Jesus and Caesar. Moses and Caesar are in the same category of ruling over with authority, and Jesus sets us free from that mind-set. We should not be ruling over one another, but instead setting each other free to walk according to the Spirit. John will show us how Jesus sets us free from the law given through Moses.

 

The Gospel According to John, Law and Gospel Distinctions.

 

We will look at a few verses in each chapter of the book of John to explain this renewed mind-set. Let’s take a more in depth look at Chapters 14-17.

 

John 1:17 “The law was given through Moses, Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The law is synonymous with Moses. The law/Moses tells us what we ought to do, and ought not to do. The law was given to increase the trespass (Romans 5:20), and is called the ministry of death (2 Cor 3:7). The law of Moses always demands perfect perpetual obedience. James 2:8-10  “Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. 9 If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.” I understand this to mean that I break the whole law all day everyday. Grace is synonymous with Jesus obeying the whole law on our behalf, because we cannot. Peace is Jesus taking the law away at the cross. Grace is the person and work of Christ for you. The truth is that  your sins are forgiven and you are holy for the sake of God’s crucified and resurrected Son, Jesus Christ. 

Beloved in Christ, you are not under the law/Moses, you are under grace and truth/Christ. This is a mind-set where the law is no longer telling us what to do.

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John 2:10 “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.” 11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.”

Jesus’ first miracle of turning water into wine. Getting drunk on what we think is the “fine wine” of the law, until Jesus arrives, and we “taste and see that the Lord is good”. The law, from Mount Sinai, can only accuse us of all that we have left undone and keeps us striving in the cheap law, or inferior wine, of imperfect obedience, never to enter Christ’s rest. At the communion table, we taste the fine wine of Christ: our sins are forgiven and we are holy on account of Christ’s shed blood for the remission, and forgiveness of sins. We are holy and righteous on account of Christ, crucified and resurrected. Apart from anything that we do or don’t do.

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John 3:14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” When did Moses speak about Jesus? Here it is, when he lifted up the snake in the wilderness pointing to Christ on the cross. When Jesus was lifted up on the cross He nailed the law of Moses to the cross, and took away that certificate of debt. Verse 19 goes on to say “This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.” Jesus is speaking in coded language, symbols of creation language, language of type and anti-type. Laura Castleberry teaches about type and anti-type of creation symbols of the night/moon/darkness/ represents the Law, and the day/sun/light/ represents Christ. From Genesis 1:3-5, “Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.” Darkness = law, light = Christ. This is the judgement: Jesus, the light, came into the world, and people loved, the law of Moses, darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 

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John 4: 9 “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? ” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.” Jesus came not only to fulfill the law and the prophets, but also to break the Pharisees laws of not associating with the Samaritans. He breaks down our walls of hostility that the law given through Moses puts up between us. Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 *For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace.* 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. 17 He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father.” This hostility between Jew, gentile, men, women, slave, free is broken down, and our rules are taken away at the cross. The Samaritan woman becomes free to be a preacher to her town. A hostility that governs and divides the church today. Jesus tore down this wall of hostility by making of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, resulting in peace. 

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John 5:43+45 Jesus says a good word of law to the Pharisees, 43 “I know you that you have no love for God within you.” and a greater word of gospel, 45 “but do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses on whom you set your hope.” Satan is not the only accuser, Moses is as well. Jesus loved God perfectly on our behalf, because we cannot. Faith, in a righteousness that is received through Christ’s merits, is our love for God. We are free to use our gifts, abilities, and vocation to help our neighbor out as we are willing and able to without Moses accusing us of all that we have left undone. Our sins are forgiven and we are holy for the sake of Jesus, crucified and resurrected.

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John 6:28+29 Law: 28 “What can we do to perform the works of God? ” they asked.

Gospel: 29 Jesus replied, “This is the work of God ​— ​that you believe in the one he has sent.” Our believing in Christ is God’s work, it’s not our work. What God commands of us: faith in Christ; He also provides for us. We receive trust in Christ as a gift from the Spirit. Our sins are forgiven and we are holy, solely on account of Christ’s merits. Holy means set apart, sanctified.

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John 7:18 “The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 19 Didn’t Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me? ” The Jewish leaders understood that Jesus was taking the law that came through Moses away from them, and they wanted to kill him for doing that. They did kill Jesus, when it was Jesus’ time to be glorified, and one of those reasons was for setting people free from the law. Stephan was martyred for the same reason, setting people’s conscience free from the law given through Moses. Paul was putting Christians in prison, because they were teaching this freedom from the law gospel. “If the Son sets you free you are free indeed.” Then Jesus set the apostle Paul free from the darkness of the law. Jesus says to Paul, Acts 26: 17 “I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” Paul did not bring Moses back into the Christian life. Paul instead makes appeals, not demands or commands, to a freed conscience. See Mark Anderson’s teaching on Romans 12.

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John 8:12 Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” the law from Mount Sinai is darkness because it makes us slaves to sin. Jesus is the light of life who sets us free from wrath (Romans 5), sin (Romans 6), law (Romans 7), a mind set on the law, set on the flesh, is death (Romans 8). John 8:34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you.”

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John 9: 26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? ”

27 “I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you? ”

28 They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s disciples. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man ​— ​we don’t know where he’s from.” Jesus gives the blind man sight, on the Sabbath, breaking the added on laws of the Pharisees. The Jewish leaders are admitting that they are Moses’ disciples. Moses’ disciples are blind guides, and reject Christ. The old ways of Moses are passing away, and the new commands of Christ have come.

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John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

31 Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him.

32 Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me? ”

33 “We aren’t stoning you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you ​— ​being a man ​— ​make yourself God.” They wanted to kill Jesus because he was taking the law of Moses away, and also because Jesus was claiming to be God, claiming to be one with God the Father. In their minds, the Father gave them the law through Moses, to be a people set apart. Why would God now send a Messiah, a Christ, to take the law of Moses away from them? It was so that they can be the righteousness of God by faith.

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John 11:“Let’s go to Judea again.”

8 “Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again? ”

9 “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day? ” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”

Referring back to type and anti-type, Jesus is making these connections about himself being the Light of the World and about Moses’ Law being night and darkness and blindness and stumbling. John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” Whoever follows Jesus will not walk in the darkness of the law. Not even for sanctification, because Christ himself is now our sanctification. Not even for holiness, because Christ is our holiness, with which we can see the Lord. By faith we are holy as He is holy.

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John 12:34 Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law (meaning the Torah, the first five books) that the Messiah will remain forever. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man? ”

35 Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.” Paul says it this way in Romans 6:14, “Sin will not have dominion over you, because you are not under the law.” The law is darkness, and the power of sin. Again, 2 Corinthians 3 can help us out here. 15 “Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” And verse 17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” from the darkness/law of Moses. 18 “We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Our minds are being transformed and renewed from “glory to glory”, from the glory of the law to the glory of the Spirit. The glory of the Spirit who sets us free from the law. Romans 8:1″Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

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John 13:1 “Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”

13: 34 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Here is the introduction, and the pivotal turning point for the commands. Jesus is introducing this new command for the new covenant, and he is going to explain what this love is in John chapters 14 & 15, and John will also explain them in 1 John 2+3. Jesus is not referring to the 10 commandments. He is not putting us back under the darkness of the law. Jesus’ love sets us free from the rule of the law. The Christian life is not “trust and obey the law”. It’s trust, and be set free from the law. Trust in Christ crucified and resurrected for the forgiveness of sin, and freedom from the rules that empower sin in us. The foot washing is simply pointing us to, “you are already clean”. It’s a reminder. Why are we clean? Because of Christ crucified and resurrected. Apart from what we are doing or not doing. That’s good news.

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John 14:1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.” Each person who is united to Christ by faith is a room in God’s house. The Holy Spirit indwells a person, gives them faith to trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sin. They become a room in God’s house. The Spirit of Christ is preparing this place, and Jesus will return.

Here are some new covenant commands: “Believe in God; believe also in me.” What are we believing about God the Father and about Jesus, God the Son? Verse 11, “Believe me (1.) *that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.* Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.” 

And verses 15-21

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, (2.)*because he remains with you and will be in you.*

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. 20 (3.) *On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.* 21 The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”

Jesus is not referring to the 10 commandments. He wants us to trust that we are in. Verse 20 “On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you.” Jesus’ commands are to trust that we are in Christ, by faith, apart from what we are doing or not doing, aka the law. We are in Christ and we are in the Father.

The worldly thinking is to think that Jesus’ commands are the 10 commandments.

We have a new mindset. New commands for the new covenant.

“Believe in God; believe also in me.” We are in God the Father, and we are in Christ because of Christ crucified and resurrected. We are free from the 10 commandments. These are Jesus’ commands: trusting that we are in. This is how Jesus loves us to the end. This is how we love one another, because this is our battle for faith and trust.

27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives (the world gives us faux peace by obeying the good and holy law. It’s conditional, based on our performance. The church gives faux peace when it says the Spirit helps us obey the good and holy law. It’s conditional, based on our performance). Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.” Freedom from the 10 commandments is peace. 

Read John 15 through this lens. If Jesus’ commands are the 10 commandments, Christ died for nothing. Galatians 2:21 “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” And Philippines 3:9 “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ ​— ​the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death.” We live the Christian life with this mindset. 

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John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

11 “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

12 “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.

17 “This is what I command you: Love one another.”

With this understanding, maybe it’s not the Christian’s job to serve God. Verse 15 “I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.” Our minds are no longer need to think, “I am serving God.” Acts 17:24 “The God who made the world and everything in it ​— ​he is Lord of heaven and earth ​— ​does not live in shrines made by hands. 25 Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.”

We have been set free from the rule of 10 commandments to use our gifts, abilities, and vocation to serve our neighbor, as we are willing and able to. Without Moses accusing us of all that we have left undone. There will be times when we are not willing or able to serve our neighbor. We are free to serve as we are willing and able to. Our freedom inheritance. From a pure heart. A heart free from law, and a clear conscience.

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John 16:25 “I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” Jesus spoke in parables, and in figures of speech, light = Christ; and darkness = Law. So that those who have ears to hear, will hear and believe. The church has been confused, thinking “love Jesus” means keeping the 10 commandments. So. What if the church is right and “If you keep my commands you will remain in my love” does mean obeying the 10 commandments? This mind-set leads us into pride, despair, or apathy. We wonder if we have done enough to remain in His love. We have to lower the standard of the law from perfect, perpetual obedience to imperfect obedience to make it obtainable. We think we are doing well, we have pride. We might adopt a “fake it till you make” mind-set. Moses is always accusing us of all that we have left undone. If we are honest we know we are not doing that well at keeping the commands, and we become poor in Spirit and perhaps fall into despair. When we become tired of trying to be better than we are, despair could lead to apathy. The Law is never satisfied with our performance. We carry a heavy burden. 

Galatians 6:2

“Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else. 5 For each person will have to carry his own load.”

Here is an alternative. That Jesus’ commands are not burdensome, that they are not the ten commandments given through Moses, at Mount Sinai. “Love Jesus” means believing in Christ crucified and resurrected to receive the gift of righteousness. Jesus loves us by setting us free from the law that came through Moses, and we love each other by setting each other free from the law of Moses. “grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ”, John 1:17. Here is some comfort for us, “For the Father himself loves you, because *you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.*” Faith is enough, and we are set free from Moses to be righteous by faith. 

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John 17:9 “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours.” 

Have we ever felt condemnation, because we have failed the command to “pray without ceasing”? Here is some gospel comfort, Jesus is always praying for us without ceasing, and His praying sanctifies us, makes us holy. We are free to pray as the Spirit leads us.

17:16 “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” A robust doctrine of sanctification. Everything Jesus did here on earth sanctifies us. Christ becomes for us our sanctification. Sanctification is this renewed mind-set where the glory of the good and holy law is fading away, and the glory of the Spirit, the glory of Christ is increasing. Our Identity In Christ.

The gospel comfort is Jesus is always interceding for us with His righteousness, shed blood, and prayers. 17:20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. 21 May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. 22 I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.” More in language. This is God’s love for us . We are in solely for the sake of Christ, crucified and resurrected. A mind set on the Spirit. 

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John 18:36 “My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

37 “You are a king then? ” Pilate asked.

“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

38 “What is truth? ” said Pilate.

The truth is given to us in Galatians 4:21 “Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman. 23 But the one by the slave was born as a result of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born through promise. 24 These things are being taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery ​— ​this is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” The Israelites went from one form of slavery, in Egypt, to another form of slavery when the law was given at Mount Sinai. This is Jesus’ kingdom, freedom from Mount Sinai, the law given through Moses. “For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery,” Galatians 5:1. The church is confused to think that Jesus’ commands are the ones given through Moses. We become part of the Hebrew Roots Movement. The church is confused to think that the law is our freedom. 

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John 19:7 “We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from? ” But Jesus did not give him an answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you? ”

11 “You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

12 From that moment Pilate kept trying to release him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar! ”. Moses and Caesar are united to crucify Jesus. There is an unexpected plot twist in this redemption narrative. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, burial, and resurrection we become free from both Moses and Caesar. This is good news for everyone in Christ Jesus. Especially for women in Christ since we are set free from “Caesar is Lord” male authority “he will rule over you” in Genesis 3:16. We do not have authority over each other, we are free from Caesar is Lord. The Holy Spirit is our spiritual leader. “Obey your leaders” means listen to men and women who can set us free from the law of Moses to walk by the Spirit. To walk by the law of faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law,” Galatians 5:17.

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19:28 “After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth.

30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.”

It is finished. As far as our relationship with God is concerned the law has been fulfilled and nailed to the cross. The law still rules over the world as the wisdom of the world. As Galatians 4:25 says, “Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, (this present world) for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” For those of us who are in Christ by faith, the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. We listen to appeals made to a freed conscience. Doing some good to our neighbor as we are willing and able to.

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John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Jesus had risen from the dead and revealed himself to Mary, and then to the men. He breathed on them so that they could receive the Holy Spirit, and understand everything that he had said to them. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” A believer, disciple, follower is one whose sins are forgiven. Our sins do not belong to us anymore, they belong to Jesus now, on account of Christ crucified and resurrected. “if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Perhaps this means making forgiveness conditioned on something other then Christ, crucified and resurrected? A theology of glory will point us inward at what we are doing or not doing. A theology of glory wants to move on from the cross, and will ask: Have you loved God enough, do you have a desire for God, do you have affections for God, are you pursuing God, have you obeyed enough, are you repenting of known sins. A theology of the cross will point us outward towards Christ crucified and resurrected.

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John 21:24 “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.” John testifies to Jesus’ commands to believe, and to love by setting us free from Moses, in 1 John also.

1 John 2:3 “This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commands. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him: 6 The one who says he remains in him should walk just as he walked.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness (of the law of Moses) is passing away and the true light (of Christ) is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the light (Christ) but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness (law) until now. 10 The one who loves his brother or sister remains in the light (Christ), and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness (law), walks in the darkness (law), and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness (law) has blinded his eyes.

12 I am writing to you, little children,

since your sins have been forgiven

on account of his name.”

 

1 John 3:23 “Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he has given us.”

 

If we are wondering how do we live the Christian life. We live spontaneously by the Spirit, free from Moses, using our gifts, abilities, and vocation to help our neighbor as we are willing and able to. With our minds set on the Spirit: We are forgiven, holy, and righteous on account of Christ, crucified and resurrected. Apart from anything that we are doing or not doing.

Ecclesiastes 9: 7 Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.