Introduction

James 2:12 ESV  So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

• Before we get started this morning, let’s pray over this message:

• If you are new here at Christian Life Church, first of all, welcome!
  • But if you are new here then I want you to know that here at CLC we preach through books of the Bible.
    • What I mean is that I pray and ask God what book to preach through, and when He has spoken I preach through that book, starting at verse 1 and going verse by verse line by line, thought by thought.
    • So as we go through the letter James wrote to Jewish Christians, we simply preach on whatever James was preaching on.
      • One of the best things about this style of preaching, of preaching through whole books of the Bible without skipping any verses…
      • The beauty is that we get context!
        • We will never preach a sermon with out first preaching the verses before it and later preaching the verses after.
      • And context is so important. Because each verse was not written in a vacuum.
        • The book of James was originally a letter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and put on to paper by James.
          • It was written to Jewish Christians all around the known world.
          • And it was meant to be read in one whole sitting.
          • Meaning that the things said in Chapter 1 apply to the things in chapter 2, and so on, they are all one letter, one thought process.
          • In fact, the chapter numbers were put in hundreds of years later simply to make Biblical books easier to study.
  • Now I say all of this because a proper understanding of today’s verse requires the proper context. So, if you missed the last few sermons, let me briefly recap the last few verses… and even if you did hear the last few sermons, pay attention to the recap because I want it to be fresh in your mind.
    • So, in this part of his letter, James is rebuking the Jewish Christians… why?
      • Because they were treating rich people in their churches better than the poor people.
      • They were giving rich people the best seats.
      • They were making poor people sit on the floor.
        • James CLEARLY calls this sin. He calls it the sin of partiality.

James 2:9 ESV  But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

• James goes on to amplify the seriousness of this sin… to maximize the seriousness of this sin.
  • James says in verse 7 that the same law that says do not murder and do not commit adultery, says that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. And to fail to do so is to break the whole law.
    • And so, I preached a sermon last week about maximizing the severity of our own sin instead of minimizing it… and in so doing we maximize the grace and love of Jesus Christ who died for us while we were yet sinners.
• And so now, in this context… the context that the Christians in the churches were sinning by showing partiality… and that this sin was severe… in that context James says today’s key verse:

James 2:12 ESV  So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

• And because this is today’s key verse, the Title of todays sermon is simply this:

• Christians are Under the Law (of Liberty).
  • Now this morning there are three things that I think James is exerting, that many Christians miss, and that we must accept.
    • When we accept these three things our life becomes more and more holy, and our freedom becomes more and more abundant.
      • And before you get up and live please note that todays message is a message of freedom!

Galatians 5:1 ESV  For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

• So please do not take today’s message as a burden, as a yoke…
  • I am not trying to enslave you to the law.
    • But I am also not trying to free you from the law.
  • Instead I am trying to show you that through Christ we are FREE in the Law.
    • That we are still under the Law, but we are under the law of liberty.
• So here are the three things that we must understand from James message here in James chapter two:

(This slide already in Proclaim as “Three Things we must understand 1”)

• We must understand that we are still under the law of liberty.
  • We must understand that Jesus completed the Law.
  • We must understand that Salvation Gives Us Freedom Under the Law
• Now if you just understand one or two of these things you are at risk of becoming a heretic.
  • If you just understand that we are still under the law you risk becoming a Pharisaical legalist. Someone who believes your salvation is dependent on weather or not you follow every letter of every law God has given.
  • But if you just understand that Salvation Gives Us Freedom Under the Law you risk rejecting the law all together and falling under the heresy known as antinomianism.
    • Antinomianism simply meaning anti-law.
• I don’t want to be a church of heretics, I want to be a church of saints. Once sinners, now redeemed by the blood of the lamb, living free in Christ, above reproach, and living a life of love for God and others.
  • Heretics don’t live like this, but Christians do. Can we just be a Christians church?
• Now let’s get into it with point one, these points are going to go quick so follow along with me, amen?!

Point One –  We Are Still Under The Law (of Liberty)

James 2:8-12 ESV  If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.  (9)  But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  (10)  For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.  (11)  For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.  (12)  So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

• You know I have preached through the book of Revelation.
  • When writing those sermons I had to read 5 different commentaries to try to get a historical understanding of what other Christians thought some verse meant.
    • And those commentators, mighty holy men of God, would have WILDLY different takes on what different parts of the book of Revelation meant.
    • It was exhausting to read all of their contradicting arguments sometimes.
  • Church hear me when I say this: When I read the commentaries on James two through 18, it felt just like going through Revelation.
    • All these guys lost there minds over these verses.
      • Why? Because some thought that every sin was the same?
      • No, they all agree that every sin is not the same and they all went out of their way to prove that with the full body of Scriptures.
    • But because many of them could not FATHOM that James is saying that we are under the law.
      • Some of them even felt that James was contradicting himself in these verses…
      • In verse 8 he calls “Love your neighbor as yourself” the Royal Law… ok, so far so good. Some believe this is the only law that Christians should follow.
      • But then in verse 11 he quotes two old testament laws… two of the 10 commandments “Do not commit adultery” and “do not murder”.
        • BUT WAIT, HE CAN’T SAY THAT, WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW ANYMORE. RIGHT GUYS… I MEAN… WHY WOULD HE SAY THAT TO A BUNCH OF CHRISTIANS?! THAT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE.
      • And possibly worst of all, in verse 12 James tells a bunch of Christians that they will be JUDGED!
        • No they then go to verse 13 as a cop out… we will talk about verse 13 next week, it is not meant to minimize judgment but to maximize God’s mercy… one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible…
      • But none-the-less, they can’t fathom why two of the 10 commandments would be mentioned to Christians in the new testament.
        • One commentator who I normally really respect even went as far as to say “We know the old law has been done away with, but now we must accept that do not murder and do not commit adultery are part of the new law, therefore we can not do those things”.
          • WHAT?! You mean that your understanding of Christ’s fulfilment of the law is that if we did not have the book of James it would be ok to murder and commit adultery?!
      • But this is what people believe… it is antinomianism… being anti-law.
• I want to read to you a part from a book that… I uh… was referenced in the footnotes in… it’s by Pastor Chace Gordon and it’s called “Flaming Heretics Are Real”… and no I am not referenced as a flaming heretic, ok… any who, on Page 14 Chace explains how Satan was the first antinomian and how eve was the second… Speaking of Eve’s interaction with Satan in the Garden, Pastor Chace writes:

The seeds of doubt are planted in Eve. As she processes a loophole to disobey God’s clear command, she embellishes what God actually says. Look at verses 2-3

Genesis 3:2-3 NKJV  And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;  (3)  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ “

God didn’t say “Nor shall you touch it”, Eve added that part. Now touching the fruit might not have been a good idea, but it is almost as if Eve is making God’s command sound harder than it actually is. Sort of like when the Antinomian says “10 commandments! Those are hard! Whew! You think God still expects you to obey those??!? That’s crazy talk!” (As if things like “Don’t [murder] people”, “don’t steal”, “don’t [be a] lie[r]”, “don’t commit adultery” etc. was some insanely unreasonable standard. Let the [murder] commence I guess.)

• For some reason there are many Christians who act as if the Law, God’s commands of does and don’ts, are somehow ridiculously difficult to obey.
  • I would argue that Jesus made things far more difficult under the new covenant when He said things like “If you look at a woman with lust you have commit adultery in your heart”, or “If you hate your brother without cause you have murdered him in your heart”, or “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, for it is better to go to heaven with one eye then to go to hell with booth eyes”.
• Jesus was in fact a law giver… look at Matthew 22, the two greatest commandments:

Matthew 22:36-40 ESV  “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  (37)  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  (38)  This is the great and first commandment.  (39)  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  (40)  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

• When Jesus said this He wasn’t changing the Law, He was summarizing it.
  • Two commandments summarize the whole Law: Love God and Love your Neighbors.
    • The first 4 commandments are summarized by the first and greatest commandment… How can you love God if you are not putting Him first, if you are blaspheming His name, if you are serving other Gods, or if you are not keeping the Sabath holy (God rested, we are made in His image, we are rebelling against His image when we reject the Sabath).
    • And the last 6 commandments are summarized as “Love your neighbor as yourself”. How can you love your neighbor if you are stealing from him, sleeping with his wife, and murdering him?!”
  • Jesus was making it plane “The law is about love! Love God with everything you are and love your neighbor as yourself”. Jesus wasn’t replacing the law, He was summarizing it… giving it the proper character… explaining it is layman’s terms… Jesus was making it plain!
• You see the gospel was never about making the law easier, we are still under the law, now called the law of liberty. But we must understand that Christ completed the law… and it being complete does in fact change pretty much everything.
  • That brings me to point two, Jesus Completed the Law.

Point Two –Jesus Completed The Law

James 2:12 ESV  So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

Romans 10:4 ESV  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

• Now at first these two verses seem to contradict each other…
  • How can Jesus be the end of the law, but then James say we are to be judged under the law.
  • Is the law of liberty some kind of new law? And if it is, then why does James quote the old law when talking about this new one?
    • It doesn’t make any sense, how can Jesus be the end the law that we are supposed to be judged under according to James?
• Well, it does make sense if you are using the correct definition of “end”.
  • Because words have different meanings.
  • If I say “This will be the end of me” that means “This is going to destroy me”.
  • But if I say “Turn right at the end of the bridge” I am not suggesting you wait for the bridge to be destroyed before you turn right… I mean at the final part of the bridge, at the completion of the bridge, turn right.
• Jesus did not destroy the law, but completed the law.

Matthew 5:17 ESV  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

• So then when we look at Romans 10:4 we should look at the word end as “complete”…

Romans 10:4 ESV  For Christ is the end [completion] of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

• In fact, to avoid confusion, some translations translate it this way.

Romans 10:4 NIV  Christ is the culmination of the law…

Romans 10:4 GW  Christ is the fulfillment of Moses’ Teachings…

Romans 10:4 ISV For the Messiah is the culmination of the Law… 

Romans 10:4 NOG Christ is the fulfillment of Moses’ Teachings…

Romans 10:4 WEB For Christ is the fulfillment of the law

• Jesus did not come to abolish the law, Jesus came to complete the law.
  • And this is so important to know, because it is the incomplete law that is impossible to follow.
  • It is the incomplete law that is burdensome and heavy.
  • It is the incomplete law, the law without Christ, that causes that damning weight of sin to be unbearable.
• Remember that bridge analogy I made earlier… “Turn right at the end of the bridge”… it assumes the bridge is complete… that the bridge has an end…
  • But the law without Christ is like an incomplete bridge… like the famous bridge between China and North Korea that was never finished…

• Now, look at all those people who made it to the midway point of the bridge… they even set up a food stand branded by Pepsi.
  • But the thing is, sure people can get that far on the bridge… they can walk all the way there… but they will never get to were the bridge was intended to go.
  • They can strive all they want… they can reaaaaaach over the hand rail… they can bring some two-by-fours and try to add to the bridge… but it will never work.
  • No matter how hard these people try, they will never cross this bridge.
  • Because the bridge is incomplete.
• JESUS COMPLETES THE BRIDGE Y’All.
  • No matter how hard we try, we will never match up to the standard of the law. Because, as Romans says, we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
  • We strived to get over the bridge, but we sinned, we fell short, we fell into the water.
    • Think about this word picture would you…
    • Your striving to get across the bridge… you are reaching over the railing… not far enough… you climb over the railing… you get a bit closer, but still have a long ways to go… you start stretching your body out… then it hits you…
      • Sin, you lust, or gossip, or steal, or whatever… you fall into the water… splash.
      • Then you cry out, as you are about to drown “Lord Save me!”

Matthew 14:30-31 ESV  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”  (31)  Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him…

• Now that’s not what Matthew 14:30 is about… but it’s a fun word picture… Jesus grabs you and puts you back on the bridge… but this time, the bridge is complete… finished with the lumber of the cross.
  • No longer do you have to stretch, and sweet, and strive, and worry about falling in the water… the bridge is complete!
  • Christ completes the bridge that leads from earth to heaven.
    • From loneliness to being with God.
    • From death to life.
    • From calamity to peace.
    • From sorrow to joy.
    • From pain to healing.
    • From poverty to prosperity.
    • From emptiness to completeness.
  • The bridge from US, and this world, and all that is wrong with us and this world… the bridge from us to God has been completed by the cross of Christ.
    • Now our job is not to strive, but to simply walk freely across the bridge.
    • Now that brings me to my final point: Salvation Gives us Freedom Under the Law

Point Two – Salvation Gives Us Freedom Under the Law

James 2:12 ESV  So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

• You see we are still under the law… James two makes that very clear.
  • But our relationship with the law has changed.
  • It is no longer a law of sin and death.
  • But now it is a law of liberty. Why? Because we are FREE to cross the bridge without striving.
    • We are free to dance on the bridge, run on the bridge, jump on the bridge, ENJOY the bridge, as we cross it.
    • There is no need for striving.
      • Sure we have to STAY on the bridge.
        • We don’t get to jump into the waters of sin and say “hey I thought Jesus completed the bridge”.
      • But praise God, even when we mess up there are guardrails to keep us on the straight and narrow… it is not a fragile bridge if we choose to stay on it.
• How many of y’all know I am not talking about bridges and architecture?
  • I am talking about how we as Christians are now free to live under the law without striving under the law.
    • Without Christ, there is no redemption.
    • There is no grace.
    • There was no mercy for the sinner… for the law breaker.
      • You are guilty, and you will be punished.
      • So that gap in the law, where it says IF WE SIN IT IS OVER… That gap is unsurmountable!
        • No matter how hard we try, no mater how hard we labor… we will lose…
        • And thus the law becomes a burden, a yoke… a hardship.
  • But now our relationship with the law has changed… our relationship with what God has told us to do and not do has changed.
    • Now it is a law of liberty, a law of freedom.
      • We should love this law of liberty, not reject.
      • When God says “Don’t gossip, don’t steal, don’t be a liar, don’t be a murderer of heart, don’t commit adultery, don’t fornicate, don’t lust, tithe, give offerings, respect one another, forgive one another…”
        • When God tells us these things we shouldn’t say “NO!!!! THE BURDEN OF THE LAW!” instead we should say “YES!!!!!! Thank you Jesus!
          • The God who made me, the God who loved me enough to save me, that God is helping me learn to be more like Him! Thank you Jesus!
          • That God is helping me to live a prosperous and holy life. Thank you Father!
          • That God is guiding me, leading me, and convicting me so I don’t have to do this on my own! Thank you Holy Spirit!
• I love the law of liberty, not because it is a burden, it is not under Christ… but because it helps me live holy, and prosperously, and righteously before my God and my King. I don’t have to figure out the right way to live on my own, God showed me!
  • And that gap in the bridge that happens when we sin, and we all have sinned, that gap is no longer a problem because Christ is the end of the bridge! He is the completion of the law!
    • I don’t have to worry about my sin leading me to hell because it has been forgiven.
    • This means there is no fear on this bridge! It is safe, it is hole, it is complete. I DON’T NEED TO FEAR THE WATER BECAUSE THE BRIDGE IS COMPLETE. I AM FREE TO LIVE LIFE ON THIS BRIDGE AND CROSS IT WITH JOY.
    • I don’t need to fear hell because the law is complete! I can now live in the law, love the law, follow the law… and there is no gap for me to fall into. I am free under the law of liberty!
• And there is one thing that I can do to mess it up, and that is I as a Christian can chose to get off the bridge. I can choose to go back into sin and to turn my back on God.

Romans 6:1-2 ESV  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?  (2)  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

• You were once dead… you were in the water under the bridge…
  • But now  you are alive… you are on the completed bridge… you are free to run and jump and stay dry, and warm, and happy.
    • BUT YOU DON’T GET TO JUMP OFF THE BRIDGE INTO THE WATER AGAIN!
    • You don’t get to consciously sin and keep on sinning and expect salvation at the end of it.

1 John 3:4-9 ESV  Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.  (5)  You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.  (6)  No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.  (7)  Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.  (8)  Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.  (9)  No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

• This is what James is trying to say when he says you will be judged under the law of liberty! If you get to heaven and you have been consciously sinning your whole Christian life… God is going to judge you.
  • He is going to say “My son died for you so you could be free! Yet you still chose to be a slave to sin! I gave you everything you needed to be righteous, and you throw it away… for what? A few more bucks in the offering plate? A few more moments of pleasure? A few moments to boast in yourself? You could have freely lived in the law of liberty, but instead you chose death!”
• The beautiful thing about the bridge is that it is solid, we are not just going to stumble off into the water. If we sin, He is faithful to forgive us, we get back up and move on with life.
  • But we have to chose to stay on the bridge. To live according to his commandments.

Conclusion

• Matthew 7:12-14 ESV  “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.  (13)  “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  (14)  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.\
• Here is the take away from today’s message.
  • The law is alive and well, it has not perished, it has not been abolished, but it has been completed.
  • We are not under the incomplete law anymore, we are not under the law of sin and death… that no matter how hard you strive you can not complete it.
  • But we are still under the law… this time though we are under the law of liberty.
    • We are free to live a life full of joy, peace, prosperity, fulfillment, righteousness, godliness, and holiness.
    • And we are told how to live this life by the complete law of liberty, and so long as we stay in that law, stay on that straight and narrow, we will continue to grow to be more like Christ and will one day wake up to the words “Well done my good and faithful servant”.
      • And though we may sin along the way, as long as we chose to stay on the bridge, to repent, to confess, to stay with Christ… so long as we stay on the bridge, not consciously jumping off, not making a practice of sinning… then we shall remain in the grace and goodness of Christ Jesus.
    • Nothing will pluck us out of the hand of God, so let’s make sure we don’t chose to jump out of his hand on our own free will. Amen?
• Gospel Call

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