Slaves of righteousness

Having come out of (or should I say still coming out of) professing Christendom I realize more and more how wrong we teach the Bible.

One of the overall points that the "church" makes today is that the Law of God is dead and no longer of any consequence to a believer in Jesus. The Old Testament is pretty much done away with and now all we need is the New Testament.

I ask them what do they do with passages like Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:27, Matthew 5:17-18, Mark 7:8-13, Romans 3:31, 7:12,14,22-25, 8:4,6-7, 2 Corinthians 3:14-16, Ephesians 2:10, 1 John 2:3-7, 3:4, 5:2-3, Revelation 12:17, 14:12, and others? (I suggest you go and read these.)

Jesus said,

"Most assuredly I say to you that whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."
-John 8:34-36

The professing church interprets this as meaning that Christ has come to free us from the Law so that we can live freely in His grace, which by the standards of the "church" seems to mean that we can just about live however we want. In reality, grace is defined as God's influence on our hearts with a reflection through our lives. Biblical grace is the LORD writing His Law on our hearts and that work shining out in our very life!

If Jesus sets us free then what does that look like? Can we really live however we want? Oh, I'm sure most pastors would say no and they'd give some guidlines, or some rules much like the Jerusalem council gave in Acts 15. That's all we Gentiles have to worry about, but we certainly don't have to keep all of God's commandments, right?

"And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."
-Romans 6:18

Did you catch that? If you have been set free from sin, having experienced the grace of God, then you are NOW a slave of righteousness! You're still a slave, but not to sin, rather to God. How can that be free? Well, when we were slaves of sin we did things according to our flesh that were in opposition to the will and Word of God. But now that we are in Him (if you truly are in Him) we have been given the power of His Spirit to say no to sin...we are no longer it's (sin) slave! We do that which opposes sin and should align itself with God's Law. By His grace, our spirit forces our flesh into submission.

Paul says in Galatians,

"For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ."
-Galatians 1:10

The definition for "bondservant" is this:

G1401
δοῦλος
doulos
doo'-los
From G1210; a slave (literally or figuratively, involuntarily or voluntarily; frequently therefore in a qualified sense of subjection or subserviency): - bond (-man), servant.

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's."
-1 Corinthians 6:19-20

If we are not our own, but bondservants of Christ, slaves of righteousness, then shouldn't we walk as HE wants us to? How does He want us to walk?

Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
-John 14:15

As some teach, the commandments that Jesus was talking about here are the new ones He supposedly gave in the gospels. What?! Show me one place that He actually did that! He said in John 7:16,

"My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me."

Who sent Jesus into the world? The Father. So the doctrine, or teaching, that Jesus brought was not His but the Father's. So what was the Father's doctrine?

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart."
-Deuteronomy 6:5-6

"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey Me voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."
-Exodus 19:5-6

"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."
-1 Peter 2:9

God has called us out of confusion, out of "Babylon" if you will, and has given us His Law as a light. If we are in Christ then we are no longer under the letter of the Law as a ministry of death, but in the Spirit, who writes the Law upon our heart (Jeremiah 31:31-34, 2 Corinthians 3:1-18).

If we have accepted Jesus as the ONLY way to the Father, then we have entered the New Covenant, which is really the Old Covenant with a change in how sin is now dealt with - no longer is there a Tabernacle, a Levitical priesthood, or animal sacrifices. Jesus IS the temple (tabernacle), our great High Priest, and the once for all atoning sacrifice for sin! Hallelujah!!

The awesome thing is, He now makes us His temple, His priesthood, and requires us to offer up ourselves as living sacrifices. This all makes sense since we are HIS body!

The Law of God isn't dead or done away with and it never will be until the LORD returns, apart from sin for salvation, sin is cast away and heaven and earth pass away. Only then will His Law no longer be needed in the same capacity it is now. But we will always be under His Word.

We are not our own and we are not free to live sinfully (lawlessly)! It is only by His standard of righteousness (His Law) that we can know what sin is and turn from it toward Him.