Even Peter made a mistake by putting Moses and Elijah on the same level as Christ. When the Lord Jesus was transfigured on the mount, Peter said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You are willing, I will make three tents here, one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah" (Matt. 17:4). By this word Peter gave the Lord Jesus the same rank as Moses and Elijah. But while Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight. Hear Him!" (v. 5). This means that the law, represented by Moses, and the prophets, represented by Elijah, are over. When the disciples lifted up their eyes, they saw Jesus only (v. 8). Therefore, in the New Testament, the age of grace, there is no ground for the law.

The top seer of God's eternal economy was the apostle Paul. Paul did not appreciate the law in any of his writings. Instead, he said that we are not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). He said that he died to the law (Gal. 2:19) and that no one can be justified by God through observing the law (3:11). Paul belittled the law to the uttermost, but James uplifted the law to the heavens. What a mistake he made! However, not many have seen that James was mistaken to the uttermost in the matter of the law. James's mistake was covered by his beautiful portrait of the law.

Humanly, everybody appreciates the doers of the law. Whoever keeps the law by loving his neighbor is a good man. Keeping the law fits with the natural concept of fallen people. Acts 21 shows us that James was zealous for the law, but in Galatians Paul said that we are dead to the law, the law profits us nothing, and we are not under the law. After he had written Galatians, Paul went to Jerusalem where James had become a high authority, just because of the human concept. He was made the first of the three pillars in the church at Jerusalem (Gal. 2:9). He was greatly appreciated by the Jewish believers because he was zealous for the law. When Paul came to Jerusalem, James advised him to do something to keep the law in order to appease the Jewish believers, and Paul was ensnared (see note 1 of Acts 21:26).