As we have seen, whereas the old law was the description of God, the new law is God Himself. The old law tells us merely what kind of God He is, but the new law is God Himself coming into us. The old law reveals to us that God is love, that God is holy, that God is righteous, and that God is a God of light, but the new law is the very God of love, holiness, righteousness, and light coming into us to be love, holiness, righteousness, and light to us. The old law was just the description of God. With that law, God remained outside of us. Through regeneration, however, God Himself has entered into us as the law of the new covenant. The new law is thus God Himself within us. God Himself is now within us as our law.
Now we must see the items that comprise this new law. Just as the old law had ten major items (commandments), the new law has a number of items. These items are actually many laws, for this one law, when it is applied to us, becomes many laws. This is clearly seen when we compare Jeremiah 31:33, which speaks of one law, with Hebrews 8:10, which speaks of many laws. These laws are the law of joy, the law of peace, the law of love, the law of humility, the law of patience, the law of diligence, and the law of light among many others. The items of this new law are thus various attributes of God Himself. Because God is holy, righteous, and full of love, the holiness, righteousness, and love of God are items, or laws, of this new law.
Our experience confirms this truth. A brother once went to a store to purchase something. When he paid for the merchandise, the cashier gave him too much change. He was tempted to not say anything to the clerk, take the excess change, and leave. However, at that very moment there was something within him that regulated him in a living way, prompting him to inform the cashier of his mistake and return the extra money. This was the righteousness of God’s life as one of the items of the new law regulating this brother.
We can also see the inward regulating function of the law of life in its many items in the matter of shopping. Before we were saved, when we went shopping, we could purchase anything we desired. In fact, the more we purchased, the more we enjoyed shopping. If we experienced any regulation at all, it was the regulation imposed by our financial situation. However, since the time that we were saved, many times we have picked up an item in a department store only to experience something regulating us from within. I believe that many of the sisters have had this kind of experience. Before you were saved, you went to the department store and could buy as you desired. However, now when you go to the department store, you are regulated. The more we love the Lord, the more He will be troublesome to us, and the more strict His inward regulation will be. This inward regulating is the new law, the law of life, which is God Himself in Christ.
I can illustrate this with my own experience as well. In my natural man, I am a very proud person. Before I was saved, I seized every opportunity to boast in myself. Whenever I boasted, I felt glorious and happy. Then the Lord saved me. After being saved, I attempted to continue boasting. However, something was restricting me from within. Notwithstanding the inward restriction, I still managed to boast from time to time. But after I boasted, unlike before, there was no happiness or joy. Things were absolutely different. I myself had not changed. Rather, something was in me that had not been in me before: God Himself in Christ had come into me as the living law to be the regulating element within me.
Oftentimes, we praise people for their humility. Because I liked to be praised by others before I was saved, I tried to be humble, knowing that by being humble, I would receive praise from others. The result of such an attempt at humility, when it was successful, was that I became proud of my humility. In other words, I became proudly humble. After I was saved, when I tried to be proudly humble, I sensed something regulating me within. This inner regulation told me to try neither to be humble nor to be proud but just to be normal. This was the law of life, which is God Himself, regulating me from within. Everyone who has been regenerated by God has within himself this living, regulating element. This regulating element is just God Himself as the law of life. Because we have received this regulating element, God Himself regulates within us all the time. This is the law of life, the law of the new covenant.