Whenever the law is separated from the living God as the source of life, it becomes the condemning and killing element to sinful people (Rom. 7:13, 11). To separate the law from God Himself is to be in the “night” with respect to the law. If we rise up to attempt to keep the law of God, we shall automatically separate the law from God Himself. Then in our efforts to keep the law, we ourselves shall be separated from Him. As a result, the law will become letters which kill us. We shall be like the children of Israel at the bottom of Mount Sinai. Simply by saying they would do whatever the Lord required, they separated themselves from God, the source of life. Then the law became in their experience a killing element.
The case of the Judaizers exemplifies the fact that the law becomes killing letters when it is separated from the living God. The Judaizers loved the law and were zealous to keep it. But their love and zeal were apart from God. In John 5:39 and 40 the Lord Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that testify concerning Me; and you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” The Judaizers thought that there was life in the black and white letters of the Scriptures. However, to come to the Scriptures without coming to the Lord Himself may even be superstitious.
Many Christians use the Bible in a superstitious way, thinking that the Scriptures can actually protect them. Feeling that something evil may happen during the night, some put a Bible underneath their pillow. This is superstitious. Others think that if a person places his hand on the Bible when taking an oath, it will not be possible for him to lie. This also is superstitious.
In the black and white letters of the Bible there is no life. We cannot receive life from the Word if we come to it without coming to the Lord. In order to receive life from the Word, we must contact the Lord as we read it. Life actually is not in the Bible itself; it is in Christ. For this reason, we should never separate the Bible from the Lord Himself. The Bible is intended to be the tree of life. But if we separate it from the Lord as the fountain of life, it will become to us the tree of knowledge. Whether the Bible is the tree of life or the tree of knowledge to us depends on our condition and our standing. If we stand one with the Lord, the Bible will be life to us. But if we separate ourselves from the Lord and still attempt to use the Bible, it will become the tree of knowledge to us. Whenever we stand apart from the Lord in using the Word, the Bible becomes killing letters. Thus, if we stand with the Lord in reading the Word, we shall be in the “day.” But if we stand apart from Him, we shall be in the “night.”
God gave the law with the intention that it would result in life. However, the majority of the children of Israel did not come to God and receive Him as life. Instead, they tried in themselves to keep the law. As the history recorded in the Old Testament indicates, the result was a great failure. Eventually, in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel God came in to speak about establishing another covenant, a new covenant. In this covenant God would give the people a new heart and a new spirit. Furthermore, He would even give them His Spirit. The new heart, the new spirit, and the Spirit of God would enable them to keep all of God’s commandments. This is the New Testament.
When many read Ezekiel 36:26 and 27, they have the impression that these verses teach exactly the same thing as the New Testament concerning a new heart, a new spirit, and the Spirit of God. We must admit that this is true. In these verses we see the reconstitution of our inner being. To have a new heart and a new spirit involves regeneration, reconstitution, and a rearrangement of our being. Furthermore, God’s Spirit comes into us to join us with Him. Surely this is identical with Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 6:17: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” If we do not separate ourselves from God but remain one with Him according to the new covenant, we shall automatically have the ability, strength, and power to carry out God’s commandments.
When Moses was on the mountaintop experiencing a divine infusion, did he receive a new heart and a new spirit? Did he receive the Spirit of God? I have no doubt that Moses received a new heart and a new spirit and that God’s Spirit was given to him. Does this mean, then, that Moses was regenerated? It is difficult to answer this question. The point here is that the principle is the same both in the Old Testament and in the New. After man’s fall, God’s intention is to change our heart and our spirit, and then to put Himself as the life-giving Spirit into us. Then we shall have a life with the ability to fulfill God’s requirements, and we shall be able to live in a way that corresponds to what God is. I do not presume to say whether Moses was regenerated or not. But I do know from the Scriptures that God’s economy is to work Himself into us, to reconstitute us by changing our heart and spirit, and to come into us as the life-giving Spirit that we may live Him.
At this point, we need to look into the case of the Galatians. Their case differs from that of the Judaizers. In contrast to the Judaizers, the Galatians had received the Lord and had entered into the sphere of grace. However, they were distracted from Christ to the law. They took in the concept that since the law is good, they should try to keep it. But in striving to keep the law, they cut themselves off from Christ and fell from grace. This was the reason Paul said to them, “If you are circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing” (Gal. 5:2). He went on to tell them, “You have been brought to nought from Christ, you who are justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (v. 4). By turning to the law, the Galatian believers had cut themselves off from the enjoyment of Christ and from the profit of being in Christ. The case of the Galatians shows that whenever believers neglect their union with Christ and turn to the law and strive to keep it, they cut themselves off from Christ and from grace.
In dealing with the situation among the believers in Galatia, Paul found it necessary to point out that what was needed is faith for an organic union with the living God, the source of life, that we may be the new creation. Galatians 5:6 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith operating through love.” It seems as if Paul was saying, “Don’t go back to the law and separate yourselves from God. Instead, exercise your faith to maintain the organic union with Christ. If you preserve this union, you will enjoy life.” Then in Galatians 6:15 Paul says, “For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” The new creation consists of human beings who have been constituted of the Triune God in order to live Him. To stay in the new creation is to stay in this constitution. If we exercise faith to enjoy the organic union with the living God that we may live the new creation, it will not be necessary for us to keep the law. Spontaneously we shall live a life that fulfills the requirements of the law and even surpasses them.