The Law of the Church

Jesus Christ fulfills a number of important roles on behalf of the Church. Most Christians are generally familiar with several of these roles. Perhaps the most important is His role as the covenant Sacrifice. As our Savior, (Eph 5:23) He is also our Head, (Eph 5:23) our Mediator, (1Tim 2:5) and our Judge. (John 5:22) Jesus described three other more abstract roles He fulfills when He said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." (John 14:6) However, another very important role the Lord fulfills is largely overlooked in the Christian community, perhaps because scripture does not overtly state it, but Jesus subtly implied it during His temptation by Satan. 

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. (Luke 4:4)

The Word of God provides us spiritual sustenance. We must live by the Word of God. The Word of God gives us spiritual perspective and direction for our lives. He is a guiderail for our conduct. He gives us insight into the laws which govern the spiritual realm. From a spiritual perspective, the Word of God is the Law of the Church. The Bible teaches us that the eternal Word of God took on flesh and became Jesus Christ, (John 1:1, 14) so the identity between the Word of God and Jesus Christ leads to the inescapable conclusion that Jesus Christ is our Law. He is our living Law. He is our perfect Law of liberty. What proceeds from the mouth of God is His Word—His Law—Jesus Christ. The Law of the Church is embodied in Jesus Christ. Among the various roles our Lord fulfills in the Church, one of the most important is His role as the Law of God.

Under the Old Covenant God expressed His Word to Israel through a human mediator, so Moses received and recorded the Word of God—the law—for Israel. God engraved the essence of His Word for Israel on tablets of stone, which became the centerpiece of the Old Covenant law. He personally communicated the remaining statutes and judgments directly to Moses through His Word on Mount Sinai. Moses wrote the whole law in the book of the covenant, which contained a history of Israel, the Ten Words of the covenant and all the laws God spoke to Moses. The book of the covenant became known as the law of Moses, or the torah, and this law provided the basis for the civil, religious and moral practices of every Israelite citizen. However, the written law of Moses was only a type. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment.

Just as the written, codified words of God comprised the law for Israel, the resurrected, complete and perfect Word of God is the Law for the Church. Jesus Christ is the perfect and complete Law of the Father. God has not given us another codified law, but He gives us His Son as a living Law. God’s Thought—His living Law—His complete and perfect Word lives in us and directs our lives moment by moment. Jesus Christ has superseded the Old Covenant law. He has become our New Covenant Law.

God promised through Jeremiah that He would give a New Covenant and that the Law of this New Covenant would be written in the hearts and minds of His people. (Jer 31:31-33) We should not assume God promised He would write the law of Moses or the Ten Commandments in our hearts and minds. We should not confuse the law of Moses and the Law of God. Jesus Christ is the Law Whom God promised to write in our hearts and minds. Jesus Christ is the perfect Law of God living in us—written in our hearts and minds.

Within our living Law are many laws, and the book of Hebrews describes these laws as “My laws.” (Heb 10:16) My laws are not the laws of Moses. They are the laws of God. The laws of God are an entirely different type of law than the law of Moses was. "My laws" are descriptive laws. Descriptive laws describe Christian behavior in general terms, but they do not prescribe specific actions in specific circumstances at certain times. Christian laws are descriptive laws for the express purpose of allowing Jesus Christ to direct each member individually, so each member acts according to the Lord’s personal direction based on these New Covenant laws.

Among the New Covenant laws specifically listed in the Bible are: 1) the law of faith (Rom 3:27); 2) the law of liberty (Jas 2:12); 3) the royal law (Jas 2:8); 4) the law of righteousness (Rom 9:31). These laws do not prescribe certain actions, but they describe who we must be. The law of faith requires Christians to be faithful. The law of liberty requires Christians to be free from external law and authority. The royal law requires Christians to be loving at all times. The law of righteousness requires Christians to be righteous. Christian laws are “be” laws. These laws describe who we should be, not what we should do. We fulfill the requirements of these laws by remaining in Covenant with God and listening to the Lord’s direction through the Spirit. The Lord Himself gives us prescriptive direction moment by moment according to the descriptive laws of God.

Descriptive laws frequently appear in the Bible as injunctions to exhibit a certain character or to “be” a certain way. “Be patient” is one example of descriptive law. (Jas 5:7) “Be holy” is another example. (1 Pet 1:16)  “Be glad” is a third. (Rev 19:7) Descriptive laws frequently use state-of-being verbs to describe who we should be, but they do not specifically prescribe what we should do. Descriptive laws enjoin believers to embrace a certain character or to be a certain way but contain no provision to do certain deeds.

Even without any explicit biblical statement, it should be apparent that Christians should be humble, be merciful, be honest, be poor in spirit, be peacemakers, be meek, be gentle, be good, be kind as well as many other traits which reflect the character of Jesus Christ. Christian law describes who we should be, not what we should do.

Christians fulfill these laws by faith, not by what we do. As long as we remain in the Lord and live by His faith, (Gal 2:20) the Lord fulfills all the descriptive laws of the New Covenant in us. We may sin from time to time, but we remain holy, righteous, faithful, loving and kind continually, not because we do anything specifically to achieve those attributes, but because we live in Him by His faith and follow the lead of the Spirit regarding everything we do.

When a congregation meets, Jesus Christ meets with that congregation no matter how small it might be. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt 18:20) The Lord is present in every meeting of every local church, so the Head of the church is always present to direct the meeting. The Law is present to settle every dispute. No human authorities are present, because Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church and the Law of the Church, is always in authority over every meeting. God governs every church assembly through Jesus Christ and the laws of the Father in Him. The Lord speaks to every member through the Spirit and directs every action of His body personally. There are no little heads in faithful churches. The Law of the Church is the only Authority in the congregation.

Christians live two lives, one in the world and one in the Church. We may subject our physical lives to the laws of a civil government or the regulations of corporate policies and procedures, but those laws do not apply in the Church. Civil rules and regulations cannot apply in a meeting of a local church, because they are in conflict with the laws God. God's descriptive laws allow us freedom from human rulership and direction, and they apply to every member equally in the Church. When faithful believers assemble together, we only live by the descriptive laws of the New Covenant. Civil law does not apply in the spiritual realm. Civil law does not apply in a church meeting. A spiritual body can only be governed by spiritual Law, so Jesus Christ is the Law Who directs the Church of Heaven.