The Gospel in the Law?

How were Old Testament saints saved? I, and the pastors at Fellowship Bible Church would encourage saints to consider that salvation was always by faith. “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Rom. 4:3).

So, then, what do you make of this story of the lawyer asking Jesus about eternal life?

“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, ‘Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said unto him, ‘What is written in the law? how readest thou?’ And he answering said, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.’ And he said unto him, ‘Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.’” (Luke 10:25-28)

The way that most would exegete these passages is that this lawyer needed to realize first that he could not achieve perfect righteousness on his own. So the Lord tells him to fulfill the first and greatest commandments in the law, which will teach this lawyer that it is impossible to fulfill the law perfectly. Then he’ll realize he cannot do it on his own and he has no other choice but to turn to Jesus in faith in order to attain justification.

Why make the lawyer go through all of that? Why not tell the man, “You cannot fulfill the law on your own. You must have faith in Me right now in order to be justified in the sight of God. And to be justified in the sight of God is to be declared righteous because you have faith in Me and in my Word.” That would’ve simplified things, wouldn’t it?

If he needed to learn that he couldn’t fulfill the law on his own to achieve perfect righteousness, why not tell him that? If he, as a lawyer, hadn’t yet figured out that it’s impossible to fulfill the law, then why tell him to keep on doing what he wrongly thinks he’s already doing correctly? If he hasn’t learned by now, will he ever?

How does the Lord handle this? He asks him, “What is written in the law?” The lawyer quotes Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18 together. He says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” The Lord says, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”

I’m going to make a controversial statement, but I think this is true. The lawyer was right. The Lord said he was right. The means of justification had always been commanded in the law. The law told them how to get saved. How is this possible? It’s easy.

The law commanded the people to love God with every ounce of their being. Well, if you love God, then you have to believe in Him, don’t you? If you love God, then you also have faith in Him, don’t you? If you truly love God, wouldn’t you also have faith in His Word, too? If you truly love God, then wouldn’t you naturally be happy to serve Him?

To be told to love God is synonymous with being told to have faith in God and in His Word. You can’t truly love Him unless you believe in Him and in His Word.

Therefore, the means of justification by faith had always been commanded in the law, because if you love God, then you believe in God. If you love God, you have faith in His Word. If you love God, you will serve Him and obey His commandments in the law.

Loving God and having faith in God are synonymous concepts. You cannot love Him without also having faith in Him. If you have faith in Him and you get to know Him, you cannot help but love Him. Faith in God and love to God are inseparable. In Joh 14:23, the Lord said to Jude, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” If you truly love God, then you truly believe in Him, and you will also sincerely keep His words.

“Yeah, but Joel, it’s impossible to love God with all your heart and mind and soul every second of every day.” That’s right! But the Jews falling short of what is commanded in the law will be fixed at Calvary. The point is – to love God at all is to believe in God. To love God at all is to trust in what He says in His Word. To love God at all is to be willing to serve Him. To love Him fully all the time means they would have complete faith in Him and in His Word all the time. These are synonymous concepts. You cannot love God and not also have faith in Him and His Word.

Yes, the means of justification had always been commanded in the law when the law told them to love God completely. The Lord told the lawyer his answer was correct. He said, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” When He said, “thou shalt live,” He meant he would have eternal life and live again in the great resurrection. The Lord was simply telling him to do what was already commanded in the law – to love God. And to love God is to believe in Him. To love God is to have faith in His Word.

Except now the lawyer has to take that commandment in the law and apply it to his present circumstance. If you truly love God as the law commanded, then you would also accept Christ by faith and you would have faith in His words. Christ is taking what’s in the law and carrying those commandments into the present. Do what the law tells you to do. Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. What did that mean for the lawyer? That meant he had to love Christ fully because Christ is God. He must believe that He is God and trust in His Word to have eternal life.

“This do, and thou shalt live.”