Among some of God’s people in this Laodicean era, an age-old controversy has again arisen as to whether God’s law is still in effect. Proponents of a “no law” religion try to turn people’s attention from the facts about law to the facts about grace. They say that if you believe the law is still commanded by God, then you are trying to be justified by the law or saved by the law. They say Herbert W. Armstrong and the church he founded taught a “saved by works” theology.
Nothing is further from the truth. In all the years I have been in God’s Church, I was never taught that I was saved by my obedience to the law of God, nor anything else I could do. Mr. Armstrong never taught anything except salvation through the grace of Jesus Christ.
The law of God and the grace of Jesus Christ are separate issues, and both are very much in effect for true Christians. Attempts to make this an issue of either law or grace are simply attempts by Satan to confuse and deceive God’s people on an important doctrine about which he has already deceived millions of people.
What God taught His Church through Mr. Armstrong is beautiful, plain and simple. It is the only explanation consistent with all the Bible.
Law and Grace Interact
Mr. Armstrong used an analogy to explain the matter of grace and law. A rich man offered another man a large sum of money as a free gift. There was no way the man could earn the money; it was a free gift. However, the rich man told the other man to step forward and receive the free gift. If the other man didn’t step forward, he would not receive the gift. If he did step forward, he received the money as a free gift. Now, he was required to step forward, but did the man earn the money? Of course not.
This is exactly how the subjects of law and grace interact with each other. Salvation is a free gift that we do not deserve nor earn. Also, God has given us a set of laws that brings us peace of mind, happiness, joy and all good things. God expects us and even commands that we live by these laws. Many scriptures prove this fact: e.g. Matthew 5:17-19; Romans 2:13, 25-27; 3:31; James 2:9-10, just to name a few.
People who want to believe the law has been done away will point to “difficult scriptures” that on the surface appear to do away with the law. God’s people should not fall victim to this deception. Mr. Armstrong explained these passages clearly during his long life of service as God’s servant. These scriptures were explained, not “explained away,” as some have accused him of doing.
One example is Galatians 4:8-10: “Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.” The world uses this to say that the Galatians were wanting to go back to observing the Sabbath and the holy days. Mr. Armstrong plainly showed us that Paul was talking to Gentiles here, not Jews. They had never kept God’s Sabbath or festivals or seasons. What days would Gentiles want to return to observing? Obviously, pagan holidays and seasons that they had kept before their conversion! Very simple, plain and truthful.
Another misunderstood scripture in Paul’s writings is where he said we had been “delivered from the law”—Romans 7:6. Remember, we must take “precept upon precept; line upon line, … here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10). By looking at the entire Bible and not just one scripture, you can prove, as Mr. Armstrong did, that Paul is talking about our being delivered from the penalty of the law: death! Christ paid that penalty for us.
To fully explain these scriptures and this subject would take several articles, as well as an open mind on the part of the reader. How then can you prove to someone in a brief period of time that God’s law is still in effect for today’s world?
A powerful way is through prophecy.
Prophecy Proves It
God does, in fact, prophesy that His laws are still in effect for us today.
In Revelation 12:14-17 is a prophecy about God’s faithful Church being taken to a place of safety and protected from the devil. As soon as his attack is frustrated, it says, “the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed,which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” No one will deny that these verses are talking about a time well after the law was supposedly “nailed to the cross.” Yet Satan identifies God’s true people by the fact that they have “the testimony of Jesus Christ” (which is the spirit of prophecy; Revelation 19:10) and are still keeping God’s commandments. This proves that God’s people in the Great Tribulation will still be keeping the commandments. In this case, Satan doesn’t even bother attacking those who are entirely alienated from God because of their lawlessness.
Another prophecy that shows God’s laws are still in effect is in Zechariah 14:16-19. The time frame here is after Jesus Christ’s return (e.g. verses 4, 9, 11). This passage says: “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.”
This prophecy shows that God’s holy days not only are still in effect today but also will be in the World Tomorrow! Notice, God doesn’t make it optional: It is a command with serious punishment if disobeyed.
Does it make sense that the holy days were commanded to be kept all the way up to Christ’s death, then nullified for 2,000 years between His death and His return, then at His return commanded once again? Does it make sense that Christ was tortured, beaten and abused, even suffered a horrible death of crucifixion to, at least in part, nail these holy days “to the cross,” only to reestablish them 2,000 years later when He sets up God’s Kingdom?
This reasoning is absurd, but it is the only way someone can reason if they say the feast days are not commanded today!
2 Thessalonians 2:8 gives us another prophecy that God’s law is still in effect just before Christ’s return: “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” Again, no one can deny that this is a prophecy about the end time just before the Second Coming (verse 2). But how does it prove anything about God’s law?
Strong’s Concordance says this about the word “Wicked” (Greek anomos) in this verse: “lawless, i.e. (negatively) not subject to (the Jewish) law.” The man prophesied here is called “wicked” because he is not subject to the law! The concordance’s reference to “Jewish law” is inaccurate: It should be God’s law, which the Jewish people preserved. This again proves that God is very concerned about whether or not we are subject to His law.
All three of these passages describe time well after the law was supposedly “nailed to the cross.” Without getting into the more lengthy and detailed explanations of the law and grace scriptures, these three prophecies clearly show that we are still expected and, in fact, commanded to keep God’s commandments, His holy days and His entire law.