The Higher Law

One thing I've had a huge perspective shift on from my primary days to now is my conception of the Higher Law in relation to the Law of Moses. When I would hear that Christ's Law demanded much more of us, I would balk a little. To me it was hard to imagine that the Law of Moses, with all it's strict formalities, would be easier to follow. I remembered how strictly interpreted and strictly enforced the limitations on the Sabbath were, and I always remembered just how many foods were "unclean." I thought in our day, with the only boundaries on the Sabbath the ones we set for ourselves, no ban on any particular foods, Word of Wisdom notwithstanding, and no animal sacrifices to be made, that we lived under a much easier law. 

Then reading the epistles of Paul started to change my mind. It seemed that one problem that always came up among the early saints was a tendency to slip back into the old Mosaic lifestyle. Gentile converts were shunned and certain of the cleanliness rituals were still enforced. This seemed odd to me. I would imagine that for a people that had grown up in such a demanding religion would be happy to accept that the Law of Moses had been fulfilled in Christ and that salvation came through faith in Him rather than in the formalities of the Law. It surprised me how much Paul had to combat this retrogression into the Old Law. From his writings to these particular people we get many of the scriptures that, in effect, tell us that we are saved through the Grace of Christ rather than our own actions. (Eph. 2:8, Rom. 11:6) Knowing then the context of these scriptures, being written to a people trying in vain to find salvation purely through the works of the Law, it is easy to recognize that they are not saying we don't have to do our part. The famous scripture in James 2:17 says "Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."

These scriptures are not in conflict at all. I think the best way to summarize it would be, Faith without works is dead, as is works without faith. Sadly, many Christians today try to use these scriptures as justification for their belief that salvation is free, that since we can't be saved by our works, we don't have to try. This wasn't Paul's original intent at all. The hollow works of a dead law couldn't save those people any more than the hollow faith of those who don't try to live Christ's Law will. Eventually I started to see parallels between our times and those who Paul wrote his Epistles to. When I did, I could understand those people a little more.  I started to notice that in every discussion we would have in Sunday School about the Word of Wisdom or the Sabbath, it would invariably lead to someone asking, basically, for a list of dos and don't dos. They wanted an exact list of things they could do on Sunday, a for sure answer on  the caffeine question, and so on. The reasons for wanting such a list are many.  One is so we can try to follow the law as closely as possible. another might be that we don't want to have to decide for ourselves if something is appropriate, or even so that we can toe the line as closely as possible without going over. This was certainly the case with a lot of the ancient Israelites.

All of this kind of brings me back to my original though of the Higher Law. Under Christ's law, not everything is spelled out for us. we have to decide for ourselves. There is no such thing as toeing the line. Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount that we are judged on unrighteous thoughts also. (see Matt. chapters 5-7) Another factor in this Law is that it is infinite. We cannot fully follow it until we are perfect. (Matt 5:48) In the Law of Moses, you were either following the law, or you weren't. It was very cut and dry, black and white. There are certainly aspects of that in The Higher Law, but what makes it so great is that the further we progress, the more is expected of us. That alone makes it infinite. It requires us to always improve and to work harder as we do. The blessings we are promised as we do are incredible. As Elder Holland puts it, "Salvation is not a cheap experience." Be that as it may, it is worth it.