The Christian is not under the law but under grace. That however does not free him from obligation. More is expected of him in the way of righteousness than if he were under the law. You lay down rules for your child and make him obey, but when he grows to manhood he is free from your rules. Do you not expect that he will behave without rules? That was your object in training him, to produce in him a disposition which would keep him right when he became his own master. Now, which of the Commandments do you as a Christian, free from law, feel that you are at liberty to break? You would keep them out of love for God, whether you were bound or not. As to commands and injunctions of the Old Testament, when the question was considered in the first apostolic council (Acts 15:5-29) it was decided that Gentile converts were not to be bound by the Levitical law. Christ, also, in his sermon on the mount, said: "It hath been said by them of old time," and went on to say, "but I say unto you," etc., clearly regarding the law as it stood to be subject to his abrogation. It must not, however, be supposed that the Christian dispensation is less stringent. The man who obeys Christ is under obligations higher than those of the law. As an example, the law forbade murder and Christ forbade the anger that leads to murder. As love is higher than law, so Christ, by setting his people free of law and placing them under the obligation of love, inculcated a higher morality.
