“But whoso looks into the Perfect Law of Liberty and continues therein. . .shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:25).

The laws of God are immutable. They are fixed by the wonderful design and ingenuity of our Creator. Whether Natural Law or Spiritual Law we are governed by the laws of God.

We live in this natural world and are governed by the laws of gravity, aerodynamics, thermodynamics, and other laws of physics and aeronautics. Violate these laws and you will bear with the consequences.

We live in the spiritual world under the laws governing spiritual things, such as life and death. There is the Law of Sin and Death (Romans 8:2). “The soul that sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4b,20a). “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a). “The body is dead because of sin” (Romans 8:10). The Law of Sin and Death has been in effect since the days of Adam.

There is another spiritual law, the Law of Liberty. James calls it a perfect law for it is an eternal law established by God in Christ.

Liberty: (Gr. eleutheria); freedom, free from constraint, moral independence.

For the freeborn believer in Christ Jesus, we have been birthed into the “liberty of the sons of God” (cf. Romans 8:21). This liberty governs us by the Law of Liberty. James says this law is perfect. It is perfect (Gr. Teleios), i.e. complete. We have the complete, or perfected freedom to serve, worship, submit to, and obey, the will of God without constraint. Jesus lived His earthly life governed by this perfect Law of Liberty and lived in complete obedience to the will of His Father, never sinning once. Meditate on that for awhile. Truly amazing.

The Apostle Paul uses a different term for the Law of Liberty and calls it “the Law of the Spirit of Life” in Christ (Romans 8:2). This Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the Law of Sin and Death. This is the difference between those who are born again of the Spirit of Life and those who are still “dead in sin” (Ephesians 2:5).

There is a problem in the Ekklesia, the Church of the Firstborn, the Body of Christ. That problem is we really do not believe the Gospel we have been given. We profess to faith in Christ as our Savior, but we live, or let ourselves be governed by the Law of Sin and Death. Rather, the spiritual reality is we are governed by the Perfect Law of Liberty, or the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ. The writer to the Hebrews addressed this issue in Chapter 6:1a: “Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection. . .” The writer is exhorting us to go on to completion. He is encouraging us to live under the Law of the Spirit of Life, the Law of Liberty and leave behind the Law of Sin and Death.

How do we progress to our true Life in the Spirit. It is a process of growth. It is a process of growing in our faith, of growing in the grace and knowledge of God. Indeed, the Apostle Paul prayed earnestly for us and expressed his deep desire in his Epistle to the Ephesians:

“I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our LORD Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of His calling and what are the riches of the Glory of His inheritance in the Saints; and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (Ephesians 1:16-19).

James challenges us: Look into these things. Look into the Perfect Law of Liberty. Continue in it. Do not forget it. We have been given the very Life of Christ: His Nature, His power, His will, His mind. Continue in Him and you truly shall be blessed in all your deeds.

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