The Law...good or bad?

If I jump off a building 10 stories high and go "splat" this is the normal consequence of violating a law of nature. If someone tells me about the law of gravity and cautions me not to jump, this would be the loving thing to do; a good thing, not bad. 

Law is for our good. It is not bad. Even though God's love for us and acceptance of us is secured by Christ's obedience to God's law and not based on our keeping it, he will not suspend the consequences of violating the law to protect us. Anytime anything acts contrary to its designs, there are consequences. This is the nature of operating in a created order. God is a specific way and therefore operates in a specific way. Because we are in his image, so do we.

The what and why of the law is not arbitrary or simply philosophical but very practical, *real and down-to-earth. 

In fact, more importantly, God giving us laws is evidence that he cares for (loves) us.

Just like the creator of a sophisticated machine, such as a race car or jet, provides extensive instructions and procedures on how to care for, maintain and use that machine for maximum safety, efficiency and longevity, so also does God -- this is most apparent in the one law to obey our parents. In so doing we are promised that our life on earth will be longer.

Obviously, we are personal beings and not machines. We are far more sophisticated than a machine. But all the more reason (and evidence of care) for providing instructions on how we best function.

The point is all things are designed in a specific way (particularly us as his image-bearers) in order to function in a specific way and operate at maximum capacity.

What are God's laws after all? They are simply an explanation of how we operate best according to who he is and who we are i.e. according to our design, his purposes, and the design of his created order. God's law is not arbitrary but rooted in the nature of God and how he operates (who he is) and in who we are as his image-bearers. 

Nor does God give us laws as a means of our gaining his approval and earning his love. He gives them as evidence of his care/love for us so we might know how to relate to him and best function according to our design, for our joy and his glory.

The reason we have trouble with law (generally and not necessarily regarding a specific law) is because it tells us what to do when we believe we know better than someone else what to do.

There are two issues regarding our obeying the law.

1. Is the one giving the law trustworthy?

If they are

2. Do we trust in the one who is giving us directions/law? If we trust someone and believe they love us we will have no problem following their directions.

We should always and only seek to follow God's instructions because we trust him, love him and desire to honor him. Not to earn God's love or gain his acceptance and approval. In Christ, we already have it. 

The problem isn't the law itself but our propensity to try to earn and gain acceptance and approval by our own efforts. In fact, many who say they are Christians us the very **law itself to do just that. 

The challenge of the law is we must be on our guard to never lose sight that God never intended or intends the law to be the means of gaining his love, acceptance and approval.

Christ tells us in Mat 5:17  "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

Why?  This tells us two things. 

1.     The law is important, otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to fulfill it.  

2.     Because we could not fulfill it ourselves he came and did it for us.

Is there a difference between God's law and man's law?

It depends? All laws based on God's law are legitimate. These are to be followed diligently, for our good. But there are many laws that men create to take advantage of and abuse others that are in direct violation of God's law (legalized abortion comes to mind. The order of Pharaoh to have all babies destroyed at birth, would be a biblical example). Not only are we not obligated to follow these laws, but to do so would be disobedience to God. Since God is the ultimate lawgiver, the consequences of violating his law is far more severe than violating man's.

For a further discussion on the basis or grounds for morality click here. 

For a helpful outside article on the value of rules click here. 

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*The fact that we can predict an outcome when we repeat a certain process tells us we live in a world of design. 

**Paul deals with this misapplication of the law often in his letters to the churches. In fact, the problem was significant enough that he wrote an entire letter to the Galatian church that deals exclusively with this issue. The law is mentioned 32 times in this one short letter alone. Second only to Romans (which is almost 3x longer) where he mentions it 78 times. "Per capita" the law is mentioned most in Galatians. 

Those who misapply the law are often know as legalists. In Paul's day they were called Judaizers. 

The law, grace, and God's will

We cannot see or receive the full demands of the law until we grasp the fullness of God's ¹grace. Without a clear grasp of grace, the ²law crushes us when we fully grasp what it asks of us.

On the other hand, in order to have a clear understanding of God's direction and will, we must have a clear understanding of the law i.e. God's moral standards and direction-will. The law spells out, in no uncertain terms, the conduct God desires (wills) and designs for us. That conduct and design are God's expressed, revealed, or written will - vs his secret, vocational or providential will. 

Nevertheless we cannot properly benefit from the law or receive its direction the right way until we have a clear grasp of grace. 

Both the law and grace are vital in our relationship with God and must both be held in their proper place and order. 

Grace is the oil (lubricant) and ³fuel of our relationship with God and the law is the track (directions) we run on (not as a requirement to be accepted by God but as the means by which we reach our maximum speed - potential - and how we honor Him most). 

Loving God with everything we have and our neighbor as our self - i.e. the 1st and 2nd greatest commands - are the ultimate standard and our highest design.

We tend to focus on one side or the other i.e. legalism (law/obedience) or antinomianism (grace/faith). We are inclined to do so due to our lack of trust in God. 

But when properly understood, law and grace (as God intends it) are not in conflict. They go hand in hand. True trust (faith) filled, love-driven obedience is neither of these.

Walking with God by grace is truly freeing. Once we fully grasp God's infinite grace, we will never be the same. There is no longer any condemnation or rejection for our distrust, failure, or disobedience. Only God's complete embrace and perfect acceptance are ours in and through Christ. 

But that doesn't mean walking with God is mushy or wishy-washy. It is solid and has teeth. Because God's law clearly lays out the best way to operate - i.e. according to His design - to not live according to His clear direction (love God and neighbor) is to our harm, lose, or eventual destruction and that of others. It has real consequences, just like running a jet on gas instead of jet fuel has consequences. It's not a question of judgment but of operating as God designed us to.

Living contrary to His design-will-law matters, similar to using equipment according to the owner's manual matters. If the equipment doesn't operate as it was designed, it does not run properly and eventually breaks down -  not to mention never reaching its maximum efficiency and potential. Not operating according to the manual (the "law" on how the equipment works best) always results in negative consequences i.e. equipment failure.

If we are to know and walk with God well, we must know and walk with him exactly as he prescribes. The law isn't a list of  requirements we must complete to be acceptable and accepted by God but neither is it mere recommendations. To operate optimally, we must operate according to His direction, which is also the way He designed us to operate. Walking with God is grounded in truth/reality. There are no ambiguities within God or his direction. Any ambiguities lie only within us and our lack of understanding of God; his directions, design, and purpose.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1‭-‬4 ESV  

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17 ESV

For a discussion on legalism click here

For a discussion on walking in the spirit and not under the law click here

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¹Grace consists of God fully receiving us in all our brokenness and having his eyes set upon us in perfect love and care even when we stray...no, actually, especially when stray.

This is only because Christ fully satisfied the demands of God's law on our behalf and credited us with His perfect obedience as if it was our own. He now sees us in the same way He views Christ, with perfect affection and delight. In Christ, God now sees and receives us as perfect, without flaw. He could not set his love upon us otherwise.

²By law, I mean God's moral standard - not ceremonial rituals that were done away with by Christ fulfilling them. 

God's moral standard is summed up in the greatest commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the 2nd which is like it... loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is what we are called to live out, not in order to be received by God but in response to His relentless love, we desire to honor God for who he is - loving, merciful, patient, gracious, and kind etc. - and our fellow image bearers for who they are i.e. like God, worthy of our love.

³To be precise love is the fuel that drives our obedience but this is love granted to us only in and through grace. 

Love and/or consequences

As God's children, we are no longer ³condemned by God for our ¹poor choices. Legally there is no ³condemnation for those who are in Christ.  

But neither are we ⁴protected practically from the short-term consequences of those choices and the actions that follow. 

The creation - which includes us as bearers of God's image - operates best according to God's design (law). To violate that design results in things not operating properly or fully.

When the legal consequences of our rebellious distrust are removed, it changes us. We are now "seated in the heavenlies" in Christ. Grasping this new reality of our status with God creates within us gratitude and love for Jesus, who removed the kegak consequences. 

There is a difference between a supernaturally changed heart and a morally restrained one. Love changes us. The law restrains us. Love changes us from within. The law restrains us from without. Both are necessary in making good choices. 

God's law is good and necessary because it lays out and defines how things are designed to operate. To ignore it results in harm to us and others.

These two realities - ⁷love and law - are the positive and negative guardrails that are intended to help drive or guide all true believers' words and actions. 

Love motivates believers to make the right choices (which leads to right actions). 

Fear (respect) of negative consequences motivates us to avoid the wrong ones. 

As God's children, we have no fear of rejection by God, but should still recognize and fear that living contrary to His design always has practical - vs legal - negative consequences. 

As image bearers of God, all our choices matter because we are created to love and honor God. To live contrary to this design results in harm and destruction to ourselves and others. Consequences aren't a direct judgment of God but the organic result of violating God's design.

As God's children our choices do not matter as far as being perfectly loved and accepted by God. In Christ we are always infinitely and perfectly loved and fully accepted and embraced. 

But as the bearers of God's image our choices still must align with how God designed us and the world around us to operate.

These two realities - love and law - appear to be at ⁶odds with each other. But being fully loved and ²experiencing consequences for poor choices are each as true as if the other does not exist. But because of Christ these ⁵exist and work together. Both for our ultimate gain and benefit. 

For a further discussion on the "anatomy" of motivation, click here. 

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Footnotes:

¹By poor choices I simply mean disobedience. Disobedience is the resulting outcome (actions) of our rebellious distrust of God. (This always result in harm to ourselves and others). And distrust is at the heart of our choosing to be our own god. Our desire to be like god - in a way we are not designed to be - was the temptation our original parents bought into that brought pain and death into the world. 

We still operate this way to this day, perpetuating that pain. The present pain, suffering and death we see in the world now reminds us that our choices still matter.

²God may mercifully suspend the the full consequences of poor choices when we sincerely acknowledge them - i.e. "repent." But there is no guarantee. This would be a supernatural intervention and interference of their natural (organic) outcome. Without His mercy (intervention) the consequences will remain, hence His intervention is merciful.

Plus only God knows the sincerity of our heart (and what best aids our maturing) and when we truly abandon (turn away or repent of) a poor choice or only pretend to in order to get some kind of relief or benefit. 

God's objective is our drawing nearer to Him, which is a matter of the heart first. This results in a change in behavior.

³Why are we no longer legally held accountable and condemned for our words and actions contrary to our design and God's will? Because Christ was condemned in our place. The very fact that someone (Christ) was condemned means God's law (will, design) matters. It is vital that these are adhered to. There are always consequence for violating it (them). Because of Christ stepping in for us and taking the condemnation we rightly deserve,  the long term legal consequences no longer fall on us but fell on Him. Instead of the judgment and death rightly due us we are given forgiveness and life. These were earned for us not by us.

For those who ask why there is still pain and suffering in the world after Christ bore the legal consequence of mankinds rebellion, it is because our choices that spring forth from our rebellious distrust of God matter. 

⁴there are also benefits (positive "consequences") for operating according to God's design. Whatever we sow - both good and bad - we also reap. This is why non believers can flourish circumstantially by operating according to God's law. 

Nowhere does the Bible indicate the law is bad, but the opposite. It is seeking to justify ourselves through obedience to God's law that is wrong, not the law itself. 

⁵"Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other." - Psa 85:10 

⁶Our natural inclination is to try to earn God's love. This is why those who claim to be believers have a hard time acknowledging how they come up short. In their minds this means our rejection by God. In order to be fully honest about our rebellious condition we must see God's perfect acceptance and embrace of us because of Christ.

To believe this it is possible to earn God's love does not recognize we can never be perfect enough to earn it. This is why Christ came.

⁷giving us the law is actually an indication and expression of love. What we value most we desire is well cared for. Because everything operates best by design, giving direction on how something (someone) functions best is because we value i.e. love it (or them). Law is not our problem. Using it in an attempt to justify ourselves is our problem. It is a misuse of the law. 

AI edit...

The gift of the law reflects love, as we seek to care for what we cherish most. When we value something—or someone—we provide guidance to help it thrive according to its design. The law itself isn’t the issue; the problem arises when we use it to justify ourselves. This is misuse of the law. 

Combined...

The gift of the law is actually an indication and expression of love. We seek to care for what we cherish. Because everything operates best by design, giving direction on how something (someone) functions best is because we value it i.e. love it (or them). Law is not our problem. Using it in an attempt to justify ourselves is our problem. It is a misuse of the law. 

The law saves?

The Law does not save us in the legal sense (for we could not and cannot perfectly keep it, and never will).

But it absolutely *saves us in the practical sense by giving us clear direction on how to operate to the maximum of our capacity and design, and fully participate in the purpose we were created for. Without clear direction, we are a rudderless ship, driven by our fickle emotions and tossed in the storms of life, ready to be cast onto the rocks.

The law is a problem for us legally (which only Christ can and did satisfy), but not practically.

Practically, it guides us and delivers us from mediocrity, guiding us toward maximum flourishing. It provides us with clear direction in our pursuit of excellence for the glory of God.

Legally, it's impossible to fulfill in our own strength.

Our problem is not the law but complete trust in the lawgiver; a trust created by God himself by fulfilling the legal obligation of obedience to the law i.e. when we understand how Christ fulfilled the law so we might be fully restored to the Father, we trust him.

It is Christ's provision of perfect obedience that already perfectly satisfied our legal obligation to the law and delivers us from suffering the just consequences for violating it.

And 

The law gives us clear guidance on how to best live according to his will and our design (practically) for us.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 

in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, 

who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Rom 8:1-4

Because Christ fulfilled the legal demands of obedience to the law, we no longer have to and can no longer be condemned for not doing so. Christ bore our condemnation for us, for our lack of faithful obedience, past, present, and future. If we are "in Christ," we are dead to sin's claim on us.

Now we are free to pursue God solely out of love - i.e. by or according to the Spirit - not out of the threat of rejection, condemnation, and judgment i.e. not according to the flesh. 

Perfect obedience is no longer an obligation to meet, satisfy, or fulfill to avoid rejection. Faithfulness to God - obedience - is now a passion within us driven by love i.e. by the Spirit

Living according to the law in order to be accepted and approved by God is no longer applicable. In Christ, we are already fully and perfectly accepted. We now seek to live "according to the law" to honor God, partake of him to the maximum of our design and potential as His image bearer.

Psalm 119. 

For more discussion on the meaning of "according to the Spirit" and related terms or phrases, click here. 

For a further discussion on excellence, click here. 

For more discussion on what drives obedience, click here

For more discussion on "working out your salvation," click here

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*not directly but as a means or vehicle by which God guides and directs us. 

Our problem: the law or unbelief?

Rom 3:20  For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

God's law tells us how we are designed to live, i.e. if we live according to the law, we will experience the life God created and designed us for. This is a good thing, not bad. Therefore, the law too is good. The law is simply God's operations manual for how mankind can best function according to his design and, therefore, to his optimal capacity, bringing the greatest honor to God and drawing others to him. 

But in order for us to live according to the law, we must believe it is given by God for our good. So the problem isn't the law per se, it's our unbelief. We don't trust God, so we are unwilling to obey God and his directions for us. We believe our way is better than His. 

Because we have no faith in God, we have no faith in his directions (the law) for us either.

As a result, the law actually reveals to us how we don't trust God; how we have rebelled and continue to rebel from believing God is our Creator, director, rightful owner, sustainer, provider, lover, caregiver, protector; the all-wise, all-powerful, always present, always loving, all benevolent, beautiful God.

If we knew and believed God was all of this for us and more -- i.e. exactly who he says he is -- doing as He says; following His direction; and obeying the law would be no problem.

Unbelief/distrust is our problem, not the law.

The heart of the law brings all of this out most clearly.

Jesus answered, "The most important (commandment) is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 

The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mar 12:29-31

So are we good or worthless?

Rom 3:12  All have turned aside; together, they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

We are not worthless, but we become worthless when we don't do good.

"Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus. Luk 14:34,35

We can do good because we are created in God's image. But because of our disconnection from God, i.e. our rebellious distrust/unbelief, we cannot do good for we were never designed to operate without God, separated from his love for us that empowers us to be loving.

We can not love as we were designed to love because we have disconnected from the source of love. We are not the source of love, God is. Love comes from God to us, and out to others. We inturn are empowered to love others, because we are loved.

Defining terms: e.g. the flesh, the Spirit, living in and by the Spirit, living under or by the law etc

There are several words or phrases in scripture that are often misunderstood causing a great deal of confusion over their true meaning. The following is an attempt to define these terms and phrases based on the scriptural context in which they're found. 

It is worth noting and significant that all of these terms or phrases have something to do with the law and how we are to relate to it.

What is the purpose of the law?

The law is given by God because he loves us and seeks our best. It is God's loving directions of how we might bring him the highest honor and experience our greatest joy and his highest good for us, which ultimately is knowing God himself and to operate at the optimum of our design. In short, it's operating according to who God is and who we are made to be i.e. according to our design.

The law is not given as a means of obtaining righteousness i.e. making ourselves right (approved), acceptable, and therefore loved by God or lovely to him. Obedience to God never ²causes God to love us. It is evidence of our love for Him.

God loves us for several reasons:

1. He is love i.e. He is the cause and source of love (as well as life and all things). 

2. We are bearers of his image and designed for love. To receive it first but to give it as well. 

3. We are ³able to enjoy his greatness and reflect him to others (which he loves about us) because we are like God i.e. in His image.

All these cause God to yearn for a realtion with us. But none of these have anything to with what we do but who we are i.e. who God has designed us to be. 

But we have turned away from His love and are in rebellion to who He created us to be i.e. creatures dependent on Him to be all we were created to be.

We rebelled from our dependence and set out to be our own god.

Nevertheless His love for us was so great He has provided a way to remove the barrier between us and him through Christ, freeing God, so to speak, so he could legitimately extend to us His complete and perfect love. 

Obedience to the law is an indication and demonstration of how we love God, and evidence of our love for Him, not an effort to cause God to love us. It is also a means by which we see and experience his perfect love. 

Common terms and phrases related to the law in the New Testament:

works or works of the law or law of works or works of the flesh - our attempt to gain God's acceptance, approval, and love through our efforts/activities/ actions i.e. through our efforts to live according to the law. Seeking love based on obedience, not grace. 

flesh or in the flesh or by the flesh or according to the flesh -  that disposition or orientation towards life that believes we can earn/gain God's love, acceptance, and approval through our deeds/acts/actions/efforts i.e. merit-based. Our natural or "fleshly" orientation of how we operate versus actions prompted by His love i.e. His Spirit who is God. Efforts to fill what is missing vs efforts that flow out of fullness from God's love i.e. operating in or by God's Spirit.

confidence in the flesh - a belief and disposition that my efforts and my achievements and the acquired status through these things causes me to be loved by God. 

This "fleshly" orientation:

• is how we naturally (due to our rebellious distrust of God) approach everything in life i.e. a performance based approach i.e. a view that we can earn God's love, approval, and acceptance through doing good deeds. 

• is deeply embedded in the core of our being. Apart from the Spirit, it is the center out of which we operate; out of which all our actions spring forth. It is the core disposition characterized in scripture as "being our own god."

• is the mode we naturally and automatically go to until God reveals to us we are operating this way and we abandon (repent) this mode of operation and pursue Him out of love and gratitude instead, and a desire to honor him. 

• is something we must be ever vigilant of and on guard against; diligently seeking to identify and abandon it wherever and whenever we become aware of operating this way. 

performance - any and all efforts/actions taken with the intent of earning/gaining love, approval, meaning, value etc. primarily from God but from others as well. 

under the law - acting under the obligation to obey the law in order to be approved, accepted, and loved by God (and thereby avoid his rejection and condemnation). The belief that we can only obtain a right standing with God by our efforts and if we do not obey the law, we are condemned and rejected by God. The belief that there is no other solution.

the law of sin or of sin and death - living in and under a sense of condemnation, guilt, and shame due to our inability to live up to the perfect standard of God's law.

law of the Spirit of life - operating out of love for God because we are freed from condemnation, guilt, and shame due to Christ bearing all this for us. There is therefore now no condemnation. Rom 8:1

by the Spirit, according to the Spirit or in the Spirit- any actions that are a response to the

reality that we are already perfectly loved by God based on the efforts of Christ, not ours and regardless of what we do or don't do. To operate in the Spirit is to operate out of love and under or by grace. It is living by or according to the gospel. It is operating out of trust in God's provision of grace and loving him as a result i.e. in response to his first loving us. 

by grace - To live in faithfulness to God out of a love for Him and a desire to honor him, in response to him loving us first, knowing we are already fully and totally loved and received by him in Christ. 

by faith or the law of faith- living by believing all the above is true. 

law - generally the objective moral standard set forth to us in scripture, which is rooted in the character of God by which we are to conduct ourselves. Also, a governing principle (law) based on God's design, by which something always operates best - like the law of gravity. 

For a discussion on walking in the flesh or the Spirit click here

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Footnotes:

²Being loved by God and experiencing that love is not the same. 

Being loved by God is based on Christ's efforts alone, not ours. 

Experiencing that love is based on our pursuit of God out of love for him and trust in Him. This love and trust creates a desire to honor Him in response to His fully loving us first in Christ. 

We can be in Christ and therefore fully loved (objectively) by him. But that does not mean we are ¹experiencing (subjectively) all the love He has for us and fully available in Christ.

¹For more discussion on experiencing his love click here and here.  

²Though obedience doesn't cause God to love us, it certainly is pleasing to him when we pursue him faithfully. For more on this click here. 

³For a further discussion of being valued by God as bearers of his image click here. 

All things are lawful but...

1Corinthians 6:12

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 


1 Corinthians 10:23

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

What are these verses saying and why are they saying basically the exact same thing in different ways, and in two totally different locations four chapters apart? 

Like all passages, context -  historical and cultural setting - is key to accurately understand any given passage and its true meaning. 

The Corinthian believers were having a unique issue with being distracted and living lives somewhat out of control regarding self indulgence; even more than other churches Paul ministered to. In part because Corinth was a hub of commerce ripe with both material and sensual distractions as well as open idol worship. As a result, Paul felt it necessary to help them understand that even though they are under grace - "all things are lawful" - there are consequences to living contrary to God's design and righteous standard - i.e. the law.

What is interesting is what these verses have in common is also very instructive in determining what is meant by their differences.

The first (chapter 6) talks about not being dominated (ruled/controlled) by something and the latter (chapter 10) about how some things do not “build up” or strengthen our walk with God.

One emphasizes how some actions have a bad effect on us - dominate us externally and some hinder something good within us - i.e. hinder us from being built up spiritually. 

How does the first part of these two passages that "all things are lawful" relate to the last part of each?

Even though we are free in Christ and can never do anything to cause his love to stop or separate us from Him, living contrary to God's direction/law still has negative consequences. We may go to heaven if we die prematurely of a heart attack from overeating, but we still die. 

Violating God's design by overeating may not stop God's love but it doesn't stop the consequences either.  Being perfectly free (legally) to do anything we want (such as eating poorly) does not mean doing so is OK or without harmful consequences. It can result in us being dominated - controlled - by those things (1 Cor 6:12) and hindered from being strengthened in our relationship with God (1 Cor 10:23)  - i.e. doing things that go contrary to God's design (or law) won't legally separate us from God or be held against us, because Christ already fully satisfied the requirements of the law. Just because all things are lawful in this sense, does not mean it is good or helpful practically. 

Our good standing before God, as His beloved children, is legally and fully established in and by Christ, not us. We don't become a child of God by obeying the law but we flourish when we follow God's design and honor God more and are more productive and joyful when we do. 

Simply stated, because of Christ, we have been declared righteous by God himself. Nothing we do or don't do will affect this status or God's loving posture toward us. We are perfectly accepted and fully embraced as children of God no matter what we do or don't do or experience. 

Paul's point is in Christ nothing we do or don't do will be legally held against us. i.e. “All things are lawful,”  

The fact that this is in quotes also indicates it was a common saying among the Corinthians and apparently used to justify all kinds of harmful behavior. This saying is an indication the Corinthians misunderstood grace by abusing their freedom in Christ.

To say all things are lawful, though true, is shocking if read alone. At first glance, it sounds like obeying God's directions (moral law) doesn't matter. Yet Paul deliberately agrees with this apparently common saying to help drive home the importance of fully grasping the completeness of Christ's work. Being right with God has nothing to do with our obedience but only with Christ's obedience for our sake i.e. on our behalf and assigned or credited to us. Paul did not wish to dilute or diminish this foundational truth in any way, to the point he was willing to quote this saying and let it be misapplied and obedience misunderstood. 

But he also sought to drive home that living any way we wish is not in our best interests no more than a child in a candy or toy store doing as he wishes is in theirs. Even if a child ate candy until he got sick - and is no less the father's child - doesn't make eating the candy a good idea. As our loving Father, he gives us clear direction to avoid what is harmful i.e. things (idols) that could dominate us and hinder our pursuit of Christ.

Paul is simply addressing the tension between the interplay of grace vs law. Being under grace means the grounds for our being accepted as God's child is Christ's obedience, not ours. However, it does not mean the law no longer has value or should be ignored. What has changed is how we approach or relate to the law, not the law itself. As Paul said in Romans, the law is good. 

We are not under grace so we can do ¹whatever we want. When understood properly, being under grace actually empowers us to live righteously. A key reason we are under grace is so we might naturally - or rather supernaturally - and organically fulfill the law by our words and actions. We obey God's standards not to be justified but as evidence; that we are already in Christ.

When we understand the law is simply an expression of God's loving will and direction, not a "do it or else" list, this makes even more sense i.e.  It is not a requirement or demand to be met but loving instructions to guide, direct, and protect us. 

In short, we are wise not to ignore God's law. To say it positively, we are wise to give the law our utmost attention; not as a means of being made right with or more acceptable to God, but as a means of living our lives to the maximum of our potential, as we are designed to.  

The ultimate end - greatest commandment - of all God's directions/commands/will is that we love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. This is a good thing, not bad. It is not just honoring God, but is good for us and our neighbor. Living according to God's law - wise directions - does not cause God to love us more, but it does result in us experiencing more of that love. 

The question isn't whether we are ²allowed - is it lawful - to do certain things or not? But does our conduct strengthen our walk and relationship with God or hinder it? Does it better enable us to honor him or hinder it? All things being lawful does not mean all things are good for us.

For a discussion on walking in the Spirit and not under the law click here. 

For a discussion on if obedience matters, click here. 

For a further discussion on law and grace click here. 

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¹The interesting part is when we truly understand grace we want to please God i.e. do what he wants us to do. It is counterintuitive. As Paul said, "the goodness of God is meant to lead to repentance..." not so we can justify living lawlessly.

We also see this in the book of Jeremiah (quoted in the book of Hebrews) that the time is coming (for Jeremiah's audience) when God will "write the law on our hearts" i.e. God will create in us the desire to faithfully pursue (obey) Him. How does he do that? By remembering our sins no more.

Christ also said obedience is the greatest evidence of our love for God.

²Allowed only in the sense that disobedience does not cause God to condemn and reject us if we are in Christ. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ because He did everything necessary to remove it from us forever. 

As Christ shouted out right before He gave up His spirit, "It is finished," everything required to restore us to a right standing with God was completed! There was and is nothing left to do by God much less by us.