I heard that there are religious institutions that teach God's law is dead. But I never personally heard anyone actually say it. Then one evening, while clicking through local television stations, I heard a preacher say something that made me stop and listen. He plainly exclaimed that the law is dead. It was my first experience hearing someone preach this way, so I continued to listen, hoping he would explain his reasoning.

He carried on about how off-base people are if they believe in keeping the law in any way, shape, or form. He even went so far as to say that he wouldn't even listen to anyone who wanted to dispute him on the subject. He continued on and on almost angrily, as if he had someone standing there opposing him.

Then beyond almost all possible belief, he suddenly stopped his rant about the law and said that he didn't want to give the impression that it was okay to sin. What? I was confused.

The law is not dead!

Sin is a transgression—a transgression of what? The law (1 John 3:4). If there is no law, then how can there be sin? If you are teaching falsehoods, you are misleading God's people. Paul warned what will happen to such false teachers in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.

If the law were dead or done away with, why would Jesus say this: “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. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19, emphasis added).

People can easily pull one or two scriptures from the Bible as proof for their beliefs, but they are not looking at the full context of what they are reading. If we are not diligent in reading the scriptures in a complete way, we can fall into a wrong way of thinking ourselves. People often base their “law is dead” beliefs on scriptures that were intended for other purposes.

When I was young, I attended Sunday school classes and church every week. I was never told directly the law was dead, but I was taught in such a way that I believed it was true. Studies centered around specific scriptures that sent the same message, while other sections of the Bible were avoided completely. I grew up believing what I was taught, until one day I decided to read the Bible from beginning to end.

When I did so, I was confused by what I had been taught and how it differed from what I was reading for myself. I encourage anyone who has been taught that God's law is dead to do a Bible study on the subject as I did. While doing so, take into account the full message given in any section and not just a single scripture. You might just be surprised to find that God's law is not dead.