What did Paul destroy that he could rebuild if he chose to do so? Is it not the kind of life Paul described in the seventh chapter of the Book of Romans?

Before he came to Christ Paul was in a fruitless interaction with the Law of Moses. The Law commanded Paul not to covet. Paul, having nothing but will power to enable him to keep the Law, proceeded to covet. This is the law of sin and death—the interaction of the Law of Moses with our sinful nature.

Paul is saying, "If I return to the fruitless behavior of the man under the Law of Moses, continuing to strive hopelessly again my sinful nature, I demonstrate beyond doubt that I am a lawbreaker. Is this what you want, Peter? You want me to return to that which never made it possible for me to please God?

"Peter, you are teaching that those who do not keep the Law of Moses are sinners, and that for this reason they are making Christ the minister of sin. But I am telling you that you do not understand the new covenant."

For through the law I died to the law so I might live for God. "The Law drove me to the cross with Jesus Christ. The Law killed me. Now the Law has no more dominion over me because the Law controls only the living, not the dead.

"Listen Peter, (and all of us Evangelicals), I did not die to the Law so I could live as I please. I died to the Law so I might live for God."

Right here is the catastrophic Evangelical misunderstanding. We are not free from the Law of Moses so we can do as we please. We have been set free from the Law of Moses so we may be married to Jesus Christ. We are living for God but playing by the rules of a different game.

We are seeking to be justified by Christ. Marriage to Jesus Christ is infinitely more demanding than the Law of Moses. To be married to Christ, to abide in Christ, means we are in an intense personal relationship with Him twenty-four hours of every day, seven days a week. Our whole life is to be given to Christ and to become Christ.

Being free from the Law of Moses does not mean we are not under the law of God. It means we have changed from the moral law written on stone slabs to the eternal Divine law written in our mind and heart. This writing goes on day after day, week after week, as through the Spirit of God we are overcoming the evil presented before us each day.

I have been crucified with Christ. The mainspring of the Christian life is oneness with the death and resurrection of Christ. Until we count that we have died with Christ and now are risen with Christ and with Him at the right hand of the Father, we have not started on the path to eternal life.

To be continued.