About 3500 years ago, (1513 BCE) God gave the Jewish nation the Law Code. That was about 500 years after He selected them, they being the descendants of Abraham, to become his covenanted nation of people: He thus established a binding contract with them to obey his law. (Exodus 19:3-8) By that arrangement of Law, they could maintain a good relationship with God. The law kept the Jews isolated from the influence of the demon worshipping nations surrounding them, so they could remain clean in God's eyes, to become the forebears of the promised Messiah. (Gen 22:18 of 15-18) The Law God gave them was perfect, but they were not. While the Law kept them separate from demon worshipers, it also identified and even served as an inducement to sin, (Romans 7:8) because being sinful is the nature of imperfect people. (Romans 7:7-8:8) The Law Code was perfect, but that law did not and could not establish righteousness in the covenanted individuals. The Law served to force a set of behavioral standards, while more importantly acting as a tutor leading to Christ. (Galatians 3:23-25) The Law Code illuminated the imperfection in mankind, manifest in their inability to keep the Law. The Law forced sensible ones among them to realize their need for the Messiah being presented by God. (Hebrews 4:14-16 ; Galatians 3:19) Any persons who truly believed in the law, accepted Christ because their Law giver Moses wrote about the coming Messiah. (John 5:45-47 ; John 1:45) Righteous persons had to recognize they could not perfectly obey law [except through love]. When they developed a love for God and neighbor, only possible by following the example of Christ Jesus, that love abolished Law. At that point, they were no longer under The Law Code, but being guided by Christ's Law of love. (John 13:34-35) The love only available in the words of Christ, will cause the principles taught by The Law Code, to become your own hearts desire. (Romans 13:8-10 ; Ephesians 2:15) Taking in the Spirit living (Heb 4:12) in the words of Christ (John 6:63) is the process of being born again by that spirit! (John 3:1-8)
Before we continue, we do realize and understand "how" some are misled to feel the need for law. Sad as it is, we all have a tendency to create law. When we see someone we love doing something we believe will cause them harm, we want to warn them. That can be a good thing, of course. It does matter very much, however, how we warn them. And, that leads to the point herein being considered: Are Christians are under law? Should we try to help others by giving them laws [or rules] for their conduct? The Bible teaches we should learn not to create laws. What we rather need to do, is encourage them to come to know our Creator personally (Hebrews 8:10-12) through their own study of Christ's teachings. (Read the accounts of Jesus teachings by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and the Apostle John.) We actually get in the way of their Christian advancement when we strive to impress under law those whom we care about; no matter how certain we are in imagining we know what laws they should follow. We should simply show them what the Bible says, focusing their attention on what Jesus Christ taught. (Mat 17:5) If they choose to ignore or disagree with Christ's words, well, that is their choice. In that way, they must accept responsibility for themselves, (Heb 6:6 of 1-8) and we can know we have done all we can do. By our simply presenting what the Bible says, what Jesus says, they are more likely to understand the ramifications of their choice, and not be distracted trying to avoid rules we make up for them. Building faith in the teachings of the Bible is a long term project. Anyone with humility recognizes there are things about the Bible they do not know. They realize, any of us may actually misunderstand what we are convinced we do know. That humility will keep us from being judgmental of others by promoting our own rules. (1 Corinthians 10:12-13) We must each build up our own conscience based on faith in what we personally do know of what Jesus teaches. (Romans 2:15 ; Revelation 22:10-12) The Bible is a mirror so as to see ourselves for what we really are. It is not a magnifying glass to measure others. (James 1:22-25)
Those who want to be creators of Law usually want to warn you about the punishment which will come from God if you don't obey their pronouncements [of what they consider to be God's law]. They are missing the point, and they are keeping others from understanding as well. (Luke 11:52 ; Matthew 23:15) The truth is: God doesn't need to punish us, we are all dying! We were all born dying! (1 Corinthians 15:22) God doesn't have to take any action but to wait. (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 ; Romans 6:23 ; Romans 6:7) We would be dead in a blink of his eye. (2 Peter 3:8 ; 2 Peter 3:9-13) Thankfully, God is not waiting for us to die in our sins, (John 8:24-30) but is actively trying to help us. He doesn't want to punish, but to help. (2 Peter 3:9) The Bible teaches God's eyes are roving about throughout the earth to show his power in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him. (2 Chronicles 16:9) He is present all the time, watching and looking to try and help us; Trying to help YOU! What can we do, then, to allow him to bless us? How can we have or develop a heart complete toward our Heavenly Father? [One thing we must all recognize is this: God can not help those who are determined