Law Without Gospel: Why Sharia Is Bondage, Not Freedom

⚖️🕌 Law Without Gospel: Sharia as Bondage

The Crescent Against the Cross Article 7

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1. From a Counterfeit Christ to a Counterfeit Law

In our last study, we unmasked Islam’s counterfeit Christ—the Qur’an’s Isa, stripped of deity, cross, and resurrection. But if the true Christ is denied, what remains? A Christless religion can only produce law without grace. And nowhere is this clearer than in Sharia.

Sharia is not just a set of religious rituals; it is an all-encompassing system claiming divine authority over every detail of life. It promises order, but it delivers bondage. The apostle Paul writes: “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:19–20).

Sharia binds mouths, but it cannot justify hearts.

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2. The Totalizing Grip of Sharia

Sharia claims to govern every aspect of life:

How one prays, five times daily in strict form.

What one eats and drinks, with endless rules of halal and haram.

How one dresses, with rigid codes for men and suffocating veils for women.

How one marries, divorces, and raises children.

How one conducts finance, business, and even politics.

There is no sphere of freedom. No private conscience. No space for grace. Everything is regulated, demanded, commanded. The word Islam itself means “submission,” and Sharia is its embodiment.

This is not the liberty of God’s law fulfilled in Christ, but the tyranny of man-made statutes masquerading as divine.

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3. The Absence of Grace

At the heart of Sharia lies an unrelenting treadmill. Muslims are told that salvation hangs on obedience to its endless rules. Even then, there is no assurance. The Qur’an itself admits: “Then those whose balance of good deeds is heavy—they will attain salvation. But those whose balance is light will have lost their souls” (Qur’an 23:102–103).

It is law without gospel, demand without promise, work without rest. There is no “It is finished” (John 19:30). Only “Do more.”

The believer under Sharia can never know peace. Forgiveness is never secure, mercy is never guaranteed, heaven is never assured. It is endless striving, haunted by uncertainty.

By contrast, the gospel proclaims: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23–24). What Sharia never gives, Christ gives freely.

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4. Law Twisted Into Oppression

God’s law is holy, righteous, and good (Rom. 7:12). It exposes sin and points to Christ, who redeems from its curse. As Paul writes: “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse … but Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:10, 13).

But Sharia twists law into oppression. It burdens consciences without redemption. It magnifies human authority while silencing divine grace. It enslaves where God’s law, united with the gospel, frees.

Biblical theonomy fulfilled in Christ brings life and flourishing, for it rests on covenant love and grace. Sharia, by contrast, is not a reflection of God’s law but a distortion of it—a cage built from human command, locking souls into slavery.

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5. Applications for the Church

Contrast. God’s law is beautiful when joined to the gospel. It shows sin, drives us to Christ, and guides us in freedom. Sharia, detached from grace, crushes with demands that never end.

Equip. Christians must be confident: Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom. 10:4). No system of man-made commands can rival His finished work.

Invite. Muslims weary under the weight of rituals and fear need the gospel. They need the Savior who says: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

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6. Conclusion: Bondage or Freedom

Islam offers Sharia—law without gospel, burden without grace, bondage without hope. Christ offers freedom—justification apart from works, forgiveness secured at the cross, and rest in His finished redemption.

As Paul declares: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Where Islam gives only bondage, Christ gives true freedom.

Next, we will turn from the crushing weight of Sharia to the false hope it promises beyond the grave. Article 8 will show how Islam’s eschatology offers no assurance and no Savior: Salvation Denied: The False Hope of Islamic Eschatology.

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✍️ Reflection & Application

Personal: Do you ever find yourself slipping into a “Sharia mindset”—believing God’s love depends on your performance? How does the gospel set you free?

Church: How can your congregation contrast the beauty of God’s law in Christ with the bondage of man-made systems?

Mission: What gentle questions could you ask a Muslim friend that might open their heart to the futility of Sharia and the sufficiency of Christ?

For Families:

Teach your children that God’s commands are good, but only in Christ are they life-giving.

Pray together for Muslims who live under Sharia’s bondage, that they might find true freedom in Jesus.

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📚 Key Sources Consulted:

Qur’an: 23:102–103.

Romans 3:19–24; Galatians 3:10–14; John 19:30.

Galatians 5:1; Matthew 11:28.

Bernard Lewis, The Political Language of Islam (1988).

Kenneth Cragg, The Call of the Minaret (1956).

✒️ The Pilgrim’s Post