How do we take the law and apply it to present day circumstances?
This question has long since tripped up new and older Christians alike. Do we separate laws into categories such as moral (do not kill, steal, Ten Commandments), ceremonial (sacrificing of animals on the north side, grain offerings), and civil (again, the Ten Commandments)? I submit that would be an inadequate way to view the Law.
Paul tells us vehemently that we are not under the law anymore: Christ's atoning blood is our path to God the Father. The law cannot give us righteousness and it won't let us into Heaven as some Jews thought. But, that does not mean that we can disregard the Law completely, by any means.
Jesus did not come to nullify the law. Look at Matthew's choice of the verb "fulfill" instead of destroy. Jesus also uses the term "the Law or the Prophets", meaning the entire Old Testament. If you read the Bible as a grand story that points to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you'll notice that the Old Testament is highly prophetic. The Law pointed to the demands of holiness - God commanded that they be Holy just as He is. The Law was pointing to our need for Jesus as our Holy intercessor to the Father because we couldn't possibly follow the Law down to the letter on our own.
So what is the use of the Law for us today? Remember, back when the Law was given God lived among the Israelites. The laws against uncleanliness were guidelines to how to live with God in their presence. (This is the Biblical, historical context) Think, God lives within us now. Our body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit. (This is our context of viewing the Law)
Well, hasn't God declared that everything is clean for us now? Well, close. Remember that Jesus gave a definition of uncleanliness in Mark...
Suddenly the talk of uncleanliness doesn't seem too distant, does it? Nope. Jesus tells us how we can be unclean, and let's be honest. We can accidentally become unclean, whether by overhearing a sexual comment and dwelling on it or by shifting God from our center. Now, take what was said in Leviticus, considering that God lives within us, and rethink. While we don't have to appear to a priest with an offering (Christ was/is our offering), we do have to confess our uncleanliness to the Lord and let Jesus take our sins and be our righteousness.
When reading the Law, remember that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Law. But, it does not become useless to us. Jesus is our sacrifice before the Lord and our means of righteousness, but not the Law. But we can apply theological principles to our lives by considering the Biblical and present day context. (Remember, God lived with them in that time, but He lives in us in the present.) The Law should not be viewed as our way to God, but through a lens of Christ and the New Testament.
This question has long since tripped up new and older Christians alike. Do we separate laws into categories such as moral (do not kill, steal, Ten Commandments), ceremonial (sacrificing of animals on the north side, grain offerings), and civil (again, the Ten Commandments)? I submit that would be an inadequate way to view the Law.
Galatians 2:16: yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.
Galatians 3:24-26:The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Paul tells us vehemently that we are not under the law anymore: Christ's atoning blood is our path to God the Father. The law cannot give us righteousness and it won't let us into Heaven as some Jews thought. But, that does not mean that we can disregard the Law completely, by any means.
Matthew 5:17: "Don't assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.[...]"
Jesus did not come to nullify the law. Look at Matthew's choice of the verb "fulfill" instead of destroy. Jesus also uses the term "the Law or the Prophets", meaning the entire Old Testament. If you read the Bible as a grand story that points to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you'll notice that the Old Testament is highly prophetic. The Law pointed to the demands of holiness - God commanded that they be Holy just as He is. The Law was pointing to our need for Jesus as our Holy intercessor to the Father because we couldn't possibly follow the Law down to the letter on our own.
So what is the use of the Law for us today? Remember, back when the Law was given God lived among the Israelites. The laws against uncleanliness were guidelines to how to live with God in their presence. (This is the Biblical, historical context) Think, God lives within us now. Our body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit. (This is our context of viewing the Law)
Leviticus 5: 2, 5-6: Or [if] someone touches anything unclean —a carcass of an unclean wild animal, or unclean livestock, or an unclean swarming creature —without being aware of it, he is unclean and guilty. [...]If someone incurs guilt in one of these cases, he is to confess he has committed that sin. He must bring his restitution for the sin he has committed to the LORD: a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin.
Well, hasn't God declared that everything is clean for us now? Well, close. Remember that Jesus gave a definition of uncleanliness in Mark...
Mark 7:15, 20-23: Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. [...] Then He said, "What comes out of a person—that defiles him. For from within, out of people's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, lewdness, stinginess, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person."
Suddenly the talk of uncleanliness doesn't seem too distant, does it? Nope. Jesus tells us how we can be unclean, and let's be honest. We can accidentally become unclean, whether by overhearing a sexual comment and dwelling on it or by shifting God from our center. Now, take what was said in Leviticus, considering that God lives within us, and rethink. While we don't have to appear to a priest with an offering (Christ was/is our offering), we do have to confess our uncleanliness to the Lord and let Jesus take our sins and be our righteousness.
When reading the Law, remember that Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Law. But, it does not become useless to us. Jesus is our sacrifice before the Lord and our means of righteousness, but not the Law. But we can apply theological principles to our lives by considering the Biblical and present day context. (Remember, God lived with them in that time, but He lives in us in the present.) The Law should not be viewed as our way to God, but through a lens of Christ and the New Testament.
No comments:
Post a Comment