Law Abiding
Matthew 5:17 “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. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and
earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will
by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
AS we live in the age of the New Testament, God’s new
promise of salvation by grace, we have a tendency to dismiss the Law as defined
in the Bible’s law books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
We read through those laws and are thankful we don’t have to obey all of those
things God gave to his people.
But we must know that
attitude is an inappropriate response to God’s Law, summarily defined in the
Ten Commandments, and further summarized by Jesus as “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) The
laws God gave to his people were out of his love. He had saved the Hebrews out
of Egypt to form a new nation. God then gave them an order to live under. We
can compare this to our nation’s constitution as a means to function as an
ordered prosperous people. Those basic laws must be sustained correctly if we
are to be the nation our founders created.
Likewise, even in
the era of the New Testament, a time when we are saved by grace in the blood of
Jesus, we must still live under God’s laws to live in God’s order and peace.
Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is a completion of God’s laws as he showed
the fullness of “love God and love one another”.
LIFE Link: Love God. Love one another. It’s God’s Law.
THE PHARISAICAL MYTH
ReplyDeleteAre the modern day Pharisees those who believe that you have to follow God's doctrine in order to be saved? The example.
FAITH (John 3:16
REPENTANCE (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19)
CONFESSION ((Romans 10:9-10, Acts 8:37)
WATER BAPTISM (Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, Acts 22:16, 1 Peter 3:21)
Are the contemporary Pharisees those who teach that Christians, who make sin a lifestyle, will not enter the kingdom of God? (1 Corinthians 6:6-11, Galatians 5:19-20)
Was the problem with the Pharisees that they kept God's law to the letter and forced others to do the same? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The Pharisees were keeping their man-made traditions, they were not keeping God's law to the letter.
Jesus did not condemn the Pharisees for keeping the laws of God to the letter. It was the exact opposite.
Mark 7:1-9 The Pharisees.....7 'But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men! 8 Neglecting the command of God, you hold to the tradition of men." 9. He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandments of God in order to keep your traditions.
Jesus made it very clear that the Pharisees did not keep God's laws to the letter. The problem with the Pharisees were they were keeping their man-made traditions!
Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you , scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Jesus was not rebuking the Pharisees for following God's law to the letter, He was admonishing them for neglecting the law.
Matthew 5:20 "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus did not question the righteousness of the Pharisees because they were living in strict obedience to God's law. They were not even close to following God's laws.
Matthew 16:6-12 And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.".......12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of the bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and and Sadducees.
Jesus was not warning of the teaching of the Pharisees because they were advocating strict adherence to the Scriptures. They were teaching from their man-made creed books.
Matthew 23:13-33....33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
Jesus did not refer to the Pharisees as serpents and ask them how they would escape hell, because they were following the Scriptures to the letter of the law. THEY WERE NOT KEEPING GOD'S LAWS!
The problem with the Pharisees was they were following their man-made creed books. They were not living in strict obedience to the Scriptures, they were not even close.
John 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
JESUS DID NOT ADMONISH, REBUKE, LECTURE, NOR REPRIMAND THE PHARISEES FOR KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS NOR GOD'S COMMANDMENTS TO THE LETTER OF THE LAW. IT WAS JUST THE OPPOSITE!
TEACHING THE BIBLICAL TERMS FOR PARDON ACCORDING THE BIBLE IS NOT BEING PHARISAICAL!
THE MAN-MADE CREED BOOKS OF TODAY ARE NO MORE GOD'S WORD THAN THE CREED BOOKS OF THE PHARISEES.
IF THE DOCTRINE YOU FOLLOW CONTRADICTS SCRIPTURE, THEN, IT IS MAN-MADE TRADITION!
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