Three points to ponder.
- If the USA was truly a Christian nation we’d still be British.
- Don’t try to teach Greek without mastering the English Bible first.
- You can’t leave your schoolmaster (the law) behind without graduation.
Tag Archives: law
Works
As I mentioned in my previous post many preachers confuse works with keeping the law.
Is it work to not kill?
Is it work to not steal?
Is it work to not commit adultery?
Is it work to not lie?
I suppose for some people it may be, but are these people following Jesus?
Matthew 11:29-30 KJV
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The Ten Commandments can be found in Exodus 20. If any of them are work to you, I encourage you to ask Jesus to help you keep them!
Written on the Heart
I’ve discussed the Law of Jesus in previous posts. This is what New Testament churches say we are under, professing we are no longer under the Law of Moses. Be wary of the church you attend, this can even include the Ten Commandments.
Ultimately, the Law of Jesus is what we allow God to write on our hearts and minds. What is written on the Heart must in most cases first pass the gates of our Mind. This is problematic since most preachers today don’t know, follow, nor preach the Law of Jesus.
In Matthew 22:37-40 KJV Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. [38] This is the first and great commandment. [39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
I have learned and believe the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 are instruction on how to love God and our neighbor.
I’m not sure if you can teach discernment, but in this and in following posts I will attempt to do so as I proffer for your consideration my interpretation of the Law of Jesus.
I have been asked about the 613 commandments Jewish leaders teach. The first question one should ask before writing a law upon the heart is does it help me demonstrate love towards God and/or my neighbor. Moses warned us not to add or to diminish from the Law, statutes, and regulations given by God. I will attempt not to do so.
This post will examine 600-613. In future posts I will examine the remaining 613 commandments approximately 25 per post. The commandments are taken from Wikipedia. In future posts I will discuss New Testament laws and some catch alls of note. My comments are in italics.
- Deut. 25:13 — Not to possess inaccurate scales and weights even if they are not for use This seems a reasonable way to love our neighbor and people we do business with and is an extension of thou shalt not steal. Even if they are not for use – seems to be an addition from rabbinical influence. Why possess them and the temptation. For future reference I will use ri to represent rabbinical influence. Keep in mind as Christians we have only one Rabbi – Jesus. As such I give deference to him and the Holy Bible, but view other teachers with skepticism.
- Deut. 25:17 — Remember what Amalek did to the Jewish people
- Deut. 25:19 — Wipe out the memory of Amalek
- Deut. 25:19 — Not to forget Amalek’s atrocities and ambush on our journey from Egypt in the desert We can choose to remember, but I’m not sure who Amalek is today or how to apply this except as perhaps a warning on how we relate to those that seriously wrong us. I try to remember first what Paul said, vengeance is mine saith the Lord.
- Deut. 26:5-9 — To read the Torah portionpertaining to their presentation I don’t like to break up sentences so I added through verse 9, but the crux seems to be remember the Lord who delivered us from the Egyptians and deny not the Truth.
- Deut. 26:13,12,14— To read the confession of tithes every fourth and seventh year – of importance here is generosity to others, who can argue giving especially to those mentioned is a good account.
- Deut. 26:14 — Not to spend its redemption money on anything but food, drink, or ointment At issue here is the ri of unclean use. I think when we eat we should eat thankfully and when we give we try to give to truly good purposes.
- Deut. 26:14 — Not to eat Ma’aser Sheni while impure
- Deut. 26:14 — A mourner on the first day after death must not eat Ma’aser Shenii I don’t feel that this applies today. Ma’aser Shenii is the second tithe. I’m not sure I understand the designations of five tithes. Our donations today are typically given in cash to our local churches on a weekly basis. Frankly, I’m not convinced that we are under the tithe today. Advice for giving in the New Testament is to give cheerfully and as we have prospered, but Jesus himself said the children are free. Of interesting note is that early Jews celebrated in the fruits of the tithe with the recepients!
- Deut. 22:26 — The court must not punish anybody who was forced to do a crime Please read the surrounding verses. The ri has greatly broadened the principle expressed here. Being raped is not a criminal act, but it does appear the victim should cry out for help in the city. I think in the city or in the country a victim should cry out for help. It may be thus the crime is prevented. The concept presented is mercy for the victim, punishment for the perpetrator.
- Deut. 28:9 — To emulate His ways indeed he wants us to live and be Holy. Matthew 5:48
- Deut. 31:12 — To assemble all the people on the Sukkot following the seventh year the focus or spirit of this and surrounding verses seems to be Read and Learn God’s Law. Traveling to Israel may be impractical, but learning from the Holy Bible is not.
- Deut. 31:19 — Each male must write a Torah scroll I disagree with ri here. I feel the song may be verses 20 and 21 which were a prophetic warning against Israel.
- Deut. 32:38 — Not to drink wine poured in service to idols the New Testament says as much as we are not to eat food sacrificed to idols. Acts 15:29
Law and Love Combining
There are those that preach Grace and there are those that preach the Law, but there are few that grasp the Truth as well as Owens and Lorenz in the hymn Give Me the Bible.
Precept and Promise, Law and Love Combining!
2 Timothy 2:19 KJV
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
How can we depart from iniquity without knowledge of the law.
Give me the Bible, Holy message shining; Thy light shall guide me in the narrow way; Precept and promise, law and love combining, Till night shall vanish in eternal day.
Discernment
Hebrews 10:16-17 KJV
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; [17] And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Which laws do you allow God to write on your heart?
The Church of Christ denomination says it is a command to sing and to sing a capella. As God loveth a cheerful giver, He surely appreciates the cheerful singer. Musical instruments? Psalm 150. Maybe God enjoys a capella, but I don’t think it’s a matter of righteousness, it’s more a matter of your lack of understanding. It is in my opinion a tradition of man, an idea of early Church of Christ preachers.
The Church of Christ spends hours out of every year claiming holiness in a capella, yet the COC denomination cannot read and understand 1 Corinthians 14:34-38. It is clearly a New Testament command and one that no churches keep. If you are ignorant of these verses, skip them, but read on.
Neither can the Church of Christ denomination comprehend all of the Ten Commandments. They do not keep the Sabbath, nor believe it should be kept. 9 out of 10? Maybe. I would argue it’s a slippery slope. All ten are incorporated into the New Testament.
So what part of the Law of Jesus is in your heart and on your mind?
I believe what you let the Lord write there, he will also help you to keep. Discernment is a gift of God.
The Law of Jesus
You can sit through a year’s worth of sermons and not be taught any law. Perhaps longer, as the law, if taught at all, is not taught correctly where I’ve attended for many years. It is also not taught correctly in many, many other congregations from what I’ve witnessed on television and trips to other churches.
We are told where I attend that we are under the law of Jesus and the New Testament. This is true, but their understanding of the law is flawed and their discernment limited.
What is the law of Jesus?
Jesus said it repeatedly. Keep my Father’s will. To get an understanding of the Father’s will, which includes the law, we must not exclude the Old Testament. When asked by one man which commandments we should keep, Jesus listed off 5 or 6. Matthew 19:17-19. It would have been nice if he had listed all ten in these oft cited verses, but all ten are covered in the New Testament. Not 6. Not 7. Not 8. Not 9, but 10. The Ten Commandments can be found in Exodus 20 and through doctrine taught in the New Testament.
There is an argument as to when the Church began. We are told that a Testament takes effect when the Testator dies. However, we cannot throw out the body of work – the Testament – at Acts. The Testament includes the four gospels where Jesus taught we should keep the commandments.
Can we then say that the Mosaic law is dead or the Old Testament shouldn’t be followed?
It’s alive in those that keep it.
One significant change in the New Testament was in dietary law. Peter’s dream opening salvation to the Gentiles made the unclean or common clean. Paul affirms this when saying all things eaten with thanksgiving to the Lord are clean – keep in mind this yet excludes food sacrificed to idols.
If God asked them to do something then – it’s wise for us to also do it now. Jesus brought us mercy and truth. What mercy and truth did he bring us? It is better to be merciful than to demand an eye for an eye. It is better to turn the other cheek than to strike back. It is okay to do good on the Sabbath. These among many things. He brought us a better understanding of the law and the Father’s will, he did not abolish it.
Matthew 5:17 KJV Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
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