And Why I Don't Follow Them
Last night we had a very good discussion regarding a Christian view of the Old Testament Law. I argued that there are 3 common positions: 1) We must attempt to follow all of the Mosaic Law 2) We only need to submit to some of the O.T. Law or 3) We are not subject to any of the O.T. Law.
Of course, anyone wishing to take position #1 will soon find it is impossible. Literally. A lot of the 613 or so laws are about temple worship. The temple doesn't exist. But even if it did, none of us are able to obey all of those laws (Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8). And actually, even if we could obey them, it wouldn't justify us (Galatians 2:16, 21, 3:11).
Position #2 is just as problematic because it seems incredibly arbitrary. Who gets to pick which laws we should obey? Is this anti-tattoo law a good one to obey simply because the person picking has no interest in getting one anyways? Either Moses is our final authority, or he isn't.
So I take position #3, which sounds radical to some Christians, but makes a ton of sense once the discussion lasts more than a minute. We are free from the law of Moses (Romans 7:1-6). We have no need for it (Galatians 3:25) because we have a new law-giver (1 Corinthians 9:19-21). Jesus is our one and only King. We submit to only him since he's the one with all authority. Thus, a Christian has no need to submit to the 613 laws of the Old Covenant. Christians submit to Jesus and his law.
Are some of Jesus' laws the same? Sure. I'd say 9 of the 10 commandments, though sometimes modified, were carried over to the new covenant. Sometimes, though, people say that the 613 was a lot and Jesus' laws are easier. Not really. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, made the commandments much deeper (heart level). The difference is, Jesus equips us to obey whereas the Old Law did no such thing.
One could ask, 'Why did Jesus carry-over some Old Testament laws and not others?' Well, it doesn't really seem incredibly complicated to me. He didn't bother including the ceremonial laws because they were simply fingers pointing to him (Colossians 2:16-17). He didn't include the civil laws because the physical nation of Israel was no longer God's vessel. The laws that he did re-instate seem to be the moral laws that flow from the very nature of who God is.
Bottom line, I don't intentionally follow any Old Testament laws. When they overlap with the Law of Christ, I follow Christ (and therefore, indirectly, follow OT Law). This teaching seems quite clear to me in the New Testament, but I rarely hear it stated boldly. Christians seem confused about their relationship to the Old Testament Laws, not always sure if they really are free to do or not do the things they're doing or not doing.
What about things that Jesus didn't directly address? We are free, in such cases, to be led by the Spirit. Of course, different Christians often testify of being led by the same Spirit in different directions. These are disputable matters, and I'm quite content to let one another be stronger or weaker brothers in different areas. I'm sure I'm the strong brother on some issues and the weak brother on others. As long as Christians are thoughtfully considering their positions, following the Spirit as best they can, and putting the interest of others before their own, I don't think it's a big deal that we disagree on such things.
These thoughts are not as carefully crafted as my other lengthy-type posts. I'm open to any comments, insights, suggestions, etc :)
2 comments:
This comment doesn't answer the questions you raised in your post; hopefully it will be interesting anyway.
One thing I find neat about the OT law is how some of the statutes that probably seemed arbitrary at the time and had to be obeyed by faith (or out of fear) by the children of Israel can now be seen to benefit society (I'm thinking especially about health benefits. The example that comes to mind is the law where God told the people not to work their fields in the seventh year. I'm sure this required a lot of faith that God would provide. Recently I've read quite a bit about irrigation; fields that are irrigated for years on end eventually become waterlogged and salty. The way to avoid these problems is to give the land a rest once in awhile (most modern farmers don't, though).
Here's my point: in the OT law, I can see a Father's heart, trying to protect His children from harm they may not even know about. I am so glad that Jesus said that we are not defiled by eating with unwashed hands. However, even though there is no spiritual merit in washing my hands, I do it anyway because it is good for my health. What a loving God we have! What a merciful Father!
i certainly agree with you anonymous commenter. I think certain of God's laws were 'way ahead of their time' so to speak in a scientific sense, especially some of the civil and/or agricultural laws.
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