What Is The Place Of The Law?

The moral code has not been rescinded which is summarized by the Ten Commandments, except for the Sabbath requirement which is a principle more than a legalistic burden (cf. Romans 14:5; Col. 2:16).  The law was made for lawbreakers and rebels according to 1 Tim. 1:9. We obey the law out of gratitude and not out of obligation: because we "want to" not because we "have to." Obedience is a "therefore" not an "in order to." The law is holy, righteous, and good if one uses it righteously. So, we don't have to become somewhat "Jewish" to be good Christians. Judaizers are wrong missing the point and want to burden themselves with the law.

Does the law of Moses serve any purpose today? There were 613 laws in the books of Moses. They were of three classifications: ceremonial (ritual); governmental; and moral. Only the moral laws are still in effect and are fulfilled in the command to love our neighbor as Paul said. "The entire law is summed up in one single command: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal. 5:14).  We are under a higher law:  the law of love  The law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ as Paul said in Galatians 3:25. "If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law." "Cursed is everyone who relies on the law for righteousness" (Gal. 3:10). Paul said in Rom. 6:14, "...You are not under the law but under grace."

The law has been set aside as a way of life, either justification sanctification, or obedience. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for those who believe" (Rom. 10:4). "For if justification were through the law, Christ died for nothing" (Gal. 2:21). "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming not the realities themselves..." (Heb. 10:1). The law is obsolete for Christ "by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and ordinances" (Eph. 2:15) has made it irrelevant to us as a way of life, except for the moral code (it is still wrong to murder, for example).

Our relationship to the law is like a husband and wife and when one dies the other is free from the union. We are free in Christ and shouldn't be yoked again in bondage. The Law adjudicates or declares a man to be a sinner and does not exculpate him or free him from guilt. Only in Christ can we be free even though we say, "Mea Culpa" (I am to blame).

Romans 3:20 says that by the Law is the knowledge of sin. Paul wouldn't have known himself as a sinner unless he heard that he shouldn't covet. It is by the Word of God that the Holy Spirit convicts and it is His job to convict of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (Isaiah 55:11; cf. John 16:8). One law that is not repeated in the New Testament is the Sabbath law (cf. Neh. 9:14). This law was given as a sign (cf. Ezek. 20:20) to Israel that they were His people and comparing Rom. 14:5 and Col. 2:16 we see that this is not commanded or re-instituted in the New Testament. Finally, we serve not in the old written code of the law but in the new way of the Spirit (cf. Rom. 7:6). Watchman Nee said that the day he was delivered from the law was like heaven on earth.

The Formula of Concord (1577), the Lutheran confession of faith, established the so-called three-fold purpose of the law: To reveal sin; to establish decency in the society at large, and to provide a rule of life for the regenerated through faith in Christ. (this is according to R. C. Sproul). On the other end of the spectrum is Martin Luther's Against the Antinomians which refuted those who thought the law had no purpose (literally "against the law"). Sproul says that the law (here the moral law) does not sanction the idea that everyone has the right to do as they please in their own eyes or the right to do wrong just because we are not "under the law."

The law prepares us for grace and if we love Jesus we will do His commandments. "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). The law is a mirror according to Luther that shows us our true selves. The Hebrews, upon receiving the law, didn't pray for mercy but said they would obey it--what a mistake! Legalism is mainly adherence to the letter of the law and exclusion of the spirit of the law according to Sproul. He says, "The antidote to legalism and antinomianism is a serious study of the Word of God."

The law should be used in witnessing because the "law is perfect, converting the soul" (Psalms. 19:7). Billy Graham says that the law is not a panacea but a diagnosis. "It condemns but does not convert, it challenges but does not change." Charles Finney says, "By a convicted sinner, I mean one who feels condemned by the Law of God as a guilty sinner. I remark that this [the Law] is the rule and the only just rule by which the guilt of sin can be measured." Psalm 19:7 says, "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the sinner."

D. L. Moody says, "God, being a perfect God, had to give a perfect law, and the law was given not to save men, but to measure them...They try to save themselves by trying to keep the law, but it was never meant for men to save themselves by...This, then, is why God gives us the law--to show us ourselves in our true colors." John Wesley says, "The first use of [the Law], without question, is to convince the world of sin." Yes, when He comes He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (cf. John 16:8). John Bunyan says, "The man who does not know the nature of the law does not know the nature of sin. The world at large is under the law until they are redeemed from its curse. 

The Law was given to convince us we cannot keep it!     Soli Deo Gloria!

What is Subjectivism?

Just because we have the right to interpret Scripture doesn't mean we have the right to interpret it any way we want to. The obverse of privilege is responsibility--to interpret it right!  Just because we feel something is true doesn't make it so: e.g., not believing in the election because we feel it seems to make God out to be a despot. We cannot fabricate our own truths! We are obliged to cutting it straight so to speak. Quakers believe they should heed the "Inner Light" and Mormons follow "the burning in the bosom." There have been many "mystics" who claim special revelation and new interpretations that only they have been privileged to know.  We are entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts!

Remember the road to Emmaus: "Were not our hearts burning within us?" Karl Barth said that passage becomes the Word of God when you have an "existential experience" with it. Well, that could subjectively mean anything: Does he mean getting goosebumps, chills down the spine, or "burning in the bosom?" Somehow God can convict us of the truth and speak to our hearts; it is usually different to each individual. Reading into the Scriptures what we want to see is called eisegesis (reading into the Bible), and correct interpretation is called exegesis (reading what's there). Also, we don't interpret it to justify our behavior but to change it!

God can speak through the air vent if He chooses, but He has chosen to primarily speak through His Word. "And the Word of the Lord tried him." "He revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word" (1 Sam. 3:21). "For it is no empty word for you, but your very life" (Deut. 32:47). "Do not My words do good to him whose ways are upright?" (Mic. 2:7). Note that God uses His Word.

Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian Emmanuel Swedenborg was a mystic that decided he would eliminate some of the books of the Bible that he didn't "feel" were scriptural. Today we have a sect following his errant teaching. If God is going to reveal the meaning to you He will do it to other members of the body also as confirmation. "For no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation..." (2 Pet. 1:21). In summary: Subjectivism is a road to mysticism and we must endeavor to be objective, even though there is no such thing as total objectivity except with God.  Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is The Place Of Doctrine?

That is a loaded question since most people have a preconceived idea of what doctrine is. Doctrine is important; don't bail out theologically (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3). We all have a credo; we all have doctrines; some of us just don't have sound doctrine. Usually, they think of something dogmatic or doctrinaire or narrow-minded. They want to avoid doctrine. Actually, if we realize that all doctrine means is "teaching" then half the problem is solved. Who's against teaching?

Doctrine isn't just for intellectuals. You don't commit spiritual or intellectual suicide when you join a ministry or church. You are committing spiritual suicide if you ignore doctrine: It is a given and we are all theologians in a sense. We cannot avoid doctrine: "All Scripture is profitable for doctrine..." (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16). "Those who are wayward in spirit shall gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction [doctrine, as it were]" (cf. Isa. 29:14).

There is value in knowing the scoop, as it were, or being "clued in," because this gives us confidence and these two, according to Charles Swindoll, are like Siamese twins. Doctrine feeds the soul and is the spiritual bread that Christ referred to when He said, "You shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (cf. Matt. 4:4). Just because we are privy to some doctrine doesn't make us a cut above other Christians. " The mere presence of doctrine can leave us cold, even if it is sound doctrine." It is necessary for spiritual wellness but not sufficient.

We don't have the right to believe what we feel is right but must obey rules of hermeneutics and logic that apply to any other book as well. Avoiding controversy is un-Christlike because Christ didn't shy from controversy: "to avoid controversy is to avoid Christ" (see John Stott's book Christ the Controversialist) The early disciples were devoted to the apostles' doctrine or teaching. Remember, God wants us to be "mature in our understanding." Ignorance is not bliss! It is a childish faith that balks at learning Scripture in depth. The meat of the Word is for those who "have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (cf. Heb. 5:14).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Cutting It Straight

We are told to "rightly divide the Word of Truth," which literally means "cutting it straight" or rightly interpreting according to proper hermeneutic principles. I have heard that we should interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament or vice versa. Well, you can sometimes interpret the Old in light of the New and sometimes the reverse. All Scripture is profitable for doctrine and so forth. Examples are Jesus talking about the abomination of desolation and referring to Daniel and about Isaiah talking about the virgin birth and Luke saying Christ fulfilled it. Or Peter saying that Pentecost was the fulfillment of Joel 2.

We have teachers that say, "Where in the New Testament are we told to obey the law?" Is this fair? We are not under the law as it says in Rom. 6:14 (the ceremonial and governmental institutional law) but still must obey the moral code. Morality doesn't change, but Christ said that all the law is fulfilled in loving God and our neighbor. "Love is the fulfillment of the Law." The messianic Jews, though sincere, are plainly wrong, seeking to put themselves under bondage again when they have been set free (cf. Gal. 5:1).

There is the argument that we don't have to obey the sabbath laws because this is the only commandment not repeated in the New Testament. We ought to live in the New Testament and not in the Old Testament. I realize that the only Scripture the early church had was the Old Testament but they also had the prophets and apostles. There are 613 laws in the books of Moses and the only ones that apply to us are repeated in the New Testament. The New Testament is to be looked upon as the fulfillment of the Old. The law does have a purpose: to convict of sin and lead one to Christ. Paul said that if it wasn't for the law to not covet he wouldn't have considered himself a sinner. It is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ says Paul in Galatians.

So, one must be very careful to know the place of the law when interpreting the Scriptures. "For by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). Or "Indeed, it is by the straight edge of the law that we realize how crooked we really are" (J. B. Phillips).

Christianity was a break from Judaism and not another sect of that religion. Thus the New Testament stands alone as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, just as Christ is the fulfillment of the Law. The Old Testament looks forward to Christ while the New Testament presents Christ. The Old looks forward to Christ and We look back to Christ; the important thing is that we are both looking at Christ.   Soli Deo Gloria!