| The Fallacy of the Old Law/New Law Dichotomy, Part 2 |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, June 30 2008 00:00 |
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(Last week we began a study of whether or not there is a “new law” to replace the “old law.” There is but one law which Christ did not come to abolish but to fulfill, Matt. 5:17. We noted last week that Christ fulfilled the law by keeping it perfectly, thus allowing his perfect righteousness to be imputed to us in our justification that we may be seen as perfect law keepers, Rom. 8:4.) Second, Christ fulfilled the law by explaining and elucidating it completely. We say that he “raised the bar” by teaching the true intent of the law from the beginning. One can read the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus contrasted “you have heard that it was said” with “but I say to you…” The Pharisees, lawyers, and scribes had perverted the true and original intention of the law with their traditions which ultimately made life more difficult for the people and justified immoral behavior on their part. It was a good example of theological “gerrymandering.” Jesus set straight once and for all what God’s intention was in delivering the law; for instance, that marriage is a lifetime commitment, acceptable sexual conduct involves the thoughts as well as the act, relationships with people go beyond abstinence from murder to include our words, and our obligation to love extends beyond our friends to include even our enemies. Yet we read that we are not under law but under grace (Rom. 6:15). May we conclude that all these commandments of law in both the Old and New Testaments have no validity or application to us? Certainly not. While it is true that we are not justified by the law (Gal. 2:16, Rom. 3:28), either by obedience to commandments of the Old or New Testaments, and it is true that the law cannot condemn us once we have been justified by faith (Rom. 8:28-39), the law still serves a useful purpose. (to be continued) |
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