| | Quite possibly nothing has influenced my thought more over the past several months than my studies and discussions with my roommate and close friends regarding the role of the Law of Moses in view of the Gospel of Christ. Passages like Romans 8:1, which says: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." and passages such as Galatians 2:16, which reads: "...yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified." have helped me to understand that God has never intended for us to gain righteousness or perfection by living up to the measure of laws. In addition to these Scriptures, a Bible-saturated song by Derek Webb, titled "A New Law", has also made me think about God's law and the meaning of true obedience. One particular line from this song, which goes "don't teach me how to live like a free man, just give me a new law", cleverly shows how as sinful humans we tend to just want a simple instruction to follow and feel good about keeping, rather than earnestly desiring to please God or think about how we may love Him with all of our hearts, and with all of our minds, and with all of our strength. Especially as Americans, we so often want some sort of quick, simple, effortless method of following God and obtaining righteousness, as opposed to a righteousness that is obtained outside of ourselves and is credited to our account by way of something as seemingly ambiguous as faith. Much less are we taught to believe that obedience is something patiently learned over time, through trials, prayer, and fervent study of God's Word.
What has added to all of this somewhat idealistic thought and discussion of these matters has been the way I have seen it in my own life, actions, thoughts, and decisions. One situation in particular has been my interaction with my fiance Ashley over the past few months as we have pursued a physically and emotionally holy engagement. Through our courtship and into our engagement, we had taken a very firm stance on our physical boundaries, choosing not to kiss at all. In the midst of my meditations on legalism and freedom in Christ I began questioning whether or not our boundaries were based on pure motives of wanting to be obedient to Christ, or just simply laws which we used to measure our self righteousness. It was based on not wanting to walk by the Letter, but by the Spirit, that we began letting down some of those laws and kissing. However, as we should have expected, it became more difficult to protect one another's minds and bodies from impurity. Thus an endeavor that began as one intended to teach us to walk in the Spirit and not by the Law, soon became increasingly legalistic as we felt the need to set up more and more laws which would allow us to kiss, but still protect us from sin.
But it became clear that such a philosophy is eerily similar to that of the pharisees of Jesus' day who, being unable to keep the Ten Commandments because of the sin that all people inherit from Adam, began adding and modifying laws in order to be able to keep them and thus feel some sense of righteousness about themselves. At about this time we began looking at a passage from the letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, regarding their sexually immoral practices. In 1 Corinthians 6:12,13 he admonishes them by seemingly quoting some of their self-justifying claims and saying, "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"-- and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. It was this Scripture which God used, and continues to use, to teach me that although we are indeed free from the Law, we are not truly free if we remain a slave to sin.
In repentance and a new approach to pursuing holiness, we have seen that there is indeed a fine line between living in legalism and walking in wholehearted obedience to God. How easy it is to become intoxicated with a self-made pursuit of righteousness, rather than accepting Jesus' righteousness and desiring to be more like Him because of how beautiful He is, and because of how satisfying it is to follow in His footsteps. So we have repented to an approach that no longer finds us kissing, but also to one that, Lord willing, finds our intentions more humble and more sincerely God-loving. As I was thinking about having recently settled it in our minds not to kiss, and whether or not this was yet another form of legalism, I remembered that Jesus Himself had once instructed His disciples to "settle their minds" in regard to a certain issue. In Luke 21:10-19 Jesus describes to His disciples that they would soon experience much persecution by bearing His name, but instructs them (in verses 14 and 15) to "Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict." What Jesus is telling them is not that they should have a heartless, thoughtless approach to answering opponents, but that they should have a desperate resolve to obey Christ and trust Him for the words and actions that they would need. He is not teaching them to be legalists by telling them to make up their minds about something, but is encouraging them to understand truth and faith. Likewise His teaching Ashley and I to settle it in our minds not to kiss for the duration of our engagement is not necessarily a call to legalistically pursuing righteousness, but rather an admonition to have a deep resolve to obey Him during this time, and to store up for ourselves treasures in marriage that He has indeed made for us to be able to further enjoy Him and His design for our lives.
So in closing this rather lengthy post, I pray that you would allow yourselves to be examined by God's Word to find that you indeed have no claim to righteousness apart from that which was provided by the cross of Christ for those that will have faith in His life and reputation. I "implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" in order that you may experience freedom from sin and a right relationship with the wonderful Creator of everything!
"With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" MICAH 6:6-8
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| | Posted 11/15/2006 12:17 AM - 169 Views - 10 eProps - 6 comments
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It has been far too long...
