Do we take seriously all of God's Word, or do we pick and choose what we want, what we like, or what is convenient for us? Do we dismiss the teaching of the Old Testament as ... old? Let's look at what Jesus said about the Old Testament and whether we must be obedient to God's commands or not.
In the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in part at Matthew 5:17, Jesus said: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." What key word do you see here? Abolish. Jesus said twice in this verse "Hey everyone, I have not come to abolish the Old Testament. In no way is it going away." (The Law and the Prophets is what we call today the Old Testament.)
So twice He says He didn't come to abolish the Old Testament law and commands, but instead to fulfill them. What does fulfill mean? Many have debated this endlessly and so often it is twisted to mean some variation of diminished or dismissed the Old Testament law in favor of New Testament grace. Stop and think for a minute. Jesus says twice He did not come to abolish it and we twist the meaning of the word "fulfill" to mean that He did come to abolish it. Would Jesus contradict himself like that? Certainly not!
In fact, He makes it clear to us in verse 19 of the same passage when He says: "Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Is there any part of that that sounds like Jesus diminished, dismissed or abolished the Old Testament law and commands? Of course not.
So why do we see so little teaching and preaching on the Old Testament moral laws and commands? Why do so few Christians fail to even know the most basic statement of the law, the Ten Commandments, and just exactly what they mean? Obviously, it's because we have a very shallow understanding of the Bible and neither our own study nor the teaching of our leaders have given us that depth of understanding we need. The failure ultimately lays within ourselves, though. We are responsible before God to know what his Word says and to be obedient to it.
The doctrine of justification teaches us that we truly are saved by grace through faith. The doctrine of sanctification teaches us that, once saved, God expects us to be obedient to Him, growing and maturing and learning to be like Him in our character, that we might accomplish those good works he has prepared in advance for us to do. (See Ephesians 2:8-10)
We can only submit all of our life to Him when we truly understand how He calls us to live. When we only have a vague understanding of what God calls us to we tend to make it whatever we want it to be, fitting it into our lives on our terms. Guess what? That's just not going to work. God is still sovereign and in charge of the universe. Not us. If we aren't willing to obey Him, what kind of faith do we really have? A deep abiding faith, or a shallow lukewarm version?
Let us submit ourselves fully to Him. Let us dedicate ourselves to learning the whole counsel of God, Old and New Testament, learning His commands, laws, precepts and principles, that we will know HOW to live obediently that we might glorify Him. God gives us all we need through His Word, all we need to know how to live truly holy and righteous lives.
Let's take Him seriously. Show Him you love Him and His law, just like David did in Psalm 119, and live obediently, in EVERY area of your life!
3 comments:
What this really makes me think of is thequestion of what it means to have Jesus christ Lord of a persons life. What does that mean to be a "slave" to Christ? People just don't seem to get that a slave does not tell the master what to do or how to do something or what that slave will do, rather it is the slave who asks the master. We need to start looking to the Master. Perhaps reinstituting slavery into todays society would help people better understand this issue. I sure am glad you do.
We certainly are bond-servants to our Lord, but we are more than that. Jesus calls us his brothers. Elsewhere we are his bride. We are called children of the Father. And again we are called his friends.
I'm sure you don't actually advocate a literal reinstitution of slavery as man has a real problem not taking advantage of his fellow man.
Rather, I assume you would rally to the Biblical injunction for men to be servant leaders of their families, giving themselves over to whatever it takes to serve their wives and children that we might build a godly generation as true patriarchs.
Yes, I agree with ytou completely. What I was emphasizing, and doing poorly at was trying to point out that I don't think people understand the idea of what a slave really is anymore. We have this sort of shallow and impersonal understanding... and then when we apply that to our own lives as bondslaves to Christ... We get a totally wrong picture. If we can just grasp and understand what it really means to be a slave to Christ, possibly by understanding what a slave in our world might go through, then we might better understand that we are to sacrifice everything to God and for God, and that this is not something to be proud of, but rather dsomething that we should do without thought of any sort of restitution. It is our duty to serve God and to be beaten for him, and to work hard in the fields all day then to come in not expecting to be asked to sit and rest, but rather to be expected to be called to prepare supper for our master and to wait on him all the more.
I think we are too proud and want too much, myself included. And we just don't understrand and cant visualize what a slave deserves and juxtaposed, how well God treats us.
Post a Comment