A New Law?

The Bible is divided into both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  That's pretty clear and most Christians wouldn't have any disagreement with that truth.  However, there is a pretty big debate on how the Old and the New relate with one another and how they are different.  Central to that discussion is the Law of God, or the Moral Law.  Are the Ten Commandments in particular still effective for the New Testament?  Do we have to obey the Decalogue in order to be saved?  My short answer to these questions is Yes to the first and No to the second.  Let's take a look at Scripture.

John 1:17 is a good place to begin.  "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."  The Law in the OT is often referred to as the Mosaic law but here we see John describes the law as coming through Moses.  This is a good distinction to be sure, for it is God's law that was given on Mt. Sinai, not Moses' law.  The Decalogue is the Moral Law of God, it reveals his moral character, so that the people of God can live like the people of God.  This Moral Law of God is still in effect just as God is still in existence.  He has not changed nor has his moral law changed.  The Moral Law can also be seen as the will of God for the people of God.

But the OT law was not just the Moral Law, it also included the civil and ceremonial law of God for the nation of Israel.  As the people of God grew from being the family of Israel into the nation of Israel, they were introduced to the civil laws of their nation that set them apart from all other nations.  They were a chosen people and nation that had covenants and customs different from all others.  They also had ceremonial laws as the people of God that were necessary to make sacrifices for their sin.  But their sacrificial system came to an end when the Messiah gave himself as a final sacrifice for sins.  And their civil laws were not effective on Gentiles when the gospel was sent out to make disciples of all nations.

In the second half of v. 17 we see that Jesus is described as the "grace and truth" of God.  This is the description of Jesus whereby in his grace he became the atonement for the sins of God's people.  And he was the truth of God in that he was the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Christ, the only begotten Son of God that would atone for sins.  Christ is both the grace or forgiveness of God and he is also the truth or light of God in all matters of salvation.

The important clarification of John 1:17 is that both the law of God and the grace of God are in effect today.  The grace and truth of God does not supersede or replace the law of God, they are built upon it, as Jesus came "not to abolish the law but to fulfill it".  Also Jesus teaches in the NT that the Law of God, the Moral Law, can be correctly understood as something that must be fulfilled from the heart.  The Law of God however cannot be fulfilled from external observances while the heart still longs for all the things God forbids.  The Sermon on the Mount expounds upon the Law but it is not a new law.  It is a new understanding of the extent of the Moral Law.

Jesus also taught the same Shema prayer that was found in Deut 6, "To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength."  And, "to love your neighbor as yourself."  He also taught, "a new commandment I give to you," particularly, "to love your neighbor as yourself" and even "to love your enemies."  This again is expounding upon the exact same moral Law that was given in the OT.

If the OT and the NT are divided such as to say the Law of God was in the OT and the grace of God is in the NT, we do serious damage to the Scriptures.  However, if we see the OT as the promise of the coming of the Messiah and the NT as the fulfillment of the coming of the Messiah, as the giving of the Law and the fulfillment of the Law, as the grace foretold and the grace fulfilled, we do well.  Jesus said his sacrifice was the New Covenant in his blood, and so we know the NT describes a new covenant of grace.  There is a new covenant, but there is no new Law of God.  There is only a new understanding of the exact same Moral Law.

The Moral Law of God is also the righteousness of God that is imputed to our hearts through grace, for this righteousness cannot be earned through works, it can only be given to us as a gift from God.  And we now understand that we break the Law of God if we sin in our hearts and not just externally in word and deed.  This is what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

The Law of God also points us to God to see his holiness and our sinfulness.  We can never keep the Law because of our sinful nature.  Thus it points us to the need for a Savior, who is Jesus, full of grace and truth.

So, Yes, the Law is still in effect today, but, No, we cannot in and of ourselves keep the Law of God.  Through the grace and truth of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit we can walk in God's will and uphold the Moral Law.  But we can never keep it perfectly.  In this way the moral Law also points us in the path of sanctification as we grow to become more like Christ.

Memorial Day

Yesterday we celebrated Memorial Day in our country and honored the many people in our history that have served in the military.  It is usually a time where we also celebrate the beginning of summer with a three-day weekend and barbecues at the lake.  But it should always be a time to remember the high cost of sacrificial service and make somber reflection of the cost of freedom.

The freedoms that we Americans enjoy have always been costly simply because freedom is never free.  Every nation in history that seeks freedom must do so at the expense of the ones who enjoy that freedom.  This cost of freedom can only be attained if we understand that mankind is “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”.  We know this because in each of our consciences we understand an innate sense of truth and justice and a longing to be free from oppression and tyranny.  This desire to be free and its acknowledgement as a right “endowed by their Creator” is what has made America the greatest nation in the history of the world. 

The phrase “endowed by their Creator” however has nearly been forgotten in our postmodern American culture.  Could it be that in our freedom we have lost sight of the ultimate source of our freedom?  Or is it that in our freedom we have deliberately sought to be autonomous altogether?  It can be a short step between autonomy and tyranny.  But it is only from a Christian worldview that a transcendent understanding of freedom can be accepted, as Christianity teaches unique doctrines of man and of God.  Left to ourselves we cannot be free because we lose the unalienable rights endowed by the Creator.  Without acknowledging the Creator and the potential for our own tyranny we forget our history and we lose the freedom that has been so sacrificially given to us. 

Memorial Day therefore is also a time to give honor to the truths upon which our nation was founded.  If we can remember the tyranny of a misguided English monarchy that oppressed our first colonies, let’s remember the “unalienable rights" endowed by our Creator that give us our national freedom.  Let us also recognize the potential for tyranny in each of us and a misguided democracy that has forgotten that Creator and his “unalienable rights”.  

No man has the right to impose personal beliefs upon anyone else.  But by calling upon the Creator and his unalienable rights to all mankind, we do not impose oppression upon others, we acknowledge a universal truth that gives freedom in a Christian worldview.  Jesus gave the ultimate expression of truth and sacrifice in his own life to provide a salvation from tyranny and death.  He is the Creator that gives both the “unalienable rights” of national freedom and he is the truth that "will set you free” (John 8:31-32) in personal salvation, if we call upon him.  He is the one who can set us free indeed, and he is the one that can bless a people with national freedom.  

Existentialism

Do you have a philosophy virus?  There are plenty of them in our American culture and it's likely that you have one or many.  Perhaps the worst of the worse could be Existentialism.

Existentialism is the philosophy of individual existence, experience, or brokenness and chaos.  It is the philosophy of anti-system because it also sees all knowledge and data disconnected and random, and it does not recognize a system or logic or design and champions individualism.  It leads to a purposeless world and existence, and eventually to despair and nihilism, or nothingness.  Friedrich Nietzsche was the father of Existentialism who coined the phrase, "God is dead."

I hate Existentialism precisely because it celebrates individuality and autonomy in the randomness of existence, but also because that would mean there is no design or purpose to live for.  Christianity is the opposite in that is teaches creation, order, design, logic and purpose.  There is a reason to live, a good reason, in that God exists and he has created all things for his own glory.  We can be reconciled and redeemed in Christ to be all that God created us to be in wholesome and meaningful lives.  We are called in Christ to live for his purposes and design if we will simply accept him.

True freedom comes from God when we are regenerated in and sanctified to Christ, the one for whom and through whom all things were created.  Colossians 1:16, "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.  All things were created through Him and for Him."  Amen.

What's Your Hermeneutic?

If we were to count the number of different interpretations to the Bible in our modern world they probably would be as many interpretations as there are people.  Everyone has an interpretation, everyone has a perspective.  But the big question that arises for interpreting the Bible is what is God's perspective?  If it's God's Word, we must seek his interpretation.

To determine God's perspective we must seek after objective truth instead of subjective truth.  His perspective is absolute and eternal, ours is subjective and temporal.  But is it possible to achieve an objective interpretation?  I believe it is possible, but I also believe it can be difficult.  There are some parts of Scripture that are meant to be vague and mysterious as God chooses not to reveal all truth to us here and now.  But, there are many places in the Bible that are clear.

The goal I believe should be a 'Biblical' interpretation of the Bible.  That may sound redundant, but it's important.  Many Christian denominations take a preferential interpretation of the Bible so as to reinforce and defend their denominational party line.  This may be convenient and pragmatic, but it short sheets the bed on other important doctrines.  We must never put personal preferences or doctrines above the Word of God, as God's perspective alone must always be above ours.  Our biases can be difficult to identify as we all grow up with particular presuppositions and perspectives.  But it's imperative that we are honest with ourselves as we seek the truth of Scripture.

As an Evangelical I became a Christian through an Arminian perspective of faith.  As I studied the Bible I was more and more convinced of a Calvinistic perspective of the faith.  The Arminians tend to emphasize the free will of man in faith and a dispensational view of Scripture.  And the Calvinists tend to emphasize the sovereignty of God in faith and a covenantal view of Scripture.  They each can find Bible verses that support their perspective and promote their confidence that they have the true faith.

But, what's most damaging to faith is the methodology of making one particular preference the hermeneutic of all of Scripture.  If we take the free will of man and make that the overarching hermeneutic we will miss the sovereignty of God.  And if we take the sovereignty of God out of context we will miss the legitimate doctrine of the freedom of the will.  Also, if Dispensational or Covenantal Theology becomes a hermeneutic, the Bible can become restricted by man's interpretation instead of man being restricted by the truth of the Bible.

This practice of preferential interpretation has been exercised by countless other faiths to disprove Christianity.  After all with Darwinian presuppositions we can twist science to become secularistic, and with DesCartes' assumptions we can only exist if we think.  With Mormon doctrines we can easily interpret the Bible to be the prequel to the Book of Mormon.  And without being taught by Catholic teachers we will be unable to understand Roman dogma.

The truth is that the truth of Scripture is not bound by the perspectives of men, it speaks far above them.  God is the hermeneutic of God's Word.  He is eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, holy, immutable and sovereign; and he is the Creator and Savior of all who truly believe.  Most importantly in the work of hermeneutics, God is truth, he is the Truth, and all interpretations must be measured against his character and will.  Man must receive truth with open arms.

Thus, we cannot begin with an Arminian or Calvinistic perspective and make this our paradigm or hermeneutic of Scripture.  Nor should we assume our personal preferences in our premises, we must let Scripture speak openly in every occasion to gain a Biblical interpretation.  I do believe Covenant theology is the best structure for understanding Scripture, but, it is not the paradigm for all doctrines.  God not only works in a covenantal way, he works sovereignly.  And, God sovereignly chooses to give mankind a limited free will to have a faith relationship with Him, whereby he is glorified if we live in a devout and genuine faith for him.  He also says, Ga 6:7, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."

Truth is greater than all of us combined, and the conclusion must not be in the premises for a truth hermeneutic of Scripture.  For truth must interpret our perspective of Scripture, and truth is the reason why Scripture interprets Scripture.  This can be seen as God gives us the gift of faith in Christ, but we must be born again, we must receive this gift, and we must live out this faith in good works.  God is sovereign and man is responsible.  God is covenantal, and Jesus is the New Covenant.  The truth of God is the 'Biblical' hermeneutic for interpreting all doctrines.  As we seek God's perspective we must remember, "God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain," William Cowper, 1747.

Faith by Justification Alone?

If you've ever studied the theology of the sixteenth century Protestant reformation you will be aware of the doctrine of Justification By Faith Alone.  In this central doctrine we understand that salvation is the gift of God alone, by the grace of Christ alone and received by faith alone, as we know from Scripture alone.  There is no work or goodness of man that contributes to justification, it is completely the work of Christ.  Amen.

But, as the years, decades and centuries have passed the debate has shifted and it may well be said that today the question concerning justification is not whether it is by faith alone, but whether faith is by justification alone.  Is justification all there is to faith?  Does one just need to "believe" to become a Christian and live a Christian life?   Is there a separation between faith and life?  Or does our Christian faith make an influence on the way we live in our culture?

The Scriptures do make it abundantly clear that justification is by God, by his grace, and through the finished work of Christ alone.  Just as we find in Romans 1:17, "For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith.""  Here we see it is the righteousness of God, not man, that is expressed in the gospel.  This righteousness of God is received through faith in Christ as it is emphasized in Romans 3:22, "Even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe."

But this justification from God also brings new birth or Spiritual regeneration.  In regeneration we have a whole new Spiritual nature in our hearts so that we can believe, and we do believe irresistibly when we are regenerated.  Regeneration precedes faith just as conception precedes birth.  This is what Jesus meant in John 3:3 when he said we "must be born again," we must have a changed nature in our hearts in order to believe.

We also have a new purpose and desire to live for God, as we see from Habakkuk 2:4, "The just shall live by faith."  We "live by faith" in the sense that we shall have eternal life in heaven one day because of the gift of salvation in Christ.  But to "live by faith" also means in the here and now we turn from the darkness to live by the Light of Christ in every aspect of our lives on earth.  This is the faith and process of sanctification.

Faith then is not just justification, it is much more than justification.  The life of faith involves new birth or regeneration, and we are called to live by faith in repentance and obedience in a life of sanctification.  Jesus himself lived a life of obedience unto His Father for the sake of our salvation, and he calls us to live in the same way in the world as we see from John 17:15ff.  "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth."

The life of faith and sanctification in Christ is also necessarily tied to the Word of God.  However imperfectly we seek after God, we must study the Bible to grow in sanctification.  As we grow individually our lives will influence our families, churches and culture just as Jesus taught that a lamp is "put on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house," Mt 5:15.  We can only live sanctified lives then that are filled with the Holy Spirit and bearing fruit to Christ as we follow after God's truth in his Word.

So, justification is by faith alone, it is the gift of new life and regeneration in Christ.  But faith is not by justification alone, it is also the new life in Christ that must be lived out in the sanctification of good works.  Sanctification is a life long process of repentance, obedience and Spiritual growth into the image of Christ.  It inseparably follows justification for we know that, "The just shall live by faith."  And this brings great Spiritual blessings.  In short, justification is by faith alone, but faith is not by justification alone, it includes regeneration and sanctification, without which there is no salvation.

Consider the people of faith in Hebrews 11: 33-34, "(W)ho through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of aliens."  All this to the glory of God.

Biblical Inspiration

Where does your inspiration come from? Got inspiration? The best inspiration I've ever had has come from the Bible, and thus I believe, from God.

 It might be a stretch for some to connect the Bible with God, as many see it just as a book written by men in a culture, long, long ago. But the Bible is God's book, it is inspired by God. And, if the Bible is inspired by God and true for every generation, then it can still teach us about God today. And thus it can inspire us with God's Spirit. 

The sixty-six books of the Bible have many real stories about real people and places, and many descriptions about the real God. Perhaps some of the great questions for us in our real lives have to be, who am I, and what is life all about? The Bible answers these questions and many more like them if we take time to read it. In the big picture of things we know from the Bible there is a God who created us and he is good. He also has the power to save us from death, and give us inspiration to live.

The Bible describes the Savior as Jesus Christ and eternal life as heaven.  Even though God can be seen and known to a certain degree outside the Bible through our conscience and the cosmos, it is only in the Bible that we can truly begin to know who God is and what his purposes are. Humanity has been created in the image of God and to be in a personal relationship with him. This brings inspiration. And this changes all of life for the good.

 The gospel of John is one book that is a great place to begin a Bible study. Here is one such inspirational verse from Jesus, John 12:46. "I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness." The light is good, it dispels the darkness. This is the way of biblical inspiration.

World Views

Have you hugged your world view today?  What?  Are you kidding?  Oh, by the way, what's a world view?  And isn't this a little theoretical?

Well, maybe.  It depends on your world view.  I mean it depends on what you believe.  Or, it depends on your faith system.  In other words, the way you see the world and how you interpret things.  It defines who we are and what we believe.

The first thing we can say for certain is that everyone has a world view.  Just like everyone has a perspective on life or a faith of some sort.  And our world view can be pretty subjective depending on a lot of factors.  It can and will change through the course of our lives as well.  The world view of a first grader is quite a bit different than that of a college senior.  The world view of a poor person is usually much different than that of a rich person.  And the difference between how a Secularist looks at the world and how a Christian looks at the world is huge.  Especially if it's a biblical Christian.

Our world view is essentially a faith perspective but it also involves personality, circumstances, emotions, families, age, maturity, goals and disappointments or success.  And a world view is like an operating system in a computer, it directs or guides everything the computer does and will affect how we live our lives and make decisions.  With faith in God we see that life has an eternal or Spiritual realm that gives us meaning and purpose.  Yet without faith we will only see the temporal and mundane aspects of life and this can lead us to a drastically different view of reality.  Our world views can be modified or changed however depending on our willingness to change.

We probably are unaware of our world views on a daily basis and we also can get set in our ways as we grow older.  There are a lot of reasons however for those of us who are Christians to examine our world view and to consider changing anything that is not in accord with God.  The reason we should consider both our world view or faith system from time to time is to see if it is true.  This is a step in Spiritual growth to examine ourselves to say, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting", (Psalm 139:23-24).  The revelation from God of "the way everlasting" is the Christian world view.

Another good reason to know a little bit about our world view is because the world is changing at a tremendous pace away from Christianity.  We live in a technological and moral revolution that is destroying our culture and creating a monolithic secularist world view.  Young people today have so few examples of Christian family values, morals, work ethic and integrity.  Virtually everything in the entertainment world of TV and movies mocks Biblical truth.  And the result has been broken lives.

But the Christian world view centers on the existence of the God of the Bible.  The Bible teaches us the creation of the universe by God, and man made in his image.  Mankind has fallen into sin but God has sent his Son into the world to redeem and reconcile us to him.  The ministry of reconciliation is the great message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  And there is a consummation of all things unto the glory of God at the end of time.  This is the essence of the Christian world view.  This faith brings great significance, purpose, dignity and meaning to all who call on Jesus' name.  It brings us into a personal relationship with Christ, the Creator and Redeemer of all the world.

When you get caught up in the brokenness of this world, remember the Christian world view.  It is centered on the reality of the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He is alive.  Give this worldview a big hug Spiritually, for He is redemptive and calls us back to God.  In this faith we find salvation and we can be sanctified to become like Christ.  We can know God for eternal life.