PollyJetix
Well-Known Member
I'm splitting my response. As for Matthew 5 and the law, I would say that the Ten Commandments had to do with outward actions, whereas, the same commandments under Jesus' revisions make them commandments starting in the heart - a much higher standard as we are privileged to have the Holy Spirit which has heightened our conscious' sensitivity, and also given us the power of God to walk in the Spirit.
This is why we are not under the Ten Commandments, we are under Christ's commandments which are to believe on Him, and love your neighbor as yourself - all from the heart.
It is no new thing that Christ preached, that God requires obedience from the heart. It is not unique to the New Testament, that God hates hypocrisy.
"Them of old time" were the founders of the Pharisee sect. Rabbis who had died one or two hundred years before Christ.
"Them of old time" said, "Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment"
In other words, you can hate, and there is no judgment. But if you kill, there is judgment. Thus those rabbis gave permission to hate. As if "You just can't help it."
But Jesus pointed them to a part of the Law that the rabbis forgot:
See how the Old Testament cares about the inward attitude?Leviticus 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
It's not just outward rules.
"Them of old time" said also, "Thou shalt not commit adultery" ... and truly, this is a direct quote from the Old Testament!
But it is obvious, by Jesus' rebuke, that "them of old time" had forgotten the 10 commandment:
"Thou shalt not covet." How is this only outward? This is an inward attitude of the heart, encoded in the 10 commandments! In fact, this is the final commandment... not that it may be the least, but perhaps, a very important summary of how God wanted a few previous commandments applied!
After all, how can you commit adultery, without coveting your neighbor's wife? How can you steal, without first coveting your neighbors stuff?
And this is how looking upon a woman to lust after her, is breaking the Law.
The Law stands and falls as a unit. Whoever keeps all of the law, and yet offends in only one point, is guilty of breaking the Law. They were all written on stone. If one commandment is broken, the whole thing breaks. Thus, to lust is to commit adultery on a heart level, which breaks the Law.
"Them of old time" also said, "Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement" and truly, that is just about what Moses said... but we can see from Jesus words, that the way the Pharisees were applying it, was NOT how God intended.
That law of giving a writing of divorce was given to protect hated women. It was not intended as a license to put away a wife, just to try to legalize an adulterous heart. That's how the Pharisees were using the divorce decree: to wash their hands, like Pilate! Trying to look righteous by fulfilling an outward obligation. But as I said earlier, God forbade coveting a neighbor's wife! And he commanded to love the neighbor as oneself! (A heart-issue in the OT!) Therefore, if one would do both of these, he would not be trying to find a legal way to divorce a faithful wife! Therefore, the Pharisees were divorcing in order to trade off wives. Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees here, not changing God's eternally-settled Word.
"Them of old time" also said in effect, "Be careful not to swear more than you can fulfill! Just make sure you use the name of Yahweh, though, when you do swear!" This gave permission to use God's name in the same way the pagans used the names of their gods--as bywords! And really, that's how the Pharisees were using the Name of the Lord!
I find it fascinating, to see how the Pentecostals are so careful not to swear... even so far as to make sure the court hears them refuse to use the words "I swear"... yet, they so easily use "My Lord!" as a byword, as an expression of astonishment. This is using the Lord's name in vain! Who is the Lord? Is He not Jesus? Jehovah? If we use "My Lord" in a way that we would feel convicted of, to use "Jesus Christ!" or "Lord Jehovah!" or "Great God Almighty!"... we are swearing like the heathen, using our God's name like they use their gods.
What Jesus said, was to "Swear not at all, neither by heaven, earth, or even your hair!" This is clearly a response to using God's name wrongfully.
However, we still make vows. Marriage vows, for instance. And we make them before God. This is not wrong. We still perform unto the Lord what we commit to do, in His Name. This is not the kind of swearing Jesus forbade. And this is the kind of swearing they did in the Old Testament.
The words "I swear" simply mean, "I commit myself to do"... and that is exactly what a vow is. Let's not "make a man an offender for a word." It is the heart attitude that defiles, and that was a principle down through the Old Testament.
Wow, this is getting long. Maybe I ought to split this up.
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