Jesus and the Law-An Additional Perspective

[newton3005]

Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His Law he meditates day and night.” And I tell you that by ‘not standing in the way of sinners’ is not meant to block the sinner’s way, rather it is not to position oneself to doing what the sinner does. Makes sense, doesn’t it, since the Bible tells us not to let a sinner into our house. Does not 2 John 1:10-11 say, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring [Christ’s] teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works”?

How have some taken to meditate on the Law? It dates back to Adam and Eve’s Original Sin of eating from the Tree of Good and Evil. For if they didn’t eat from that tree, they would not have acquainted themselves with evil. And what has been of God’s Law, but to make us wary of things that are evil, since, because of the Original Sin we know what evil is? And if we know it, we are tempted to engage in it. And by doing so we are testing God’s patience and our own sense of morality.

Let me ask you...Does a relatively newborn baby know evil? Have you ever known such a baby to, say, squirt a milk bottle into the eyes of a parent out of maliciousness? But we know that as a baby gets older, its lineage to Adam and Eve kicks in so that, for example, by the time it has started school it comes to know behavior that teachers regard as wrong. If Adam and Eve had not eaten from the Tree of Good and Evil, they wouldn’t know evil any more than a baby does.

At least until Jesus came along, the Law served to enable us to know what evil is and to avoid it. At the same time, a paradox exists in the Old Testament, since Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” In other words, by His Law you shall love him.

So, love, which is a function of one’s emotions, becomes relegated to a Law. And Jesus comes along and similarly makes loving God a commandment, and he makes abiding by his commandments a condition of loving him. Does he not say in John 14:15, “IF you love me, YOU WILL keep my commandments”? And what are his commandments but a summation of the Law that God gave to Moses?

Hebrews 6:1 tells us, “...let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” Some have asserted that this doctrine was directed toward the Jews, preaching to them in terms of the Law as they understood it. So he says in Matthew 5:17 that he has not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. Hebrews 6:1 starts to steer us away from thinking in terms of the Law, and by going on to maturity it may suggest on focusing on loving God. It’s like when parents give children a set of rules to follow. When those children mature, those rules no longer apply to them because they have become aware that in general there are certain things they should not do if they are to gain acceptance by others. The rules their parents gave them have evolved into ideals.

But how does Hebrews 6:1 really reconcile with John 14:15 which talks in terms of rules in the form of commandments? We cannot say for sure that Jesus was merely addressing the Jews, since 2 Timothy 3:16 says that ALL Scripture is meant for teaching, correction, reproof and training in righteousness. Jesus doesn’t say in John 14:15 that the new commandment is for Jews only, nor does 2 Timothy 3:16 say ‘Certain part of the Scriptures apply to certain people, and those parts are for teaching, correction, reproof and training in righteousness depending on who the people are.’

Seems to me that anyone who loves God is bound to the Law, at least as Lord Jesus understands it.

 

[expos4ever]

I suggest the New Testament is quite clear: we are no longer "bound" to the Law. From Romans 7:

But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter

As for "fulfilling" and not abolishing the Law, this can be reasonably interpreted as something like this: Jesus is saying "I have not come to scrap the Law in the sense of telling you it was a mistake, I have come to tell you it is good thing that I am bringing to a successful end." Remember that to "fulfill" a goal can mean to stop pursuing that goal.

Now about this:

If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.

Remember that Jesus did give us commandments other than those in the Law of Moses. So for Jesus to tell us to follow His commandments does not necessarily mean that He wants us to follow the Law of Moses.

 

[pescador]

Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His Law he meditates day and night.” And I tell you that by ‘not standing in the way of sinners’ is not meant to block the sinner’s way, rather it is not to position oneself to doing what the sinner does. Makes sense, doesn’t it, since the Bible tells us not to let a sinner into our house. Does not 2 John 1:10-11 say, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring [Christ’s] teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works”?

How have some taken to meditate on the Law? It dates back to Adam and Eve’s Original Sin of eating from the Tree of Good and Evil. For if they didn’t eat from that tree, they would not have acquainted themselves with evil. And what has been of God’s Law, but to make us wary of things that are evil, since, because of the Original Sin we know what evil is? And if we know it, we are tempted to engage in it. And by doing so we are testing God’s patience and our own sense of morality.

Let me ask you...Does a relatively newborn baby know evil? Have you ever known such a baby to, say, squirt a milk bottle into the eyes of a parent out of maliciousness? But we know that as a baby gets older, its lineage to Adam and Eve kicks in so that, for example, by the time it has started school it comes to know behavior that teachers regard as wrong. If Adam and Eve had not eaten from the Tree of Good and Evil, they wouldn’t know evil any more than a baby does.

At least until Jesus came along, the Law served to enable us to know what evil is and to avoid it. At the same time, a paradox exists in the Old Testament, since Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” In other words, by His Law you shall love him.

So, love, which is a function of one’s emotions, becomes relegated to a Law. And Jesus comes along and similarly makes loving God a commandment, and he makes abiding by his commandments a condition of loving him. Does he not say in John 14:15, “IF you love me, YOU WILL keep my commandments”? And what are his commandments but a summation of the Law that God gave to Moses?

Hebrews 6:1 tells us, “...let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” Some have asserted that this doctrine was directed toward the Jews, preaching to them in terms of the Law as they understood it. So he says in Matthew 5:17 that he has not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. Hebrews 6:1 starts to steer us away from thinking in terms of the Law, and by going on to maturity it may suggest on focusing on loving God. It’s like when parents give children a set of rules to follow. When those children mature, those rules no longer apply to them because they have become aware that in general there are certain things they should not do if they are to gain acceptance by others. The rules their parents gave them have evolved into ideals.

But how does Hebrews 6:1 really reconcile with John 14:15 which talks in terms of rules in the form of commandments? We cannot say for sure that Jesus was merely addressing the Jews, since 2 Timothy 3:16 says that ALL Scripture is meant for teaching, correction, reproof and training in righteousness. Jesus doesn’t say in John 14:15 that the new commandment is for Jews only, nor does 2 Timothy 3:16 say ‘Certain part of the Scriptures apply to certain people, and those parts are for teaching, correction, reproof and training in righteousness depending on who the people are.’

Seems to me that anyone who loves God is bound to the Law, at least as Lord Jesus understands it.

You are wrong! Once we have died to the Law and become alive in Christ, we are freed from the Law. You might want to read Romans 6 and 7 if you don't understand this. Here are excerpts: (Romans 6:10) :"For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. And, "So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." (Romans 7:4) These are of course just a couple of verses, but Romans makes it clear that when we have "died" we are no longer under the law; we are alive in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah!