The rural area where I live includes two Christian communities that are easily recognized by their modest dress. One has a simple, agrarian lifestyle that most would call antiquated. They conduct themselves in this way in order to strengthen their relationship to God through obedience to instructions found in the Bible. While their ultimate goal is worthy of praise, I think they are trapped in trying to please God.
And they are not alone. While the exact parameters of their behavior may seem foolish, it’s all based on Scripture. For example, the women in both groups cover their hair in keeping with 1 Corinthians 11:6. This idea of pleasing God by obeying the law is a trap for any Christian who thinks they need to obey any law. Some more common applications of this idea include the instructions on baptism and obedience found in Matthew 28:19-20. Huh? As Christians we do not need to obey any law from God. Paul says very clearly in Romans 6:14 that we are not under the law. This is an absolutely radical statement to most Christians. Even worse, the next phrase that we are under grace sounds to some like a license for immoral behavior that totally contradicts Scripture. This understanding is completely and utterly wrong. Rather, Paul says in Galatians 2:18 that trying to obey the law after coming to Christ makes him a transgressor of the law. “Are you saying that trying to keep the law makes me a violator of the law?”, you may ask. Yes, you have that right. But it is even worse than that. Putting yourself back under the law after accepting Jesus Christ is counter-productive to living a life that reflects Jesus Christ to the lost and suffering world around you. Individuals who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are hindered in coming to Him by law-abiding Christians. Drift Happens If this seems upside down to you, rest assured that you have plenty of company. Jews in Thessalonica made the same complaint to the authorities about what Paul was teaching (Acts 17:6). This group drifted so far away from the teachings of the Old ‘Testament that they, like the Pharisees before Pontus Pilot, said there is no king but Caesar (John 19:15). In exactly the same way, Christians trying to obey the law have drifted badly. The first thing they have drifted from is the love of Jesus Christ. This is the charge Jesus lays against the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:4). Law-abiding Christians put an undue emphasis on how they have obeyed the law to the detriment of remembering how God showed He loves them. They also forget that Jesus told the Pharisees that the work which God requires is to believe in His Son (John 6:29). It’s Him, Not You Jesus Christ is, of course, what makes the New Covenant new. He fulfilled the law so that Paul could write in Romans 6:14 that we are no longer under the law, but instead are under grace. Drifting back to the law ignores this wonderfully descriptive verse and the absolute freedom it brings. It also ignores other verses such as Colossians 2:21-20-23, where regulations are said to be of no value in stopping the indulgences of the flesh. This explains why trying to keep the law makes you break the law, and why it makes leading others to Christ even more difficult. Evangelism is effective when it is a work of the Holy Spirit, but anything done under the law is the work of the flesh. Compelling Christians to knock on doors or hand out tracts to comply with law shuts the door in the face of Christ who is standing there knocking. New Garments, New Wine Anyone? Jesus made it abundantly clear that the Old Covenant of Law and the New Covenant of Grace do not blend (Matthew 9:14-17, Mark 2:21-22, and Luke 5:33-39). He told the church at Laodicea that blending cold law and hot grace sickens Him (Revelation 3:15-16). Paul explained that the law was a covenant of death (2 Corinthians 3:7), and Jesus said that He came so that we could have life, and life in abundance (John 10:10). All these verses make a compelling statement about Christianity and Old Testament law. They point out that Christianity is not about obeying God in order to get a reward. (Luke 17:7-10 dispels that notion very succinctly.) Christianity is certainly not about obeying God to escape punishment, since Jesus Christ took our punishment on Himself. Having accepted that, why do some think we can – or even need to- do anything else?
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November 2019
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