2004-11-12
Good Morning Cherished Readers,
Often I have said that what the ancient rabbis in writing the Talmud, the Jewish book of laws and culture, did was very unpleasing to God. They took the original Ten Commandments and in the course of commenting upon them increased the number of laws for Jews to follow to 613! If God had meant for that to happen, He would have given the Jews 613 Laws at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Once the rabbinical commentaries were written, no one but Jesus Christ Himself could keep all those laws. So, the question arises: What did God want us to know about His law? MT 5: 17-20 is Christ’s words from the Sermon on the Mount about the Law [note the capital L, indicating the Ten Commandments]. “Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets. I have not come to do away with them, but to make their teachings come true. Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, not the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law with be done away with-not until the end of all things. So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be least in the Kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys the Law and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of heaven. I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires.”
What God teaches us is eternal, applicable in the past, present, and future. It is also without defect, because God is incapable of evil. We can imagine how incredibly frustrating it must be for God to watch men or women insert themselves into His attempts to change our deceitful hearts to ones of faithful obedience? How could such an affront to Him be anything less than disrespectful and arrogant? And yet, that’s something that mankind is always trying to do. This applied to all these ancient rabbis altering the rules, the Pharisees and others who approached God’s teaching with such legalism, today’s false teachers who try to demonstrate that there is no salvation without their help, to the clergy of some denominations who pick and choose which of God’s teachings they and their followers should accept, to those teaching that we can earn our way into heaven by good deeds, or anyone who becomes an intermediary between the believer and God Himself. The people who elevate their importance by inserting themselves or their teaching between God and the believer are in essence saying they can do it better than God. Remember IS 14: 13-15? [Referring to the King of Babylon –another name for Lucifer here] “You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.” Remember Satan’s lies in the Garden of Eden? GN 3: 2-4, [begins with Eve speaking] “’We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,’ the woman answered, ‘except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die.’ The serpent replied, ‘That is not true; you will not die. God said that because He knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad.’”
Over the period of mankind’s history there have been countless false teachers who thought they could do it better than God. The human misery that has arisen from their teaching can’t be calculated. Many people choose to follow their teaching, which is why Christ and Paul both addressed themselves to the issue. MT 7: 15, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” 1TIM 4: 1-2, “The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons. Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars, whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron.” Over mankind’s history, that is why such movements as the occult, Gnosticism, Scientology, various cults, and today’s humanism have arisen. Even within some so-called Christian denominations, we have seen teaching so far from God’s Ten Commandments that it is shameful. Is this a reason to lose faith? I don’t think so!
If anything, it’s a reason to spend daily time in the word of God and in prayer. It’s a reason to look at the circumstances of our individual lives and measure them against the ethical and moral foundations that God gives us directly. Enduring in our faith against the buffeting of Satan and his followers is the most worthwhile thing we can do. Our present pain will definitely lead to eternal gain. RO 10: 4 gives us godly perspective on the greatest gifts God has ever given us: the opportunity for salvation through Christ’s Atonement on the cross and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who guides us along the path to eternal life. RO 10: 4,”For Christ has brought the Law to an end, so that everyone who believes is put right with God.”
PRAYER: O Lord, on bended knees with our heads bowed before You, we ask, “What did Paul mean by ‘brought the Law to an end?’” You teach us that the purpose of the Law is to reveal sin in RO 7: 7. The Law by itself can never impart righteousness. The penalty of the broken law is death. In His death, Christ paid the penalty of the law which we have broken. When a sinner receives Your Son into his heart, the law has nothing more to say to him. Through the death of his Substitute, this sinner is now open to receiving Your grace, and he has died to the Law. Since we as sinners are not yet perfect, we can still sin. That is why out of the goodness and compassion of Your heart, You have given us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us to guide us through that “narrow gate that leads to the hard path” [MT 7: 13-14] that will end in eternal life with You. You are an amazing God, Who has no parallel. Your patience with us and Your often expressed desire for us to return to Your side for eternal joy, fellowship, and bliss reveals Your love [JN 6: 39-40; COL 1: 20]. You have given us Your word and prayer, so that we can dodge the snares set out for us by Satan and his followers [PS 31: 3-5]. Some of us once followed evil and unrighteous leaders and lifestyles, but You gave us a way to pull away from that and substitute it with obedient faithfulness in Jesus Christ. That is why there are so many people who can testify to Your saving power in their lives. I am one of them. Today, we recognize that as sinners, we must confess our sin to You and take on the responsibility of leading lives in which You lead. We must not set an unrighteous example for others by the way we live, we must not think that we can be higher, equal, or better than You, and we must not delude ourselves into the idea that we can hide evil motives from You. You are omniscient, thus know the content of our hearts. With obedience to You and faithfulness to our Covenant of Grace commitments, we have no reason to be afraid of You. Today, we ask You to help us in this commitment and give us Your wisdom and love to guide our lives. You deserve our genuine heartfelt praise and thanks, which we offer You. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, the Spirit guides me to write more about how Christ fulfills the Law. Peter and I are watching something wonderful from God happening in the lives of two men we know. The first one has always been a good person, but went through a devastating divorce a number of years ago. He turned inwardly, rather than to God. His already reserved personality became that of a loner. He avoided church, never reached out to others, and kept away from daily time in God’s word. While this man didn’t commit any horrible sin that we know of, his spiritual growth came to a standstill. God wasn’t finished with him, and after awhile prompted him to follow a strong interest he had by coming quietly back to church. Making friends still wasn’t easy for him, but he began to spiritually “thaw out” slowly. Peter reached out to this man, and so did I. We encouraged him to take the next step and go through a Via de Cristo weekend. Today, he is involved in both our church community and Via de Cristo and is enjoying spiritual growth. The other man struggled for years with addiction to alcohol. God knew that he too has a teachable heart. His process toward spiritual growth began with going through rehab and then gradually getting involved in a church community. We haven’t know him as long, but we have great hope that we and our friends will eventually help this man to get his life on God’s magnificent, life-giving track toward spiritual maturity. That’s what someone did for me, and now I can help to give back. That’s the wonderful opportunity that God gives every believer. RO 8: 28, “We know that in all things God works for good with hose who love Him, those whom He has called according to His purpose.”
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn