Well if you have been keeping up with the reading you have ran straight into Leviticus. The Law in all it detail. At first when reading, it becomes very challenging. It reveals a side of God we don’t often read about or want to know about. The Law was the constitution of the nation of Israel. Its Laws would guide a people where God Himself was going to be their King. He would be their God and they would be His people. The people of Israel had to be different from the people around them. They where God’s representatives on earth and the nation would be a light to the world.
The Law was the best possible life for God’s people in that time and place. It was not the way of becoming God’s people; it was the way to reflect and proclaim the true God. Paul says, “the Law is just and right and good, but if I’m suppose to keep it for righteousness I’m not going to make it.” The Law cannot accomplish that because of the weakness of human flesh. Does that mean the Law was bad? Only if that was what the Law was trying to accomplish. The Law was good and holy that Paul concedes: “If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law” Gal 3:21.
But such a law was never given. No, what the Law could not do and was not designed to do, God did by sending his Son. Atonement by grace has always been the key, and those who read the Law right knew it all along (Gal 2:15-16).*
Our focus is not the keeping of the Law as a merit system, but Jesus Christ himself. Our response is based on gratitude for what God has done in Christ. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). We forgive, because we are forgiven (Eph 4:32). We walk worthily because we have been graciously given a special calling (Eph 4:1). We honor God with our body because we, like ancient Israel, are bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20). No, the Law is not something we should ignore or give less attention to, it is something we need to study and understand. But then, don’t feature it as a centerpiece either. Only Jesus deserves that spot!
-ps
* Baylis, Albert H. 1996 ”From Creation to the Cross”, Zondervan
1 comment:
The law is the teacher that pointed me to my desperate need of Jesus...and it serves to remind me that I still need Him each and every day...without Him, I cannot keep one smidgen of God's law...actually, He keeps it through me, and it's not me at all...it's all Him, and that is a great thing.
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