| When I first said goodbye to dispensational thinking, I struggled with what to do about the law. It bothered me so much that I began to look into messianic judaism. I was so worried about keeping all the laws.
What finally helped me understand about the law was this: Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. He also said, that the law could be summed up in this, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself. On these things hang ALL the law and the prophets.
To the judaizer, obedience to the law has to with obeying every jot and tittle no matter what is going on in the heart. In other words, a judaizer doesn't care if he hates his brother in his heart, so long as he is nice to him whenever he sees him. Jesus said, if you hate your brother, you have murdered him. The point being, obedience to the law is about motivation. If you love God, you won't want to do the things that displease Him. If you love your neighbor, you won't do anything to hurt them.
This law of love is not an abolishment, but a law that is one step further. It does not obliterate the holiness of God, it requires more holiness of us, because now, instead of worrying so much about our actions, we are required to worry about our hearts. If we our hearts are right, we will live right. And we can't fix our hearts, only our Lord can do that. We give our wicked hearts to Him, and we let Him teach us how to love Him and love our neighbors. The natural outcome will be holiness.
__________________ J Baldwin
Keowee Presbyterian Church, PCA
Pickens, SC
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27 Check Out My Blog: http://reflectjoy.blogspot.com/ |