December 4, 1999
A church ad showed a picture of two hands holding stone slabs inscribed with the Ten Commandments. The ad copy read: “For fast, fast, fast relief, take two tablets.”
Dr. Laura would agree. She says the sick moral climate in America can be cured only if people listen to God and do what He says.
Others disagree. In fact, some even say we have too many rules already, that religion imposes only restrictions. What we really need is more freedom.
Seeing that morals are not as important as they used to be does not require a degree in sociology. However, can more rules bring up moral standards or change people’s behavior? Or do rules simply raise our awareness of guilt?
That church sign implies that obedience to God will bring relief not guilt. Relief from what? God says we should not steal. If everyone obeyed, crime rates would decline. God says we should not commit adultery. If everyone obeyed, divorce rates would nose dive.
But life has other problems that call for relief. What about single mothers who need jobs with enough pay to cover their needs and the cost of daycare? What about sickness, financial debt, strained relationships, unemployment or other pressing issues? Would adding these commands give relief for these problems? Or complicate them?
We could say that keeping the laws of God has value in society but argue with the “fast relief” part. Ask any teacher. Ask any parent. People simply do not change overnight.
On the other hand, a few self-righteous folk might see this church sign and applaud. They wonder why people act the way they do. They insist everyone should put God first and live decently. Then the world would not be in this mess.
In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees fit this profile. They looked down at those “less religious” but made the mistake of thinking they themselves were okay. Jesus called them hypocrites.
So, can taking these “two tablets” actually give relief? The Bible teaches that the Law of God stands forever. It is important. However, the Bible also teaches that no one can keep His Law perfectly, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
So why have these ten? If putting them on the classroom walls had no effect, why did my Sunday School teachers do it? The New Testament gives the reason: “The Law was our tutor, to bring us to Christ.”
The self-righteous think that obedience to God’s commands is their ticket to heaven. They assume their adherence will give them favor with God. They do not understand or will not accept that everyone falls short. Our efforts at law-keeping do not impress God. The Apostle Paul wrote that keeping the commandments could not impart life. In Romans 3, he says people “are justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
This does not nullify the law as if it were unimportant. God’s standards are high. However, the Bible teaches that “all our works of righteousness are like filthy rags” in His sight. The gospel declares that our only hope is in His grace, not in our own efforts. As the Bible says, we “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
For those who believe in Christ, the commands remain to show us God’s high standard. Repeatedly, we see that our hearts are prone to sin. We are in constant need of God’s grace. In that sense, taking two tablets does give relief — it relieves us of the ignorance of sin — but the tablets do not cure the problem of sin nor any of the results of sin. Only Christ can do that.
Showing posts with label laws of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laws of God. Show all posts
Monday, October 16, 2017
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
The value of law .......... Parables 643
June 8, 1999
Law-abiding citizens have a great deal to think about in Canada. One law passed saying we must use metric measurements, despite boxes full of petitions against it. Others protested the laws that adopted and enforce bilingualism. While not too many folks wanted the Goods and Services Tax, yet another law put it in place and made it part of our lives.
Years ago, a law legalized abortion. More recently, the Supreme Court changed the legal definition of spouse so the law, at least in Ontario, seems to allow same sex “marriages.” At the moment, lawmakers are debating another law that will allow marijuana for medicinal use. In another realm, school boards wonder if mandatory uniforms will reduce violence in Edmonton schools. Law changes how life in Canada is defined.
Making sensible law is a complex matter yet some laws seem more complex than sensible. A local city ordinance says an independent taxi driver cannot choose the color of his car. More serious are gun registration regulations. While ordinary citizens must register their target and hunting rifles, criminals just laugh at this law.
Old Testament Israel lived under the laws given by God. Some were ceremonial, related to their worship practices. Other laws governed civil issues and the relationships of people to each other in their community. Specific punishments were included. Law and keeping the law were as important in old Israel as they are here. Without law, we would be without a compass. Without law-enforcement, anarchy would tear us apart.
However, in some ways, these ancient people were not like Canadians. They were one ethnic group with one language and one religion while Canada tags itself as multicultural. Their laws had one source in that God gave them the Ten Commandments as well as all other law. If anyone took issue, He was their only recourse. In Canada, law is established at many levels and has many levels of appeal.
When Israel refused to involve God in their legislation and law-enforcement, or when they disobeyed His laws, the consequences were sharply different than they are for us. God’s justice was swift even though He could also be petitioned and would give forgiveness and pardon.
God handled law differently than our lawmakers. Although His laws governed the nation, He considered each individual violation. He knew that one person’s sin could directly affect everyone. For example, a man named Achan unlawfully stole heathen idols as spoil from a battle. As a result, the entire army was powerless against their enemies until his sin was admitted and punished.
Do the sins of individuals affect our nation? The Bible says they do. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” God-fearing leaders have power to change the status and reputation of the country they serve but sinful individuals can also pull it down.
Consider how two boys on a shooting spree have put either fear or an imitative admiration in the hearts of our youth. In less a violent way but just as sinful, impurity in the lives of political leaders brings scorn to our nation and others. Just a few people who break God’s laws or the laws of the land bring disgrace to the rest of us.
We need law but confusion sometimes reigns at the legislative level. We need law-making based on something more than the wishes of those lobbyists who make the most noise, but even good law is powerless without shame at its violation. We must be appalled enough to pray for and encourage legislative integrity, rather than merely complaining that our country is not the same as it used to be.
Law-abiding citizens have a great deal to think about in Canada. One law passed saying we must use metric measurements, despite boxes full of petitions against it. Others protested the laws that adopted and enforce bilingualism. While not too many folks wanted the Goods and Services Tax, yet another law put it in place and made it part of our lives.
Years ago, a law legalized abortion. More recently, the Supreme Court changed the legal definition of spouse so the law, at least in Ontario, seems to allow same sex “marriages.” At the moment, lawmakers are debating another law that will allow marijuana for medicinal use. In another realm, school boards wonder if mandatory uniforms will reduce violence in Edmonton schools. Law changes how life in Canada is defined.
Making sensible law is a complex matter yet some laws seem more complex than sensible. A local city ordinance says an independent taxi driver cannot choose the color of his car. More serious are gun registration regulations. While ordinary citizens must register their target and hunting rifles, criminals just laugh at this law.
Old Testament Israel lived under the laws given by God. Some were ceremonial, related to their worship practices. Other laws governed civil issues and the relationships of people to each other in their community. Specific punishments were included. Law and keeping the law were as important in old Israel as they are here. Without law, we would be without a compass. Without law-enforcement, anarchy would tear us apart.
However, in some ways, these ancient people were not like Canadians. They were one ethnic group with one language and one religion while Canada tags itself as multicultural. Their laws had one source in that God gave them the Ten Commandments as well as all other law. If anyone took issue, He was their only recourse. In Canada, law is established at many levels and has many levels of appeal.
When Israel refused to involve God in their legislation and law-enforcement, or when they disobeyed His laws, the consequences were sharply different than they are for us. God’s justice was swift even though He could also be petitioned and would give forgiveness and pardon.
God handled law differently than our lawmakers. Although His laws governed the nation, He considered each individual violation. He knew that one person’s sin could directly affect everyone. For example, a man named Achan unlawfully stole heathen idols as spoil from a battle. As a result, the entire army was powerless against their enemies until his sin was admitted and punished.
Do the sins of individuals affect our nation? The Bible says they do. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” God-fearing leaders have power to change the status and reputation of the country they serve but sinful individuals can also pull it down.
Consider how two boys on a shooting spree have put either fear or an imitative admiration in the hearts of our youth. In less a violent way but just as sinful, impurity in the lives of political leaders brings scorn to our nation and others. Just a few people who break God’s laws or the laws of the land bring disgrace to the rest of us.
We need law but confusion sometimes reigns at the legislative level. We need law-making based on something more than the wishes of those lobbyists who make the most noise, but even good law is powerless without shame at its violation. We must be appalled enough to pray for and encourage legislative integrity, rather than merely complaining that our country is not the same as it used to be.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Love is the higher law .......... Parables 628
February 2, 1999
A group of religious teachers and Pharisees dragged a woman into the courtyard and dumped her in front of Jesus. “This woman was caught in the very act of adultery. The law says we should stone her to death. What do you say?”
Jesus held His tongue. I wonder if I could have done the same?
On a different day, another woman came into the synagogue where Jesus was teaching. She was crippled and bent over, unable to stand. Jesus called her over and then healed her. The worship leader was indignant. He yelled at the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
Jesus immediately retorted, “You hypocrites!” Had I been there, I wonder what I would have said or done, especially if someone had violated my religious convictions?
The more I read about Jesus, the more I am amazed at how He responded to people. He was often unpredictable yet each surprising instance underscores the fact that He understands human hearts. We tend to look only on the surface but He know our motivations.
For instance, Jesus knew the religious leaders of His day were not concerned about mercy. They did not care about the shame and pain of both the adulteress and the cripple. Their idea of justice was that everyone ought to keep the law to the letter and be punished to the greatest extent for all infractions. This notion motivated all their actions.
Jesus was not like that. He was deeply merciful, from the heart. However, His mercy enraged the Pharisees. To them, God’s laws were not suggestions but strict rules that must be kept. Why wouldn’t this man who called Himself the Son of God hold a hard line? Why would He be merciful to an adulteress? Why would He break the Sabbath to heal a mere woman?
Jesus did not defend His compassion. He knew God’s intention concerning the Law that He gave to Israel. As God’s Son, He had been involved in their formulation. Like the Father, He was interested in a response from the heart. He said the greatest commandments were to “love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself.”
The Pharisees did not understand that love is a ‘do’ command. They interpreted God’s Law with an emphasis on ‘do not.’ They failed to understand that God intended the Law as a measurement of their love, not as a set of regulations they could impose on everyone else.
Love is the higher law. It is also the law that Jesus lived by. For example, He did not drag people caught in sin into a public courtyard and heartlessly demand that they be punished. He knew the shame in their hearts. He also knew the power of God to change their lives.
In the case of the adulteress, Jesus also knew the Pharisees were using her to trick Him. They knew His reputation for mercy and used it in hopes that He would deny the legitimacy of the Law of Moses. They could use that against Him.
But in a surprising move, Jesus turned the trick back on them. He asked if any of them were sinless. If so, He said that person could cast the first stone. One by one they left. Then Jesus turned to the woman and said to her, “Go, and sin no more.”
As for the crippled woman in the temple, Jesus taught that the Sabbath was made for our benefit, not to put us in bondage or force us to be inconsiderate. Love is interested in helping and healing, regardless of the day.
The Pharisees pretended to love God by insisting everyone must keep the rules, but they had no regard for the needs of people. They topped it off by condemning Jesus for His mercy. Today, religious people can also become so zealous about rules that they forget mercy, even condemn those who remember it.
Maybe we need a fresh visit from Jesus.
A group of religious teachers and Pharisees dragged a woman into the courtyard and dumped her in front of Jesus. “This woman was caught in the very act of adultery. The law says we should stone her to death. What do you say?”
Jesus held His tongue. I wonder if I could have done the same?
On a different day, another woman came into the synagogue where Jesus was teaching. She was crippled and bent over, unable to stand. Jesus called her over and then healed her. The worship leader was indignant. He yelled at the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
Jesus immediately retorted, “You hypocrites!” Had I been there, I wonder what I would have said or done, especially if someone had violated my religious convictions?
The more I read about Jesus, the more I am amazed at how He responded to people. He was often unpredictable yet each surprising instance underscores the fact that He understands human hearts. We tend to look only on the surface but He know our motivations.
For instance, Jesus knew the religious leaders of His day were not concerned about mercy. They did not care about the shame and pain of both the adulteress and the cripple. Their idea of justice was that everyone ought to keep the law to the letter and be punished to the greatest extent for all infractions. This notion motivated all their actions.
Jesus was not like that. He was deeply merciful, from the heart. However, His mercy enraged the Pharisees. To them, God’s laws were not suggestions but strict rules that must be kept. Why wouldn’t this man who called Himself the Son of God hold a hard line? Why would He be merciful to an adulteress? Why would He break the Sabbath to heal a mere woman?
Jesus did not defend His compassion. He knew God’s intention concerning the Law that He gave to Israel. As God’s Son, He had been involved in their formulation. Like the Father, He was interested in a response from the heart. He said the greatest commandments were to “love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself.”
The Pharisees did not understand that love is a ‘do’ command. They interpreted God’s Law with an emphasis on ‘do not.’ They failed to understand that God intended the Law as a measurement of their love, not as a set of regulations they could impose on everyone else.
Love is the higher law. It is also the law that Jesus lived by. For example, He did not drag people caught in sin into a public courtyard and heartlessly demand that they be punished. He knew the shame in their hearts. He also knew the power of God to change their lives.
In the case of the adulteress, Jesus also knew the Pharisees were using her to trick Him. They knew His reputation for mercy and used it in hopes that He would deny the legitimacy of the Law of Moses. They could use that against Him.
But in a surprising move, Jesus turned the trick back on them. He asked if any of them were sinless. If so, He said that person could cast the first stone. One by one they left. Then Jesus turned to the woman and said to her, “Go, and sin no more.”
As for the crippled woman in the temple, Jesus taught that the Sabbath was made for our benefit, not to put us in bondage or force us to be inconsiderate. Love is interested in helping and healing, regardless of the day.
The Pharisees pretended to love God by insisting everyone must keep the rules, but they had no regard for the needs of people. They topped it off by condemning Jesus for His mercy. Today, religious people can also become so zealous about rules that they forget mercy, even condemn those who remember it.
Maybe we need a fresh visit from Jesus.
Monday, August 22, 2016
A Cry for Justice .......... Parables 474
July 11, 1995
As the horror of the Oklahoma city bombing unfolded on television, many people began expressing their hopes that justice would soon prevail. A few angry citizens even sounded like Old West style lynch mobs crying vengeance and saying, “Those who did it should be hung on the spot.”
Some simply think any who would do such a thing do not deserve a fair trial; those are only for cases where there is reasonable doubt of guilt or that innocence needs to be proven. Others seem to fear that judicial “fairness” will result in less punishment than warranted by the magnitude of the crime.
While no one wants to see criminals go unpunished, insuring a fair trial for even the obviously guilty is a freedom we need to protect. The concept of justice and a fair trial goes back a long way with foundations in the legal system of the Roman Empire and even beyond to ancient Biblical history in the Middle East. In fact, right after Noah and his family stepped off the ark, God told them “From each man, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”
Many nations developed civil laws but those of the Jews were unique. Around 1450 B.C., after Moses led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, God gave them specific commandments. We are familiar with the Ten, including “Thou shalt not murder,” but many other laws defined justice and ethics further. God told them, “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd. Do not deny justice to your poor people. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death . . . .”
God’s laws also included protection for the accused by decreeing trials that are as fair as possible; the prosecution must produce “two or three witnesses” whose statements agreed. God repeatedly warned that it was the responsibility of governing officials to punish lawbreakers, not angry, vengeful citizens. Even murderers in those days had “cities of refuge” where they were protected from private revenge.
Human justice systems are not always as fair as that which God designed. Innocent people are sometimes condemned and the guilty set free. When justice is perverted, fear and anger are normal responses. On the other hand, those who know God take reassurance from His promise of a final justice: “Do not fret because of evil men . . . The wicked plot against the righteous . . . but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming.”
Even if someone escapes human courts, God Himself eventually deals with those who deserve punishment. His judgment is far more serious than the light tap implied by Maude (from the television show by the same name) when she warned, “God will get you for that.”
Should American courts be too lenient toward the people who used the bomb, we know that God is fully able to render justice to whom justice is due. However, that should never be an excuse for civil leadership to slap wrists only. God established authorities here on earth as agents of wrath to punish wrongdoers (Romans 13). His justice demands that the full horror of what they have done be brought home to the hearts of the guilty.
On a personal level, an eternal perspective tells us not to be too quick to condemn even the most brutal acts of terrorism with a smug, self-righteousness. Pride and even small sins produce guilt before God too. We need to pay attention also to our own lives.
As the horror of the Oklahoma city bombing unfolded on television, many people began expressing their hopes that justice would soon prevail. A few angry citizens even sounded like Old West style lynch mobs crying vengeance and saying, “Those who did it should be hung on the spot.”
Some simply think any who would do such a thing do not deserve a fair trial; those are only for cases where there is reasonable doubt of guilt or that innocence needs to be proven. Others seem to fear that judicial “fairness” will result in less punishment than warranted by the magnitude of the crime.
While no one wants to see criminals go unpunished, insuring a fair trial for even the obviously guilty is a freedom we need to protect. The concept of justice and a fair trial goes back a long way with foundations in the legal system of the Roman Empire and even beyond to ancient Biblical history in the Middle East. In fact, right after Noah and his family stepped off the ark, God told them “From each man, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”
Many nations developed civil laws but those of the Jews were unique. Around 1450 B.C., after Moses led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, God gave them specific commandments. We are familiar with the Ten, including “Thou shalt not murder,” but many other laws defined justice and ethics further. God told them, “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd. Do not deny justice to your poor people. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death . . . .”
God’s laws also included protection for the accused by decreeing trials that are as fair as possible; the prosecution must produce “two or three witnesses” whose statements agreed. God repeatedly warned that it was the responsibility of governing officials to punish lawbreakers, not angry, vengeful citizens. Even murderers in those days had “cities of refuge” where they were protected from private revenge.
Human justice systems are not always as fair as that which God designed. Innocent people are sometimes condemned and the guilty set free. When justice is perverted, fear and anger are normal responses. On the other hand, those who know God take reassurance from His promise of a final justice: “Do not fret because of evil men . . . The wicked plot against the righteous . . . but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming.”
Even if someone escapes human courts, God Himself eventually deals with those who deserve punishment. His judgment is far more serious than the light tap implied by Maude (from the television show by the same name) when she warned, “God will get you for that.”
Should American courts be too lenient toward the people who used the bomb, we know that God is fully able to render justice to whom justice is due. However, that should never be an excuse for civil leadership to slap wrists only. God established authorities here on earth as agents of wrath to punish wrongdoers (Romans 13). His justice demands that the full horror of what they have done be brought home to the hearts of the guilty.
On a personal level, an eternal perspective tells us not to be too quick to condemn even the most brutal acts of terrorism with a smug, self-righteousness. Pride and even small sins produce guilt before God too. We need to pay attention also to our own lives.
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