The Law and the Christian Life
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Welcome
Welcome
Hey good morning, everyone! My name is Dan Osborn and I serve as the pastor here at our Forest Glen location. Like Lindsey said, we are continuing in our series today, Set Free to Live Free. If you’ve got a bible with you, open up to Exodus chapter 21. . It’s on page 62 if you’re using one of the blue house bibles from the seat in front of you.
Introduction
Introduction
In 2006, popular author and speaker A.J. Jacobs took up an interesting task. He grew up in a secular Jewish home, often saying it was a Jewish home in the same way that Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant, meaning he was somewhat familiar with stories in the Bible, but had never given much thought to them and they didn’t have much baring on his day to day life.
But he got this idea for his next writing project, as he was getting more and more interested in the role Religion plays in American society, he decided he would spend an entire year living out the literal commands of the Bible. Which, as he approached it was not going to be an easy task!
He spent 5 hours a day for 5 weeks reading the bible, cover to cover, and writing out every ‘Thou Shall’ and ‘Shall not...’ he could. Every commandment and code of conduct that was brought up…he’d write it down—and at the end of this, he had 72 pages of things was either supposed or not supposed to do according to the Bible, from the Old and New Testaments!
And you can imagine, part of his intention was to publically demonstrate, what was in his mind, the absurdity of some of the statements in the bible—particularly in the Old Testament.
And so he went on to do OR NOT do these.
He recorded in his journey in the book, The Year of Living Biblically…and the book has been wildly popular ever since, even being picked up by CBS last year for short mini-series to re-enact some of his experiences.
And you can imagine, part of his intention was to publically demonstrate, what was in his mind, the absurdity of some of the statements in the bible—particularly in the Old Testament.
And if you pick up the book, he’s got a bunch of crazy stories of things that happened, and he often finds himself in these absurd situations, but I think the reason the books so fascinating is because he takes a very close look at a part of the Bible that even many Christians are not super familiar with—and even if we know and have read these parts—as I’m sure many of us have—I think we’re often left with a lot of questions, right? Like are there parts of the bible we are supposed to obey and just don’t? Or what about some of the harder claims that are found there, particularly in the Old Testament…statements about capital punishment…sexuality…marriage and divorce…slavery…and the list goes on. Broadly, the question comes up…what do we do with commandments in Old Testament and what do they mean for us today?
This is the question I want us to look at today because we are moving into a new section of Exodus—where the first has been all narratives, now we are getting to commandments.
So here’s how I want to use our time today—I want to take a closer look at the part of the Old Testament called, ‘The Law’. And we will be asking 3 questions that will help us not only understand these particular passages we’re looking at today, but really ALL of the passages in the Bible like this.
So here’s how I want to use our time today—I want to take a closer look at the part of the Old Testament called, ‘The Law’. And we will be asking 3 questions: What is the law? Should we obey the Law today? What is the value of the law today?
Three questions. Here they are: What is the Law? Should we obey the Law today? What is the value of the law today?
I’ll say from the get go that some of our time this morning will feel a bit more like a lecture—because we are going to work through THREE big questions that I think naturally come up from this section of scripture. But I’m gonna ask you to stick with me because at the end of our time together, it’s my hope that we will walk away with an invigorated idea of WHO God is and how He calls and empowers his people to live today!
So if you’re not there yet, open up with me to . Good?
Alright, let me pray and we’ll get started.
PRAY
Recap
Recap
Let me remind you quickly what we looked at last week. Geoff Ng was here and he did a great job walking us through a very familiar section of Exodus; the 10 Commandments! And chances are, even if you don’t really see yourself as a particularly religious person or not super familiar with Christianity, you’ve at least heard of the 10 Commandments at some point.
Covenant
Covenant
In many ways, they are like a BROAD summary statement for much of the Old Testament covenant. Geoff talked about this idea of covenant last week—it’s essentially the terms of the relationship between God and His people; the Israelites.
God was going to be their God. He would provide for them, care for them, love them…in fact, the first half of the book of Exodus is really one long demonstration for the Israelites of who God is and what He is like! That’s what the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea are showing right? God’s incredible power not just over an individual; Pharoah, but over the universe itself. But in the 10 Commandments, God begins to explain what it will look like for the Israelites to be His people. He sets up the boundaries of their relationship with Him. In other words, the covenant shows us how God’s people are supposed engage in the world around them.
Code of Hammurabi
Code of Hammurabi
I don’t know if I’ll talk about this, but I could put it up as an interesting point—that the Law Code of the Old Testament is not an utterly unique concept.
What is the Law?
What is the Law?
Alright, (). It starts this way, “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them...”
And this brings us to the first question I want to look at this morning, because the word used for the places in the Old Testament that explain the Covenant is ‘Law’. So what is the Law in the Old Testament?
Covenant
Covenant
Let me remind you quickly what we looked at last week. Geoff Ng was here and he did a great job walking us through a very familiar section; the 10 Commandments! And chances are, even if you don’t really see yourself as a religious person or you’re not super familiar with Christianity, you’ve at least heard of the 10 Commandments at some point. In many ways, they are like the BROAD summary statement for much of the Old Testament covenant. Geoff talked with about this covenant—it’s essentially the terms of the relationship between God and the Israelites.
God was going to be their God. He would provide for them, care for them, love them…in fact, the first half of the book of Exodus is really one long demonstration for the Israelites of who God is and what He is like! But now, God begins to explain what it will mean for the Israelites to be His people as he sets up the boundaries of their relationship with Him.
The Law (תורה and משׁפת)
The Law (תורה and משׁפת)
You’ll remember that the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew—and the Hebrew word for Law is Torah (תורה). Sometimes Torah refers to very specific statements in the bible, but it’s also used to refer to the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis through Deuteronomy. This whole section is considered the Law because it’s here where we find the specific things God has called the Israelites to do and NOT to do as part of His covenant with them. Now the specific statements are not only called laws—sometimes you see words like: rules, commandments, statutes, regulations…things like that…but they’re all taking about same things.
Look at . It starts this way, God says through Moses, “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them...”. And starting in chapter 21, God begins to go into greater detail about what this covenant requires of the people by giving all of these laws. Now if you were to add them all up, there about 613 individual laws in total…all talking about about what the Israelite were and were not supposed to be doing…how they were supposed to relate to each other, even how they were supposed to relate to God Himself! They touch every aspect of life, which is an amazing thing to consider because that alone tells us the God profoundly cares about the way that we live. It let’s us know life itself is not a free for all—that anyone can do whatever they want and what just makes sense to them. No! What we do and how we live matters to God!
Look at . It starts this way, God says through Moses, just after He has given the 10 Commandments, “Now these are the rules that you shall set before them...”. And starting in chapter 21, God begins to go into much greater detail about what this covenant requires of the people by giving all of these laws.
If you were to add them all up, you’d get about 613 individual laws in total…all talking about about what the Israelite were and were not supposed to be doing…how they were supposed to relate to each other, even how they were supposed to relate to God Himself! They touch every aspect of life, which is an amazing thing to consider because that alone tells us that God profoundly cares about the way we live. The mere fact THAT God has set up a Law in the first place let’s us know life itself is not a free for all—that anyone can do whatever they want as long as it makes sense or sounds good to them. No! What we do and how we live matters to God!
Now we’re not going to read all 613 laws this morning—but let me give you a few examples of the laws so you know what they sound like.
“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.
“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.
Exodus 21:
“When one man’s ox butts another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share.
Exodus 21:
“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.
Again, these are just THREE examples of laws from the Old Testament and there are hundreds more we could look—but what is being communicated OVER and OVER again with these laws is that in order to maintain a relationship WITH God, you would need to obedient to all of them! What the Law said NOT to do…you couldn’t do or else there would be consequence—sometimes the death penalty. What the Law said TO do…you MUST do it! But you see, what this was always intended to communicate to the people of Israel is that God is not just like them. He pure…He’s perfect…He is HOLY. And for the people to have any kind of relationship with Him, they needed to be holy too.
God says this in another part of the Law, in the book of Leviticus:
“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
That’s what the Laws were supposed to bring about—they point us to the Holiness of God and provided a way for the people themselves to be holy through their obedience to Law—doing what it said.
To not obey the law was a rejection not just of what God had commanded—but because the covenant represented the terms of the relationship with God, it was a rejection of God himself! And so the provision, love, care, and compassion, all of what was promised to Israel for their obedience to the Law are actually rejected by the people when they disobey the Law!
And really the entire story line of the Old Testament is the outflow of God’s people either obeying or mostly disobeying the Law: doing what God had told them NOT to do, or NOT doing the things God had told them TO do!
The Laws are a BIG deal.
What about the ‘Ethical Issues’ in the Law?
What about the ‘Ethical Issues’ in the Law?
Because to be honest, there are some things that will pop up and they’re not just strange—they sound unethical…things that in our modern, 21st century western context we would active advocate against right!
Slavery
Slavery
And in this section of the Law, in , you see an example right out of the gate…as the first thing talked about is slavery…and from the looks of it, it’s not talking about abolishing slavery, but regulating it!
Or you can jump down
Slavery
Slavery
Selling Daughters
Selling Daughters
Are we bound by the Law today?
Are we bound by the Law today?
This brings up the next question, and probably the most important one that we’re looking at today. Here it is? Do Christians need to obey the Law today? Are we under the law?
And how you answer this is a big deal, right? I mean we’re talking about at least 613 commandments—we’re talking about the Old Testament—are we supposed to go back to find the commandments and seek to put them in to practice now? In other words, did A.J. Jacobs get it right?
But before we answer that, I want to remind you again at what’s at stake if we dance around this question. If we are supposed to obey the law and we don’t…
Remember—the Law sets up the relationship between God and His people—in the Old Testament, it’s obedience to the Law was the way to keep and maintain your relationship with God, right?
There’s a reason why this question, ‘SHOULD WE OBEY THE LAW’ has been a consuming one for theologians for centuries because what happens if we DON’T obey?
The Pharisees
The Pharisees
Actually, when you look closely what is happening in the New Testament, this same fear—of what happens if we DON’T obey the law’ is what’s at work in the lives the ultra-religious people of Jesus’ day; the Pharisees. If you’ve been in the church for a while, I think we often give the Pharisees a hard time! They have this reputation of people who only care about their own religious beliefs—a group of hypocrites that was FAR more concerned with what they did rather than what they believed. If you think about it, they had the same reputation that ‘religious’ people have today, right?
And on one level, it’s true—they were OBSESSIVELY concerned with their own man-made rules. And Jesus calls them out on it many times. But have you ever stopped to ask why they were so caught up with their rules?
It’s not because they just liked creating rules for the sake of creating rules…no…it’s about MUCH more than that. You see, it’s NOT that the Pharisees had too low a view of God’s law that they wanted to bring their own in…it’s that they had SUCH A HIGH view of the Law, that they desperately wanted to ensure that they would never even accidentally disobey the law!
Let me show you how this worked.
Look with me at , “…you shall not boil a kid in its mothers milk.” And if you take it at face value, what it’s saying is that if you are going to prepare a traditional meal from that region, you were not to take a baby goat and cook it in its mothers milk. We’re not really told why. But what the religious leaders knew was that to break this commandment, was to reject God himself…it was to open yourself up to judgement for disregarding what God has commanded—it wasn’t a trivial matter.
“The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
And so to ensure that no one broke this law, they started to develop their own set of rules so that people got no where close to breaking this! So eventually, not ‘…[boiling] a kid in its mother’s milk...’ became avoiding goat and goats milk…because how could you be 100% sure it wasn’t the mothers milk that you were drinking. And then, not any kind of meat and goats milk…because what if you THOUGH you were eating beef, but it actually had some goat in there…and and what if the milk you had or cheese you had happened to come from the mother—and then you accidently break the commandment…and went on and on until eventually, what is still residual today are the Kosher dairy regulations that many of Jewish friends practice today of not having any dairy with any meat! That all stems from ! What if…what if…what if…you even accidentally broke the Law?
Many of know that our Jewish friends to this day, if they follow Kosher—the dietary laws in the Old Testament, they won’t mix dairy and meat. But it’s interesting—you won’t find any place in the Law where God says that his people shouldn’t eat dairy and meet
Our Response to the Law
Our Response to the Law
Our Response to the Law
Our Response to the Law
Let me just pause for moment to point out the obvious—that all of us sitting here today have an internal response to the Law. And it might be nuanced a little for each of us, but I think in general, if we’re honest when we think about the Law in the Old Testament, we fall into one of two responses (maybe we even oscillate between the two depending on the day).
Many of know that our Jewish friends to this day, if they follow Kosher—the dietary laws in the Old Testament, they won’t mix dairy and meat. But it’s interesting—you won’t find any place in the Law where God says that his people shouldn’t eat dairy and meet
We REJECT Laws
We REJECT Laws
Some of us just have a problem with the fact that God would establish laws to begin with…there is just something inside of us that reacts against the very idea of objective rules that God would set in place—and so to even talk about the Laws of the Old Testament just confirms the suspicions we have immediate conjuring up mental pictures of God only as a distant and removed JUDGE who vindictively strikes down those who would oppose Him or dare break His law.
We FEAR failure
We FEAR failure
On the other hand, there are those of us who fall into a very similar camp as the Pharisees—not because outwardly you’re very religious as we tend to think about
it—using flowery language and ultimately hypocritical…but because inwardly you have a deep seeded fear of God and what happens when we fail to live in obedience to Him…of what happens when we do what we shouldn’t and don’t do what we should! There is a tremendous fear of disappointing God.
So we either reject the Law or deep down, we fear failing the Law.
Christ fulfilled the Law
Christ fulfilled the Law
See here’s what’s so incredible about the Law, because either way, it still confronts us! Because on the one hand the Law demonstrates definitively that God has set up a right way for us to live and have relationship with Him…that just as he is Holy, so we need to be holy if there is any hope for us to live the way we were created to live—to fully enjoy a relationship with God, experiencing His love, compassion, concern, and blessing in the way he intends—and YES, the law shows us what we need to do in order to be Holy…there’s 613 of them!
And yet at the same time, the Law ALSO demonstrates that, on our own we can’t. We CANNOT be holy! On our own we cannot live the way God has called us to live…And Jesus himself confirms this for us when HE talks about the Law.
Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
And for a moment, we need to hear that. He points to the most religious people…the ones who KNOW the Law and care about the Law more than anyone else…and he tells his disciples, ‘Unless you are even more righteous than them, you don’t have a shot!’
And yet Jesus is the one who goes on to live in perfect obedience to all of the commandments. He is the only one who could obey all the law—all 613 and more…never once failing. And in His perfect obedience, Jesus demonstrates the holiness that God has called the rest of Humanity to in the Law—He demonstrates a perfect righteousness. What we could not do, Jesus did. He fulfilled the whole law.
And yet, instead of taking his perfect righteousness for Himself, God demonstrates His greatest act of love in giving it away. That when we put our faith in Jesus, the one who did what we failed to do…Jesus righteousness is credited to us!
While you and I should have fallen under the judgement for our failure…the curse of the law, the Gospel tells us that Jesus TOOK on that curse that we deserved.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
Ga
, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them…Christ redeemed us from the cruse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written (in the Law), ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’.
In His death, Jesus fully satisfies the Laws demand for judgment for our failure and inability to obey! But it’s His resurrection from the dead that now allows us to have new life! That, through faith in Jesus, we can now live the way we’ve been created to live…to experience joy, satisfaction. To know God’s love and compassion, and to have a restored relationship with Him, where He is now our heavenly Father who has compassion on His children!
It’s the gospel that now empowers to live the way God calls us to live!
And on top of all of this, Jesus himself says that through His work on the cross, He has established a new covenant between God and humanity—it’s what we celebrate in the practice of Communion, that when we take the bread and dip it in the cup, we are reminding ourselves of the NEW relationship with God we have through Jesus and His work!
So when we ask the question, must we obey the Law today—the answer is no! Because in His death and resurrection, Jesus has both fulfilled the Law and the Mosaic covenant AND established a new covenant with us that is built on obedience to HIM, not the Law. Amen?!
Friends, some of you need to be reminded that as a follower of Christ, Jesus loves just as much now as He did when you first became a Christin—when, as the bible says, you were an enemy of God! But because of the Gospel, that same love, grace, and mercy is still extended toward you today—and friends, the LAW points us back to our regular and consistent need of this grace! [MOVE]
If we’re NOT bound by the Law, then WHY study it today?
If we’re NOT bound by the Law, then WHY study it today?
But the natural question we should be asking, then, is if we don’t need to obey the law in order to have a right relationship with God…then what’s the point of the Old Testament at all? Why would we even do a series through the Old Testament at church from the Law like we’re doing right now?
Many have suggested that Christianity should abandon the Old Testament—as just a relic from the past that doesn’t really add value today.
But there, are
Let me close with a couple of thoughts here and give you three reasons why we can’t just abandon the Old Testament law as if it doesn’t matter for Christians any more.
The New Testament uses the Old Testament
The New Testament uses the Old Testament
Here’s the first reason. We can’t just get rid of it is because the New Testament itself uses the Old Testament and the Law. There are close to 1,000 quotations and allusions to the Old Testament. Many of the New Testament writes quote from the Law to ‘prove’ or make their point. That’s the first reason. Pretty basic, I know.
The Law points us to the Gospel
The Law points us to the Gospel
But we also have to see that the Law regularly points us to our need of the Gospel—we talked about this a bit earlier. The Law shows us what God calls humanity to do in order to be holy as He is Holy! And yet at the same time, the Law and the storyline of the Old Testament demonstrate our absolute inability to do it!
Look, I know some of us really struggle to read through the Old Testament—and particularly in the Law—I get it. But you see, what’s supposed to happen we read these sections of the bible is that we get confronted over and over again with the truth that HOW we live matters to God and that He takes our sin and disobedience seriously. That when we actively choose to ignore or reject what He was called us to do—that’s not a ‘no big deal, brush it under the rug’ kind of thing! It gives us a grand vision of who God is and shows us that in front of Him, we desperately fall short!
But it also shows us that we fall short in front of our God who is “gracious and merciful…slow to anger…abounding in steadfast love.” as He regularly responds to His people with kindness and compassion even when we have rejected Him…and all of it is driving to the complete display of His love for us in stepping down into the human experience in the person of Jesus to do for us what we could not do ourselves. Friends, the Law shows us how much we actually need and depend upon God’s grace and the Gospel!
The Old Testament and the law tell a story that is still unfinished!
How do we use it today?
How do we use it today?
Friends, some of you need to be reminded that as a follower of Christ, Jesus loves just as much now as He did when you first became a Christian—when, as the bible says, you were an enemy of God! But because of the Gospel, that same love, grace, and mercy is still extended toward you today—and friends, the LAW points us back to our regular and consistent need of this grace! [MOVE]
The Law gives us Wisdom for Life
The Law gives us Wisdom for Life
And here’s the last thing. The Law gives us wisdom today for how to live in a way that honors God. Instead of giving us a black and white list of do’s and don’ts (like A.J. Jacobs was looking for) the Old Testament law now reveals for us God’s value system. It shows us up close and personal what He cares about.
How do we know that? We see that in the way the New Testament authors explain the role of the law—particularly how the Apostle Paul—one of the earliest Christian leaders--uses the law.
When Paul talks about it in his letter to a church in Corinth, he tells the story of the Israelites in the wilderness and how they regularly complained and grumbled against what God was doing—and often times disobeyed the Law. But look what Paul says about all this:
Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
He takes the Law, and says that for Christians, it’s an example—and this particular example is one where we’re not supposed to be like the Israelites.
And so
And when Paul was writing to encourage Timothy a young pastor and close friend of his, look what he says on the screen behind me.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Let me remind you that when Paul is writing this, He’s got the Old Testament and Law in mind—that’s what he mean by saying Scripture! And here he is, encouraging and younger Christian to study, know and love the Old Testament!
The Law still reveals God’s desire for justice…His desire for holiness…His desire for equity.
Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
We can go back to places like
“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
And we can understand the compassion that God has for the sojourner, the refugee, and the vulnerable—and when we view the Law as wisdom, what we understand then is that if GOD cares about the vulnerable in society, then as Christians, SO SHOULD WE!
And when it says in
“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.
Then we can understand that God desires His people to have integrity…that what we say matters.
When we see the Law address marriage, gender, and sexuality, what we can begin to understand these things matter to God—that He has a design for marriage. That he has an intention with gender—that He has a standard for sexuality!
The Law gives us wisdom to understand God’s value system and help us navigate the world around us.
And I’ll be honest there are a lot of places where this it’s difficult to see the wisdom in a particular law…and some of you might even be thinking of a few examples right now. But, Forest Glen, as your pastor, let me encourage you not to shy away from the Old Testament Law. Take time to read, study, and meditate on the Law—not because it shows us what we need to go and do, but because in the law, we see humanities great need for a savior and we have wealth of wisdom available to us living in the way God has created us to live.
Would you pray with me?
Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:97-104