SOAP: A question about the Law

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by

Amy
in

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 12:32

Carefully obey all the commands I give you. Do not add to them or subtract from them.

Mark 16:16

Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.

Observation/Application: (I’m taking a little liberty on the format today.) I found it interesting that both of these passages were on my reading schedule today.

Every time I read through the Old Testament, I wonder what commands we are allowed to no longer follow now that Jesus has come on the scene. And here, in Mark, it is boiled down pretty well.

So I guess that if one truly believes, he will also have a servant’s heart and want to please the Lord, and can be trusted to honor the spirit of the laws without needing the letter of the law spelled out. Is that right? And are all the needs for sacrificed abolished because of the ultimate sacrifice?

How did we (or who) decide, then, what rules to follow and which to ignore?

Prayer: Lord, please forgive my confusion here. I don’t dwell on it because I don’t think that you would want me to, yet you know I wonder about this so often. And, I, of course, am hesitant to write about it here because I am afraid of the responses I might get. Yet today I kept coming back to these questions. So I think you must want me to question and wonder.

Please, Lord, if this question is to be more fully understood today, send someone to this page who might offer truth and insight. And thank you, Lord, for sending your son to die for my sins, to be the ultimate sacrifice and to change things for your people… all who believe.

momflower

Comments

2 responses to “SOAP: A question about the Law”

  1. Offensive Christian Avatar
    Offensive Christian

    Amy,

    I think there are two different issues in play here. One is justification – the immediate propitiation Christ provides us when we believe – and the other is sanctification – our working out our salvation and becoming more like Jesus. Deuteronomy was written before Christ offered unconditional justification and therefore the absolute command to obey was the only means of meeting God on his terms. Clearly impossible and yet God did choose people he spared from death and drew to Him. I’m not sure how that worked out. Once Christ appeared He made it clear that He was he path to righteousness, not our efforts. He also made it clear that the law was not to be abolished but affirmed.

    “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. Matthew 5:17-19

    I’d say Christ calls us to a normative understanding of the law He wrote and commands us to live up to all commandments he directs at us. When we fail we must look to Him in the belief that he continually provides the justification we need to attain salvation.

    Am I making sense? I’d like to hear what you think.

    OC

    You got me thinking and digging. I decided to write another post about it rather than comment here, so take a look.
    –Mom

    Reply
  2. Whitney Avatar
    Whitney

    When in the garden, Adam and Eve were separated from God because of sin. From that day, until Christ came, God’s people were under the Law. Christ came to fulfill the Law, but He came not for the Hebrews, but for ALL people. As believers, we know we cannot live a sin free lifestyle, so to have the communion with God, we accept the grace. When Christ left the earth, the Holy Spirit was released. When we choose to accept God’s grace throught the sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit takes up residence. It is by the Holy Spirit living within us that enable us to seek and and follow the Will of God.

    Reply

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