pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: law


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Signs, Warnings, and Guidance

God issued the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness.  He was seeking to give the a road map to life as a follower of God.  Some laws pointed them to the only true God (no idols!).  Other laws were warnings against using His name in vain, against stealing, murder, coveting, and so on.  One law even reminded them to take a sabbath rest and to connect to Him on that day.

Thousands of years later these rules still apply and we still struggle with some of them.  Well, maybe we struggle with most of them.  At times we allow idols to rule our lives – the idols of money or power or recognition or gossip.  We can chase after these idols.  At times we may take more than we need or deserve and maybe do not always give 10% of our time or money back to God each day.  We can hold a pretty tight grip on these things.  At other times we may even be jealous of what another has.  We can cast a longing eye at their new boat or their spouse or their musical or athletic ability.

Yet God does not give up on us.  The Holy Spirit continues to place signs, to nudge us, to speak truth into our lives.  As we learn to heed and to listen to these things, God refines us.  Our path gradually becomes more aligned with the path that Jesus walked.  Our footsteps stray and wander less as we grow in our faith and continue to become more and more Christ-like.  The path can be challenging and Satan will always continue to place temptations before us.  Yet God is always there, cheering us on, always pouring His grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness into us.  May we trust and lean into His strength and guidance as we seek to continue on our journey of faith.

Scripture reference: Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, and 12-20


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Good Questions

In the beginning it was Israel that was God’s chosen people.  For the thousands of years before Christ, they were God’s only people.  They are the people of the law, the covenant, the prophets, the temple, the history, and of Jesus’ ancestors.  Yet they are, like us, a broken people.  The law is ever before them as a testament to their inability to make it on their own.  We too cannot walk out our faith on our own.  God sent Jesus to establish a new way, to establish a new covenant with a people who became known as Christians.  We are a people of the Jewish Bible but also a people of the New Testament.

In Romans 9 you can hear Paul’s pain and anguish.  He was a former Jew hurting for his fellow Jews.  Paul offers up his own faith – if Israel would just believe in Jesus Christ.  That’s pretty amazing.  It is very sacrificial.  It is also something that I could see Christ doing.

So it begs the question in me – and hopefully in you too – what am I willing to do to bring a lost soul to Christ?  What would I gladly yield up to save another?  These are good questions to spend some time with today.

Scripture reference: Romans 9: 1-5


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The Law and Our Life

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus strives to teach us how to live out our faith. Moses had brought the Law to the Israelites as a means to show them how to live out their love for God. But as time rolled along, they became bound to the letter of the law and not the intent of the law. Sometimes we do the same. Sometimes we get stuck on the principal of the matter instead of understanding what is really going on.

Beginning in verse 21, Jesus explains some basics of how to live. He reminds us that we can’t come to God seeking forgiveness if we are withholding forgiveness or not seeking forgiveness from our brothers. He reminds us that even lustful thoughts constitute adultery and that if our eye or hand causes us to sin, that we should gouge it out or cut it off. Jesus cautions us not to swear by anything but simply to let our yes be yes and our no be no. He is getting not at the literal letter of the law but at the ‘living it out’ concepts.

In the living it out, we can struggle. We are called to be right with our brothers and sisters, to live in correct relationship with them. How could we expect to be in a right or righteous relationship with God if we struggle with our earthly relationships? We are called to love our spouse like Jesus loves the church. How could we truly love our spouse while pining after another? We are called to be without sin. As humans we all sin, but here Jesus is calling us to come wholly before God. If we have sin in one part of our life, how can we come before the perfect Father and expect to be in His presence? We cannot be honest and have integrity some of the time – it has to be all of the time and with all of our being!

Jesus came to fulfill the law – to return the people to the intent of the law. This same challenge exists for us today as Christians – to love God and neighbor with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And what a challenge it is!! But we must remember that in Christ we have the greatest role model ever. Be a copycat today!!


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Living the Law

As people we easily fall into the trap of judging others. We do it for so many reasons, but often it is to say we are better than them or that at least we don’t do what they are doing. Relatively speaking we are a better person, spouse, Christian, … Far from perfect but at least not the worst.

The Bible is composed of the Old and New Testaments. In Matthew 5 Jesus reminds those he is speaking to that the Law of the OT is still in existence. Not only that, but that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Jesus goes on to teach about the consequences of keeping and breaking the laws. Keeping them means we will be ‘great’ in heaven but when we break one we will be ‘least’ in heaven. But catch the important part – even the breakers of the law will be able o be in heaven!!

At the end of this section (verses 17-20) Jesus drops one on the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. He tells his listeners that unless their (our) righteousness exceeds that of these religious leaders, then we will NOT enter the kingdom of heaven. I can hear the leaders saying, “now hold on a minute!” because they knew the law inside and out, forward and backward. But they only knew it, they didn’t live it out. They only knew the letter of the law and not the intent. Maybe this is why they clashed so often w/Jesus on the Sabbath.

Although I understand that Jesus was making a couple points here with this comparative statement, we must be careful not to judge. When we fall into that comparative game, there is always someone ‘better’ out there. On the other end of the scale, do we really want a faith that simply seeks to be above whoever is ‘least’?

We need to hear both sides of Jesus’ point. Don’t get caught up in the rules and requirements – live out our faith in a real and honest way. Don’t think that because we are on the membership roles of a church that we are ‘in’ heaven. It is a day to day, moment by moment way of life that Jesus is calling us. Just because we helped the first person we encountered does it mean we can walk by the second and third and … It is a 24/7 type of commitment to which we are being called. Is it hard? Yes – the road is narrow. But His burden is easy and the yoke is light. Come to know Jesus and we come to know and live out the law because of the great love that dwells within us!