The Law of the Lord: Do This and You Will Live

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:2

What is the law of the Lord?

According to the Strong's Concordance, the law is the Torah. It's a precept or a statute. It directs. Informs. Instructs. Teaches. (The Torah includes the first 5 books of the Bible, known as the Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. However, it can also mean the entirety of the Old Testament, also known as the Tanakh.)

Is this the same law that we discussed last week? The law that Jesus came to fulfill? Yes. According to the Greek definition of the term "law" used in Matthew 5:17, it means regulation. The Law of Moses. The Law of the Gospel. A principle.

Which makes me question, what is the law of the gospel? When I think gospel, my mind automatically runs to the New Testament. The four gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Here is the law of the gospel that sticks out most in my mind:

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’^"
And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
Luke 10:25-28

I included the story surrounding this precept, because it identifies Jesus asking the lawyer what is written in the law. Note that Jesus doesn't say the law is void. He says the lawyer answers correctly concerning it.

Is the law of the Lord relevant to me? This is, after all, 2013. Things have changed over the years. Times have changed. I'm a Gentile, not a Jew. So do the laws apply to me?

First of all, times haven't really changed all that much. Nor have things. They've merely gotten worse. We still suffer the same sinful natures people did in the days of Moses. Or the days Jesus walked the earth in His human form. Otherwise, God would not have addressed such issues as child sacrifice (abortion), same sex fornication (homosexuality), adultery, divination (witchcraft), divorce, and so many others within His Word. 

Which is why it's important to know and understand God's law. We are called to live holy lives unto Him. How can we do this if we don't know what He requires of us and how to avoid those temptations that frequent our daily lives? We can only do so when we know His Word, when we meditate on it day and night, when it becomes our delight.

And if Jesus felt it important enough to ask a questioning lawyer what is written in it, how much more do we need to know what is written in it? "Do this and you will live."


 


 

Are Old Testament Laws Still Valid Today?

My husband and I are reading through the Bible this year. This is something I've never done before. I've read plenty of the Scriptures; I've probably read most of them. But, like many, I have my favorite books. Psalms. Proverbs. Matthew. John. Isaiah. James. And then there are some where I have to pray to get through. Like Leviticus, which is where I am now.

After reading about the temple and the sacrifices and the laws concerning leprosy, I made it to chapter nineteen. Here is what God says in the beginning of this chapter:

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy (Lev. 19:1).

He calls us to be holy. To be holy means morally (what I'm focusing on here) or ceremonially sacred. If we follow the word back to its Hebrew root, it means to be clean. To consecrate. To hallow. To keep holy. To purify. To sanctify. (I love discovering roots.)

So, in verse one, God is calling us to be set apart as sacred unto Him. To be as He is. Despite our sinful nature.

Next, God goes on to tell us how to do this. He gives specific details, which we consider to be either the Ten Commandments or the laws of the Old Testament. One would question whether or not these hold relevant to today's world. Especially since Jesus' death on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins has occurred. Does that leave us free from the chains of the law? Not necessarily.

Matthew 5:17-20 says the following: 
 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

This is Jesus speaking. He did not come to destroy the law. Let's look at destroy. In the Greek, the definition of destroy is to loosen down or disintegrate. To demolish. To halt for the night. To dissolve. To come to nought. To overthrow or throw down. If we trace it back another step to the root, it also means to break up. To unloose. To melt. Or to put off.

Jesus did not come to dissolve the law. He didn't come to overthrow it. He didn't come to put the law off. We are still called to follow the law. Including the Ten Commandments.

Jesus came to fulfill the law. In the Greek this means to make replete (fully or abundantly filled). To level up. To furnish (to imbue: to permeate or influence as if by dyeing) (to influence). To satisfy. To execute (an office). To finish a period or task. To verify. To accomplish. To be complete. To fulfill. To make full. To fully preach. To perfect. To supply.

Here is what I see in this verse: 
Jesus didn't come to destroy the law or make it null and void. We still need to honor God's commands and consider the rest of the Old Testament laws. However, we should not forget the importance of justice and mercy and faith (see Matthew 23:23).

Jesus came to fulfill the law. He came to complete it. He came to be a living example of righteousness and holiness for us to follow. He came to set us free from the sinful nature that ensnares us, and by His death on the cross, we are set free from that curse. Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice, so we no longer need to offer bulls and goats and turtledoves on an altar. 

Does that mean that we should run out and do whatever we please because we are covered by the blood of Jesus, that we no longer need to obey the laws of God? I don't think so. I think the laws are just as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago:
 
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith (1 John 5:1-4).

My final thought on the law is this: The laws were given so that people would know that they were sinners. The law became a daily reminder that the people needed God to redeem them from their sins. Hence, the sacrifices. To me, the law is a constant reminder that I am merely a sinful human being. Personally, I have a difficult time keeping all of them every day. It's not possible. Heck, there are even presumptuous sins: "Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression" (Psalm 19:13). Sins I don't even realize I'm committing.

What I do know and put all of my faith in is that God loves me so much that He sent Jesus to save me from myself and my sinful nature. With Jesus standing between me and God the Father, I am clean. I am righteous. I am holy. I am set apart as a child of God who will spend eternity with my Father in heaven because His Son became the ultimate sacrifice for my sins. I am forgiven every time I break one of God's laws. But I will also do my best to honor my Father and obey His commands. Down to the last jot and tittle.

For the next few weeks, I'll be taking a look at some of the laws mentioned in Leviticus 19. I'd love it if you'd join me. And please, if you'd like to discuss something particular, feel free to leave a comment. I love to discover God's word. I'd love to do so together. (However, let me also add that I do not wish for this to become a huge debate where people get ugly. Let's remember holiness as we discuss the things of the Lord.) Thank you!

Breaking Bread - Proverbs 24:30-34

Photo Courtesy of Peter Mazurek

"I went by the field of the lazy man,
 And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;
 And there it was, all overgrown with thorns;
 Its surface was covered with nettles;
 Its stone wall was broken down." (Prov. 24:30-31)

 The lazy man puts off until tomorrow what he can do today. The lazy man doesn't take care of what belongs to him. He lets it go, saying he'll get to it eventually. Or he'll do it tomorrow. Or he'll wait for someone else to do it for him.

This man doesn't get it. He doesn't see the results of what he's doing. He doesn't understand there will be consequences for his lack of actions.

Eventually, the fruit of his labors (or lack thereof) will present themselves. Thorns will crop up where once there was fruitfulness. Thorns prick. They sting. They bring pain. They hurt others. They choke out the good, ending any life within.

Photo Copyright 2011 Alycia W. Morales

" When I saw it, I considered it well;
 I looked on it and received instruction:" (Prov. 24:32)

 
We can learn from others' mistakes.











"A little sleep, a little slumber;
 A little folding of the hands to rest;
 So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
 And your need like an armed man." 
(Prov. 24:33-34)
   

It won't be long before poverty and hunger overtake the man who decides to take a break and never go back. Once the fruit and the vine die, there is no more. It is only useful to be cast into the fire.

Thoughtful Spot: 

This is one of my favorite Proverbs. It brings such a descriptive image of what life would look like if one were to forgo spiritual disciplines for a time.

I can imagine the thorns choking out the Word.
I can imagine the nettles that sting as I walk through the world without Jesus in my heart.
I can imagine the walls broken down, allowing the enemy an advantage.
I can imagine the poverty of my spirit man, hungering and thirsting for the things of God, yet forgoing the Living Water Jesus provides.
I can imagine the thief coming in to kill, steal and destroy. All because I chose to fold my hands, take a rest, do something for me instead of for God.

And I pray I never get to a place in life where I give up on God and give in to the cares of this world.

What about you? What do you think about when you read this verse? Join me in my thoughtful spot, leave your comments below. I'd love to know what you think!