Being Law-Inspired
0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 11 Feb 2007 in From Steve's Study ::
How do you find reading the Old Testament? Sure, the classic stories of David & Goliath, Adam & Eve, Moses & the Ten Commandments are all a rollicking read, but what about all the laws? If you’ve ever read the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, you may have been caused to wonder whether you’re allowed to eat prawns (Lev 11:9,10), or why you aren’t supposed to plough to the edge of your field (Lev 19:9), or to eat a “rare” steak (Lev 7:26), or even wear clothing made of two different materials (Dt 22:11).
What is the place of this law for the Christian? Surely we have been saved by grace and this law no longer applies. And yet, Jesus says things like, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matt 5:17,18).
As we consider these questions today, it is important for us to remember when and why God gave the law in the first place. It was of course on Mount Sinai at the time God gave Moses the ten commandments. Centuries before, he had promised Abraham that he would raise up a nation from his offspring and now, he had rescued that nation from slavery in Egypt. As he took them on the way to the Promised Land, he gave them the law to show them how they should live in the land.
Notice that God didn’t give the law and say, “Right, now you know what I want, if you do it, I’ll consider making you my chosen people”. No, God by his mercy had already acted to choose & save his people, to bring them to the Promised Land. The law was given as an appropriate response to that salvation. It was a description of the kind of people God wanted them to be.
So too, for us as Christians. God does not lay out a set of guidelines to show us how to receive eternal life. Instead he has acted to save us through the death of his Son, and now calls us to live as the people of God. Our obedience comes out of an attitude of thankfulness for what God has done.
As to how to understand and apply the Old Testament law… you’ll have to listen to find out!
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