Hi all,
When I was the Campus Minister at the University of Colorado in Boulder, I had dealings with a local Church of Christ church that taught unless you were water baptized in their church you would not make it to heaven. The only compromise was that it might be okay if you were baptized in one of the other Church of Christ churches in their denomination, but just in case I was told, when they moved to Boulder they would need to be re-baptized.
Charismatics have their own religious rules. They are particularly good at fear and formulas. Fear is used when they say things like; 'If you miss tomorrow's service you will open a door for the devil.' Actually, you can fill in the blank on that one; If you miss tomorrow's service 'your prayers won't be answered', 'you won't be healed', 'you won't have your bills paid', 'you won't be healed' and so on.
Formulas include declaring and decreeing, or putting the TV minister's anointed prayer cloth under your pillow for 7 days then on the 8th day mail it back with your best offering, and your prayers will be answered, or even courts of heaven or pleading the blood (instead of just going boldy to the throne and/or obeying Jesus to cast out demons) - there are all kinds of formulas provided by man which allow people to place faith in what they are doing instead of in the Lord.
Jesus and the Pharisees
The Mosaic law is generally agreed to have 613 laws. The Pharisees (Hebrew:separated ones) formed as a Jewish sect roughly 150 years before Jesus as part of a revival of Judaism under Greek rule. By the time of Jesus they had added about 800 of their own laws to determine how the law of Moses should be lived out. Jesus never had a single issue with the Law of Moses, only with the Pharisee's law.
In John 5:9-10 the man who had been lame for 38 years was healed and commanded to take up his bed and walk. The verse specifically says it was the Sabbath, and illegal to do the work of carrying a bed on the Sabbath. That law was not the law of Moses, but the Pharisee's law. The law of Moses in Exodus 20:8-11 merely says not to do work. It was the Pharisees who debated what constituted work, and determined things like carrying a sleeping mat on the Sabbath was against the law.
What they were guilty of was elevating their laws above the law of Moses, and that is what Jesus took issue with, and takes issue to this day with such man-made laws. Jesus further stated in Mark 7:9 & 13 that they elevated their law above the law of Moses that they may keep theirs and ignore his, and in doing so make the Word of God of no effect. Consider that:Man-made rules make the Word of God of no effect. If you do the formulas of man, you negate The Word (Jesus) in your life - for He and the Spirit are in agreement. If you do something that isn't Him, the Spirit isn't with you in it.
Paul wrote Timothy:"Knowing this, the law was not made for a righteous man..." I Timothy 1:9
Paul states the Mosaic law was not made for the righteous. Why was it given?
Romans 3:19 tells us the law was given:"...that every mouth may be stopped and every mouth may be silence and all the world found guilty before God." Paul goes on to tell us sin was in the world from Adam to Moses, but God had not defined for man what is sin and what is righteousness. He writes of this a couple chapters later, in 5:12-14:
"For by one man sin entered into the world, and because of sin, death. So death has passed to all men through the one that sinned (Adam). Sin was in the world, but God could not hold them accountable because He had not given His law (defined what sin is). Nevertheless, death ruled from Adam to Moses, even to those who didn't sin after the manner of rebellion of Adam..."
Paul goes on to explain that the law provides the knowledge of sin. His point to Timothy was that once you have been saved from that sin, the law is no longer for you. You're a new creation in Christ now, you know from what you've been saved.
Paul's point in Romans 7:7 is that the law defined sin:"...I would not have known sin except the law told me. I would not have known what coveting was if the law had not told me not to covet..."
Family rules, church rules
I was about 9 or 10 years old when I was jerked by my arm out of a sound sleep, out of my bed to stand before my furious father:I told you to empty the trash before I got home and you didn't do it! Now March yourself to the kitchen trash can young man and empty it!
My dad had been giving me chores to do when he left in the morning for work and I for school, that he expected to be done by the time he got home. On that day, I forgot the trash. To use Paul's illustration, I would not have known it was my job to empty the trash unless my dad had commanded me to empty the trash. If I had seen the trash can was full, and taken personal responsibility and out of the goodness of my heart emptied it, I would never have known the law nor the wrath of dad's 'law of the trash', lol.
When he told me to mow the grass in the yard and didn't do it that other time, I also received his (righteous) anger. IF I had mowed the grass because I saw it was really overgrown and I needed to mow it, I would never have known the 'law of the lawn mowing'. I would never have been on the receiving end of his anger. The anger he expressed at me for not emptying the trash was also righteous anger - and anger I never needed to know and wouldn't have, if I had just taken it upon myself to empty the trash.
From the Lord's viewpoint, sin was in the world but He had not yet defined for mankind what sin was. Paul later said in Acts 14:15-17:
"We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony:He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
Acts 17:30:"...in the past God overlooked such ignorance..." The King James Version says God 'winked at' their ignorance - but now commands all to repent.
The law was not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless, the ignorant, those who don't know Him.
Going back to my upbringing. I had a lot of fun with my dad. We wrestled, camped, he taught me the stars, how to shake hands like a man, with a firm grip, shine my shoes, to look everyone in the eye, and so much more. I was in his grace 99% of the time. I only knew his true self. His anger at me doing wrong wasn't his nature, but it was righteous anger. What Paul said is that learning the law taught him what right and wrong was. The law which was to show what life is, also showed him his sinful nature. When I broke dad's 'law of the trash' or 'law of the lawn' (lol) I learned what sin (to him) was - I learned that I had been in the right 99% of the time, and only had a basic understanding of 'sin' according to dad.
Before we knew the Lord many of us were ignorant. Oh, we knew not to hit our sibling, and we knew it was wrong to lie. And we knew within ourselves we were searching for the big answers like why am I here, what is my purpose, and also, what is wrong with me that I keep doing wrong? We became aware of right and wrong. For some of us who went to church, we learned the 10 Commandments, further reinforcing our awareness of sin.
Paul wrote this in Galatians 3:21:Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
If a law could have been given that would have given life, God would have given that law. Amazing. It means you won't find righteousness in the law, for no law makes one righteous. Think about all the rituals, all the formulas, all the man-made rules you've either made for yourself, or followed at someone else's insistence, to gain favor with God or to get Him to do something for you. OR, done something to make yourself more 'worthy' or 'righteous' before Him.
IF there could have been a law - something we could do - to bring us right standing before God, then He would have given that law. Instead, in His wisdom, He revealed and defined sin through the Mosaic law (the 10 Commandments being the summary of them 613) so all could be found guilty, so that all who received the remedy could be made righteous:Faith in Jesus Christ.
And we'll pick it up there next week, to see what the law actually does for us that is good, and how our hearts are established in Christ Jesus. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
When I was the Campus Minister at the University of Colorado in Boulder, I had dealings with a local Church of Christ church that taught unless you were water baptized in their church you would not make it to heaven. The only compromise was that it might be okay if you were baptized in one of the other Church of Christ churches in their denomination, but just in case I was told, when they moved to Boulder they would need to be re-baptized.
Charismatics have their own religious rules. They are particularly good at fear and formulas. Fear is used when they say things like; 'If you miss tomorrow's service you will open a door for the devil.' Actually, you can fill in the blank on that one; If you miss tomorrow's service 'your prayers won't be answered', 'you won't be healed', 'you won't have your bills paid', 'you won't be healed' and so on.
Formulas include declaring and decreeing, or putting the TV minister's anointed prayer cloth under your pillow for 7 days then on the 8th day mail it back with your best offering, and your prayers will be answered, or even courts of heaven or pleading the blood (instead of just going boldy to the throne and/or obeying Jesus to cast out demons) - there are all kinds of formulas provided by man which allow people to place faith in what they are doing instead of in the Lord.
Jesus and the Pharisees
The Mosaic law is generally agreed to have 613 laws. The Pharisees (Hebrew:separated ones) formed as a Jewish sect roughly 150 years before Jesus as part of a revival of Judaism under Greek rule. By the time of Jesus they had added about 800 of their own laws to determine how the law of Moses should be lived out. Jesus never had a single issue with the Law of Moses, only with the Pharisee's law.
In John 5:9-10 the man who had been lame for 38 years was healed and commanded to take up his bed and walk. The verse specifically says it was the Sabbath, and illegal to do the work of carrying a bed on the Sabbath. That law was not the law of Moses, but the Pharisee's law. The law of Moses in Exodus 20:8-11 merely says not to do work. It was the Pharisees who debated what constituted work, and determined things like carrying a sleeping mat on the Sabbath was against the law.
What they were guilty of was elevating their laws above the law of Moses, and that is what Jesus took issue with, and takes issue to this day with such man-made laws. Jesus further stated in Mark 7:9 & 13 that they elevated their law above the law of Moses that they may keep theirs and ignore his, and in doing so make the Word of God of no effect. Consider that:Man-made rules make the Word of God of no effect. If you do the formulas of man, you negate The Word (Jesus) in your life - for He and the Spirit are in agreement. If you do something that isn't Him, the Spirit isn't with you in it.
Paul wrote Timothy:"Knowing this, the law was not made for a righteous man..." I Timothy 1:9
Paul states the Mosaic law was not made for the righteous. Why was it given?
Romans 3:19 tells us the law was given:"...that every mouth may be stopped and every mouth may be silence and all the world found guilty before God." Paul goes on to tell us sin was in the world from Adam to Moses, but God had not defined for man what is sin and what is righteousness. He writes of this a couple chapters later, in 5:12-14:
"For by one man sin entered into the world, and because of sin, death. So death has passed to all men through the one that sinned (Adam). Sin was in the world, but God could not hold them accountable because He had not given His law (defined what sin is). Nevertheless, death ruled from Adam to Moses, even to those who didn't sin after the manner of rebellion of Adam..."
Paul goes on to explain that the law provides the knowledge of sin. His point to Timothy was that once you have been saved from that sin, the law is no longer for you. You're a new creation in Christ now, you know from what you've been saved.
Paul's point in Romans 7:7 is that the law defined sin:"...I would not have known sin except the law told me. I would not have known what coveting was if the law had not told me not to covet..."
Family rules, church rules
I was about 9 or 10 years old when I was jerked by my arm out of a sound sleep, out of my bed to stand before my furious father:I told you to empty the trash before I got home and you didn't do it! Now March yourself to the kitchen trash can young man and empty it!
My dad had been giving me chores to do when he left in the morning for work and I for school, that he expected to be done by the time he got home. On that day, I forgot the trash. To use Paul's illustration, I would not have known it was my job to empty the trash unless my dad had commanded me to empty the trash. If I had seen the trash can was full, and taken personal responsibility and out of the goodness of my heart emptied it, I would never have known the law nor the wrath of dad's 'law of the trash', lol.
When he told me to mow the grass in the yard and didn't do it that other time, I also received his (righteous) anger. IF I had mowed the grass because I saw it was really overgrown and I needed to mow it, I would never have known the 'law of the lawn mowing'. I would never have been on the receiving end of his anger. The anger he expressed at me for not emptying the trash was also righteous anger - and anger I never needed to know and wouldn't have, if I had just taken it upon myself to empty the trash.
From the Lord's viewpoint, sin was in the world but He had not yet defined for mankind what sin was. Paul later said in Acts 14:15-17:
"We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony:He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
Acts 17:30:"...in the past God overlooked such ignorance..." The King James Version says God 'winked at' their ignorance - but now commands all to repent.
The law was not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless, the ignorant, those who don't know Him.
Going back to my upbringing. I had a lot of fun with my dad. We wrestled, camped, he taught me the stars, how to shake hands like a man, with a firm grip, shine my shoes, to look everyone in the eye, and so much more. I was in his grace 99% of the time. I only knew his true self. His anger at me doing wrong wasn't his nature, but it was righteous anger. What Paul said is that learning the law taught him what right and wrong was. The law which was to show what life is, also showed him his sinful nature. When I broke dad's 'law of the trash' or 'law of the lawn' (lol) I learned what sin (to him) was - I learned that I had been in the right 99% of the time, and only had a basic understanding of 'sin' according to dad.
Before we knew the Lord many of us were ignorant. Oh, we knew not to hit our sibling, and we knew it was wrong to lie. And we knew within ourselves we were searching for the big answers like why am I here, what is my purpose, and also, what is wrong with me that I keep doing wrong? We became aware of right and wrong. For some of us who went to church, we learned the 10 Commandments, further reinforcing our awareness of sin.
Paul wrote this in Galatians 3:21:Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
If a law could have been given that would have given life, God would have given that law. Amazing. It means you won't find righteousness in the law, for no law makes one righteous. Think about all the rituals, all the formulas, all the man-made rules you've either made for yourself, or followed at someone else's insistence, to gain favor with God or to get Him to do something for you. OR, done something to make yourself more 'worthy' or 'righteous' before Him.
IF there could have been a law - something we could do - to bring us right standing before God, then He would have given that law. Instead, in His wisdom, He revealed and defined sin through the Mosaic law (the 10 Commandments being the summary of them 613) so all could be found guilty, so that all who received the remedy could be made righteous:Faith in Jesus Christ.
And we'll pick it up there next week, to see what the law actually does for us that is good, and how our hearts are established in Christ Jesus. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
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