Two Covenants Part 2 ***

JESUS AND THE LAW
Christians readily accept that Jesus fulfills the law, but they are unclear about which law he fulfilled. They are reasonably sure that Jesus did not fulfill the literal Law of Moses because they make no attempt to fulfill the many written and oral laws that religious Jews try to observe. Furthermore, many Christians are still offended that Jewish Pharisees conspired to have killed Jesus killed for breaking their laws which were based on the Law of Moses.

Christians are conflicted, therefore, in their efforts to understand what law it was that Jesus came to fulfill. They do not want to legalistically observe the Law of Moses like the Jews do, but they still want to honor the Ten Commandments. They are challenged to reconcile the following truths into a coherent doctrine:

STUDY TIP: See this link for an extensive list of Jesus’ commands.

Christians have employed a variety of techniques to accomplish reconciliation of these truths:

  • They ignore many commands/laws that are difficult to understand.
  • They interpret laws/commands that are difficult to understand using human logic.
  • They ignore the commands/laws that are physically impossible to accomplish.
  • They interpret the commands/laws in ways that are compatible and enforceable with contemporary cultures and civil laws.
  • They apply backward looking or forward looking dispensational interpretations to scripture that keep them from applying scripture to themselves as individuals today.
  • They always interpret scripture in terms that are consistent with their unique religious predispositions (i.e. strongholds of wrong thinking).

Because these techniques have always been in place during the evolution of religion, individual religious leaders have been able to create new theologies and doctrines. This is why there are so many different religions. They are all traditions created by men — not by God.

Christians claim that the entire Bible is the inspired word of God, and they claim to be obedient to whatever God commanded them to do. And yet, do not want to be legalistic in the way that Jews practice religious legalism.

Unlike the Christians, Jews are not confused about which laws God wants them to obey. Jews do their very best to obey the entire Law of Moses plus oral laws added through the years because they thought the Law of Moses was insufficient to guide them in all aspects of daily life.

When we try to reconcile what Christians say about the validity of the law of Moses with their religious practices, however, we see that they are double-minded in their beliefs. They affirm the Ten Commandments in their simplified form, but are not like the Jews because they do not affirm the details of God’s commandments given immediately after the simple list. Despite the fact that Jesus came to fulfill the law, Christians do not find it important to follow other, highly detailed laws about offerings and sacrifices also spoken to Moses by God. Clearly, Christians are selective about which laws they will follow. The result of this selectivity is found in the ever-expanding mishmash of religions we see in the world today.

The basic reason this world of religion exists is that religious people listen to false prophets who do their intellectual best to interpret the Bible literally but do not listen to God’s voice. Jesus who was not of this world, however, understood the symbolic meaning of scripture. Instead of following religious laws created by and enforced by pharisees, he followed God’s spiritual laws which were written on his heart. These are the laws that Jesus fulfilled.

To come to understanding of the law that Jesus fulfilled, Christians and Jews must first understand the meaning of covenant, the history of covenants, and the definitions of law in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. From these definitions we learn that the term “law” in both testaments has nuanced variations that color understanding of scriptures in which the word appears. For example, in the Old Testament, the Hebrew word “torah” has several different meanings: law, direction or instruction prescribed by God or man. The word torah covers a variety of definitions:

The concept of law in the New Testament is found in the Greek word “nomos”  which has several different meanings:

  • Any law established by religious, governmental or private authorities.
  • A law, rule, precept or injunction established by God
  • A law, rule, precept or injunction established by man and administered by man.
  • A religious or common public custom established by continuous usage (i.e. tradition).
  • Mosaic law
  • The first five books of the Old Testament (i.e. Pentateuch)
  • Collections of laws, rituals, customs and doctrines that pertain to any and all religions.

As we can easily see, nomos, like torah, covers a variety of applications:

  • God’s laws written on the hearts of New Covenant disciples.
  • Transcriptions of God’s word written in the Bible.
  • Law of Moses.
  • In Judaism, Pharisaical religious laws based on the Law of Moses or Jewish Oral laws.
  • In Christianity, Pharisaical religious laws based on the literal Bible and doctrines written by religious leaders.
  • Civil Laws of the Land

Because of the wide variety of laws, understanding of the laws to which the Bible refers to is critical. If we think, for example, that a particular reference is to God’s spoken law when it is actually referring to man’s religious laws, we will make grave errors in interpretation. Or, if we think that a reference to law is to the written words of the Bible when it is actually referring to God’s spoken voice, we again make a critical error.

STUDY TIP: See UNDERSTANDING THE LAW.

We must learn, therefore, how laws and covenants are related.

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