Moses, Jesus and Christians

In one of my classes for seminary, I was asked to address whether the Mosaic Law (aka the "rules" of the bible) are relevant for a Christian.  The question arises because some people claim that we are saved by grace, and therefore the Mosaic Law isn't relevant for Christians, while others say that we need to obey the 10 commandments.   I wanted to share some of my thoughts, because I think it's an important topic that can cause a lot of confusion.  In my case, I went from one extreme to the other, with a lot of fear, frustration and anger along the way.

When I was young, I was a person who clung to the phrase: “Everything is permissible," which led me in a horrible direction that caused a lot of grief and shame.  After realizing that something wasn't "right," I became very focused on the rules of the bible, and felt discouraged when I broke any of them.  I'm starting to realize where I went wrong, but before I address whether the Mosaic Law is relevant for Christians, I want to address what I believe the Mosaic Law is.  

After the nation of Israel left Egypt, God brought Moses up a mountain and gave him a list of rules.  We call these rules the ten commandments, and additional commands were added over the years.  The first question we need to ask ourselves is: 

What was the purpose of these commandments?

I think the purpose of the law was for God to protect, instruct and provide the nation of Israel a new culture after they left Egypt. The Law was their guardian, not their savior (Gal. 3:24; Heb 10:4).  This is where I think a lot of modern Christians get confused. In an attempt to reject the notion that the law can save them, Christians end up rejecting the law, which isn't right (I'll address the issue of salvation in a bit).  

So in essence: Moses led the nation out of Egypt and they had to decide whether they would live like their new neighbors, hold onto the Egyptian culture, or take on a completely different culture. God used the Law to protect them from Satan's schemes and mankind's own propensity towards sin by giving them instruction on how to live in a Godly manner.  This raises a new question: 

Why do we need to live in a Godly manner?

I think it's important to live in a Godly manner, because I believe that God designed the world so that natural laws would prevent Him from being mocked (Gal. 6:7). If you sow hatred, you will reap division (punch your best friend in the nose and you'll probably lose your "all-time shotgun" status").  Apart from God providing us with instruction, we are required to figure out those natural laws by trial and error as the other nations did (e.g. Babylonian omen texts) and even then, God's laws are counter intuitive to fallen man. Self-preservation and “survival of the fittest” seems like a logical conclusion for humanity's survival, but it's not. Jesus showed us that love is the only sustainable method of co-existence.

This leads to the original question: 

If the Law was given to protect and instruct us (not save us) until Jesus came and bridged the gap between Christians and God's Spirit, is the Law still relevant for modern believers?  

I believe it is.

Some might say that we don't need the law, because Christians now have Jesus' example and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They would claim that bible says God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), and that His power is inside of us (Ephesians 3:20). In other words: The Holy Spirit empowers Christians to live Godly lives.  

I totally agree with that, but I still believe that God uses the laws from His word (the bible) to teach us how to live as Christians.  The apostle Paul says in 2 Tim 3:16 that all scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness which is affirmed by various other biblical passages (Psalm 119: 9, Joshua 1:7-9; Heb 4:12). The law is still useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, which is exactly what humans need until they stand face to face with God. For me, the question isn't whether the Mosaic Law is relevant, it's how we are to use the law today. 

 So how do we use it?

What I have found while reflecting on the law, is that there are two general ways to read the law. We can examine the “letter of the law” or we can examine the “spirit of the law.” I find no joy in reading the Mosaic law if I'm merely reading a list of rules (the “letter of the law,”) but I find love and joy if I try to understand why God gave us certain commands (the “spirit of the law”). I believe that using the Mosaic law to understand who God is, how He designed us to interact with Him and others, and why we need His guidance is the primary purpose of the law for a Christian. So, how do we examine the “spirit of the law?” We do this by comparing the pagan culture to the law that God gave Moses. Once we see how those rules taught the Israelites to love, we can apply the general principles to our daily lives.  Now, back to the issue of salvation:

Are we saved by obeying the law?  

Salvation is not through the Law!  We can't earn, buy, volunteer, donate, etc our way into God's good graces.  The bible says that every one of us has done evil, therefore, the Law only makes us guilty.  Think about it, have you ever hurt someone else?  This could look like so many things; lying, stealing, cutting someone off in traffic because you are in a hurry, getting angry at the guy ahead of you in line and cursing him under your breath, cheating on your girlfriend, or telling your boss to "take this job and shove it."  God calls that sin.  He calls that evil.  It hurts others (or you wish it hurt them), and it's not the way God intended us to live.  The truth is that we have all sinned, and that sin breaks the relationship we have with God and others.  

Why does sin break the relationship we have with God?  

Because when we sin, we are rejecting God and rejecting His plan for us.  Think about that statement: it's possible for us to reject our Creator.  

A broken relationship with God is just like any broken relationship; you can't "earn" that person's forgiveness.  The other person either chooses to forgive you, or they don't.  Bribing someone to forgive you just cheapens the apology, and further insults the person you hurt.  Fortunately, God wants to forgive us.  He wants to forgive us and restore the relationship with us so badly that He died on a cross to prove it.  

Why did Jesus die on a cross?

Jesus died on the cross because there are consequences for hurting someone else.  You don't want a murderer to be forgiven without consequence, right?  You want justice to be done.  In this case, the consequence for disobeying God by hurting Him and other people is eternal separation from Him.  (You know that empty void you feel, that sense of fear and insecurity that something's not right?  That's separation from God).  Thankfully, Jesus paid the penalty for disobeying God, which allows us to seek forgiveness.  

Why is separation from God eternal? 

Justice is the act of being fair.  If you break something that's worth $20, you have to pay the owner $20.  So, when you break God's heart, you are breaking something that has an infinite value.  When you hurt someone else, you are hurting something that is created in the image of an infinite God; therefore, people an infinite value as well.  How long do you think it takes to pay back an infinite amount?  Even at $1,000,000 dollars an hour, it's still going to take you an infinite amount of time.  When you reject God, you are eternally separated from Him, because you have rebelled against an infinite and perfect God.  The only just and fair penalty for the consequence is a "perfect and infinite" sacrifice.  Jesus is God, therefore, Jesus is perfect and infinite.  He died on a cross, accepted our consequence of separation from God, and rose from the grave.

What does this mean?

You can't make it to heaven by being a "good person" who obeys the law, because you've already sinned.  The consequence for sinning is eternal separation from God and you can't "earn" your way back into a relationship with Him.  Jesus paid the consequence for us, which allows us to ask God for forgiveness.  Apart from Jesus, we would be unable to approach God.  God says that the ONLY way you can restore the relationship with Him is if you accept forgiveness through Jesus' sacrifice.  You need to admit that you are in the wrong, tell Him you are sorry, and ask Him for forgiveness.  Remember, this is only possible because Jesus paid the consequence for you, therefore, thank Jesus by agreeing to live the way He created us to live.


Tying It All Together

The Mosaic Law is intended to teach us about God's love and how to live in a Godly way.  The Law doesn't save us, it merely points out our sin.  It's not good to sin, because sin has consequences.  We see those consequences on earth in the form of broken relationships and suffering.  Sin also separates us from God, and only Jesus can restore that relationship.  Once you have a relationship with God through Jesus, you can be confident that "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

I hope this helps you understand what I believe.  Please let me know if you have questions or comments!

God's Work Ethic

When I was younger I was told that people from the Midwest have the hardest work ethic in America. My grandfather lives in New Mexico, and told us that business owners in the southwest hire Mid-westerners to keep other workers productive and efficient. So, I grew up thinking that my work ethic was a golden ticket to anyplace in the world, and moving to South Carolina has allowed me to test that theory.

I quickly got a job as a landscaper in South Carolina, which was great because it allowed me to work with a team of other men.  Once the guys found out that I was training to become a pastor, they started asking me a lot of questions about my faith, which made each day exciting and rewarding for me.

I found out that the guys claimed to be Christians, but they didn't know what it meant to live as one. They didn't understand God's love, they didn't realize the importance of living with integrity, and they hadn't been to church in a while. I was their unofficial “pastor,” and it was my goal to encouraging them to grow into mature Christians. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay very long because of the heat.

Near the end of my first week, I began to suffer from severe cramps and heat rashes. It was discouraging, but I figured that I would acclimate if given enough time. I quickly realized that I was wrong. The following week became worse, so I told my boss that I needed to quit. I have never quit a job after a week and a half, but I assumed he would be disappointed in me. Instead, his reaction surprised me.

He told me that he understood the heat was too much for me, but asked me to consider coming back in the fall. He told me that coming back in September would give me time to acclimate to the SC weather, and he would even work around my school hours. I was even more shocked as he continued:

“Josh, we need guys like you, guys that have that strong Christian ethic and can encourage others to work hard.”

The boss didn't see my work ethic as something new to the south, he saw it as something God commanded for Christians. Colossians 3:23-24 says that we should always work hard, remembering that we are ultimately working for God. Yes, we have an earthly boss, but our true master is Jesus.

But why is this so important? Why does God repeatedly tell His children to work hard and honor their bosses?

Because it's the most loving thing we can do.

Let me give you a quick example from the landscaping job:

One of the responsibilities we had while landscaping was laying sod (dirt and grass) around newly constructed homes. We had to finishing sodding the house once we started it, because otherwise the heat would destroy the lawn. I would get so frustrated when one of the guys would slack off, because it put an extra burden on everyone else. We had to finish, which meant working harder and staying later. The heat was already too much for me, so the extra time in the sun was physically hurting me.

I realized while I was at the landscaping company, that life is a team sport even when you try to play independently. Your actions have consequences, and those consequences affect other people as well as you. The bible says it like this:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. (Galatians 6:7).

So when a Christian works hard, they are removing the burden off of another person, but when a Christian is lazy, they are placing an extra burden upon someone else. Stop and think about how frustrated you feel when someone's poor choices have effected you. Do you really want to put someone else in that position? Not only that, but what would Jesus do?

Christians should work hard and make sacrifices, because that's what God does. He created the world, let us use it, we broke it, and then He came to earth as Jesus and began to fix it. He could have made us clean own mess, but He knew that we couldn't do it. Just think about it; we are at the pinnacle of human existence, and there are most sex slaves in the world than ever before. When will our “progress” prevent us from buying and selling people like cattle? Probably never. People just keep finding new and creative ways to destroy each other. We need God to help us, and thankfully He does. He offers us a fresh start with new life.