The Law’s Status According To The New Testament
“But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.” 1 Timothy 1:8
Thus, the law is not to be cast out, but used for God’s intended purpose. Not being under the law is not about abandoning the principles set forth by the laws, but no longer being under the legal systemof applying the principles of the laws that God imposed upon the nation of Israel under the old covenant.
Jesus set forth that the New Testament is not about destroying the law, but fulfilling it=”to carry out something promised; to fill the requirements of; to complete; (and in the case of the legal system) to bring an end to. Matthew 5:15 – “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” And in Matthew 5:19, He affirms that the fulfillment is not a license to breaking the law, but is to be the aligning of our teachings with the law.
The Book of Hebrews rightly divides the Word of Truth on this great subject: how that even though we are not under the legal system that imposed the law under the old covenant, that everything that the Old Testament set forth, was the foreshadowing of the truth of Christ, His great work of redemption, and the doctrines of God.
From the principles of God’s law, the New Testament says: Romans 7:7 – “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law.” 1 John 3:4 – “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”
By applying the principles of the law, we are able to discern what is spiritual from what is carnal, Romans 7:14.
By the law, we are able to recognize God’s standards for what is holy, Romans 7:12a.
We develop (grow) our understanding about what is just and good from the law, Romans 7:12b.
The principles set forth in all scripture, which necessarily includes the law, are the correct principles that true New Testament doctrine are based upon, 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
The law is what the Holy Spirit uses to bring about real repentance, unto faith in Christ – “…the schoolmaster that brings us unto Christ…” Galatians 3:22,24. To be told that one is a sinner, without knowing what sin is, does not afford the needed realization of the personal guilt of sin, which is essential to real repentance unto: “God, be merciful, unto me a sinner…” Luke 18:13-14
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Harden Not Your Hearts
Psalm 95:8-11
The hardening of one’s heart toward God, His Word, will and way, doesn’t happen accidentally, but rather develops by one’s own permission. It is like two puppies playing tug-of-war with a rag. The process is to keep grabbing more and more of the rag as the opponent gives it up, little by little, until one has taken it away from the other. Where God’s will is concerned, one either holds onto it, while trying to take on more, or they keep on giving it up, little by little, until they have let go of it altogether.
When one lets go of God’s will by decision, this makes way for the concept, the habit, the purpose, the determination, the loyalty and the desire for serving God to be all overthrown in one’s heart. This permissiveness to let go of God’s will, unto allowing that which is contrary to God and His will, is the conceiving of hardness in one’s heart toward God and God’s will.
Once the allowance is made in the heart to deny the doing of God’s will, this resistant attitude toward doing God’s will becomes the resistant attitude toward any and every call to return to the doing of God’s will. Not only that, but by being resistant to God’s will, there is a resultant resistance to that which advocates the doing of God’s will.
Now the sum of these: What started out to be just a letting go of God’s will on some issue of life, has now consumed one’s whole life in that which is in resistance toward God, God’s will, and God’s ministry, which advocates the doing of His will.
The sad part of it all is that hardness of heart is self-afflicting: “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Proverbs 29:1
A person’s resistance to God’s counsel for life, results in their failure to follow the right course of life, leading to suffering great loss in life (and maybe of life.) The hardness of one’s heart toward God’s will, means their heart is hard toward God’s Word–thus shutting their heart’s door to God’s mercy and grace, which is man’s only hope of deliverance. So, hardness of heart not only results in the wreck of one’s life, but it also prevents the coming of God’s Life Squad to the rescue.
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah 1:18-20
“…IF YE WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS…”
SHARINGThe Chicken Man Is No Chicken
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” Leviticus 18:22
Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy, recently declared that his company was “guilty as charged” for backing “Biblical definition of a family.” He also later said, “I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, “We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.” 2 Peter 2:6 says, “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly.” Jude 7 says, “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Clearly, God does not celebrate and embrace the diversity of homosexuality.
Mr. Cathy’s public confession of faith in God’s Word has fired up the pro-sodomy advocates, who are calling for a boycott of his business establishments. It is amazing to see the number of sources who are critical of Chick-fil-A’s declaration. But it is also refreshing to see the number of those who wisely support his stand, which is to declare himself to be on the Lord’s side on this issue.
Billy Graham stated, “As the son of a dairy farmer who milked many a cow, I plan to “Eat Mor Chikin’ and show my support by visiting Chick-fil-A”, referring to the slogan in the company’s ads, which features cows urging people to eat poultry.
Roger Oldham, spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention, said many Christians want to support businesses owned by fellow believers, and the loyalty intensifies “when Christians see a fellow Christian being persecuted.”
How is it that in our society, that those who advocate sodomy are marching in the streets, loudly and boldly proclaiming their immoral lifestyle, with the backing and favor of the establishment, but when someone proclaims their belief of God’s moral order, they are charged with being vicious, intolerant, and discrimination?
The mayors of Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C. (and many more will follow), have gone on record saying they do not want the businesses of Chick-fil-A in their cities. See Romans 1:24-32 – “Who knowing the judgment of God…not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
SHARINGInclined To Serve God
“And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” Joshua 24:19
Joshua wasn’t saying that no matter what they did, they could not serve God. But based on what they were minded for, it wasn’t going to happen.
When people are minded to allow things and ways that differ with God’s Word, they are not minded unto serving God.
Joshua is not alone as a minister, in recognizing variance with the Word of God in the congregation. Every preacher has sadly seen those who don’t take root in really following God’s ways altogether, even though they attend church. The outcome is predictable.
Not all who start with the truth, stay with the truth: “Ye did run well: who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?” Galatians 5:7 Opposition and arguments against God’s ways exist everywhere and are of the very strong persuasion of worldly wisdom. The Devil wrestled the truth of God’s Word from Eve’s mind and substituted a favorable attitude in her thinking for that which was contrary to God’s Word. From that point on, it was no longer a matter of how good a person she was, or whose spouse she was. It was all about the result of departing from the truth of God’s Word. What really eliminated any possible solution, was Adam’s support for Eve, in following her in what she had done.
What is essential to serve God:
Joshua 24:23 “…incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel”
Psalm 78:1 “Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.”
Psalm 119:36,112 “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end.”
The Sinner’s Quest
“And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” Genesis 4:6-7
Cain’s problem with God was that he wanted to be accepted as he was, by making an offering that was his own pride and joy. And when God respected not, and accepted not his offering, he was wroth and took his anger out on Abel, whom God had accepted.
“Accept me as I am”, has always been the sinner’s demand. This is the pride and rebellion of sin’s passion. It is the power of sin’s refusal to submit to God. It is Satan’s defiance of God’s authority, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” John 8:44.
Many will accept the invite to be a soul winner’s convert, if the terms of the agreement are that the sinner can be accepted as he is, with his preferred way of life being made a non-issue. He will accept positions of service in the church, providing they are an outlet for him to do that which makes him feel good about himself as he is. It is a sinner’s delight to be honored as a saint, promised heaven, all the while being overlooked as he does as he pleases.
Many church members who no longer endure sound doctrine and have tired of the self denial involved to live according to God’s commandments, are drawn to these neutral zones, where, due to their knowledge and experience, they can step into the top ranks of the church’s positions, while suffering no disqualification for their compromised way of living. So it becomes a trade off: “Give me a church that accepts me as I am, and makes me feel good about myself, and I will support that church.” Plus, other church members whose lives have run afoul with God’s will and way in those churches that reprove the transgression of God’s laws as being sin, can pick up and run to these neutral zones, to find a warm reception in religious asylum.
So the move is on, the momentum strong, and the response is positive to the religious organizations that have revolutionized their religious positions to afford the sinner the honor of saying “Lord, Lord,” while relieving him of the responsibility of living according to the will of God, by having made it a non-issue. While men rejoice in having made this quest, God still declares: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21
God’s grace doesn’t make sin a non-issue. Rather, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” Titus 2:11-12
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