… on waiting until I had an extremely thought-provoking response to the heresy that all non-Jewish governments are also bound by the laws that were handed down to Israel by Moses in the dessert. And if there weren’t enough prepositions in there for ya’, I don’t know what to tell ya’…
Anyways, the contents of my file:
Deut. 12:32 – “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” is often quoted as an argument that we don’t have to follow any of the laws the government makes, as long as they don’t appear in the Bible. I have to say, this is a damnable perversion of scripture. It is, I suspect, intentionally taken out of context. A quick glance through Deut. 12 will reveal that these are laws that were specifically intended ONLY for the children of Israel while they were living in the promised land. The laws didn’t even go into effect for them, until AFTER they possessed their inheritance. (See v. 1, “which ye shall observe to do IN THE LAND…”, v. 10, v. 29. )
Also go back and read the whole of chapter 11, especially v. 8 and vs. 31-32. See also chapter 8, v. 1 and v. 11 – read the whole chapter and then answer this question: to whom did Moses give the commandments. And on what day? (Hint, part of the answer is in chapter 1:1). Also look at chapter 5:1.
Note that this is a continuous dialog. Moses starts his address to the children of Israel in Deut. 1:1 and ends it in Deut. 34:12. You can’t just pull 12:32 right out of the Bible and try to hit us over the head with it. You can’t separate that verse from all the verses that come before it, about how this was a legal code handed down specifically to the nation of Israel, one they were expected to follow once they entered the promised land.
Then there’s Deut. 4:2… which comes right after verse 1. Forget about verse 1. Don’t look at it, don’t think about it. Verse 2 isn’t for the children of Israel, it isn’t a laying down of the law for that particular nation at that particular time. No, that isn’t stated specifically in verse 1 or anything, really. But don’t look at verse 1 to find out whether I’m lying.
Also, the context isn’t further clarified in verse 5; verse 6 doesn’t make any distinction between the way the Israelites live and the way other nations live; and verses 7-8 don’t a rhetorical question which points out that NO OTHER NATION HAS STATUES AND JUDGMENTS LIKE THESE. No, the covenant that the Lord made with the children of Israel on that day (verse 13) was binding on all governments of all nations until the end of time. Also don’t bother to check verse 14 and find out, once again, why I can’t believe the covenant doctrine, or whatever it’s called, is anything but intentional deception.
Even those famous 10 commandments are for the children of Israel. Look at Deut. 6:1-3. I guess those who tell us we are expected to live and die by these 10 commandments, and that we are free to break the law with impunity if it doesn’t limit itself to them, are counting on the fact that most people just look at the commandments all by themselves, and don’t view them as a part of the whole chapter or the whole book, or the whole Bible.
So which parts do apply to me? Well, for starters, probably not the verses that come with an explicit explanation of exactly how and why they don’t apply to me. And for seconds, probably not the infamous verse about how Abraham took up the knife to slay Isaac his son. Boy wouldn’t I be confused, if I had to choose to believe that Isaac was my son, and that I was supposed to take up a knife and slay him? Or that I had already done so? I can’t even begin to fathom what sorts of things would follow from that; In fact, my perception of reality would end up so skewed that it would prevent me from functioning in society. I might even be called insane, because I chose to believe something the Bible clearly was not trying to teach.
This is where that saying, God gave you a brain, use it, comes into play. God doesn’t want us ripping random verses out of the scripture and perverting them to support our anti-social lifestyles. He wants us to compare the way we live to what we find in scripture, honestly. If it doesn’t mesh, then we ourselves, and not our subjective interpretations of scripture, should be adjustmented.
The reason we don’t do this is that we want to give up too early, blaming a faulty understanding of scripture for our own shortcomings, rather than going through the fire and allowing patience to have its perfect work.
But back to the question, which parts of scripture apply to me? Quick answer, Acts 15:1-29. Here the Holy Spirit explicitly states that non-Jews are not to be burdened with Levitican law.
“What then, shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” – Rom 6:1&2 I mean, I can hear you saying, “Abraham, all those laws have to be there for a reason. Surely you don’t mean to tell me there are huge sections of the Bible that aren’t applicable to modern-day Christians!?”
Of course not. The Bible is there, as it always has been, to convict us of sin. To reveal the nature of God in contrast with our own sinfulness. To help us grow in faith. I’ll direct you to I Pet. 2:1-3 and Galatians 5-6:1. Also to John 16:7-8. And Romans 7, particularly verse 7.
And finally, to Hebrews 8:10-13. If you need to be taught laws and codes of conduct in order to live right; if your conscience doesn’t tell you what is right and wrong; if it isn’t pricked when you are tempted to live in violation of the teachings of I Peter 2:12-20, (but esp. v. 16), and by the example of the Lord Himself in Matt. 17:24-27; if you can’t hear the voice of the Holy Spirit leading you in the right way and convicting you of sin; if the law of love isn’t already written on your heart, then maybe it’s time to find out where you are before the Lord, and whether or not you may be in need of salvation from the death sentence that is found in the law.
All I can say is “Wow,” and, “Amen!”
Romans 2 is also relevant. The chapter in its entirety is pretty much addressing the same topic you’re addressing here: that the law’s function is to convict of sin, NOT serve as an excuse to live in sin.
I did not know that this heresy was prevalent in our day, but I have to say that you nailed it very well. I’m with Jacob in saying “Amen!”
I was just reading Acts 15 today because I had found that it paralleled to Galatians 2:1-10, and was reminded again that, as Romans 6:14 tells us, we are “not under the law but under grace.”
Okay, so I said that I would wait to comment until after my last final exam, but I glanced at it (probably shouldn’t have) and now I’m hooked. But seriously though, I won’t make a full response until after my last final, but I had a question that maybe would help me when I get back: When you say, at the very end, “the death sentence that is found in the law”, what law are you talking about that would give us the death penalty?
Because, at first glance only mind you, it seems like you are saying that the whole Old Testament law (at least what’s in Deuteronomy) is not applicable to us non-Israelites.
Anyway, I’ll get back to this tomorrow after my exam
Good question. Well I tried to answer this in my post but maybe I wasn’t clear. From the passages and verses I included above, we can see that the law exists to show us our guilt before the almighty God, how we are all condemned to death because of the rebellion against Him that resides in each of our hearts. This rebellion would be there with or without a law; but somehow, we Gentiles, who did not receive the law, have been just as aware of our alienation from God as the Jews were.
His standard is so far superior to ours that we could never meet His demands for Holiness, because our hearts are compromised. The law was never intended to be followed; He gave it to the Jewish nation knowing that they could never obey it; and hoping that they would realize their ultimate need for His mercy. Only by receiving His sacrifice on the cross can we become partakers of His divine nature; only then can we begin to be transformed in our hearts and minds into the creatures He demands that we be. And once that happens, we won’t need a law to tell us how to live and what to be; we will simply know.
I would encourage you not to just look at the verses and passages I included as supporting my opinion, but to really study each one of them and see what they are trying to say, to kind of get a big picture, so to speak, of exactly what’s being communicated. And keep an open mind! (I know you will)