But if you are led by
the Spirit, you are not under the Law. (Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible, Galatians
5:18)
“Do not think that I
came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to
fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the
smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to
do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps
and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Ibid.
Matthew 5:17-19)
For whoever keeps the
whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. (Ibid.
James 2:10)
Spiritual
Formation is intentional engagement with practices such as reading scriptures,
prayer and others, to renew our minds and be transformed (Rom. 12:2) from the
habits and patterns of fallen man. It has
as its goal, Christ being formed in us (Gal. 4:19), so for example, our
attitudes being formed into the same attitude that was in Jesus (Phil
2:5). What then is the relationship
between the Old Testament (OT) Law and this New Testament (NT) concept of
formation?
Before we
answer that question, perhaps we should answer a few other questions
first. What is the relationship between
the OT Law and the NT Christian? Are
Christians obligated to follow some of the OT Laws, but not all? Can the OT Law be broken into different
categories and we are obligated to follow some of those categories but not
others? Is a Christian following the Law
and keeping the 4th commandment by going to Church on Sunday? If so, then is the opposite true, if you miss
Church, you’re breaking the 4th commandment?
A lot of Christians know that
tattoos[1] are forbidden in Leviticus,
but do they realize the verse prior says not to shave your sideburns (19:27-28)? Is it then sinful to get a tattoo, but ok to
shave your sideburns? Along the same
lines, many Christians know, the NT does away with the OT Law’s dietary codes
(Lev. 11, Mk. 7:19, Acts 10:9-15). Also,
the NT does away with the religious rite of circumcision (Gen. 17, Lev. 12:3,
Acts 15, 1 Cor. 7:19). Moreover, the NT
does away with the OT sacrificial system for forgiveness (Lev. 4, Heb. 10). What about a law like in the year of Jubilee,
returning to your land and land being returned to a family (Lev. 25:10)? Does that only apply to some, but not to
others? Does this mean the whole OT law is
done away with? Does it mean only parts
of the OT Law are obsolete, but laws not explicitly repealed by the NT are
still obligatory?
It should be clear, this is a complicated
subject. Therefore, we are going to take
some time and examined this topic. Please join us. (Click here for Part 2)
Written by Pastor Ozzy
For more information, visit our website
Follow us on Facebook
Or on Twitter
Works Cited
1995. Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible. LaHabra: The Lockman Foundation.
[1]
Is our modern tattoo the best translation of the Hebrew, kĕthobeth in Lev.
19:28? There were some forms of body
lacerations in the cults of the Canaanites (1 Ki. 18:28) and the verse
specificities some sort of mourning practice [Strongs 3793,
Goodrick/Kohlemberger4182]
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.