The Surprising Way Jesus Fulfills The Civil Law
The Surprising Way Jesus Fulfills The Civil Law
In this Sermon on the Mount "sub series" from Matthew 5:17-20, we're learning the three aspects of the Law of Moses as taught by Justin Martyr, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, and others. The categories are: moral, ceremonial, & civil.
So when I asked Harvest Church folks to send their questions, one came up over & over: what parts of the law (especially the civil aspect) should I obey in my daily life?
This deserves a longer answer, but the short answer is because God gave us a new heart at salvation and written His law on our hearts (Jer 31:33-34, Ez 36:26-27), and since Jesus has deepened and expanded the Law to reflect obedience from the heart (see Matthew chapters 5-7), we now live as citizens of His eternal Kingdom with His people here on earth. This new faith community, called an ekklesia, seeks to obey the spirit of the Law in spite of not living in the ancient nation of Israel. To say it another way, Christians don't need a long list of detailed instructions about civil law for daily life in our society; Jesus commanded us to love God with all we are and love our neighbor as ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:1-26). This flips the script. Instead of asking "what's the least I can do and still please God?", we ask, "what the most I can do to show & share God's love to others?". Our internal love level has moved from minimum to maximum, from least to greatest.
So when I asked Harvest Church folks to send their questions, one came up over & over: what parts of the law (especially the civil aspect) should I obey in my daily life?
This deserves a longer answer, but the short answer is because God gave us a new heart at salvation and written His law on our hearts (Jer 31:33-34, Ez 36:26-27), and since Jesus has deepened and expanded the Law to reflect obedience from the heart (see Matthew chapters 5-7), we now live as citizens of His eternal Kingdom with His people here on earth. This new faith community, called an ekklesia, seeks to obey the spirit of the Law in spite of not living in the ancient nation of Israel. To say it another way, Christians don't need a long list of detailed instructions about civil law for daily life in our society; Jesus commanded us to love God with all we are and love our neighbor as ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:1-26). This flips the script. Instead of asking "what's the least I can do and still please God?", we ask, "what the most I can do to show & share God's love to others?". Our internal love level has moved from minimum to maximum, from least to greatest.
By the way, nowhere in the New Testament is it written that Jesus-followers can't keep the Law of Moses (James 1:22-27). We're just not to deceive ourselves that by observing the Law we can attain salvation, which only comes by grace through faith in the person and work of Jesus (John 8:31-38). We seek to live out the moral aspect of the Law with Jesus' imputed righteousness and all our worship is informed by knowing Jesus has fulfilled the ceremonial aspect of the Law (the Law is prophetic, pointing to the coming of Jesus, our Perfect Sacrificial Passover Lamb).
Also, it's important to know that God instructed Gentiles in Acts 15:19-21 about how much of the Law they needed to observe in their newfound faith: four commands, and most of those were to respectfully honor their Jewish brothers & sisters. Not exactly a long list of civil or government commands, right?
Romans 13:1-14 is helpful for all Christians to understand how to interact with their governments as individuals. We're to obey laws that don't directly contradict the Law of God and peacefully resist those that do (see Acts chapters 4 & 5). It's also helpful to know the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, negating the geographical aspect of the civil law. Even Israel today does not govern by a theocratic Temple-centric political model.
So the next time someone calls you a hypocrite for not observing all the Law of Moses, ask them "Which part?" and "What about the 45-50 commands of Jesus that He commanded us to know and obey?" (Matthew 28:18-20)
Finally, when in doubt, simply look to the prayer Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9–10 for guidance of how to live in this world...
"Pray then like this:
'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.'" (ESV, italics mine)
Also, it's important to know that God instructed Gentiles in Acts 15:19-21 about how much of the Law they needed to observe in their newfound faith: four commands, and most of those were to respectfully honor their Jewish brothers & sisters. Not exactly a long list of civil or government commands, right?
Romans 13:1-14 is helpful for all Christians to understand how to interact with their governments as individuals. We're to obey laws that don't directly contradict the Law of God and peacefully resist those that do (see Acts chapters 4 & 5). It's also helpful to know the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, negating the geographical aspect of the civil law. Even Israel today does not govern by a theocratic Temple-centric political model.
So the next time someone calls you a hypocrite for not observing all the Law of Moses, ask them "Which part?" and "What about the 45-50 commands of Jesus that He commanded us to know and obey?" (Matthew 28:18-20)
Finally, when in doubt, simply look to the prayer Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9–10 for guidance of how to live in this world...
"Pray then like this:
'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.'" (ESV, italics mine)
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