In the previous posts in this series we examined the purposes for which God gave his Law to Israel. Today we look into the actual or final goal for implementing those laws.

I still remember a major point of a sermon I heard back in the year 2000. That was one of the last times my wife and I ever attended an established church. The preacher read the account of the man stoned for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. His point was that this occurred under the covenant of legalism and that Moses was legalistic. He condemned God’s Law because he did not understand it. He pitted grace against law and thus fell into lawlessness. Friends whom we had been home-churching with also attended that service, saw us at the end of it, and exclaimed, “That was a great message, wasn’t it?” My wife and I just looked at them in amazement and walked away. We never saw our old friends or that church again. In fact we moved 250 miles away from the entire area within a year of that church meeting.

But, why did God command Moses to stone (kill) the man caught picking up sticks on the Sabbath? Why was this a capital offense within the Law of God? Was God offended? Did this man snub his LORD and thus bring about his own execution? What does Jesus say?

²³ One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴ And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶ how he entered the house of God, in the time of^[d] Abiathar the high priest, and atethe bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man,not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:23-28, ESV)

Jesus makes it very clear that God instituted the Sabbath for man’s sake, not his. So, what’s the big deal about a man picking up sticks on the Sabbath? You may assume that he was picking up sticks to keep his forge going so that he could continue his business of repairing metal implements or that he was gathering wood to keep his family from freezing. It makes no difference. According to God’s law regarding the Sabbath this man was “working” and the Sabbath laws forbade men from working in Israel. So why did God demand his death?

The reason for the death penalty requirement is that the Sabbath represents (typifies or prophetically points to) man’s ultimate goal of coming to rest in and unity with God. This story reveals that a person who fails to obey the Sabbath will in fact die, but the death in view prophetically is the death of the soul. The New Testament calls this death “the second death.” The man caught picking up sticks suffered “the third death,” physical death, as his immediate penalty. The story teaches that so long as a person fails to enter God’s rest then he must yet take part in the second death, the lake of fire. The story of the man picking up sticks on the Sabbath, like all Biblical stories, is a parable, a story which portrays spiritual truth. This story prophetically reveals that a person who fails to come into God’s rest will die the second death, the death of his soul. This is the story’s primary purpose.

Anyone, therefore, who would call Moses legalistic and denounce God’s Law as mere legalisms does not understand the Word of God. All of the Law served and still serves a purpose in God’s plan. I have tediously taught in past posts that God does not expect or intend Christians to observe any of the Old Testament laws except his moral laws which are summarized in the Ten Commandments and later condensed by Jesus in the one law, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Today I am not suggesting that you begin to obey the Old Testament laws concerning the Sabbath with exacting detail. If you want to pick up sticks on Sunday (or Saturday if you regard Saturday as your Sabbath day), then go ahead. But if picking up sticks is part of your regular work or job, then I would advise you to rest on the Sabbath and do your work the other six days of the week, for I believe that honoring the Sabbath is still relevant.

Honoring the Sabbath remains relevant to Christians because it expresses our trust in God. I related in a post a week or two ago how I began to take a Sabbath during law school 27 years ago. By faith I trusted God that I could study enough in the other six days and I did. Now I trust God that I can prepare for trials and do all the things I need to to sustain my law practice in six days. But (and this is a big but!) if I discover a witness I need to interview for a trial that I have the day after my Sabbath, I will work on the Sabbath in order to prepare for my case. I have not sinned.

One must always keep in view the purpose of God in creating man and the goal of the Bible with respect to that creation. God created man in his own image and likeness. He could not program man to be perfect for then he would not have possessed a free will. Therefore God planned that man would have to learn to discern good and evil and then willingly choose the good. Faith in Jesus gives a man the initial power to go on to become a “Son of God.” After he comes to faith he needs to begin to exercise his will in order to become conformed to God’s image, the image we see revealed in Christ. A son learns to trust his father. So should we learn to trust our Father in heaven.

Jesus said that God ordained the Sabbath for man’s benefit, not his. He gave us the Sabbath so that we would learn to trust in him for our provision, rest in him for our peace, and ultimately come into oneness with him. We come into oneness with God when our mind, will, and emotions (our soul) becomes totally conformed to his image. This is the reason God implemented such severe punishment for breaking the Sabbath. To break the Sabbath indicates that we have failed to come into rest in God, have failed to trust him, and have, therefore, failed to believe in him. Thus, like almost all Israel we too would fail to enter the promised land of our salvation. God killed the man picking up sticks on the Sabbath to show us that if we do not learn to trust in him and obey his ways, then we too will be killed, but it will not be just our bodies which die this time. Jesus said,

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

It was one of the Hebraic Roots ministries, 119 Ministries I think, which really got my blood boiling concerning this new push to teach Christians to obey every jot and tittle of the Torah (Old Testament law, Mosaic law). They taught that the only legitimate day to honor the Sabbath on is Saturday, that Christians ought to obey all the laws concerning it, including not picking up sticks (properly understood of course), and that if Christians lawfully honored the true Saturday Sabbath, then that would dramatically help lead the Jews to finally accepting Christ. I listened as one amazed. These were men who seemed honorable and appeared to understand the basic truths of God’s Word… and they were teaching gross, rank heresy!

Many years ago, 26 to be exact, during my first year of law school God taught my wife and I to honor the Sabbath. Law school is difficult, very difficult if you want to do well, and I am a person that wants to do all things well. Law school consists of study and classes and that’s about it. All of my colleagues studied seven days a week and I did too, at first. Then one day while reading the Bible and talking things over with my wife we really realized that God would be blessed and would bless us if we observed a 24 hour period of rest. We did not analyze the Old Testament in order to determine its specific laws for Sabbath observance. We relied upon the Holy Spirit to lead us in this, and He did. Because our society is based upon a Monday through Saturday work week, including the fact that the Law library was open on Saturday and not Sunday, we decided to take our rest beginning at 6:00 P.M. Saturday and ending at 6:00 P.M. Sunday. Usually we did not go to church on Sunday morning.  Instead we took our two young children to parks, beaches, canoe rides in wilderness areas, and picnics. Although I worked six hard days every week during those three years my entire family enjoys sweet, sweet memories of our family time and of law school. My grades were always good, sometimes the best in the class, and I did not study seven days a week like our valedictorian did! We honored the Sabbath and God honored us.

As I grew older the concept of God’s Sabbath became even bigger. The LORD impressed me that the Book of Hebrews’ teaching on entering his rest involved something much bigger than taking a 24 hour day of rest once a week. He showed me that entering his rest is a way of life, 24 hours a day seven days a week, not just one day out of the week. He taught me that coming into his rest means to come to the end of my own carnal striving and my own selfish ambitions. Am I there yet? Have I learned to put away all of my fleshly thoughts and desires? Do I perfectly walk in God’s ways and in his rest? No, but that is my goal and that will one day be my reality.

Learning to rest in God does not consist of a set of do’s and don’t's. I live on a cattle ranch. If a cows gives birth on my Sabbath day, then I may have to work to help it. A cow might get through a fence and out on the road, and I might have to go get it back into my field. I’m a lawyer and I do jury trials. I might get wind of critical evidence on the Sabbath, just before my trial. I will follow up that lead. And, the day after the trial ends may be Wednesday and I may just take a day or two of rest then. In fact, during the trial itself I pray and try to maintain my rest in God. The point is that God desires the Sabbath to be our way of life, not just a day of special religious duty to God. The Sabbath, entering God’s rest, is a state of being, not a special mode of doing.

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ² For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.^[a] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” ⁵ And again in this passage he said,

⁶ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news [the Gospel] failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God^[b] would not have spoken of another day later on.⁹ So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

¹¹ Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:1-13, ESV)

The passage above makes it very clear that the “Sabbath” rest which God intends his people to come into involves far more than observing a Saturday Sabbath according to the Torah laws. Coming into God’s rest is part of the Gospel and something we do by faith and obedience to that Gospel. The obedience required is Spirit-led and founded upon the Word of God as verse 12 above makes clear. This verse teaches that God’s Word will divide our soul and spirit, will separate our fleshly attempts to please God from the truly Spirit-led life. But, we do not teach a Spirit-led mysticism which ignores the teaching of God’s Word. Neither do we teach a dead legalism which ignores the Holy Spirit and all of the Word of God and then drives us back to Old Jerusalem and Hagar, its Mother.

⁵ One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord bothof the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written,

¹² So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Romans 14:5-12)

So, let us discern the teaching of the Word of God by relying upon God’s Spirit, and not the heretical teachings of men. Let us continue walking together in God’s ways toward New Jerusalem, our eternal home.

4 For behold, the day comes that shall burn like an oven, and all the proud and arrogant, yes, and all that do wickedly and are lawless, shall be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

² But unto you who revere and worshipfully fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings and His beams, and you shall go forth and gambol like calves [released] from the stall and leap for joy.

³ And you shall tread down the lawless and wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts.

⁴ [Earnestly] remember the law of Moses, My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel.

⁵ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

⁶ And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to [the piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly], lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction. (Malachi 4, Amplified Version)

Well, today I read a comment by an old friend who is traveling back to ancient Jerusalem (in the spirit) in order to become Torah observant. He was one whom I thought well on the way to New Jerusalem as an overcomer, but now appears to be bent upon becoming a son of Hagar instead of a son of Sarah. The comment quoted Malachi 4, “Remember the Law of Moses,” and spoke of an “Elijah Spirit” (the Holy Spirit which he now must, to be Torah correct, call ‘the Ruach”) which would turn the hearts of God’s children back to the Mosaic Law. And, in keeping with the many videos I have seen this person recommend over the last month, this would mean teaching God’s people (Christians) to obey the many statutes of the Old Testament contained in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Is this what Malachi 4 prophesies and commands?

Malachi clearly commanded the people of his time to remember the law of Moses in the sense of remembering and obeying every aspect of it, including the bloody sacrifices. Today, as seen in the past teachings in this series and many other articles posted here, remembering the law of Moses speaks of understanding God’s definition of good and evil and knowing exactly what he considers to be sinful behavior. This is so that we can repent of any particular sins we commit (John calls this practicing righteousness) and continue in a right relationship with Christ. But, remembering the law of Moses today does not mean that we now have to submit to all of the various Old Testament laws Malachi and the Israelites of his day had to obey, laws like wearing tassels on our garments, obeying the stringent Sabbath laws, and refusing to eat certain “unclean” foods like pork and shrimp.

If the prophetic word God gave Malachi meant that Christians had to obey all the laws of Moses (the Torah), then Paul would not have written what he did and Jesus would not have said what he said, for Jesus did in fact specifically change certain Mosaic laws. Yet Jesus also said,

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18)

I hope to expound on Matthew 5:17-18 in my next post, but until then let Paul’s word to the Romans suffice regarding the issues raised herein.

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another

14 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.² One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.³ Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master^[a] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

⁵ One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord bothof the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written,

¹² So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble

¹³ Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ¹⁴ I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵ For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. ¹⁹ So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

²⁰ Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. ²¹ It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.^[c] 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. ²³ But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.   (Romans 14, ESV)

Notice that it is the person “weak” in faith who eats only vegetables. Vegetables would be considered “clean” foods under the law of Moses. The person who is not weak in faith, i.e. one strong in faith, “believes he may eat anything,” even those foods which Moses forbade. Then in verse 5 Paul discusses believers who esteem certain days versus others who treat every day the same. His point in verses 5 through 9 is that that issue simply doesn’t matter. Each is convinced he is right and is serving the LORD, so don’t make an issue of it! Yet, a new group of believers has come upon the scene who now teach all believers that they need to begin obeying the Torah, if not for their justification or sanctification, then to show God that they esteem his law and love him.

I love God and his ways, but I am not going to submit to 21st century Judaisers who would accompany me back to Old Jerusalem as they teach me the intricacies of Torah commandments and compel me to obey them. I will walk in God’s ways, and I can testify that that way is a narrow path, but it is not the path back to the old city. I have set my face like flint toward New Jerusalem!

Understanding the Book of Romans

In the Book of Romans Paul says, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Rom. 3:19) This succinctly describes the purpose of the Law and really conveys the same meaning as Paul’s teaching in 1 Timothy 1:8-10 where he tells Timothy that the law is good if one uses it lawfully and that the law is for those who disobey sound doctrine. To argue in this way appears to place sinning Christians back under the Law, and yet Paul argues later in Romans that Christians are not “under Law.”

To begin to understand this first notice that Paul only mentions “moral” laws in the section from Timothy. He does not say that the Law is made for anyone who fails to get circumcised or who does not offer sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem or who does not obey the Sabbath laws each Saturday. In fact, he mentions no “ceremonial” laws at all. The reason for this is that Christ’s death, burial and resurrection is the antitype, the prophetic fulfillment, of all the Old Covenant ceremonial laws. Men have no duty today, therefore, to participate in or obey any of the Old Testament laws dealing with ceremony or sacrifices. Our faith in Jesus Christ accomplishes these laws in us. Neither do we need to seek out the Jewish temple to come into the presence of God. Now we, individually and corporately, comprise the temple of God, and the presence of God dwells within us. (1 Cor. 3:16-17; Eph. 2:21) God chisels and prepares each one of us now, making us individually into precious stones. Ultimately he will place each one us into our proper place within New Jerusalem. Our participation in New Jerusalem fulfills the Scripture “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

It is true that the ceremonial laws still prophesy many truths to us, but the New Testament makes it clear that we must not continue any of those sacrificial or ceremonial law practices in a literal sense in a vain attempt to sanctify ourselves or please God, except the prohibition of eating blood. (Acts 15:29) Paul’s book to the Galatians speaks forcefully about these issues. It is clear that Paul does not put moral law in the same category as the ceremonial because when he finishes his instruction about circumcision he reminds them to be careful to walk according to the moral law. ¹ (Gal. 5:13ff)

We must understand, however, that the attempt to strictly obey God’s moral law in the power of our flesh will also lead to a dead legalism and certain failure. Paul makes it very clear in the first few chapters of Romans that no one can perfectly obey God’s moral law. First he teaches us the purpose for the Law saying, “whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Romans 3:19) But, then he states, “Therefore by the deeds of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20) Then he shows us why the sacrifice of Jesus is so important.

 {21} But now the righteousness of God apart from the Law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, {22} even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; {23} for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, {24} being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, {25} whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, {26} to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. {27} Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the Law of faith. {28} Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the Law. (Rom 3:21-28)

We learn two major principles from Paul’s teaching so far in Romans. First, a knowledge of the Law brings with it a knowledge of sin. The Law declares the entire world guilty before God. Second, since we stand guilty, we therefore need a Savior to save us from the wrath of God. That Savior is found in the face of the man Jesus Christ. When God gives us grace and faith to believe in His Son, then we become justified before God. To be justified means to be declared just, or righteous. This comes to us by faith in Christ alone. But, having said this, does he then go on to teach that the law is now null and void, having been “put away” by God?

Was the Law “Put Away?”

If the Law were put away, how then can God still judge sin? If Christ ended, abolished, or fulfilled the Law to the extinction of that Law, then it makes no difference how you or I live. No law would exist to condemn us. Oh yes, we might break one of the State’s laws and be sent to prison, but if God put away His own Law, then He could never hold you or me accountable to it and could never expect us to change our behavior, even if the most repulsive, disgusting, and evil.

But Jesus upheld the Law; He did not put it away. Jesus, as Author of the Law and Creator of the world, could have set us free from the Law’s penalty of death by putting away His Law. This would have legalized sin, but He did not choose this plan. He upheld the Law and paid its price. He died for us. The Law, therefore, remains in effect, but the New Testament teaches us that Christ changed it by fulfilling its ceremonial aspects and by no longer requiring us to do those things. The apostles also teach us that Christ nailed the curses, the penalties, of the Law to his cross so that we would not suffer death by it.

According to the following verses, Paul calls any theory or theology that puts away the Law preposterous:

“Do we then make void the Law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the Law.” (Romans 3:31)

 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Rom. 6:1-2)

 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:15)

 “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the Law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the Law had said, `You shall not covet.’” (Romans 7:7)

 “Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.” (Romans 7:13)

Now let’s look at Paul’s views regarding the positive aspects of the Law that leads him to his conclusions.

“because you have in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth–” (Romans 2:20, NIV)

“Therefore the Law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” (Romans 7:12)

 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” (Romans 7:14)

 “For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man.” (Romans 7:22)

 “I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the Law of sin.” (Romans 7:25)

 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the Law of God, nor indeed can be.” (Romans 8:5-7)

Immediately after stating that justification comes by faith alone, apart from the Law, Paul asks, “Do we then make void the Law through faith?” He quickly answers, “Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the Law.” (Romans 3:31) “Now wait a minute,” some say. “I thought that `to establish the Law’ meant I was getting into legalism. After all, didn’t Paul say, `You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace?’” (Gal. 5:4) Yes, Paul did say that. How, then, can both be true? Let’s continue reading Romans to find out.

After declaring that Christians must “establish the Law,” Paul uses the examples of Abraham and David to show that God has always declared His people righteous based upon their faith in Him. The purpose of justification by faith is to bring “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1) Justification by faith, therefore, establishes our relationship and potential for fellowship with God. Justification does not and cannot come by the Law. Paul then uses the rest of chapter 5 to declare that “through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.” (vs. 18) We “establish the Law” after we come to faith in Christ, not before. Christians today, for the most part, fail to establish God’s Law and instead partake of the world’s sins. They have become lawless, anomia, and fight against God’s Law. Hence we see pastors who lead flagrantly sinful lives leading God’s people into more and more sin.. These will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Finally, at the beginning of Chapter 6 Paul starts to explain the comment he made all the way back in Romans 3:31. Chapters 6 through 8 clearly show that he does not consider the Law of God to be something that we cast underfoot to the realm of “mere legalism” simply because we believe in Jesus Christ. On the contrary, Paul asserts in Romans 8:5-7 that the spiritual mind, i.e. the mind given to the things of the Spirit, can be and is subject to God’s Law. Paul teaches us that, having come to faith in Jesus, we now have a choice. We either choose to serve God by obeying His laws or we choose to serve sin and the devil by disobeying them.

For an even more thorough examination of these difficult chapters from the Book of Romans please see my book When We Awake by clicking here.

 1Here I used a principle of Biblical interpretation that is very helpful and easy to remember as follows: “The Old Testament laws are maintained in the New Testament era unless they are modified or eliminated by explicit New Testament doctrine.” The New Testament clearly eliminates the Old Testament ceremonial law. It just as clearly continues our obligation to the moral law. There is a contrary hermeneutic (principle of Biblical interpretation) that goes like this: “The Old Testament is repealed unless it is repeated.” This doctrine cuts off almost all relevance of the Old Testament and has given us bizarre doctrines like forbidding the use of musical instruments in church worship. The preceding principle is easily remembered by the phrase, “the Old Testament is maintained unless modified, not repealed unless repeated.”

Paul gives the best and clearest definition of the true Gospel in one verse, “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Roman 1:17, NIV) The Jews missed the profundity of the teaching of Christianity because they learned that their righteousness must come through strict obedience to God’s Law revealed to Moses in the Old Testament. He says,

 ³⁰ What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. ³² Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. ³³ As it is written:

   “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble 
   and a rock that makes them fall, 
   and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Romans 9:30-33, NIV)

Paul makes this point even more clear when he says to the Colossians,

³For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

⁴Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

⁵Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

⁶Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

⁷But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

⁸Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

⁹And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

¹⁰That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

¹¹If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

¹²Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:3-12, KJV)

The problem is that Christians have stumbled over the same stumbling stone as the Jews! Notice the verses in bold above which says, “touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” This is quite a boast! Paul proclaimed that he perfectly obeyed God’s Law. If righteousness could have been obtained through the Law, then, Paul would have qualified through the works of his own flesh! But, he then proclaimed such a great accomplishment, at least in the eyes of many, as dung! This shows us that “the teaching about righteousness” which Hebrews teaches deals not with some ascetic discipline of perfectly obeying God by the power of our flesh and will. And, yet, clearly our will matters in this process which God calls “salvation.” Paul said, “Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling.” He spoke not of that which men call their eternal salvation, their ticket, so to speak, of going to heaven. He spoke of the salvation which keeps us from mandatory participation in the Lake of Fire according to Revelation 20:6:

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Only those Christians who effect the salvation of their souls participate in the first resurrection, and as we learned in my recent post entitled “The Three Comings of Christ,” the first resurrection occurs in two stages. First, Christ comes as a thief and secretly carries away and glorifies his firstfruits. Second, these firstfruits return to earth and train the faithful of the remaining church who will three and one half years later become part of the first resurrection. The question I am trying to answer, and it is difficult to answer, is, “How does one effect this salvation of his soul so that he may participate in the first resurrection?”

Clearly, the vast majority of Christendom will not learn this lesson prior to the secret “rapture” because only the firstfruits, a small portion of the full wheat harvest of believers, will participate in that. Until that day, however, my job remains to inform as many as who will hear how to overcome, for “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,^[a] for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”^[b]  (Romans 1:16-17, NKJV)

John declared concerning coming to faith in Jesus, “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12) Notice that this verse means that simply coming to a “saving faith” in Jesus, or believing in Jesus for the salvation of one’s sins does not automatically qualify a person for becoming a son of God. Initial faith gives one “the right to become” a son of God, it does not magically turn one into a son. One becomes a son when he has been glorified, when he has been fully made into God’s image.

During most of Paul’s ministry he did not believe that he had qualified for this high calling which he calls the “crown of life.” For example, to the Philippians he said,

^{12 “}Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:12-14)

Yet, to Timothy Paul said,

⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

How could Paul say one thing to the Philippians and another to Timothy? Because God showed Paul that he was about to die when he wrote Timothy and he knew he had “finished the race.” How did he know this? Because he had “kept the faith.” Yes, he had kept “the faith” until the time of his departure, his physical death. But, what does keeping “the faith” mean? (to be continued…)

I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43 KJV)

How little we understand of this man named Jesus, this man who did not come to “make a name for himself,” but a man who came in the name of another, even his Father. How unlike us he is. We all seek acclaim; we want to be somebody; we want our names engraved in stone or shone in lights in every theater. We proclaim ministries in our name; we build universities to our fame. And we love to have it so because we have not understood he whom we call “Lord.” We do not yet know him as LORD! But, even more than this, we do not understand that Jesus calls us to holiness, just as he is holy. Thus, he begins this new revelation of who he is with a parable.

John 5 begins with Jesus’ third miracle as accounted by John. He heals a crippled man who had been suffering under his infirmities for 38 years. Remember that we have learned that Jesus taught nothing unless he did so by parable. When he spoke he spoke in parables. When he inspired his holy men of old to write the Scriptures he also spoke in parables. This does not mean the stories themselves did not happen. No, he used true historical accounts to tell spiritual parables. So, as you read John 5:1-18, prayerfully ask that God reveal to you the meaning of the parable of the infirm man healed on the Sabbath.

First, why is important to mention that this particular man Jesus chose to heal had suffered severe physical ailments for 38 years? Does the number 38 appear any where else in the Bible?

And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them.  (Deuteronomy 2:14 KJV)

This passage shows that 38 years signifies a particular generation of adult men. What characterizes them? These were all the men of little faith who refused to go into the promised land under Moses’ leadership when he commanded them. God punished them by making them walk in the Wilderness of Sin until their flesh died, until they were in fact ready to obey God and walk in his promises. Likewise, this man in John 5 symbolizes all believers who have lived their lives in bondage to their flesh. These are the ones who boldly claim that Jesus forgives them of all their sins, but yet never learn the teaching about righteousness. They never learn to discern good and evil and to choose the good. Thus, at the end of 38 years, their generation (life time) of wandering in the wilderness of sin, God releases them from their spiritual bondage. But, he releases them with a warning, saying, “See you are well! Sin no more , that nothing worse may happen to you.”

And when does this parable come into its fulfillment? Recall that Jesus tarried two days with the Samaritans, the people of the woman at the well, to whom he revealed that he was the Water of Life. See John 4:40, 43. The Samaritans were considered unclean Gentiles to the Jews. Those two days represent the two thousand years in which Christ has been preached to all the Gentiles on earth. This event in Chapter 5, then, parabolically occurs on the third day, which according to the revelation of the “red heifer,” is also the seventh day. (See Number 19 and especially verses 19:12 and 19:19) This explains one reason why this miracle occurred on the Sabbath, the seventh day. This means that this parable will be prophetically fulfilled on the seventh day, the Day of the LORD.

As I first considered the meaning of this parable it seemed to me that the man must represent the Overcomers and that this story dealt with their glorification, for they too have suffered under the infirmity of their flesh their entire lives, a full generation. But, no, God resurrected the Overcomers in John 2 when he turned their water into wine. And the distinguishing characteristic of God’s overcomers is that they have learned to practice righteousness; at the time of this event they already understand and walk in the teaching about righteousness. Their inmost desire is to obey God and walk even as Jesus walked, in the perfection of holiness. To them Jesus will not say, “Sin no more,” for he has already perfected that desire in them. No, indeed, for it is to them that he next speaks when he reveals this new aspect of his divine character, “I AM come in my Father’s Name!”

 ⁸ “Remember ^(K)the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ^9 (L)Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God;in it ^(M)you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who ^[e]stays with you. ^11(N)For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11, NASB)

This command deals with two issues so dear to God’s heart that that he requires every one of us to understand them and do them.  If we will not, then he will kill us (the second death in the Lake of Fire). He ordered Moses to execute the man caught picking up sticks on the Sabbath for reason that obeying this particular commandment is very, very important and for another reason we will discuss below.  Have you ever noticed that this is the longest of any of the Ten Commandments?  That’s because it deals with something we need to understand and obey.

But today’s Christians tend to relegate this command to the netherworld of the forgotten. I remember one of the last times that I attended a Thyatira type church.  It was a large, thriving charismatic church in a Kansas City, Missouri suburb. The popular Christian pastor there preached on Numbers 15:32-36.  Here is the whole passage in context:

^27(AA) ”If one person sins unintentionally, he shall offer a female goat a year old for a sin offering. ^28(AB) And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who makes a mistake, when he sins unintentionally, to make atonement for him, and he shall be forgiven. ^29(AC) You shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the people of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them. ^30(AD) But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. ³¹Because he has^(AE) despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.”

A Sabbathbreaker Executed

 ³²While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man^(AF)gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ³³And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation. ^34(AG) They put him in custody, because it had not been made clear what should be done to him.³⁵And the LORD said to Moses,^(AH) ”The man shall be put to death; all the congregation shall^(AI) stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, as the LORD commanded Moses. (Numbers 15:27-36, ESV)

The key to this troubling account can be found in verses 27 to 31, just before the capital offense occurs. Obviously this man picked up sticks “with a high hand,” that is, he “despised the word of the LORD,” and “intentionally” sinned against him. God commanded that such a man must be “cut off” from his people (executed) because his type of rebellion would (and did) destroy the entire society. All of society would be harmed and, therefore, all society took part in stoning the offender. The goal of the law was to bring people into God’s rest and to keep the society holy, to keep it as a people separated unto God.

But, the popular preacher condemned Moses’ verdict (by doing so he condemned God too) and taught the people that Moses was “legalistic.” (He was preaching on grace versus legalism). The man (Alan Koch of Christ Triumphant Church) made this grave mistake because he did not understand God’s Law, did not understand God’s Law as it relates to grace, did not understand Jesus’ or Paul’s teaching about the Law, and did not understand God. We met a couple that we had “home-churched” with for a couple years after church and they asked us what we thought of that “great sermon!” I can’t remember our response, but I don’t think we have ever seen this couple again. This confirmed for us that we were at the end of that particular fellowship.

For most of its history the United States honored the Sabbath (I, like Paul, do not argue about keeping a particular day like Saturday or Sunday).  Few stores in America used to be open on the Sabbath.  Many people did become legalistic concerning Sabbath rules, however, during this time.  They forbade their children to even play on the Sabbath, for example.  To them the Sabbath meant a time of becoming somber before the LORD. They did not understand Jesus’ words that the Sabbath was “for men,” not “men for the Sabbath.” As cars became ubiquitous gas stations began to open on the Sabbath. As this country turned further and further from God more and more stores began to open on Sunday.  States passed “blue laws” to try to keep people from buying “bad” things like liquor on the Sabbath. Now most of those laws have been repealed or overturned by courts zealous to remove every vestige of God from the public square. Consider the second psalm:

^1(A) Why do^(B) the nations rage^[a]
   and the peoples plot in vain?
²The kings of the earth set themselves,
   and the rulers take counsel together,
   against the LORD and against his^(C) Anointed, saying,
³“Let us^(D) burst their bonds apart
   and cast away their cords from us.”

 ⁴He who^(E) sits in the heavens^(F) laughs;
   the Lord holds them in derision.
⁵Then he will speak to them in his^(G) wrath,
   and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶“As for me, I have^(H) set my King
   on^(I) Zion, my^(J) holy hill.”

 ⁷I will tell of the decree:The LORD said to me,^(K) ”You are my Son;
   today I have begotten you.
⁸Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
   and^(L) the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹You shall^(M) break^[b] them with^(N) a rod of iron
   and dash them in pieces like^(O) a potter’s vessel.”

 ¹⁰Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
   be warned, O rulers of the earth.
^11(P) Serve the LORD with^(Q) fear,
   and^(R) rejoice with trembling.
^12(S) Kiss^(T) the Son,
   lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
   for his^(U) wrath is quickly kindled.
^(V) Blessed are all who take refuge in him.  (Psalm 2, ESV)

America, and indeed the whole world, now refuses to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. The nations rage against God and continually plot to keep his influence away from them. We have not entered his rest (see Hebrews 3 & 4) and we do not keep the Sabbath holy.  We have become abomination before him. The abomination of desolation has been revealed.