Jnnnganga daily meditations 17th-23rd April , the new testament believer lives under the law of freedom, the law of Christ
Day 1
1 Corinthians 1:30 (New International Version, ©2011)
30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
The law was useful but not as useful as the grace we enjoy in Christ .Most evangelicals believe that either the OT Mosaic Law is
- in some form of continuity, hence relevant
or
- discontinuity with the fullness of the Gospel preached in the NT by Jesus and his apostles…hence irrelevant
Most agree on the extreme importance of the Israel/Church hermeneutical distinction.[1],
Some see the Law of God as binding on the Christian, but some equates the Law of God for the NT era as the moral law as summarized in the Ten Commandments.
This interpretation divides the Mosaic Law into three functional aspects:
(1) ceremonial or cultic,
(2) civic or judicial, and
(3) moral.
Day 2
2 Corinthians 5:21 (New International Version, ©2011)
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The majority view in the Reformed tradition has been that the ceremonial or cultic role and ,
, civic or judicial role …two aspects of the Law have been abrogated by Christ’s person and work and are no longer directly binding on the Christian, while the moral law is still directly binding on all as it reveals the eternal standard of God’s righteous requirements of his people.
Day 3
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Ephesians 6:7 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free |
Some NT believers distinguish the Law of God for the NT era from the Law of God as revealed in the Ten Commandments of the old covenant. This view holds that Ten Commandments were inseparably bound up and with the Mosaic covenant and economy of the OT era, and thus have passed away in glory with the coming of the new covenant in Christ.
As we saw in verses of the verses last week ,one view sees the new covenant as containing a code of law called the Law of Christ, which consists of the moral commands stipulated by Jesus as contained in the Gospels and Epistles, and the guiding of the Holy Spirit in each believer’s life into the will of God for particular circumstances.
Day 4
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2 Corinthians 12:9 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. |
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10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. |
The new covenant Law of Christ has many similarities to the moral law as codified in the old covenant, but this view holds that new covenant commands are directly applicable and binding on NT believers, while the old covenant commands may only be indirectly binding on NT believers, and only when they are filtered through the revelation of Christ in the NT[2].
In summary the two views are that firstly :
- the moral law in the OT is still binding on the NT believer unless a command is explicitly repealed in the NT,
while the other view is that :
- moral law in the OT is no longer binding for the Christian today unless a command is explicitly reaffirmed in the NT[3].
This shows that the end result of the two views are similar only they just take radically different paths to their conclusions.
Day 5
Titus 2:11 (New International Version, ©2011)
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.
I believe that Christians live under a new covenant. Through Jeremiah, the prophet, God promised the New Covenant in Jer 31:31, 32, 33, 34, .the mosaic covenant was provisional, always pointing toward the fulfillment to come in Christ. For if that first covenant had been faultless there would have been no occasion sought for a second. ( Hebrews 8:1; 2 )
We live under a better covenat because it is absolute not conditional, spiritual not carnal, universal not local, eternal not temporal, individual not national, internal not external[4].
Day 6
1 Corinthians 15:10 (New International Version, ©2011)
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
We must note that Christ’s ministry is as superior to the ministry of the Aaronic priests as the covenant He meditates is superior to the old one. Second, the covenant has better promises. Christ gives us a perfect conscience, not an annual reminder of sins. We also now can enter into the presence of God, directly and not through a priest ..
The mosaic covenant required righteousness but did not give the ability to produce it.
I thank God that the New Covenant is an unconditional covenant of grace which is entered into by faith, and imputes righteousness where there is none.
The New Covenant teaches men to live righteously , empowers them to do so , and rewards them when they do (2Cor 5:9,10, 1Cor 3:10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, Col 3:23, 24, 25, Rev 22:12).
Day 7
Titus 2:12 (New International Version, ©2011)
12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age
God relates with his people though covenants .
He makes a covenant that gives his people a promises and states what they need to do to enjoy the promise. The covenants themselves may be related as shown that Abrahams covenant was a pre curser of the mosaic covenant. It showed how sacrifices would provide a way for forgiveness and personal salvation.
But understanding the Mosaic Law makes us see how blessed we are living under the new covenant the mosaic covenant required righteousness but did not give the ability to produce it. We need the Mosaic Law to be able to understand the new covenant
[1] http://dangitbill.wordpress.com/2008/08/14/five-views-law-gospel/Book Review, Law and Gospel, Senior Thesis and tagged biblical law, hermeneutics, Law and Gospel, law of christ, law of moses, mosaic law, new covenant, old covenant.
[2] ibid
[3] ANDREW E HILL and JOHN H WALTON ;a survey of the old testament, zondervan,grand rapids2nd edition,1991,2000
[4] http://preceptaustin.org/covenant_abrahamic_vs_mosaic.htm