Spirit of Law 5

The Spirit of the Law

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The Spirit of the Law
[continued]

The Holy Spirit, Grace And Gifts Before Christ

The Thanksgiving Scroll mentions a prayer for spiritual gifts among other detailed references of grace. Note the prayer, "to purify me by Your Holy Spirit and to draw me near by Your good will according to the greatness of Your graces or spiritual gifts" [XVI, 12; XIV, 13]. The believers of this Jewish sect were also called the Sons of His will as well as the Sons of Grace while their covenant was referred to as the Covenant of Grace [Thanksgiving Scroll 1QH VII, 20; XIV, 4; Manual of Discipline 1QS 1,8].

The grace of God is found throughout the Old Testament if the researcher knows that in Hebrew different words were used for the term we call grace. Note several examples of the grace of God in the Old Testament are found in such places as Deuteronomy 7:9; Nehemiah 1:5; 9:32; Daniel 9:4 and II Chronicles 6:14 just to name a few.

As we research the word Paul used for grace, we see that the concept is rooted in the Hebrew word hesed which is often translated grace, mercy, or lovingkindness. According to David Blumenthal in his book, The Place of Faith and Grace In Judaism, God's grace is used in the biblical text three ways. First, in creation, second, in His covenants, and third, in forgiveness God extended mercy and grace to all who repented.

Confession And Forgiveness In The Old Testament

A brief review of the ancient Jewish prayer of forgiveness [selihah] and confession [vidduy] will show that the grace of God was the major factor. According to the Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion, confession is one of the three essential elements of true repentance. The other two being regret for the sin and resolve not to repeat it. The sin offering in the Temple was accompanied by confession, and according to rabbinic doctrine, there can be no remission of sin without confession. The rabbis confirm that in a human court a man may possibly escape punishment by denying his guilt, but before God true confession appeals to God's forgiving mercy. The wording of the confession of sin is based upon the example of the high priest in the Temple when he declared, "and he shall confess all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins..." [Leviticus 16:21]. Rabbinic literature suggests this example: "I confess before You for all the wrongs which I have committed. I have taken the path of evil. I hereby renounce all the wrongdoing which I have hitherto committed. May it be Your will 0 Lord my God, to pardon me for all my iniquities, forgive me for all my transgressions, and grant me atonement from all my sins" [Lev. Rab. 3]. Actually, Jews make public confessions on penitential and fast days as well as every Monday and Thursday. Private confessions are made by individuals whenever the need arises as well as on one's deathbed [Talmud Shav. 32a].

The Three Stages of Salvation

According to David Flusser, the ancient Essene sect believed there were three stages of salvation. The first was preordained election. The second was the actual operation of grace which began the moment the individual entered the community and started to live by the covenant [repentance and faith]. The third was the eschatological redemption in the future with its reward for the elect.

The Development of the Idea of Grace Replacing the Law of God

During the second century with the emergence of early heresies, Marcion was one of the most prominent, with his teaching that the God of the Old Testament was a lesser god. According to Marcion, the Old Testament was to be rejected and Jesus was simply a revealer rather than Messiah. This teaching interpreted Paul's writings as a new gospel that liberated everyone from the message of the Law, so they could rely on revelation knowledge. According to Brad Young, "The difference between Jesus and Paul on the one hand, and Marcion on the other, may be summed up in one word, Torah [law]." In fact Paul warned Christians against such arrogance that would separate them from their Jewish roots in Romans 11:20.

Although the early church identified Marcion as a heretic, today many theologians have accepted his views as Law. It was Marcion who adopted Matthew 5:17 as a key theme of ending God's Law and taught that the grace of God superseded it. Historian E.C. Blackman noted how Marcion changed the meaning of Matthew 5:17 by "inverting the order of the clauses so as to give exactly an opposite sense." According to Marcion's teaching Jesus said, "Think not that I have come to fulfill the Law, I have not come to fulfill but to abolish it." Young further points out that while few modern Christians would change the words in the Bible, they do interpret the words of Jesus in a way that upholds a sharp contrast between law and grace.

The Words Abolish and Fulfill

In rabbinic literature, the Greek words behind the English terms abolish and fulfill have equivalents that explain what was actually meant in Jesus' day. The word abolish means to interpret incorrectly, while the word fulfill means to interpret properly, as well as to cause it to stand erect and upright. With this understanding it is obvious that Jesus did not come to start a new religion or destroy the only Word of God available, but to properly interpret the Law and show that He was a new manifestation of the old truth. Brad Young points out that the three key words Torah [Law], abolish, and fulfill possess quite different meanings in their modern English translations than in ancient Jewish thought.

What Happened To Reverence?

Have you ever wondered what happened to the holy reverence that once accompanied the Bible, God's ministers, and the church? These things come up missing about the same time that Bibles, prayer, and discipline began to be frowned on in our society. Biblical scholar Abraham Heschel says in his book, God in Search of Man that while the Greeks studied to comprehend, and western thinkers study to apply their knowledge in a practical way, the ancient Hebrews studied to revere God. The ancient Jews, including Jesus, believed that the study of the Torah [law] led to reverence and that reverence led to obedience. Could it be that our modem ideas about the Bible and religion, that leave out discipline, study, and days set aside for the awe of God have cost us something?

Delivered From The Bondage of The Law

One of the most misunderstood texts in Paul's writing is Romans 7:1-14 where he speaks of being delivered from the Law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. Is Paul against the Law of God? He answers that in Romans 7:7 where he says, God forbid! and spends the next seven verses explaining how great and spiritual the Law is and what good things it has done for him. Brad Young reminds us that Paul is using a well known concept in Jewish law and is actually referring to the death of the flesh and not the death of God's Law. To illustrate his point, Paul uses an analogy of the dead husband to show that when an individual dies, he is free from all laws relating to that marriage. Young concludes, "It is imperative to recognize that the saying,'when a person dies he is free from the law and the commandments,' was a well-known concept in halachah [law], which probably was almost proverbial in ancient Jewish thought" [Bab. Niddah 61b and parallels]. Note that Paul mentioned he was writing to those who knew the Law [Romans 7: 1], showing that the Jews in the congregation of Rome were familiar with such an illustration.

Paul's emphasis points out that when a person is living in sin, his flesh is in bondage to the law against that sin until death when he is freed from that law. This is a common Jewish phrase as seen in the words of Rabbi Simeon ben Pazzi when he dies, he is freed, speaking of man's flesh being released from the evil inclination [Ruth Rabbah 4:14, M. Lerner, pp. 78-80].

Ancient rabbis taught that as long as a man lives he is servant to both God and the evil inclination, but after death, he is freed to serve only God [Note the book The Slave of Two Masters by Safrai and Flusser]. Both Jesus and Paul declared that we are to die to sin and its laws of bondage on this earth, because believers cannot serve two masters and belong to God [Matthew 6:24]. The point of Romans 7 is the individual's death to sinful flesh and not to the Law of God.

The New Testament And The law

In order to understand the Law in the New Testament, we must also understand Paul who wrote approximately two-thirds of the text. According to Peter, the Apostle Paul wrote some things hich are hard to understand and when in the hands of those unlearned in the Scripture and unstable are often twisted to their own destruction [11 Peter 3:15, 161]. Those unlearned were unaware of the Jewishness of the Scripture and culture in which Paul wrote. In our day we have a similar problem in that modern theologians and laity are generally not trained to recognize Paul's constant use of Hebraic terms. Only after one understands the Jewishness of Paul's writings can he obtain an accurate interpretation of the text. For the truth about what the New Testament records concerning the Law, we must go directly to that source. Note 12 clear statements that the New Testament registers concerning the Law of God:

1. The hearers of the Law are not justified before the Lord, but the doers of the Law will be justified [Romans 2:23].

2. Paul taught the Ephesians that the promises of God come out of the Law and they were to obey them so things could be well with them and that they may live long on this earth [Ephesians 6:2, 3; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16].

3. The writer of the Book of Hebrews confirms that this is the same covenant of God's Law that He promised to renew by writing it on our hearts and minds [Hebrews 10:16].

4. James reminds us that if we commit sin, we are actually transgressing the Law [James 2:11; 2:8-26].

5. By keeping the Lord's commandments we know that we know Him [I John 2:3, 4].

6. We have our prayers answered because we keep the Lord's commandments and do those things pleasing in His sight [I John 3:22].

7. As we keep the commandments, God will dwell in us and we will have assurance through His Spirit [I John 3:24].

8. By the keeping of God's commandments we know that our love for God and His children is real [I John 5:2, 3].

9. The definition of biblical love is to walk after God's commandments [II John 6].

10. Only those who keep the Lord's commandments will have the right to the Tree of Life [Revelation 22:14].

11. Referring to the Old Testament, the only Law available, James says, whosoever looks into the perfect Law of Liberty, and continues therein, being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, shall be blessed in his deed [James 1:25].

12. The man who says he knows the Lord, but does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him [I John 2:]..

As strong as these often overlooked verses appear, they make up an active part of the New Testament and were not only a part of the writer's theology, but the early church's idea of Law.

Today's Application Of God's Law

Today more people are "getting back to basics" than in any recent decade. It is our hope that this book will be a reminder that the positive commandments of God, which have been cast in such a negative view, are actually the moral beginnings of Christianity. Without God's moral principles, it is impossible for any people to live in harmony with each other. As we remember the words of David, "The Law of the Lord is complete and restores the soul" [Psalm 19:7], I hope each of us will choose the eternal principles of God's Law that will produce the good life [Deuteronomy 30:15].

The question is often asked, "How many of these 613 Laws in the Old Testament can be applied to the moral life today?" Since the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., the observance of many commandments has become impossible. In 1931 Chafetz Chayim compiled a list of the positive and negative commandments applicable to the Jew today. In this list Chayim recorded 77 positive and 194 negative commandments that could be kept by the observant Jew. Although the non-Jewish believer is not required to keep the 613 Laws that identified the Jews as God's chosen people, there are many moral and ethical principles in the Laws of God that should be kept by all believers. The basic categories of these were previously mentioned as the "necessary things" for Gentile converts in Acts 15:28.

Several years ago, Solomon Schonfeld edited a version of the Law with his notes called the "Universal Bible." This excellent work is the result of 20 years of research where Schonfeld listed the parts of the Pentateuch which present the message not merely for the Jewish people but for all mankind. The message from the Law for all believers today obviously omits the Sabbath, dietary laws, sacrifice, and Jewish customs, but includes such New Testament and universal themes as how to fear God, prayer, study, polygamy, family responsibilities, divorce, sexual perversion, respect for property, and how to live at peace with our fellow man. I personally counted a minimum of 33 out of the 77 positive commands, as well as 135 out of the 194 negative commandments that could and should be obeyed by all non-Jews today. For those wondering what could apply to the New Testament believer in the Old Testament Law, note just a few:

Positive:

1 . To return items taken in robbery [Leviticus 5].

2. To show reverence for the house of worship [Leviticus 19:30].

3. To learn God's Word and teach it [Deuteronomy 6:7].

4. To say grace at meal time (note that the biblical text says "after meals") [Deuteronomy 8: 10].

5. To pay wages to an employee as soon as the job is finished [Deuteronomy 24:15].

Negative:

1. Not to swear in the name of an idol [Exodus 23:13].

2. Not to wrongfully retain anything belonging to one's fellow man [Leviticus 19:13].

3. Not to oppress one's fellow man with words [Leviticus 25:17].

4. Not to cause one's fellow man to stumble over anything [Leviticus 19:14].

5. Not to tell anyone things that another person said against him [Leviticus 19:16].

None of the above, nor any of the 168 Laws that have to do with good relationships, should be avoided by any believer. These 168 do not apply to the Jews only, but have to do with how to live godly and treat our fellow man properly. I hope each reader will be challenged to reread God's Law and compare it with the New Testament to find that they both agree, and that we have great responsibility to others.

Summary

With the understanding that the word Law actually means to teach or instruct believers how to live in ethical and moral harmony with their fellow man and before God, how could anyone deny a genuine appreciation for it? It is my hope that this book will help each of us realize that although some aspects of the Law applied to sacrifices the Jews made during the temple period, that the spirit of the Law has changed only in its manifestation and now comes through Christ for all the world to fulfill by faith. An example of one aspect of the Law that applies to all believers is found in Leviticus 19:18 where we are told to love our neighbor as oneself.

Note 13 conclusions that are summarized in this book:

1. The Law of God did not just last until John the Baptizer, but was even used by Paul.

2. Jesus went beyond the letter of the Law in His instructions for today's believers.

3. Successful Christian leaders of the past have always realized that the Law reveals God's will.

4. The nine-fold purpose of God's Law produces happy and successful relationships concerning all involved.

5. The curse of the Law is only on lawbreakers.

6. The term New Covenant was in use long before the time of Paul.

7. There is one covenant for the Jews, who are repentant and already believe in Messiah, to be identified as God's chosen people, and another covenant for the rest of the world to become believers through the Messiah.

8. The true definition of the word Law is a wholesome one and should be desired by everyone.

9. There are different kinds of Law, some that had to do with sacrifices and that were strictly for the temple period, and some that apply to relationships today.

10. After the fourth century, the church's view concerning God's Law changed.

11. The Age of Grace has to do with God's nature and existed before Paul.

12. The words abolish and fulfill had very specific meanings during the time of Jesus that were different from today.

13. The New Testament teaches many positive things about the Law of God.

With this study we have seen that according to the biblical text, no promises or blessings can be obtained outside the Law. With this information each believer should endeavor to take an unbiased and open look at God's Law. It is my prayer that as believers get this radically biblical perspective on the spirit of the Law, that its original purpose of producing peace, harmony, and health in God's earthly kingdom will be more fully accomplished.

Bibliography

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Flusser, David. Jesus. New York: Published by Herder and Herder, 1969.
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The Spirit of the Law: Table of Content