7/15/10

Are you kidding me? I haven't written anything all week? Surely, surely I thought I had not missed three days in a row.

Boo.

"Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted." [1 Tim 1:8-11]

In the previous passage, Paul upbraided certain teachers of the law. In this caveat, he makes it clear that the problem is not within the law itself. Christians shouldn't need to be instructing one another in the law, as the Jews would do amongst themselves. Christians should be righteous and just! There is a parallel here to Matthew 9:12, where Jesus remarks, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." Jesus came to save sinners, and the law was sent to the lawless. The law is a blessing to all, for even lawbreakers are protected by law from other lawbreakers. But those who profess a love of Christ should not contradict themselves by breaking the law. If they do, they testify against the faith - against order, against obedience, against humbleness, against divine law. How can we tell everyone that they should bend the knee to our authority if we are selective about what laws we obey? Isn't that the same as selecting which verses to believe? "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it." James 2:10
Therefore we need grace from God all the more, since we are accountable not only to the law which we do not uphold, but also to the higher calling of holiness in Christ.

- J