Hello dear friends.
It's been on my heart for a while to write concerning my beliefs. This is by no means something I do often, nor with great confidence. That being stated, I'm praying constantly for God to give me words to write. I'm going to try and do this in parts, so as to maintain readability (that is to say, there shall be sequels!).
As many of you know (though quite possibly not all of you), I am a Christian, but with sometimes vastly different beliefs than that of the Christian body (more precisely, the commonly accepted Protestant traditions). Now, many people already know this about me, but rarely do people inquire as to why. Some people assume I'm confused, or simply because of my (Jewish) heritage, others have asked and I've outright brushed off their questions out of fear of rejection (a choice I greatly regret). Therefore I'd like to take this time to clarify these fun oddities about me.
Wait… let us establish common ground…
I am saved by grace through Jesus. There is nothing that I did to acquire this, except simply accepting the gift that was offered to me by God (
Eph. 2:1-13 ,
2 Tim. 1:8-10). I believe that as a redeemed person, I ought to live my life in a way that is honoring to God (
Rom. 12:1-2) as laid out in God’s word (
2 Tim. 3:14-17). So then… where do I part ways with mainstream Protestant teaching?
To be absolutely clear (if anyone is unsure what differing beliefs I have), I am speaking about my eating only kosher foods (
Lev. 11), my not working or buying on Sabbath (
Ex. 20:8-11 - Oh, and I mean specifically Friday at sunset to Saturday at sunset), keeping the Biblical feasts (
Lev. 23), and all the other quirky things from God’s Law (a.k.a. the Torah, a.k.a. the first five books of the Bible) which most Christians neither do nor preach. I do absolutely none of these because of my Jewish heritage, but because I am saved in Christ and in love with God.
In
Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus said,
'Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.'
Did Jesus come to abolish God's Law? Was His purpose to drive a dividing line between the 'Old Testament' and the 'New'? By His very words, no. He came to fulfill, and not just to fulfill the prophecies, but also give true purpose to the Law. In other words to 'fill full'. What am I saying by this? That Christ Himself professed the importance of the Old Testament; and not just the importance, but the relevance, the lasting relevance. After all, has either heaven or earth passed away?
So then, if I'm saved by grace through Jesus, why then do I associate following God's Law with loving Him?
In
Matthew 22:37-40, when asked what the greatest commandment (from the Torah) was, Christ answered,
'“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” [quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5] This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [quoting from Leviticus. 19:18] On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.' (see also Mark 12:29-31 and Luke 10:26-28)
Let me ask a question: How am I to act out love towards God? I know Christianity is all about love; loving one another, loving God- being caring. But is loving God just caring for Him? Is it simply feeling emotions toward our Creator? Is it as easy as talking to Him every day, if I can even manage that much? How do you love God?
The apostle John wrote,
'For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.' (1 John 5:3)
The New Testament says we show God we love Him by keeping His commandments.
1 John 5:2 says that this is also how we love one another- by keeping God's commandments. There's a reason why every bit of the Law and the Prophets hang on love; because by doing the commandments we're showing our love for God and one another. How is this not legalism? Because every bit of the Law is a matter of the heart. Paul himself clarifies this in
Romans 7:14 when he says that the Law is spiritual. It comes from within. It is not some regulations God chose to merely be acted out physically, but to emerge from the inside out. I am not introducing a new concept here; neither was John nor Paul. It is written all over the Torah.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 'And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command to you today for your good.' [Emphasis mine]
Deuteronomy 26:16-19 'This day the LORD your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. Also today the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken.' [Emphasis mine]
2 John 1:5-6 'And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. [Emphasis mine]
Beautiful, no? The commandments of God are always in tandem with love. Did God intend for us to view His ways as arbitrary? Legalistic? Or did He want us to follow after Him with everything that we have, with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. From the very innermost depths of my heart, that part of me that yearns to be nearer to God-
that's where obedience comes from. Every part of our being is supposed to passionately desire to keep God's commandments (if you still don't buy into this idea, please read,
Ex. 25:2,
35:5,
35:21-22;
Lev. 19:18;
Deut. 4:29,
6:5-6,
11:1,
30:6,
30:15-16,
30:19-20- actually, just read all of
Deuteronomy 30 -
John 14:15,
14:21,
14:23-24,
15:10,
Rom. 13:9,
1 John 2:3-6,
5:2-4, and
2 John 1:5-6).
The commandments of God are not burdensome (though we may not always agree). They are not a matter of legalism, and by no means are they to be acted out in hopes of salvation. I don't follow the commandments to become saved but
because I'm saved. They are not how we become saved, but how we become sanctified.
What do I mean exactly by sanctified? Set apart (w)hol(l)y unto God. If we are to be like Jesus (
1 John 2:6) who He Himself kept God's commandments (
John 15:10) and was therefore without sin (
2 Cor. 5:21), should we not as well?
'Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.' (1 Cor. 6:19-20)
Let me put it another way- if you are redeemed by Jesus Christ and belong to God, why
wouldn't you want to keep His commandments?
-Ronnie
No comments:
Post a Comment