Category Archives: Dan’s Blog

Visit to Israel

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I haven’t blogged the last few weeks because Karen and I took a trip to Israel. We were in the country for a little over two weeks. What a trip it was!

Two years ago good friends of ours emigrated to Israel and they now live in the Negev about 45 minutes south of Beer Sheva (Abraham’s old home town).We stayed with them from time to time and also traveled with them to Jerusalem and throughout Galilee. In all, driving about 2,000 miles, we saw almost every aspect of the land.

It was really wonderful to get a first-hand look at all I’ve learned about Israel over years of reading about it in the Bible. It certainly gives one a good sense of perspective when coming across names and places in the Word.

It is also truly amazing what the Jews have done to make their land fruitful. Everywhere we went we saw both new development and crops blanketing the landscape. It leaves no doubt in one’s mind that God is up to something big, just as He predicted millennia ago through His prophets.

If you ever have a chance to go to the Holy Land, I encourage you to jump on the opportunity. You won’t be sorry you spent the time and the money–I guarantee it!

Set Free from Law

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In Romans 8:4 Paul talks about there being a “requirement of the Law,” meaning that the law obligates us to obey it in its entirety.(James 2:10) But God knows there is no possibility that we can ever obey His entire law. And since the punishment for failing to do so is spiritual death—separation from God—He had to provide a way to overcome this barrier. So, God’s solution was simply to take the law out of the way as it relates to our relationship with Him.

Paul further explains this truth in Romans 8:3-4: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The effect of having been set free from law—since punishment for breaking it is no longer imputed—is that we are in fact now no longer subject to the realm of the flesh, even though our flesh may continue to brutally oppress us.

Paul puts it this way in Romans 8:9-10: “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you…If Christ is in you, though your body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” Consequently the outcome for us—unbelievable as it may seem—is that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”(Romans 8:1-2)

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

No Separation from God

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Jesus took the punishment for our sin upon Himself, as a result freeing us from its inevitable consequence—separation from God. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Redeemer, a secure union is established with God. And since we have now been joined to Him by means of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we share in all the benefits that Jesus Himself experienced in His resurrection.(Romans 6:5)

The death and resurrection of Christ as it relates to our own death and life in Him is a constantly recurring theme throughout these chapters of Romans. Time and again he brings this issue to the forefront, because Paul knows that understanding this principle is absolutely vital to our spiritual progress.

At the very heart of this truth is the fact that freedom from the power of sin—our death to sin—is guaranteed by our death to law through Christ’s bodily death and resurrection.(Romans 6:14)

Thinking back to Paul’s example in the first few verses of Romans 7 of a married woman, one might say that Jesus was both the old husband (coming in the form of
sinful flesh, dying for sin to free from law), and the new husband (resurrected
to life in God, never to die again). Freedom is now the absolute reality of our
life in Christ because we are no longer bound by what Paul calls, “the law of sin and death.”(Romans 8:2)

 

New Testament Law

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What about the concept of law found in the New Testament? Have you ever considered how Jesus’ teaching might impact us in this regard? Time and again Jesus startled people because He seemed to be adding to what the Law of Moses said.

The truth is that much of His teaching holds far more stringent demands than anything contained in Old Testament law (take the Sermon on the Mount, for example).(Matthew 6,7 &8) Why? Because Jesus addresses the intentions and motives of the heart rather than emphasizing what we more commonly associate with law—that is, outward behavior.

So, at first blush it seems like Jesus heaps on more responsibility for conforming to God’s law rather than freeing us from it. How then can we say that we are free from the Law? The answer, of course, is that we have been set free in Christ, but this certainly can be a bit confusing when the issue of law continues to stare us in the face.(Romans 8:2)

History of the “Law”

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Now we need to realize that law did not originate with the Law of Moses. Law was first introduced to Adam when God said, “but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”(Gen. 2:17)

So law was there in the Garden—just not “the Law” as it was later given. And sin was also around from the very beginning. But the thing we must understand is that law had to be in place for punishment to be meted out, since sin cannot be charged unless law exists to identify it.(Romans 5:13-14)

We Christians claim—and rightly so—that in Christ we are now free from the Law. But by this do we mean the Law of Moses only, or all law. Well, most of us would be quick to say that we’ve merely been freed from the Law of Moses. But doesn’t this raise another question? Doesn’t Old Testament law contain many commandments which are still pertinent today?

How about the Ten Commandments, for example? Which one of these laws would we be comfortable with breaking? Which one of them might we violate without any thought of consequences?

Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself

God’s Law

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In His eternal wisdom, God chose Israel from among the nations as His own possession. Of Israel God said, “…you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”(Exodus 19:6) He then gave them special revelation concerning His righteousness—its primary expression being the Law of Moses, which came some four hundred years after Abraham received God’s promise. In this Law God laid out the rules for Israel’s behavior, structure for their worship and also a special revelation of His nature. He made such things known to no other nation.

But over the centuries Israel debated both the meaning and the implementation of the Law of Moses. Over time an oral tradition evolved, handed down from teacher to student, ultimately resulting in a written collection of traditional rabbinic laws called the Mishna (compiled over 335 years from 200 B.C. to A.D. 135). Jesus made mention of this supplement to the Law when He chided the Scribes and Pharisees: “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?”(Matthew 15:3)

Eventually the Mishna became a cornerstone of the Talmud, an exhaustive interpretation of both the Mishna and the Law and Prophets compiled over 250 years from A.D. 250 to 500. An English version of this work is comprised of almost 36,000 pages in 36 volumes.  

In Judaism, man has raised the complexity of religious law to an astonishing level. But the question is why they would be motivated to make law so burdensome. The answer seems to lay in their belief that righteousness before God is possible only through strict adherence to His law—and the more works of the law one performs the holier he has the chance to become.

The Jews have indeed brought the complexity of law to a new level, but their beliefs concerning law in general are not unique to them. These beliefs are also deeply embedded in the psyche of mankind as a whole, and therefore found as a common denominator in most of the world’s religions.

The Righteousness of Law

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Scripture tells us that God is righteous. We commonly define righteousness as being in right standing with God. But what does it mean for God to be righteous? It would be silly to think that He has achieved some sort of excellence that allows Him to be good enough to be God. No, God doesn’t need to meet a standard of righteousness; He intrinsically is that standard. God’s righteousness means that He is by nature the essence of all that is good and just. Explaining God’s righteousness in The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer says:           

            “In the inspired Scriptures, justice and righteousness are scarcely to be        distinguished from each other. The same word in the original becomes in English     justice or righteousness…Justice, when used of God, is a name we give to the             way God is, nothing more; and when God acts justly He is not doing so to             conform to an independent criterion, but simply acting like Himself in a given   situation…Everything in the universe is good to the degree that it conforms to the       nature of God and evil if it fails to do so. God is His own self-existent principle of      moral equity…”           

Now since God’s righteousness (justice) is the benchmark by which He will ultimately judge His creation, He had to provide mankind with the means to relate to His standard of perfection. He revealed that standard to man through law. So a good understanding of biblical law is essential, because it’s impossible to fully comprehend God’s amazing provision for our own righteousness (justification) without it.

Sensing God’s Reality

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God has given each of us a sense of right and wrong—a moral awareness which speaks of His existence from the very core of our being. This is why people in all civilizations throughout history have felt obliged by their conscience to appease, in one way or another, what they perceive as their god.

But God has given an incomplete revelation of Himself to most men, which has confined them to a limited perception of Him. So they set about instituting religious practices designed to placate this awesome presence, which they don’t understand but instinctively know exists. These practices commonly take the form of works and rituals rooted in fear. In other words, “I have to do something to try to please this god (or gods), in order to avoid their wrath and thus have some hope of blessing in my life.” Fear is the foundation of most religions in our world today, as well as those down through history.

However, fear of an angry, vengeful deity is never what God had in mind in revealing Himself to man. The fear of God— accurately defined as a profound and healthy respect for His awesome Person and power—is indeed the basis for our Christian faith, but it’s not the cowering dread assumed by people in most religions. Why not? Because, along with His many other attributes, the very nature of God is love, kindness, faithfulness, mercy, goodness and holiness. God always intended that He be perceived by mankind in this very way. Right from the start He has wanted us to have a healthy sense of His personal reality.

On Criticising Others

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I think I’ve acquired a pretty good understanding of God’s truths over the years, and can’t help but be a little put off by those who haven’t applied themselves to the same degree. But frankly, I’d be appalled if those who’ve gone further looked down on me the same way. My immediate response would go something like this: “Try not to be so judgmental!” Kind of humorous, isn’t it?

The criticism I dislike so much in others is the same criticism I don’t have much trouble dishing out. Well, this paints a pretty good picture of what I was like in my early life as a Christian, and the truth be told, to some degree still am. Yes, my parents named me wisely!

But let’s be honest, aren’t you a bit like me—maybe just a little? I thought so. It’s a rare person who has been able to totally eradicate this weakness so common to human nature. Why do we so easily fall into the snare of judgment? It’s law that’s behind it all. Rather, I should say it’s the weakness of our sinful flesh with its predisposition to pride that’s at the bottom of it. But without law, we’d never recognize this Achilles’ heel for what it really is. Nor would any basis for judgment even exist.

Because of the Bible, we know what a Christian’s behavior ought to be like. God’s law makes sin so obvious in those around us. It’s so easy to become critics! We find it quite natural to fall into the trap of judgment the moment we witness somebody violating His commandments. But on the other hand, we fail to keep His law ourselves, not thinking much about the hypocrisy it must provoke. It’s Pharisaism at its core! And yet we’d be shocked to think of ourselves as such.

Judgment Comes Easy

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My parents named me well. Dan means judge in Hebrew. But I’m not implying that I’m necessarily a good judge of others. What I mean is that I tend to judge quickly. And that’s not always a healthy thing—rarely is it, in fact. Still, that doesn’t seem to stop me; I tend to do it quite naturally from my heart.

It’s funny, too, how soon an emboldened sense of self-righteousness began to take root after I gave my life to the Lord: “What’s that guy doing? Why does he say things like that? Doesn’t he realize how God hates that stuff?” Never mind the fact that I’d find ways to excuse my own motives while doing something equally immature.

Although deep down I knew my lapses in behavior posed troubling questions concerning my own walk with God, these faults still seemed much worse in others. And not only that, I found it really easy to get all puffed up once I began to learn a little more than those around me. Do you suppose this might have stemmed from an attitude of superiority rooted in pride? Oh yeah! In fairness,

I didn’t go around brandishing this attitude (at least I don’t think I usually came off that way). Still, judgment was always there, quietly living its life just underneath the surface.