Monday Feb 11, 2013

Weekly Challenge

Throughout this week seek to write down a detailed description of your attitude to the Law of God in the Old Testament.

Read Matthew 5:18. Leviticus 19.

 

What should my attitude be towards the law of the Old Testament? Should I keep it all? Should I be the judge and pick and choose the ones that I am to obey and the ones I can safely ignore?  Should I take the easy option and just ask my pastor? Can I just ditch the entire Old Testament?

 

Practically this has incredible implications. Can I for example wear clothes made from two different fibres in contradiction to Leviticus 19:19? Should I honour/respect my father and mother in accord with Leviticus 19:3? Must I wait for the 5th years before I eat fruit from the trees that I plant in accord with Leviticus 19:23-24. Can I cut myself for the dead? Is the Lord opposed to tattoos and same sex marriages, all of which are spoken of in the Old Testament?

 

As a New Testament believer I need a system to work through and understand and practically apply as I study and seek to apply the commands and precepts to my own life, 2000 years this side of the cross. Ignorance is no friend. Neither is it an adequate excuse. Picking and choosing as real-life situations arise is fraught with danger.

 

One way forward is to think of the Old Testament as containing laws categorised as civil, ceremonial and moral. Civil laws are those laws that relate particularly to the nation of Israel. Ceremonial laws are those laws that relate

to the temple and the sacrifices offered there in.  Moral laws are those laws that are applicable to all ages and cultures from a moral perspective.

 

As a guide it can be argued that Christ has fulfilled all the ceremonial laws and because of his once for all sacrifice we don’t need to offer sacrifices. The civil laws can, as a general guide, be said to be fulfilled when the nation of Israel was superseded by the church as God’s chosen people. The moral law, it can be argued, is applicable to all peoples across all times because of their moral nature.

 

By using this civil, ceremonial, moral distinction we can make some headway. But we need to be mindful that these aren’t hard and fast categories and many of the laws cross over the boundaries. Even though they may be inapplicable in one sense, they may be in another.  The sexual laws, for example, are civil laws for the nation of Israel to separate her from the nations round about her. But we can clearly argue that these laws are applicable today.

 

To help move beyond this road block in the moral, ceremonial and civil distinction we can consider the teaching of the New Testament. If the New Testament shows that a particular law needs to be continued then we are bound to it. Consider the purity laws and sexual teaching of one man and one woman in the New Testament and you clearly see how the sexual laws of the Old Testament are still mandatory today. At the other end of the spectrum, in Mark 7, Jesus clearly taught that all foods are clean and thus New Testament believers don’t need to keep the dietary requirements of the Old Covenant.

 

Prayer:

Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

 

Adoration:

 

 

Confession:

 

 

Thanks:

 

 

Supplication:

¥ Pray for the work of Student Life throughout the universities of Australia. Pray that God would raise up the leadership required across the land to bring more and more people to Christ through students preaching to students. Pray that the leadership at all the various levels would be able to maintain godliness and direction in accord with the Scriptures.

¥ Pray that God would provide for all the needs of Straight Talk Ministries as they continue to serve and reach out with the gospel message of love and purity.  Ask God to open doors in to more schools. Pray that God would strengthen Jim and Faye as they continue to serve the Lord in this vital ministry.

 

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. In the past, how have you decided which laws in the OT to keep?

2.  If you are unsure about a particular law in the OT, how would you decide  whether or not it’s to be kept?