Yes and No.
Jesus did not completely abolish the Mosaic law. However, the requirements of the law still remain. Instead, Jesus made a way to fulfill the laws requirements instead. He abolished the penalty of the Law for those who have faith in Christ. Remember, the purpose of the law was to show you how sinful you are. Since we have come to Christ and have faith in what He did on the cross, God no longer counts the law against us because of Christ. God’s grace has freed us from the penalty of the law. There is no longer a Mosaic law for us to follow if establish it ourselves. It’s by our faith in Christ that we have been counted righteous.
Concerning the answer, “No,” Paul said, “Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law?” In fact, without having faith in Christ, we are still guilty of the law and will have to pay the penalty, which is death.
Paul explains why we are no longer subject to the law.
Romans 3:21-31 "But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past; for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law."
To reiterate what Paul explained, because we have placed our faith in Christ, we now establish or fulfill (complete, establish, finish, end, satisfy) the law.
This law is simple. It is to love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
*Romans 13:8 “If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.”
*Romans 13:10 “Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.”
*Galatians 5:14 “For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
The bottom line is that when we are led by the Spirit of God, and allow our faith in Christ to fill our lives, the natural response is to love God and love others. When we love others, we will not commit adultery and we will not murder people. When we love God and others, we will not steal from our friends and we will not treat others unfairly. Therefore, we establish the law and become a law unto ourselves because of our faith in Christ and our love for others.
Revealing God's grace and truth to a confused church, the unbelieving and a dying world.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
In Context, Out of Context
Matthew 23:23 - You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
This verse has been taken “out of context” so many times by Christians, it’s incredible. What does it mean to take a verse “out of context?”
Context is the words, phrases, or passages that come before and after a particular word or passage in a speech or piece of writing and help to explain its full meaning. It may include the circumstances or events that form the environment within which something exists or takes place.
Some questions to ask yourself when applying the proper context are:
Who said what? Who did they say it to? What time was it? Was it after or before a certain event? Was the listener receptive? Was the listener of the conversation friendly or hostile? Where was the person who said this thing? What prompted the person to say it? Whose interests did the speaker have at heart? By what or whose authority or expertise did the narrator possess? Was the orator serious? Was the presenter being honest?
We can’t just pull a verse out of the pages of the bible and honestly apply them to ourselves without understanding the context involved. This is what has happened to Matthew 23:23. Christians will read Matthew 23:23 and say, “See? Jesus says right there that we should tithe!”
Is that really what it says? No, that has read “out of context.” Every time the scriptures say, "you" and we apply it to ourselves, saying "that means me" we take the scripture “out of context.” In context, almost any "you" refers to persons who have been dead for centuries.
The following is to whom Jesus was speaking. Jesus said, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees.” Was he talking to you, an after-the-cross, grace-saved contemporary Christian Gentile from the 21st century? No, Jesus was talking to the before-the-cross, unsaved Jewish religious teachers of the Mosaic Law and Pharisees who are under the Law in Israel!
Next time you’re reading the bible and you come across a verse and you wonder, “Does that apply to me?” Ask yourself the questions mentioned above and ask yourself, “Does the principle involved apply to me?” Why?
It’s important to keep things in context and to have the right perspective. One reason is because it can keep you out of trouble. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself,“ did he mean that it was okay to have sex with your neighbor? No, that would contradict what Jesus said about lust in Matthew 5:28. Jesus said, “Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Therefore, it is imperative to keep the Scriptures in context so truth can be taught as it was meant to be from God’s Word.
This verse has been taken “out of context” so many times by Christians, it’s incredible. What does it mean to take a verse “out of context?”
Context is the words, phrases, or passages that come before and after a particular word or passage in a speech or piece of writing and help to explain its full meaning. It may include the circumstances or events that form the environment within which something exists or takes place.
Some questions to ask yourself when applying the proper context are:
Who said what? Who did they say it to? What time was it? Was it after or before a certain event? Was the listener receptive? Was the listener of the conversation friendly or hostile? Where was the person who said this thing? What prompted the person to say it? Whose interests did the speaker have at heart? By what or whose authority or expertise did the narrator possess? Was the orator serious? Was the presenter being honest?
We can’t just pull a verse out of the pages of the bible and honestly apply them to ourselves without understanding the context involved. This is what has happened to Matthew 23:23. Christians will read Matthew 23:23 and say, “See? Jesus says right there that we should tithe!”
Is that really what it says? No, that has read “out of context.” Every time the scriptures say, "you" and we apply it to ourselves, saying "that means me" we take the scripture “out of context.” In context, almost any "you" refers to persons who have been dead for centuries.
The following is to whom Jesus was speaking. Jesus said, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees.” Was he talking to you, an after-the-cross, grace-saved contemporary Christian Gentile from the 21st century? No, Jesus was talking to the before-the-cross, unsaved Jewish religious teachers of the Mosaic Law and Pharisees who are under the Law in Israel!
Next time you’re reading the bible and you come across a verse and you wonder, “Does that apply to me?” Ask yourself the questions mentioned above and ask yourself, “Does the principle involved apply to me?” Why?
It’s important to keep things in context and to have the right perspective. One reason is because it can keep you out of trouble. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself,“ did he mean that it was okay to have sex with your neighbor? No, that would contradict what Jesus said about lust in Matthew 5:28. Jesus said, “Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Therefore, it is imperative to keep the Scriptures in context so truth can be taught as it was meant to be from God’s Word.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
What is my Motivation?
Recently, I was asked what my motivation was for teaching anti-tithing messages. Well, my first response was, “I'm motivated by love, grace and truth. John 1:17 - “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
However, that is a very broad answer and may be unsatisfactory to some readers. To be more specific, I will give you my disclaimer that I usually post along with my facebook notes and blog posts.
It states:
“It is most certainly not my intention to offend, hurt somebody's feelings, upset, insult, be rude to, cause offense or rub anyone the wrong way with this theologically based note. It is not my intention to convert, win over, convince, talk into, induce, persuade, talk round or bring around anyone’s mind about my beliefs or teachings. Please, let it be known that this is not a personal attack on anyone specific or any church or institution’s foundational beliefs and statements of faith. On the other hand, it is my clear intention to share, communicate, let somebody in on, impart, reveal and disclose my principles, opinions, views, theories and philosophy. It is because of my love for people, teaching the truth taught in the Holy Scriptures and discovering the endless and unfolding knowledge of God that I am compelled to write these things. I personally believe that I am moved and motivated by the Spirit of God to share the great and wonderful news of Christ with those whom I know and have known in the past. It is my heart‘s desire to share the passion I have for the love of Christ, the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the heart of God with freedom and liberty. If you are offended or have hurt feelings, have resentment towards me, or irritation, anger, or displeasure by this note; then I humbly and sincerely apologize from the heart with all gentleness and hope that you are able to forgive me beforehand. However, if you find yourself convicted or possibly swayed, or not in anyway offended and have the courage and humility to become different than the way you were before after reading and engaging in this note; then I most certainly commend you. Furthermore, I am delighted to know that because of this, we are able to share in this unique endeavor and great adventure that we call “life.”
I guess that if I had to summarize my motivation it would be righteous indignation. I am justifiably angry that I was taught wrong doctrine. I am outraged at the wrong and unfairness that contemporary pastors, preachers and teachers are teaching about money these days. Everything they teach about giving is based upon Old Testament Law of Moses.
All of their Scriptural are references for giving are from the Mosaic Law; which in fact, are not about giving freely for a purpose led by the Holy Spirit to help the poor and needy but instead are a religious and obedient law-following command given to Israel for land owners, farmers and cattle owners to give to the Levite priests for support in the Temple.
The modern definition of tithing is defined as giving 10% of your weekly or monthly on-going income to support the local church by paying it’s electric bills, staff salaries and special programs.
I hate to see my brothers and sisters in Christ being subtly deceived into giving 10% of their on-going pay-checks every week to their local church to pay bills, staff salaries and special programs. It’s not that these things are bad; their not. But, you don’t have to con people into giving when they would gladly give anyway if grace led the way.
Jesus said that tithing was an aspect or "matter of the Law" (Matt 23:23) and being under the Law is a curse (Gal 3:10). Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (Gal 3:13). Therefore, it is by having faith in Christ that we are blessed and we should be a blessing to those in need (Rom 4:13,16; Gal 3:8-14).
I know that God has called me to tell the church that we must do away with legalism and false teaching. We must get rid of the Old Testament thinking and start living by faith in truth and love with all the fullness of grace found only in a personal relationship with Christ. We must prepare our hearts for Christs return.
Worldly wealth is temporary and unreliable, so stop thinking that by legalistically giving 10% of your income to your local church somehow pleases God, it does not. Only by having faith in Christ can God be pleased.
Titus 1:11 "They [false teachers] must be silenced, because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching. And they do it only for money (NLT)."
2 Timothy 2:15 “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth (NLT).”
However, that is a very broad answer and may be unsatisfactory to some readers. To be more specific, I will give you my disclaimer that I usually post along with my facebook notes and blog posts.
It states:
“It is most certainly not my intention to offend, hurt somebody's feelings, upset, insult, be rude to, cause offense or rub anyone the wrong way with this theologically based note. It is not my intention to convert, win over, convince, talk into, induce, persuade, talk round or bring around anyone’s mind about my beliefs or teachings. Please, let it be known that this is not a personal attack on anyone specific or any church or institution’s foundational beliefs and statements of faith. On the other hand, it is my clear intention to share, communicate, let somebody in on, impart, reveal and disclose my principles, opinions, views, theories and philosophy. It is because of my love for people, teaching the truth taught in the Holy Scriptures and discovering the endless and unfolding knowledge of God that I am compelled to write these things. I personally believe that I am moved and motivated by the Spirit of God to share the great and wonderful news of Christ with those whom I know and have known in the past. It is my heart‘s desire to share the passion I have for the love of Christ, the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the heart of God with freedom and liberty. If you are offended or have hurt feelings, have resentment towards me, or irritation, anger, or displeasure by this note; then I humbly and sincerely apologize from the heart with all gentleness and hope that you are able to forgive me beforehand. However, if you find yourself convicted or possibly swayed, or not in anyway offended and have the courage and humility to become different than the way you were before after reading and engaging in this note; then I most certainly commend you. Furthermore, I am delighted to know that because of this, we are able to share in this unique endeavor and great adventure that we call “life.”
I guess that if I had to summarize my motivation it would be righteous indignation. I am justifiably angry that I was taught wrong doctrine. I am outraged at the wrong and unfairness that contemporary pastors, preachers and teachers are teaching about money these days. Everything they teach about giving is based upon Old Testament Law of Moses.
All of their Scriptural are references for giving are from the Mosaic Law; which in fact, are not about giving freely for a purpose led by the Holy Spirit to help the poor and needy but instead are a religious and obedient law-following command given to Israel for land owners, farmers and cattle owners to give to the Levite priests for support in the Temple.
The modern definition of tithing is defined as giving 10% of your weekly or monthly on-going income to support the local church by paying it’s electric bills, staff salaries and special programs.
I hate to see my brothers and sisters in Christ being subtly deceived into giving 10% of their on-going pay-checks every week to their local church to pay bills, staff salaries and special programs. It’s not that these things are bad; their not. But, you don’t have to con people into giving when they would gladly give anyway if grace led the way.
Jesus said that tithing was an aspect or "matter of the Law" (Matt 23:23) and being under the Law is a curse (Gal 3:10). Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (Gal 3:13). Therefore, it is by having faith in Christ that we are blessed and we should be a blessing to those in need (Rom 4:13,16; Gal 3:8-14).
I know that God has called me to tell the church that we must do away with legalism and false teaching. We must get rid of the Old Testament thinking and start living by faith in truth and love with all the fullness of grace found only in a personal relationship with Christ. We must prepare our hearts for Christs return.
Worldly wealth is temporary and unreliable, so stop thinking that by legalistically giving 10% of your income to your local church somehow pleases God, it does not. Only by having faith in Christ can God be pleased.
Titus 1:11 "They [false teachers] must be silenced, because they are turning whole families away from the truth by their false teaching. And they do it only for money (NLT)."
2 Timothy 2:15 “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth (NLT).”
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