How Christians Relate to the Old Testament Law

So this is a reading from Galatians chapter 3 and it says this,

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?

It is before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.

So let me ask you a question.

Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Are you so foolish?

Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to perfect yourselves by your own flesh?

Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain?

Doesn't He, that's God, who supplies the Holy Spirit to you, works miracles amongst you,

does He do so by you obeying works of the law or simply by hearing with faith?

Remember, Abraham, he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

So then know this, it's those who are of faith who are the children of Abraham.

Because for all who rely on the works of the law, they actually find themselves there under a curse.

It is written, cursed is everyone who does not obey everything written in the book of the law and do them.

Now, it's evident that no one can be justified before God by the law.

For rather, the righteous will live by faith.

But the law, that's not of faith.

No, the one who does them must live by them.

But Christ has redeemed us, that means saved us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

Remember how it's written, cursed is anyone who's hung on a tree.

So, in Christ Jesus, the blessings that were given to Abraham, that promised to him,

might come to us, that we might receive the Holy Spirit through faith.

So, the law, is it then contrary to God's promises?

No.

No.

For if a law had been given that could give life, impart life, well then righteousness would indeed come by that law.

But friends, remember the scripture imprisoned everything under sin.

So that by the promise, by faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe in him.

Now, before faith came, we were held captive.

We were enslaved under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed in Jesus.

So the law was like a guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

But now that faith has come, now that Christ has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

For Christ Jesus, we are children of God.

And simply through faith.

For as many of you who were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.

This is God's word.

A couple of scriptures.

I don't know if you recognize any of these.

Deuteronomy 14 says this.

He shall not boil a young goat in his mother's milk.

Or what about Leviticus 19.

Don't plant two different types of seed in your field.

Or wear clothing made from different types of fabric.

Or Numbers 19.

Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days.

Or Leviticus.

Do not turn to mediums and fortune tellers.

Do not seek them out.

They will make you unclean.

I am the Lord your God.

Now, the Old Testament has lots of rules and regulations.

And some of them are pretty unusual, right?

I wonder what you think of them.

If you are not a Christian with us today,

you may think,

that is one reason why I never want to become a Christian.

Look at all these rules.

Or maybe you think these Christians are crazy.

But,

if these rules and these instructions are in the Bible,

for those of us that are Christians,

or those of us that are on the journey towards faith,

what are we to do with them?

How do we make sense of them?

Should we obey them?

Should we not obey them?

And it gets a bit complicated,

because that is the question I want to ask.

How do Christians think about and handle these laws,

these commandments,

they find in the Old Testament?

And part of the thing that is confusing,

is that the Bible itself seems to not always be clear on that.

For instance, Romans 10 says,

For Christ is the end of the law for those who believe in Him.

It seems like Jesus is saying,

Listen, I claim you don't need to worry about any of those rules and laws.

But then, in other places,

Jesus, Matthew 5 says,

Do not think that I have come to do away with the law and the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them.

I have come to fulfill them.

In fact, if anybody teaches that these aren't important,

they'll be least in the kingdom.

Not one iota, not one dot is going to be taken away.

And whoever honors them,

that's a great person in God's kingdom.

So here you have these two sides.

On the one hand, the Bible says,

they're going to be done away with.

On the other hand, it feels like,

Jesus says, no, these are important.

So which one is it?

How do we handle this?

I want us to think about three things.

I want us to think about the purpose of the law,

the power of the law,

and the person's law.

So firstly, the purpose.

Let's think about this.

In the Old Testament,

there are many, many laws,

about 600 of them.

And they kind of broadly fit into three categories.

The categories aren't absolutely crystal clear.

There's a little bit of overlap.

You see a blurry line there.

The three categories of this.

There's the civil laws.

The civil laws helped Israel function as a nation.

Right?

There were laws such as,

when someone gets married,

what do you do?

If somebody loses their property,

what do you do?

What do you do if a thief breaks into your house

and steals something and you catch it?

Laws that are,

what happens if somebody unintentionally harms somebody else?

What happens if somebody borrows your jacket

and they lose it?

How do you handle these things?

These civil laws helped Israel function as a nation.

Right?

There's a second category called ceremonial laws.

These have to do with the temple,

and worship,

and sacrifices,

and,

and bills,

and goats,

and offerings,

and these kinds of things.

And there's lots of laws there.

How do you,

how many goats do you bring?

And,

what clothing must Aaron wear?

And all these kinds of things.

And these have to do with the worship and temple,

um,

in ancient Israel.

And there's a whole host of these laws

that restrict Israel from any practices

that resemble the,

the pagan nations around them.

Right?

And the point of these is to create a mental picture

in the minds of the people

that God is holy,

He's distinctive,

He's other,

and that we are,

are,

are not the same as God.

And we've got to find a way to

be brought into relationship with God.

That's the point of these laws.

Then there's a third category,

which is moral laws.

These really have to do with what's right or wrong.

Morality.

And think of the Ten Commandments, right?

Do not steal,

do not lie,

honor your mother and father.

And these laws have to do with,

what does it mean to be a moral agent,

a moral being in a moral universe,

living under a moral God?

So,

any,

each category has its own purpose.

Um,

now,

what do we do with these?

Do we obey them all?

Well,

the first category largely have fallen away,

right?

We,

we don't need to follow those largely.

They had to do with the nation of Israel

at that time and that place in Israel.

Uh,

we don't have a temple.

We don't have these nationals.

We've got Hong Kong laws.

We follow those laws.

We don't need to worry about the laws to ancient Israel.

The second category,

the ceremonial laws,

well,

those were really pointing towards a,

a truer and better fulfillment.

In other words,

they were meant to be a small scale picture

that pointed us towards something better,

which was Jesus.

So,

think about this.

Jesus is the true temple,

the one who brought heaven to earth,

the one that God's presence was on earth.

We don't need a temple anymore

because we've got Jesus.

Jesus is the true high priest

who intercedes for people.

So,

we don't need the high priest.

We've got Jesus.

Jesus is the true,

uh,

uh,

curtain that was torn in two on the cross.

So,

now we've open access to God.

So,

the ceremonial laws,

they tell us a lot about God,

but we don't need to go to the temple.

We don't need to follow all those

because we've got Jesus.

But what about the moral laws?

The laws that are right and wrong?

Do we still follow those?

Do we still have to obey those?

The Bible says that

Jesus actually takes

all these moral laws,

hundreds of them,

and brings them down to two things.

Do you remember what he says?

He says,

love God and love others.

He sums up all these moral laws.

He says,

if you can do these two things,

love God above all else

and love others more than yourself,

that's the point of the law.

Now,

I want us to think about it this way.

So,

so,

so they're,

they're the laws

and,

and they have different purposes.

Some of the purposes still remain.

Some have fallen away.

But what does that mean for us today?

How do we live this out?

If any of you have read the Old Testament lately,

what do you do with these laws?

Think about it this way.

Think of a mirror,

right?

What does a mirror do?

A mirror helps you see

that which you can't naturally see.

It helps you see that

which is out of your natural line of sight.

So,

one of the things I said this morning was

if you,

if you go to the hairdresser

and they give you a haircut

and they say,

do you like it at the back?

And you say,

oh,

I can't see it at the back.

So,

what do they do?

They pull a whole bunch of mirrors up

and they help you to see

what you can't naturally see,

right?

Mirrors help you to see

what is outside a normal line of sight.

The law

in the Old Testament,

God's rules,

God's commands

is meant to function like a mirror.

And in two ways,

it helps us to see

God and His heart.

Nobody can naturally see God

face to face,

but when you look into,

when you read God's commands

and His statutes,

it's meant to help us

to see something of God

that we couldn't see

apart from it.

So,

think about this.

Think about a law like

do not murder,

okay?

What's wrong with murder?

Why should we not murder?

Well,

one of the things is

it tells us a lot about God.

As we look at that

and think about that,

it tells us

it's like looking to mirror

that it reflects

who God is.

How so?

Well,

it tells us that

for God,

every single human life

is necessary

and important

and valuable.

From a life

that's a few weeks old

in the womb,

maybe even the mom

doesn't even know

it's there,

to someone who's rich,

someone who's poor,

it doesn't matter

your socioeconomic status,

your ethnicity,

every human life

is valuable to God.

A law like do not murder

tells us something

about how God feels

about people.

Well,

think about the law

like do not lie.

Okay?

One of the ten commandments.

Do not lie.

What's so important about that?

Well,

think about what it tells us

about God.

It tells us that

in God,

there is no duplicity.

God is 100% truthful,

honest.

What you see

is what you get.

In God,

there's no hidden side,

no darkness

that you'll discover

later on on the journey.

God himself

is 100% honest,

truthful,

transparent,

and so his law

reflects that.

Or think of a law

like do not harvest

your fields up

into the margins,

but leave some

for the sojourner,

the foreigner.

What does that tell us?

It tells us about

God's care and compassion

for the suffering,

those that are vulnerable

in our city.

Or think of a law

like do not turn

to mediums

and fortune tellers.

Do not seek them out.

I am the Lord your God.

What does that tell us

about God?

Well, it reflects that

God is the one

who holds our future.

We don't need to

control our future.

I don't need to go

to Guna here

and find out,

Guna, sorry,

Guna.

I've got another friend

called Guna

that I was talking to

this week.

I don't need to go

to Guna and say,

Guna, tell me the future,

tell me the future.

Actually, my future

is held in God's hands,

not in his hands.

So when you look

at the law,

it's like a mirror

that reflects something

of who God is.

But the law

is also meant to be

a mirror that

reflects what God

reflects something

about us.

Think about this,

right, when you're

having lunch with

somebody and someone

says, hey, Jeremy,

let me pick on Jeremy.

Jeremy, you've got

something in your teeth,

right?

And you pull out a mirror

to see that which

you can't see yourself.

And you look and say,

oh, okay, I better

go sort that out,

right?

A mirror tells us

something about us

that we can't see

about ourselves.

When we read

God's law and

commandments,

His statutes,

sometimes they can

feel arbitrary,

but they're meant

to be a mirror

that shows us

what's going

in our own hearts.

So let's again

think about those

two laws.

God's law says,

do not murder.

What does that

tell me about me?

I'm not sure

about any of you.

I haven't murdered

anybody lately.

You'll be pleased

to know.

But what is that

law really saying?

What's it speaking

to?

It's saying,

don't harbor

bitterness or anger

or resentment

in your heart.

Sometimes when I

read that and I

think about it,

I think,

actually,

that's not me.

I am somebody

that sometimes

harbors bitterness,

resentment.

Sometimes I get

highly frustrated.

I don't really

want to forgive

people.

Actually,

it reveals

there's something

wrong in my

heart.

Well,

think of another

law like,

do not lie.

What does that

mean?

It doesn't just

mean blatant lie.

It means,

let my life be

100% transparent

before other

people.

In every situation,

every circumstance

I'm in,

to project what's

absolutely true.

No facade,

no projecting

an image,

not trying to be

something I'm

not,

in social media,

in front of my

boss,

clients,

my family,

this is who I

am.

When I read

that commandment,

it says,

do not lie,

and I think about

that,

I think,

gee,

does that really

reflect my life?

Is that really

who I am?

Actually,

maybe I'm not

the most honest

person.

It's like a

mirror that's

shining a light

into part of

my life and

my soul.

So,

God's law is

meant to be like

a mirror,

the purpose.

Second,

think about the

power of the

law.

Now,

there's a

problem here,

and that is,

the law,

let's go back

to the analogy

of a mirror.

What can a

mirror do?

A mirror can

point something

else,

but it has no

power to

change it,

right?

So,

let's say,

let's say I'm

having lunch

with Bernard,

and Bernard

looks,

I take a big

bite of my

burger,

and Bernard

says,

hey,

kid,

have you

looked at

your teeth

lately?

There's

something

really strange.

Your one

teeth is

going really

skew,

right?

Is that

normal?

I haven't

noticed that

before.

And I

pull up my

mirror,

and I

look and

say,

oh,

my tooth

is chipped,

or something

wrong,

right?

The mirror

can tell me

what's wrong,

but it has

no power to

fix me,

no power to

heal me.

It has no

power to

change our

circumstances.

All it does

is it tells

me what's

wrong.

But what

does the

mirror do?

It tells me

I need to

go get it

fixed,

I need to

go get it

sorted out.

In other

words,

it's going

to drive me

to the

dentist,

right?

Or somebody

looks and

says,

hey kid,

you've got a

big gash on

your face,

what happens?

Oh,

I don't

know.

I look in

the mirror

and I

see,

oh,

I'm

bleeding.

What's

it going

to do?

It's got

no power

to heal

me,

but it

does have

the power

to go

and drive

me to

the one

that can

heal me.

When we

read the

commands in

the Bible,

sometimes it

feels like

it's so

condemning.

Don't do

this,

don't do

this,

this is

right,

this is

wrong.

But what's

the power?

The power is

not meant

to fix

you,

it's meant

to drive

you to

the one

who can

fix you.

And that

leads us

to the

third thing,

the purpose,

the power,

and the

person.

What is

the law?

What are

God's commands

meant to

do?

They're

meant to

bring us

to Jesus.

Jesus is

the person

that can

heal us,

that can

fix us,

that can

make things

right again.

If you've

got a

bulletin in

front of you,

I want you

to just look

at some

scripture.

There's a

couple of

verses I want

to point out.

The commands,

the law,

are never

meant to

solve our

problems.

They're never

going to

make us

righteous

people,

but they

can point

in a

direction.

What is

the direction?

It's not

moral perfection,

it's not

religious duty,

it's to

Jesus,

to Christ.

Look at

what verse

24 says,

24 is near

the bottom.

It says,

so then the

law was like

a guardian,

a guardian

means somebody

who shows

you the way,

somebody who

helps you

along the way,

until Jesus

came.

And now

that faith

in Christ

has come,

we don't

need that

guardian

anymore.

In Christ

Jesus,

we are all

children of

God.

Friends,

these commands

are meant to

show us,

we need

Jesus.

Think about

that verse

I quoted

earlier,

Matthew 5,

where Jesus

says,

I have come

to fulfill

the law.

How did

Jesus fulfill

the law?

Well,

think about

three ways.

One way

Jesus came

to fulfill

the law

was,

he perfectly

obeyed it.

every single

thing that

the rules

and the

commands

and the

statutes

and the

commandments,

every single

thing it

asked for,

Jesus perfectly

fit the bill.

Did Jesus

love God

above all

else?

Absolutely.

Did Jesus

love people

more than

himself?

Absolutely.

Did Jesus

even love

his enemies

more than

himself?

He went to

the cross

for us.

Jesus

perfectly

obeyed

every aspect

of the

law.

But think

about another

way that

Jesus

fulfilled the

law.

The law

had two

things.

It promised

blessings for

those who

followed it,

but it also

said those

who didn't

are going to

be under

a curse,

under judgment,

under punishment.

Look at our

verse,

look at verse

10 in the

reading.

It says,

For it is

written,

cursed is

everyone who

doesn't abide

by the things

written in the

law and do

them.

That's what

the law

said.

The law

said,

this is

God's

statute,

but if

you don't

keep it,

there's

trouble for

you.

Verse

13,

but Jesus

has redeemed

us from

the curse

of the

law by

becoming

a curse

for us

in our

place.

So in

Jesus,

the blessings

that were

promised to

Abraham might

come to

all of us.

Friends,

Jesus was

judged as

a sinner so

that we can

be accepted

as holy

and righteous.

Jesus was

judged as

someone who

broke all

God's laws,

even though

he hadn't,

so that we

can be judged

as those who

have kept

all God's

laws,

even though

we haven't.

Jesus went

to the

cross and

was punished

in our

place.

He was

cursed so

that we

can be

set free.

That's

amazing.

Jesus

perfectly

fulfilled the

law.

But there's

one last

way that

Jesus

fulfills the

law,

and it's

this.

He says

that if

you will

trust in

him,

if you

will come

to him,

if you

will put

your hope

in him

rather than

yourself,

he will

actually give

you his

spirit that

will help

you to

live a

life that

looks like

you're

obeying

all the

commands

and the

regulations.

Jesus will

give you

his Holy

Spirit to

actually change

us from

the inside.

Rather than

just giving

you a mirror

saying,

hey,

this is

what's

wrong,

fix it,

Jesus will

take you

by the

hand and

say,

come,

come with

me,

I'm going

to help

you change,

I'm going

to fix

that for

you.

Jesus

will

actually

change

our

hearts

so that

we become

the kind

of people

who do

love God

and love

others.

But the

point that

Paul makes

here is

that there's

two requirements.

It's coming

to Jesus,

not ourselves.

It's trusting

in the

Spirit,

not our

own efforts.

You see

what Paul's

saying?

See,

the temptation

when you

read the

law is to

say,

okay,

I guess I've

got a lot

of work to

do,

I guess I

better get

busy and

get going.

But the

Bible says

actually don't

do that.

Friends,

take the

law and

get rid of

it.

rather come

to Jesus

and say,

Jesus,

I need

you.

I can't

do this

on my

own.

I can't

fix my

heart.

God,

I'm bitter.

I'm angry.

I find it

hard to

forgive others.

Jesus,

won't you

come and

change my

heart?

Well,

God,

I'm not

honest.

I'm not

transparent.

I project

an image

before people.

I want

people to

see me

a certain

way.

Jesus,

come and

change my

heart.

And Jesus

says that if

you come to

him honestly

and surrender

and trust to

him,

and ask him

to do what

you can't

do on your

own,

he will

give you

his spirit

and he

will change

you from

the inside

out.

Friends,

do you want

your life to

look something

like Jesus?

Man,

I know I

do.

I want to

love God

like Jesus

did.

I want to

love people

like Jesus

did.

I really

need that.

Do you

want to

love people

like Jesus

did?

The answer

is don't

look to

yourself.

Don't beat

yourself up and

say, I'm

going to try

to do better

this week.

I'm going to

try harder.

The answer

is come to

him and

say, Christ,

I need you.

Come and

have your way

in my life.

And he will

change you from

the inside

out and he

will make

you the

person that

you want

to be.

So friends,

here's the

point.

As you read

the Bible,

there's going

to be lots

of things

that are

going to

sound strange

and obscure

and you're

going to

wonder, what

on earth is

that law

about?

Don't think

this is some

old archaic

law, don't

even think

about it.

Don't think,

oh, this is

some standard

of righteousness,

I better

obey this

to be pleasing

to God.

Let it, like a

mirror, drive

you to Jesus

to say, God,

what I see

here tells me

something about

myself.

I need you.

Come and have

your way in my

life.

And if you

surrender to him,

if you trust

him, he'll

change you and

he'll give you

the Holy Spirit

so that you can

live a holy

life, pleasing

to him and

pleasing to you.

Let's close

there.

Lord Jesus, the

Bible is

sometimes hard,

sometimes confusing.

There are things

in there that we

don't always

understand.

But Jesus, we

want to trust

you.

God, every one

of us in this

room are in a

different place.

Some of us are

anxious and

worried.

Some of us are

fearful for the

future.

God, some of us

feel like life is

out of control and

we're just trying to

hold on for dear

life.

God, if we're

honest,

we don't always

love you and we

don't always love

others.

But God, we need

you.

And so we come to

you now.

Jesus, won't you

come and have your

way?

Won't you send us

your spirit to work

in our lives, to

write your will and

your ways on our

heart so that we

become the kind of

people that you

want us to be?

Not by external

influence, but

internal change of

heart.

Jesus, I pray,

come and have your

way.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.