Monsterlizard - Born Again

I was lead to this chapter today (Romans 14), and decided to write about it instead of continuing with Matthew 5.  I will get back to Matthew tomorrow, but I felt this couldn’t wait.

Romans 14 really gets at what I think the Laws of Moses stand today.  So many questions I have had are answered in these verses.  The LORD alone is our judge.  We should not do things just because someone else tells us it is the right thing to do.  God gives us the answers in our conscience, we just have to listen.  In the same right, we should not judge others who choose to do things different from us.  If someone believes that what they are doing is correct, then it is.  Paul, in Romans 14 uses food to make this point.  I would imagine the diet restrictions of the Laws were on a lot of early Christians minds, just as they have been on mine.  However, I think food was just an example here, and anything in our modern lives can fit this teaching.

The teachings of Jesus were of loving your neighbor.  He taught to feed the hungry, to cloth the naked, to reconcile with your brother.  In Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus says, “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”  He doesn’t say, make your brother follow rule X, or do Y.  He commands that we reconcile.  I would think that reading this says that even if your brother has done something that is so vile (enter any number of atrocities here) you want nothing to do with him, that it is your duty to let it go.  Don’t push him away to make yourself feel better.  Never once can I find in the Scriptures where Jesus said to condemn anyone for anything.

So, we must remember that everything we do, we do for God.  Likewise, everything others do, they do for God.  We all will be judged alone.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-28)

This has been one of the most difficult sections for me to understand in Matthew.  Heather has friends who are Messianic Jews.  They practice traditional Jewish law, but also believe Jesus is Christ. (At least that is what I think they believe, if I am wrong some please correct me.)  They are good people, and Joshua is going to teach us Hebrew which I am very excited about (but that is subject for another post).  Anyway, knowing them has started Heather and I on a journey to discover where the laws of Moses should sit with Christians today.  “Should we keep Kosher”, has been our biggest question.

As I have been readings other views on this section, I find people saying Jesus is saying that we must keep the law, while I find others saying that we don’t have to listen to Old Testament law.  Who is correct?  I think I have determined that both are. 

Abolish Vs. Fulfill
First, I don’t think you can study these 3 verses without looking at the semantics.  Jesus is saying that he has not come to abolish in the NIV and NASB.  In the KJV it says “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy…”  From my research I have found that abolish/destroy translated from the Greek “kataluo” which means “destroy, demolish, dismantle, do away with, abolish, annul, make invalid, repeal”.  While fulfill translates from the Greek “pleroo” which means “make full; bring something to completion, finish something already begun; by deeds, a prophecy, an obligation, a promise, a law, a request, a desire, a hope, a duty, a fate, a destiny; Complete, finish, bring to an end”  From here I see that Jesus is not getting rid of the laws.  So, then do we need to follow the laws of Moses as Christians?  It would seem so to me at this point, but we need to keep reading.

Practice and Teach the Commands
As I read verse 19, it would really appear that we should follow the laws.  “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:19)  It is right there in plain English.  Don’t break the commandments or teach others to break them.  It is looking really bleak that I will be eating sausage for breakfast tomorrow.

Righteousness
But wait, verse 20 throws a wrench in it: “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”(Matthew 5:20)  The Pharisees are the high priests.  These are the guys that make sure all Jews are following the law.  They are the ones that decide what the law really means.  How can we possibly surpass them?  I believe the answer is in the word “righteousness”.  Jesus doesn’t say don’t eat this or wash that a certain way.  He doesn’t say that the law must be followed to the letter.  He broadens it to “righteousness”.  As you read further through to the end of chapter 5, Jesus shows that it is not the robotic motions of obeying the law that are important.  It is doing good things in bad situations.  Not killing anyone during your life does not get you into heaven.  It is mearly the anger which casts your fate.  So, I believe that the Laws of Moses and the demands of the Prophets in the Old Testament are relevant today and should be followed by all Christians.  However, don’t get caught up in semantics.  It is the spirit of the laws that are important, not blindly doing things from muscle memory.

1 Corinthians 9
To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.  (1 Corinthians 9:20-21)
I don’t want to get into this too much until I am ready to discuss 1 Corinthians, but this line really caught my eye: “though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law”  Christ has redefined the law so as to make it relevant to all, Jews and Gentiles alike.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)

The first section of these verses about the salt was confusing to me.  I thought it was probably because of the time period, but after reading it will the part about light the salt made more sense. 

In the section about light, Jesus explains:  Light is not something that people try to hide.  When we turn on a light, we don’t try to keep the rays to ourselves (except maybe when I am reading in bed and Heather is asleep).  We share light, even if we don’t realize that we are.  I remember back to junior high school history class when the teacher was talking about the American settlers putting up fences.  The Indians didn’t understand this, and my teacher made the analogy of air.  Taking claim to land was as strange a concept to them as it would be to us if people took claim to air.  So, in the same way that we don’t make claim to air, we don’t normally take claim to light and try to keep it to ourselves.  Jesus then teaches that we should do good things in the name of God, and lead others by example.

Understanding the light section really brought the salt section into focus.  By Jesus saying we are the salt of the earth, I think he is saying: we will last forever in this world by spreading to those we come in contact with.

First, if you understand salt, you will know that salt cannot become unsalty.  The very properties of salt constitute what it is.  It is like saying that water has lost it wetness.  Un-wet water is not water at all, it is nothing.  The only way to make salt unsalty is to wash it away into nothing.  However, once diluted away it makes salty all that came in contact with it.  If you have a shaker of salt, and put it into a pot of water, you no longer have salt, but you now have salty water.  Then if you cook something in that pot of water, the item you cook becomes salty.  So, we are like salt who with our faith cannot be made to lose it.  We can be washed away into nothing, but in all actuality our properties live on in those we touch.

I haven’t posted in a while because I left town to pick up my brother.  He is going to stay with us for a while.  This is a huge step for him to ask for help, and move all the way out to Texas. 

He came out to visit a few weeks ago, and Heather and I urged him to stay.  While he was out, I was drawn to Matthew 18:21-35.  I told him the other day, “my motto for us with you is 70 times 7″.  He started doing the math, 490, 77, etc.  I let him know that the mathimatical number is irrelevant to what I am saying.

I don’t know if he’ll ever read my posts here, but incase he does, here is the answer:
Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” 
“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!” (Matthew 18:21-22)