Monsterlizard - Born Again

1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  3“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

 6“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:1-6)

We all have sin.  We have all done and continue to do bad things, and what Jesus is saying is that we cannot judge others while we are not perfect. 

5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians  4:5)

10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11It is written:
   ” ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
   ’every knee will bow before me;
      every tongue will confess to God.’ “^[a] 12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. 
 13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. (Romans 14:10-13)

This is not a small charge, it is repeated in the New Testament.  This is not saying that sin is ok, it is just that we are not worthy to be judges.  In John 8:1 - 11, Jesus shows the men attempting to stone the adulterating woman that since they are not without sin, that they cannot kill her.  However, he does admit that what the woman has been doing is wrong, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

We should attempt to help each other get away from sin, not judge each other for that sin.

“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.

I laid in bed reading “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren tonight like I have been for several nights, and something struck me.  The part I was reading about was cultivating community, however my mind wondered on another track early into the chapter.

 There was a passage from 1 Corinthians 5:3-12 (msg).  The line that took me back was, “I’m not responsible for what outsiders do, but don’t we have some responsibility for those within our community of believers?”.  Now, this was to show that we as followers of Christ need to be diligent in holding ourselves to the standards God has set out for us.  I however found something else in it, (verse 12) “…I’m not responsible for what outsiders do…”.  I believe what Paul is saying is that we should not be wasting our time trying to hold non-believers to God’s laws.  Instead we should use that energy within our body of believers.  He closes with, (verse 13) “God decides on the outsiders…”. 

Aside from the obvious message from Paul about confronting problems in the Church, I think he is telling another message.  Don’t judge non-believers, God will do that in His time.  So, next time I get upset about some insignificant person or group attempting to remove His laws from our government, I am going to be humbled by verses 12 and 13 because those laws weren’t for them anyway.

Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who intervenes for those who wait for him. Isaiah 64:4

The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.  The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? 1 Corinthians 2:14-16

These are 2 verses I was drawn to this morning.  I Googled daily devotionals when I got to work to start my day, and this is what the Holy Spirit let me to. Upper Room - Daily Devotional  I am amazed at how clear the Bible is in explaining what we are here to do.  I am sure I am on the correct path now, but I am still unsure where it will lead me.  I just pray to have the dedication that Abraham in Genesis 12:1 had, and can walk the path before me without question.