It seems like Christianity and Jesus are increasingly under attack. What's going on? What we'll be looking at is what happens when Christians use human wisdom to interpret the Bible, twisting scripture away from its intended message. This blog is dedicated to using Scripture itself to interpret and help us understand Scripture. You are welcome to add your comments and thoughts. Other viewpoints are welcome. Disagreements are welcome.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Does God Obey All Of The Ten Commandments?
Does God keep the sabbath? Apparently not.
Jesus had healed an man who had been ill for 38 years, and he did it on the sabbath. (John chapter 5) When questioned by the Jews Jesus said, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working."
God works on the Sabbath! Isn't that a sin, not keeping the Sabbath?
We read in Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus (God) is holding the universe together: "...and upholds all thing by the word of His power."
So Jesus must be working seven days a week, because the universe does not go on pause every seven days. Colossians 1:17 says the same thing:
"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
So God breaks the Ten Commandments... or does He?
In Mark 2:27 Jesus says, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath."
What about Genesis where it says the God rested on the seventh day? In fact, some people say the God is still resting and that we are still in the seventh day. That can't be true because the verses we just looked at say that God is working on the time. So what does Genesis say?
"By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He Rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done."
Genesis just says that God rested from the work that He had done. By the way, does God need rest? No. And notice that it says He rested from "what He had done." This is talking about God having completed creation, and as an example to us He rested from His creation work, but He did not stop doing everything else that He does. God continued to work... on the seventh day.
So is God giving us a commandment He does not follow Himself? What's the purpose of the sabbath?
Let's read Exodus 31:14 - "You shall surely observe My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations."
Now God not keeping the sabbath is starting to make sense. It is a sign between God and mankind. It does not make sense to have a sign between God and God. But what is it a sign of?
Ezekiel 20:12 repeats what was said in Exodus 31:14. And then God repeats it again in Ezekiel 20:20. That's now three times God has said exactly the same thing. But these two verses ad some additional information. We are to keep the sabbath so that we remember, so that we know, the God is our Lord. The sabbath serves as a reminder that God is in charge and that we need to obey Him. By keeping the sabbath we are demonstrating our agreement that our salvation comes through our obedience. Since God is perfect He does not need to remind Himself. But, since we are not perfect, and we are under the New Covenant - saved through the blood of Jesus Christ - we are not obligated to keep the sabbath.
I was reading Colossians this morning and 2:20-23 really caught my attention. I've been studying Hinduism in preparation for a mission trip to India later this year. Hinduism is filled with rituals and other things you must do in order to please god (the gods). It is a religion with many requirements. Here is what Colossians says about the requirements religions impose on people:
"Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belong to it, do you submit to its rules: Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch! These are all destined to perish with us, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence."
Paul is not saying we should ignore the civil law. He is talking about religious "laws" that people create as requirements for salvation or pleasing god. These "laws" are usually justified as having "come from god" but in reality they are a creation of men. Paul is talking about Jewish laws in this case, but this equally applies to Hindus, Mormons, Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses. They all impose "must do" laws on people.
As Christians we know there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. No matter how good we are at following religious laws our most righteous deeds are like filthy rags to God. And as Christians we are not obligated to follow any of the laws God has given us. We are not obligated, but instead out of love we desire to live in obedience to God. Live in obedience to God not because of what we'll get in return, but because we recognize what God has done for us (He first loved us) and out of our love for God we desire to follow the example Jesus gave us and his obedience and love.
There is a big difference. Striving to live in obedience because of what you'll get in return (all religions except Christianity). This is self-centered. Or striving to live in obedience to God simply because you love God... you get nothing in return. This puts the focus on others.
This is one of the fundamental differences between Christianity and all other religions. Many of their activities (laws, requirements, etc.) are self-centered. They are about getting something for yourself from god.
In Christianity everything is done freely. Nothing is received in return from God other than what He has already given and is willing to freely give to us. God has already given us the greatest possible gift, salvation from the consequences of our sin. It is given as a free gift. There is nothing we can do to earn it. There is nothing we can do improve on it.
This is the question being asked in this year's Great American Think-Off, a contest for amateur philosophers sponsored by the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center.
It seems to me the first question that needs to be answered is, what is right and what is wrong? We don't know if we are doing right, if we don't know what right is. Once we have that answer then the answer to the original question is obvious and trivial.
It is God who sets the standard. If we are living in obedience to God, we are doing right, and in those circumstances it is never wrong to do the right thing. However, if we let human values and morals rule our lives (as is true for most people) then yes, it can be wrong to do the "right" thing. Because, in fact, the right thing according to human judgment is the wrong thing based on God's standards.
In a comment to a previous post about Are Mormons Christians, a Mormon had this to say about being "good enough" to be acceptable to God.
"Oh, and yes I am good enough. I am not perfect, but I am working on it, and that is what my Heavenly Father wants for me."
"With that last comment, I now realize why you are so quick to disprove the doctrine of the LDS church. If in fact someone made you feel as though you were not good enough, they were wrong, and clearly did not understand LDS doctrine. The doctrine is perfect, the people are not."
I had asked this anonymous Mormon whether or not they were a good person. Then asked some questions based on the Ten Commandments. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever taken something that does not belong to you (that includes downloading music from the internet and fudging a little on your taxes)? Have you always honored your parents? Have you ever looked with lust? Jesus said that if you look with lust that is adultery in your heart.
The Ten Commandments are like a mirror showing us how God sees us. What He sees are law breakers... people who disobey Him.
What happens if you break a law, get caught and are standing in court before a judge? Can you say, 'Yes I'm not perfect. I've broken the law. But I'm basically a good person, judge. So you should let me go." Will the judge let you go? Not if he is a good judge. You've broken the law and must pay the penalty.
God, is a much better judge than any human judge. He is just, and He will always see that justice is done. You've broken the law, you must pay the penalty. The penalty for breaking God's law is death hell).
What can you do to avoid the death penalty? Nothing.
Let's say you are in a human court. You are guilty. The penalty is $1,000,000 or prison for life. You don't have $1,000,000. But then someone you don't know walks into the courtroom, opens a briefcase, and it has $1,000,000 in cash! They offer to pay your fine. What happens to you now? Your penalty is paid you go free!!
That is what Jesus has done for you. He has died in your place, paying your fine so you can go free.
Let's say you a month later you walk into the same courtroom and say to the judge, "Let me tell you about all the good things I've been doing." Does that do you any good? No. What are you saying about the person who paid your fine for you? "I don't think what you did is good enough. I must add some of my "good works." What an insult to Jesus!
Besides, you can't do any works that are good compared with the goodness of God. Isaiah 64:6 says that the VERY BEST we can do, our most righteous deeds are like filthy rags to God. Ephesians 2:8,9 makes is clear that there is nothing we can do that is good enough to gain us credit. We will never be able to boast in heaven, saying "I did... " My dear Mormon, it's all about God and not a bit about you.
Ephesians 2:8,9 - "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that NO ONE MAY BOAST."
We've been making significant additions to our web site this past week. The one that I've found most encouraging is a video we've added to our home page. It is called George Street.
The George Street video is about eight minutes in length. It's about evangelism and doing something as simple as handing out tracts on George Street in Sydney, Australia. I highly recommend it.
The previous four posts were about the characteristics of non-believers. In 1 John 2:3 we see what a Christian looks like.
#5 - "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands." 1 John 2:3
Verse 5 continues: "But if anyone obeys His word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him. Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." - 1 John 2:5,6
The test of knowledge of God is moral conduct. This is a tough requirement. When I first read these verses I was discouraged. There was no way I could obey God perfectly. It seemed as though I was always doing something wrong, so God's love could not be complete in me because of my failure.
The description in 1 John 2:3 is repeated in 1 John 3:24 - "The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in him."
Again in 1 John 5:2 it is repeated again: "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments."
This same characteristic of a believer is also given in other places in the Bible, for example Revelation 12:17 - "So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus."
Again in Revelation 14:12 - "Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus."
There are three characteristics listed here:
1 Faith in Jesus Christ 2 Love 3 Obey God's commandments
We also see that we are to walk as Jesus did. We see this same thing in 1 Peter 2:21 which says - "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps."
How did Jesus walk? What did Jesus come to do?
"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" - Philippians 2:8
"'My food,' said Jesus, 'is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.'" - John 4:34
Throughout the New Testament we see that Jesus walked in obedience to God (Matthew 26:39,42, Mark 14:36, John 14:30,31, Romans 5:18,19 and many others).
We can learn a little more from the book of Titus. It says the same thing as 1st John, but in a different way -- "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good." - Titus 1:16
Here we see that it is life-style, our behavior that sets a Christian apart from a non-Christian. When someone becomes a Christian there is a resulting change in their behavior. We can not be perfect in our obedience as Jesus was. But we can walk the path He walked, striving--out of love--to live in obedience and love through the strength we get from our faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, Christians still sin, but it is a falling into sin, not a willful diving into sin.
Love and Obedience
If you want to summarize the Law of Moses, Jesus boiled it down to just two action items. Love God and love your neighbor. But what does it mean to love? This is too big of a topic for this post, I'll be discussing it in a future post. However, to summarize, the word used for "love" in the New Testament is an action word. It means to love with your actions. It does not saying anything about loving with your feelings. Biblical love is all about doing loving actions. What are the most loving actions? Would you consider obeying God's commandments, doing what God told us to do, to be loving God?
John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command." (NIV)
John 14:21 "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." (NIV)
John 14:23 "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching." (NIV)
Yesterday I wrote about how obeying God (works) is a result of belief in Jesus Christ. This is sometimes referred to as "faith that works." The problem is that many Christians stop thinking at this point. But, John chapter 14 tells us there is more. Love.
Why is it that faith results in obedience? Because of love.
We do not obey God because we are compelled by the force of God's command. We obey God because we love Him. We obey God because we want to.
Love is a difficult word for Americans to deal with. We tend to only assign one meaning to the word love--a soft, warm fuzzy feeling--full of good thoughts about another person. We think of love as an emotion. This is not what Jesus means when he says, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." In this case love is an action word. It means to do caring and sacrificial things for another person. For example, if a person is in need of warm clothing and food, the Biblical way to love that person is to give them food and clothing--not a hug and words about how you feel their pain.
So how do you love God? By obeying God. By doing what God says to do. Feed the hungry. Clothe those who are cold. Take care of widows and orphans. And spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
