Law: Part II

One of the major problems with words “law”, “ordinances”, and “covenant” in the bible is which one is being discussed. Western civilization was built on Christian moral principles found in the Torah which includes the Ten Commandments. However, all law was not of equal status in biblical times. In the 20th chapter of Exodus, God orders Moses to explain certain laws to the Israelites. These laws are still applicable today. Starting with the 21st chapter of Exodus and ending with the 9th verse of the 23rd chapter are most but not all of these laws. One will find these laws surprisingly familiar to our laws today because they are foundation stones to modern day judicial systems.

The Mosaic laws were a two-sided Biblical Covenant made between God and Israel. Most of these laws were intended only to Israel and not directly applicable for us today. Many of these commandments dealt with dangerous animals, uncovered pits, fires in fields, God’s expectation of purity in agriculture practices, food, and regulations concerning uncleanness. Some of these laws may seem strange because they are now taken out of their original context. However, nine of the Ten Commandments were renewed in the New Testament.
It is important to look at the underlying meaning of the Commandment. Jesus did this when a Pharisee asked Him which was the greatest commandment... “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:36-40). Jesus said He had not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17-18). In saying this, Jesus was not saying that the Law was no longer the Word of God, but the true purpose of the Law was to point to His teaching, person and work. Jesus was saying He did not come to sweep away the righteous demands of the Law, but He came to fulfill its righteous demands. Jesus fulfilled all the righteous demands and all the prophetic foreshadowing of the Law and of the Prophets. Jesus was the final Interpreter of and Authority over the Law and its meaning. Jesus was not advocating the continuation of the traditional Jewish approach of adherence to the Law. Nor was He advocating the Law be dismissed altogether. He was proclaiming the meaning of the Law must be interpreted in light of His coming and in light of the profound changes introduced by the New Covenant. Jesus reinstated all but one of the Ten Commandments (Matthew 19:18-19). He modified the law on divorce (Matthew 5:31-32). He intensified laws on murder and adultery (Matthew 5:21-22; 27-28). He changed significantly laws on oaths, “an eye for an eye” and “love for enemies” (Matthew 5:33-37; 38-42; 43-47).
In the New Testament, Israel has become the church. “We, the church, are “the Israel of God,” says Paul (Galatians 6:16). Ceremonial law has been fulfilled in Christ and is transformed into the sacraments. Civil laws have lost their context now that salvation is in Christ and are transformed into the judicious application of church discipline. Moral law, however, reflects God’s changeless character and remains unaltered. The underlying principles in God’s commandments are still relevant today. The Law ultimately points to Christ, the One who fulfilled it by His teaching, sinless life and sacrificial death.

In biblical times, how one dealt with offenders varied depending on a variety of circumstances. There was no centralized code of law or criminal justice system such as we have today. A Jewish understanding of Hebrew law was quite different from Western interpretation of the same law. So when Jesus was accused of breaking the law on the Sabbath, rather than being arrested and charged, he argued with his accusers about the ruling, and he was left alone. Justice translated in that day “to bring the truth, to be truthful, to speak the truth.” A person who is “just” seeks to live justly and seeks to support justice for all. Justice is the very essence of god. God is called the Just One. God is just when he intervenes in the lives of the underprivileged, especially orphans and widows, to save them from the injustices of men (Deuteronomy 10:18). However, God’s intervention on behalf of widows and orphans most likely will be in the next life because there are far too many in need in the world today and no one is coming to intervene for them.

When the law was broken, there was corporate responsibility. In biblical times, violence and breach of law indicated a crisis in the very fabric of the society. Crime was a violation of shalom (peace, welfare, completeness), of social justice and of the covenant (a binding agreement). In the biblical times, justice was to find a solution for the aggrieved person. Corrupt governments and judicial systems with sectional interest and agendas did not exist. Juries were not needed. Can you imagine a judicial system back then like we have today when it comes to jury selection, court manipulations, sentencing and parole? Unjust judges and unjust lawyers have created corrupt justice systems which do not have the Common Good or the individual at interest. They are only interested in padding their pockets with schemes designed to drain public. In biblical times, a community judge was the one who created order and restored what had been destroyed. He was a servant of God whose responsibility was to restore shalom and helped people re-establish their covenant with God and one another. That is not to say there wasn’t an unqualified/unjust/non-ordained judge in that day, but the structure of the judicial system was a lot different than today. When punishment was in order, including execution, it was a necessary element in restoration of the covenant and the re-establishment of shalom.

In the Old Testament, Jewish law valued life over property and people over punishment. There were six “cities of refuge”, all centrally located and reached by well-built roads (Deuteronomy 4:41-43, 19:1-3; Numbers 35:6-34). Both Israel and its neighbors recognized the right of an individual who had accidently (manslaughter) killed someone and needed protection from revenge, from being falsely accused or being harmed until the matter could be resolved through a formal judicial system. “Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate.” (Exodus 21:12-13). The rights of the offender were protected until proven otherwise.

Many churches have turned a simple bible doctrine upside down. Some churches offer condemnation to their members on a host of possible/questionable infractions while offering grace, understanding, gentleness, and a meek attitude toward the sinner so that sinners may feel welcome and not be offended in church. This approach may help church growth, but not conversions and changed behavior. Criminals, as well as the sinner, are under the curse of the law, not grace. The notion of trying to make criminals and sinners comfortable while in the presence of God is a foreign concept to biblical teaching. The curse of the law should bring guilt, and nobody should try to make the guilty feel comfortable. One of the purposes of the Holy Spirit coming to Earth was to convict the sinner [John 16:8]. What most people don’t understand is that a man is either under grace or under the Law. He is either sinless or sinful. That is why the Law will never be abolished because it will still be in effect for those who forsake the grace of God at judgment.

Paul wrote to Timothy, “But we know that the Law is good, if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the Law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves (homosexuals), for menstealers (kidnappers), for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust” (I Timothy 1:8-11). Paul also wrote, “Wherefore the Law was our teacher to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). “Now we know that what things so ever the Law saith, it saith to them who are under the Law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). This gutless, gentle attitude toward criminals has permeated not only the church, but also our courts, thereby reducing our justice system to “just a system without the respect of the victim or the individual.” When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong (Ecclesiastes 8:11).

Today some justice systems vividly oppose Christians who strive to influence cultural morality. Also, individuals who search the scripture for moral clarity, an action once thought by judges to be a noble endeavor, are now being attacked for aspiring to such clarity in courtrooms. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20). There are several aspects of the United States criminal court system that owe themselves to Christian theology. The position that a person cannot be punished until he is sentenced, instead of a lynch mob acting upon an accusation, for example, finds its heritage directly from what the bible teaches on criminal justice (i.e. Deuteronomy 17:4-11; 10:16-19 and Ecclesiastes 8:11). There are many aspects of the U.S. court system that are contrary to God’s Word, and unfortunately, Christian ministers are either uneducated or unwilling to address criminal justice issues addressed in the Bible. The secularists have successfully marginalized the Church. The Church needs to emancipate herself completely from government control for reasons such as tax breaks for contributions. What the government taxes, it controls and this case what it doesn’t tax buys a fictional wall between church and state.

In general, politicians either completely ignore or scoff at what God has said in relation to criminal law. Out of control crime is a signal that civil government has failed a primary purpose for its existence. Justice is to be doled out by civil authorities for the preservation of the community. God promised that if civil government does what it supposed to do, criminal activity will be kept to a minimum (Deuteronomy 19:20). Sharp increases in crime happens whenever civil authorities resists criminal justice practices endorsed by biblical jurisprudence. A godless dysfunctional government produces fertile ground for crime to grow.