The Conflict
When
reading about Yeshua’s attitude toward the Law, there may be some
surprises.
In
fact, reading the Bible strictly as it is written is somewhat problematic
for most Christians, because by doing so, we are confronted with beliefs and
practices that run contrary to many of the teachings of Christianity. Upon
finding this out, we need to do one of two things: 1) change our practices
and beliefs to those more Biblically based, or 2) create a theological
perspective that allows us to maintain our beliefs and practices. The latter
approach, for most of us, is much easier to accomplish.
We
therefore create different theological perspectives to compensate for these
inconsistencies. Whether it is Replacement, Dispensational, or Covenant
Theology, it is all designed to do the same thing. It allows us to justify the differences that we have in our
practices and beliefs from those practices and beliefs recorded in the
Bible.
When
considering our view of God’s Law, the contradictions of our faith walk
become readily apparent, causing Christianity to act like a religion in
adolescence. The general view
of obedience to God’s laws is: you should keep God’s laws because you
WANT to, not because you HAVE to.
And
since we don’t HAVE to keep God’s law, we ONLY keep those laws we WANT
to. This baffling view of law leaves Christians with the “freedom” to
approach the laws of God like a buffet of arbitrary rules to pick through.
Although
having a desire to be obedient is good, it does not negate obedience itself.
Why do people look at the law this way?
What IS the law, and how did Yeshua (Jesus) view the law?
If we try to live our lives according to the law, isn’t that being