Understanding God's laws 101

The laws of God. We’ve all been affected by them. Whether you’ve been a lifelong Christian struggling to keep them, a past Christian who gave up on them, a new Christian trying to decipher them, or a non-Christian who’s had Christians remind you of them far too often you have almost certainly been affected by them. What are these laws and what do they actually mean for us today?

Christianity is of course not the only religion and not the only voice on the nature and laws of God in the world today. However, it is the one I believe to be true and so for the sake of this post it is the one I’m going to speak into. There are of course plenty of resources on the other religions if you are interested, and many more in depth resources on the Christian law for that matter. However, I hope to express this in a manageable way that expresses what I’ve learned on my own journey.

Why share this and why now? When I talk with non-Christian friends about God this topic is almost always the first to arise. Particularly with topics like homosexual marriage recently sweeping the moral water coolers this subject is very much in the limelight. Through such conversations I also believe it is one of the most misunderstood topics in Christianity today and one of the biggest barriers to many coming to know God fully. Based on these factors I’d just like to take a few moments here to share some thoughts based on my journey of coming to understand God and His laws and how that has changed my life.

What are the laws of God?

When talking with friends, both Christian and non-Christian, this is often the first stumbling block faced. The bible has hundreds of laws littered throughout, some seem sensible while others seem downright ridiculous. For example, I think we could all agree ‘Do not murder’ (Exodus 20:13) is a sensible law for the proper functioning of society; but what about ‘Don't wear clothes made of more than one fabric’ (Leviticus 19:19)? By the time Jesus lived 2,000 years ago the Jews already had over 610 laws built into the fabric of their religious lives (http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm). Christians certainly don’t claim to follow all of these today, so how are we to understand which are to be followed and which are not?

The first thing to understand here is that God gave different laws to different people at different times. As far back as Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in his Summa Theologica we find the common distinction of biblical laws into the following three categories:

• Moral – treating of morals or perpetual duties towards God and our neighbour.

• Ceremonial – of the ceremonies or rights about the sacred things to be observed under the Old Convenant (Old Testament; testament = covenant). These include the sacrificial laws which Jesus ultimately fulfilled in himself when he died as the perfect sacrifice those laws pointed towards.

• Civil – constituting the civil government of the Israelite people.

As we can see from the above it is only the ‘moral’ law we are to be concerned with today. We can learn lessons about God from the other two but they were specifically for Israel and the Old Covenant with them. For more on the difference between the types of law the following web page gives a good summary, though there are many books that give a more in depth study if you are interested: http://apologeticsuk.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/cherry-picking-bible-are-christians.html

Why is the old covenant not relevant to Christians?

The old covenant was made with Abraham and his descendants (Israel) through circumcision of the flesh (Genesis 17:10). The terms of this covenant were formally laid out through Moses some 400 years later at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20-23). These laws given through Moses set out what perfect righteousness looks like and if the heart of them was obeyed perfectly a person could earn their eternal salvation. God can only commune with people who are perfectly righteous (it literally means “right standing” before God). Much in the same way that light cannot be in the same place as darkness God cannot be in the same place as the unrighteous, He is too perfect and holy.

Due to this, the ultimate penalty of breaking this old covenant was death and separation from God. Covenants or ‘contracts’ were always made by simulating what would happen to the party that broke it. This is why an animal would be sacrificed where the punishment of breaking the covenant was death. However, God knew humans would fail in their attempts to keep the heart of these laws perfectly so He always had a plan B in mind because He loves us too much to let us go eternally.

however, the old covenant was never meant by God to be a redemptive plan but it was simply a way to set Israel, His holy people, apart from the surrounding nations are foreshadow such time when His actual redeeming mission was to be enforced. Salvation has always been through faith in God, even in the old testament era as Paul so eloquently stated in Romans 4. There are two places in the story of Abraham that God gives us a foreshadowing of His ultimate redemption plan as set out below.

Typically in those days the more powerful party would make the weaker party agree to the terms of punishment whilst not agreeing to them themselves. What is so interesting in the case of the covenant with Abraham is that God agrees to the terms (death) by passing through the animals which were cut in two whilst Abraham is not made to pass through (Genesis 15:12-19). God was signifying that He would take the punishment if either party failed to keep the contract. This was fulfilled around 2,000 years later with the death of Jesus. Abraham’s descendants failed to keep the covenant repeatedly, so God provided the sacrifice and took their punishment on himself in the form of his own son Jesus.

This was also indicated in the seemingly strange story of God asking Abraham to kill his own son Isaac as a sacrifice. Just before Abraham strikes him God stops him and indicates this was simply a test of his faith. He then goes on to say that due to Abraham’s faith He will provide the sacrifice that is required to spare Abraham’s descendants. At that moment Abraham sees a ram stuck on a bush and sacrifices that instead (Genesis 22:1-18). This just happened to be the very mountain Jesus was crucified on 2,000 years later, the perfect lamb of God dying to spare the descendants of Abraham the punishment they truly deserve.

Paul goes on to show in the New Testament that the ‘descendants’ of Abraham were not necessarily blood descendants, they were descendants by having the same faith in God that Abraham showed in Genesis 22 (Galatians 3:7-9). Those descendants today are Christians ‘Christ followers’. Jesus died for the sins of Abraham’s descendants past, present, and future including those we commit today. He died then so we don’t have to suffer eternal separation from God, the consequences of our rebellion.

Jesus fulfilled the old covenant by obeying all of the laws relating to it and then dying on the cross, taking the punishment required for failure to keep it. His death acted as the sacrifice required and the blood he shed there was also the blood which ratified the new covenant (New Testament). Once again God made a covenant with mankind without making them liable for failure to keep it. This new one superseded the old covenant and was made with all people, not just Israel. It is the laws of this new covenant we are to obey today. Some of them (the moral laws) overlap with the old covenant, but the rest supersede them.

So which laws fall under the moral law and which apply today?

There are whole books dedicated to this subject so I of course can’t do it complete justice here. The best way to know which laws are moral, ceremonial, or civil is to read them in their context, there is no substitute for study and understanding the overall revelation of God. However, I will try and give a couple of principles.

1.   Moral laws are always given as timeless and are not culturally contingent. The Ten Commandments are an example of this. They are repeated in the New Testament showing their timelessness and relevance across both the old and new covenant.

2.   Moral laws are applied to all people and not just to Israel. When God speaks against the actions of the ‘other nations’ (gentiles) He is typically speaking of universal moral laws.

3.   They are consistent with the wider revelation of the Bible. This is the test typically used to determine if a law is merely cultural or time bound. For example, a commonly disputed passage is that ‘woman should remain silent in church’ (1 Corinthians 14:34). However, if taken at face value this command of Paul’s completely contradicts much of the rest of his ministry. In fact even in the very same chapter as the one in which he says women should remain silent he is clearly supportive of women speaking in church telling ‘every one of you’ both ‘brothers and sisters’ to prophesy and speak in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:1-20). Paul is also very supportive of the teaching ministry of Priscilla and the apostleship of Junia. So, clearly there is more to that passage than first meets the eye and indeed there are many cultural factors at play which show this instruction is specific for that time and church and is certainly not universal. For a fuller understanding of this I would recommend reading ‘The Blue Parakeet’ by Scot McKnight.

There is of course far more that could be said on which of God’s laws apply today and some are certainly more contentious than others. However, they are not indecipherable when read in the right context and with the full revelation of scripture behind you. As shown with the more tricky case in point 3 above, just because a rule is given in the New Testament scriptures doesn’t necessarily mean it is applicable to all Christians for all times. Also, just because a rule is only given in the Old Testament scriptures doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t relevant today. This doesn’t mean determining what is relevant today is all relative and subjective though. Through the methods described above and more there are ways to clearly sort through the various laws and their applicability.

How are we to relate to the law?

Now we have considered which laws we are to keep it is worth exploring how we as both Christians and non-Christians relate to them. Unlike the last topic, this is one where the Bible is very clear. However, the laws of God can only be fully understood when being approached by someone who fully understands God.

For example, someone who doesn’t know God and reads the laws of the Bible will almost certainly see them as traps and stumbling blocks. They will see God as a cosmic judge simply making laws he knows humans will break and then punishing them for it. I’ve met many people who have explained to me this is their view of God and His laws.

However, if there is one message the Bible is in existence to communicate it is that ‘God is love’ and that ‘God passionately loves humans’. God doesn’t have to try to love because He is the very representation of it. Whatever characteristics you associate with love magnify them infinitely and you may come close to the character of God. Then imagine all of that love aimed at you. It is only from that place that God’s laws can be fully understood.

This is the transition I have made over the last 4 years. Through His faithfulness to me and personal revelation of His infinite goodness alongside a better understanding of the Bible I now understand God’s laws to be loving instructions rather than stumbling blocks designed to catch me out. The Bible describes God as an all loving Father. This is the best illustration to use.

So often today people say ultimate freedom comes from being free from laws and giving everyone the ability to determine what is right ‘to them’. Any mention of universal truths that apply to all people is now obnoxious. However, imagine how a perfect father would guide his kids. Would he just let them do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted to do it? No! Kids are terrible at deciding what’s good for them. Most kids if left to themselves would eat chocolate all day, soil themselves and run into the middle of the road with cars flying past. Of course a perfect parent gives rules, and not just mindless rules designed to trip the child up so the parent can punish them, but rules which will bring life, health, happiness, prosperity and freedom.

Far from inhibiting us good rules actually bring more life and freedom. They are the foundation of getting the most out of life both when interacting with others and individually. Imagine a football match without any rules, people could pick up the ball and run, you could score in your own goal and you could break people's legs, football would lose all meaning and would no longer be fun to play. Life is much the same, one only has to watch ‘The Purge’ to get a glimpse of what life might be like without laws. In fact the societies widely considered to have the most 'freedom' today are also the ones generally considered to have the most advanced legal systems.

Quite often as children (and even adults) we don’t understand that these rules are there to help us. They seem like fun-inhibiting road blocks to freedom, life and happiness. For example, I used to hate that my mum would make me eat broccoli and other such vegetables. I also saw her commands for me to tidy my room as unnecessary discipline, not realising all the valuable lessons about cleanliness and work ethic I was being taught. Having worked at a summer camp for two summers and lived with 8-10 year olds for a total of 14 weeks I now understand the importance of rule setting not just for the benefit of a particular child but also for the proper functioning of the bunk.

This brings us to the second point. As a Father to the whole earth God is not only concerned with rules regarding our individual welfare but also rules regarding our societal welfare. For example, telling a group of people not to murder each other is clearly good for societal relationships. Jesus took that command one step further in the Beatitudes when he said, “You have heard it said you shall not murder…but I say everyone who is angry with his brother is guilty before the court [of God].” (Matthew 5:21-22)

This then moves us further along in the trail. Many people hear Jesus’ stricter version of the rules and get defensive. “How is that possible!” they say, I haven’t murdered anyone but you can’t expect me to not get angry? Well don’t you see, these are the instructions of an all loving Father as to how we as individuals and a society will work best. When I have kids of course I will teach them to keep their temper under control. The reaction described above I believe comes from the fact that we start to realise we aren’t perfect. The Beatitudes in Matthew 5-7 give an impossibly high standard of living which we all fall short of. For example, the Ten Commandments say, “You shall not commit adultery”. Many of us can keep this and feel self-righteous about it, but Jesus says, “If you even look at a woman lustfully you have already committed adultery in your heart”.

So what are we to make of this? The religious leaders of Jesus day thought they kept the law perfectly, they were self-righteous thinking they had ‘earned’ God’s approval. However, Jesus came along and showed them that though they kept the ‘letter’ of the law, they weren’t keeping the ‘heart’ of it.

The very point Jesus was making is that no-one can keep the law perfectly. We are all sinners and we all fall short of the perfect love and glory of God. Many non-Christians I talk to today find this hard to admit. They say, “OK, I might get angry every now and then or think lustful thoughts about a woman…but I’m not a bad person! I’ve never murdered anyone or committed adultery. I give to the poor and volunteer my time occasionally.”

You see, the problem with this thinking is that we’re using the wrong frame of reference. We’re comparing our ‘goodness’ to our own standards set against the actions of humanity in general. If we feel we’re ‘above average’ we tend to see ourselves as ‘good’. The problem is, compared to God’s all loving nature we may as well be the next Hitler. That may sound harsh but it is only so extreme because of how perfectly loving God is and how far short we fall in relative terms.

Therefore, as God is also a perfect judge, every unloving act committed in history must gain its just recompense. This surely means we’re all doomed to judgement? Well the short answer is yes. However, as God is all loving He created a plan B. One which showed both His all loving nature and his role as a perfect Judge. In this plan (as described above) God’s son Jesus came to live a perfect life and then be sacrificed for no sin of his own, but for the sins of all those who believe in him.

He lived the perfect life we couldn’t live to die the death we should have died.

It is in this ultimate loving act Jesus changed everything. One way or another the unloving deeds of everyone on earth will be judged. For those who believe in him Jesus took the judgement, while those who don’t believe in him will take their own judgement. The good news of Jesus is that no-one has to suffer the ultimate consequences of their actions. We all fall short and no-one is good enough on their own merit to have eternal life with God in his renewed earth, but he has made a way of grace through faith in Jesus. We simply have to see just how fallen, lost and helpless we really are and then turn to Jesus for help and salvation; trusting that his life, death and resurrection were enough to save us from the deserved punishment of our wrongdoing.

The Bible says one of Jesus’ main titles post-resurrection is as our ‘advocate’ (1 John 2:1) before God in contrast to Satan as our ‘accuser’ (Revelation 12:10; Zechariah 3:1-2). When judgement comes Satan will accuse us before God of all the unloving things we have done in our lives. For those who had faith in Him to save them Jesus will then step in as our advocate and put himself between us and the Father so that He only sees his perfect son who already took the punishment for our sins. We will then be accepted into the family of God for eternity.

However, due to God’s timeless nature things that are certain to happen in the future are often described as already having happened. As such Christians are already said to be children of God, seated with Jesus at the right hand of the Father and recipients of his eternal blessing (Galatians 3:26; Colossians 3:1-4) even though technically we still have to pass through the veil of death to be resurrected into the full glory of this new life with God on earth.