(if you care to read the whole thing, you can find it here - http://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/04/no-jesus-did-not-soften-the-old-testament-in-fact-he-did-the-opposite/ though I would encourage you to not dignify it with any more views than it already has...)
To quote a bit from the beginning of the article:
"Moderate Christians love to talk about how Jesus fixed the Old Testament, or, in other words, obsoleted the horribly offensive parts about slavery, keeping women in their place, killing gays, etc. In fact, he did no such thing. I’ll be doing two things here:
1. Show you that Jesus fully supported everything in the Old Testament
2. Show you exactly how horrible that is."
The main problem with the article was the author's horribly twisted interpenetration of scripture.
He (the author) used passages like Matthew 5:18-19, Luke 16:17, Matthew 5:17, and John 7:19 as evidence that Christ is an advocate for slavery, murder and all kinds of other things Christ was most definitely not an advocate for.
Speaking specifically about Matthew 5:17, I'd like to set a few things straight.
------
Looking back at the original Greek passage, I want to first verify that that the word we translate as "fulfill" is indeed the right word and that we’re not misunderstanding because of a mistake or difference in translation. The Greek word used is πληρῶσαι ("plēroō") and it is indeed translated “to fulfill, to make full, to fill up, or to complete".
So, with that out of the way, I'd next like to get some definitions straight. Several definitions of the word “fulfill” are:
“To meet the requirements of"
“to do what is required by (something, such as a promise or a contract)”
“to measure up to”
When Christ says that He came to “fulfill” the law then, we can understand it as “He came to measure up to the law”.
The OT law is the measure of God’s perfect holiness. God says if you keep the law in it’s entirety, you are holy.
But none of us can keep the law. Only God himself is perfect. It’s not possible for sinful human beings to keep the law perfectly and never break it. The standard is impossibly high.
“As it is written, ‘There is no one righteous, not even one;’” - Romans 3:10
The sacrificial laws in the time of Moses were set in place to atone for sin. Lambs, goats, bulls, etc. were to be chosen very carefully. They were to be “without blemish” (Exodus 12:5)... as close to ‘perfection’ as possible.
“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” - Hebrews 9:22
This is because,
“For the wages of sin is death...” - Romans 6:23a
But none of the sacrificial animals /were/ perfect. Imperfect sacrifice = imperfect and incomplete atonement. The animal sacrifice was a temporary fix for a very permanent problem.
This is why Christ came. When it says Christ came to “fulfill the law”, it is speaking to the fact that he lived a perfect and sinless life. He “measured up” and “met the requirements” of the law. When he submitted to the crucifixion, he became our atoning sacrifice. And because he was perfect (because he lived up to the standard of the law), he was a perfect sacrifice. Perfect sacrifice = perfect and complete atonement.
“... but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 6:23b
The purpose of the law is to show us our need for a savior. We can’t measure up to God’s holiness on our own. That’s why Christ came. Christ measured up, then became that shed blood (from Hebrews 9:22) that provides that forgiveness, that atonement. Therefore when it says that he didn’t come to abolish it, he came to fulfill it, what he’s saying is that the law still stands. To take two more verses quoted by that article -
“It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid.” — Luke 16:17
“For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” — Matthew 5:18-19
The law didn’t change. God’s standards hasn’t been lowered. Christ basically says, “God still demands perfection. You can’t do that, so I’m here to do it for you.”
Matthew 5:18-19 is a warning against teaching that God’s standard has been lowered, because it hasn’t. The law stands. That’s what God requires, for all time.
-----
So yes, Christ does support the OT law. (Now, we could get into why we don't still follow dietary laws and such, but the differences between the kinds of laws prescribed in the OT and how we apply the law today is a topic for another day).
Christ met the law's requirements. He "fulfilled" it.
As Christians today, we're under a different covenant - specifically, the "New" covenant. We're not bound by the old laws (the Sinaitic covenant given to Israel), but by Christ's law, the law of Grace. (1 Corinthians 9:20, 21)
No comments:
Post a Comment