Nipate
Forum => Controversial => Topic started by: GeeMail on September 05, 2014, 01:59:29 PM
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Jesus and the Essence of the Law
Read Matthew 19:16-22 . From the immediate details of
this specific story, what broad and important truths can we
derive from this account about the law and what keeping of
the law entails?
The rich young man couldn’t comprehend that salvation
from sin does not come from following the law, even
strictly. It comes, rather, from the Lawgiver, the Savior. The
Israelites had known this truth since the beginning, but they
had forgotten it. Now Jesus set forth what they should have
heeded from the start: that obedience and full surrender to
God are so united that one without the other becomes only a
pretense of Christian life. "Nothing short of obedience can
be accepted. Self-surrender is the substance of the
teachings of Christ. Often it is presented and enjoined in
language that seems authoritative, because there is no
other way to save man than to cut away those things which,
if entertained, will demoralize the whole being." — Ellen G.
White, The Desire of Ages , p. 523.
In another encounter, the Sadducees had been
questioning Christ about the resurrection, and Jesus had
astonished and silenced them with His answer. So, now the
Pharisees gathered together, ready to make a final attempt
to lead the Savior into saying something that they could
interpret as being against the law. They chose a certain
lawyer to question Jesus about which was the most
important commandment (Matt. 22:35-40 ). The lawyer’s
question probably arose from by the attempt of the rabbis to
arrange all the commandments by order of importance. If
two commands appeared to be in conflict, the one assumed
to be more important took priority and left a person free to
violate the less important one. The Pharisees particularly
exalted the first four precepts of the Decalogue as being
more important than the last six and, as a result, they failed
when it came to matters of practical religion.
Jesus answered in a masterful way: first, and most
important, there must be love in the heart before anyone can
begin to observe God’s law. Obedience without love is
impossible and worthless. However, where there is true love
toward God, a person will unconditionally put his life in
harmony with God’s will as expressed in all ten of His
commandments. That is why Jesus later said: "If you love
Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15, NKJV ).