Nipate
Forum => Controversial => Topic started by: GeeMail on October 29, 2014, 03:52:35 PM
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http://www.absg.adventist.org/2014/4Q/TE/PDFs/ETQ414_05.pdf
The Whole Law
Read James 2:10, 11. Now read the passages listed in the table below
and classify them as either emphasizing the “whole law,” the “law
of love,” or both.
Matt. 5:18, 19
Matt. 22:36–40
Rom. 13:8–10
Gal. 3:10
Gal. 5:3
Gal. 5:14
It is hard for us to grasp how radical Jesus’ teaching on the law was.
For devout Jews then (and for many today), one cannot really claim to
keep the law without a commitment to keeping all the laws found in
the books of Moses. Eventually, 613 separate laws were identified (248
positive laws and 365 negative ones).
The question put to Jesus about which law was most important (Matt. 22:36)
was probably meant to trap Him. But although Jesus seems to have affirmed every “jot” (the smallest Hebrew letter, Matt. 5:18) as important, He also taught that love to God and love to our neighbor were the most important commandments because they sum up all the others.
Jesus’ teaching also shows that obedience cannot be done in a
vacuum. It is always relational, or it is meaningless. In other words, if I
tithe because I am afraid of being lost if I don’t, it is not relational. On
the other hand, if I tithe out of gratitude for how much God has given me, then my actions are based on my relationship with God.
Jesus also spoke about the “weightier matters” of the law as being
“judgment, mercy, and faith” (Matt. 23:23).
All of these revolve around relationships too—with God and with other people. James is, therefore, not saying anything different than did Jesus or Paul: any
transgression of God’s law damages to some extent our relationship
to God and to others. So, it is not a question of having enough good
deeds to outweigh our bad deeds. That is obedience in a vacuum,
acting as if it all revolves around us. Instead, by knowing Jesus, we
begin to direct our attention away from ourselves and toward devotion
to God and service to others.
How much of your obedience comes from your love for God and
others and how much from a sense of obligation? Is working from
obligation always wrong though? Perhaps you don’t feel love for
a person but help him or her only because you know you are supposed to. What, if anything, is wrong with that?
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This is an arbitrally distinction between the Law....'relational','law of love'
Leviticus 15:19-33 deals with menstruation. What law is that?
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Judged by the Law
Read James 2:12, 13.
See also John 12:48; Rom. 2:12, 13; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:
12, 13.
What do these verses teach about judgment?
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Nothing is clearer than the teaching that we will be judged by the
law based on what we have done, whether for good or for evil. At the
same time, too, the Bible is also clear that through faith in Jesus, we are
covered by His righteousness.
This covering entails two aspects: forgiveness (justification) and obedience (sanctification).
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col. 2:6, NKJV);
and “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27, NKJV).
It is often said that we will be judged based not only on what we have
done but also on what we have not done. While this is true, many have
a wrong idea of what this means. It is not about doing more
things.
That is a recipe for discouragement and self-defeat. Notice how James
describes it in the first half of verse 13: “judgment is without mercy
to the one who has shown no mercy” (NKJV).
Again, it is a relational definition of “doing.”
If we thought about it long enough, we could become so paranoid
about the judgment that we would give up in despair. But that is not
what it means to “fear God . . . for the hour of His judgment has come”
(Rev. 14:7, NKJV)! Instead, we must always trust in the righteousness
of Jesus, whose merits alone are our only hope in the judgment. It’s our
love for God, who has saved us by His righteousness, that should spur
us on to do all the things that He has called us to do.
At the same time, the warnings in the Bible about the judgment are
there for our good, so that we do not lull ourselves into a false sense
of security. James says, “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13,
NKJV).
We must remember his words, especially when we deal with
those who have fallen into the worst of sins.
Have you ever messed up really badly, and when you expected
only condemnation and judgment, you were given mercy, grace,
and forgiveness instead? How did you feel? How can you make
sure that you don’t forget that the next time someone else messes
up badly?
Further Study:
Ellen G. White, “Facing Life’s Record,” The Great Controversy, pp. 479–491.
“God has acknowledged you before men and angels as His child;
pray that you may do no dishonor to the ‘worthy name by which ye
are called.’ James 2:7. God sends you into the world as His representative. In every act of life you are to make manifest the name of God. . . . This you can do only through the acceptance of the grace and righteousness of Christ.”—Ellen G. White,
Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 107.
“Through Christ, Justice is enabled to forgive without sacrificing one
jot of its exalted holiness.”—Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible
Commentary, vol. 7, p. 936.
Discussion Questions:
Gandhi summed up the thinking of many when he said, “I
like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians
are so unlike your Christ.” Why, unfortunately, is it not hard to
understand why he said that? And though, of course, it’s so easy
to look at what others have done in the name of Christ, why must
we instead look at ourselves and at what we have done in the name
of Jesus? How well do we reveal Him to the world around us?
Is your local church a place where people feel valued and
respected regardless of their background, social standing, idiosyncrasies, and so on? If not, what can you do to make a difference?
What are some of the traditions and social norms in your country that are contrary to the principles of the biblical faith? What are some overt ones, and what are some of the more subtle ones? After identifying what they are, how can you learn to transcend
them so that you are able to live out and reveal the principles of the gospel in a way that could show others that Jesus offers us all a better way of life?
It’s one thing to love your neighbor, but what does it mean to love God? In class, discuss what it means to love God, why we love Him, and how we express that love.
“Mercy triumphs over judgment.” What does that mean on a practical level, such as when we have to deal with those who do wrong? What kind of balance is needed there?