“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully...” 1Tim.1.8
Evangelical Fundamentalists labor under the assumption, because Moses received the Law from Yahweh on Mount Sinai, the law must be perfect, however, the Book of Hebrews tells us
something different:
"For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;” (Heb.8-7-9...)
When the book of Hebrews tells us, 'the first covenant had faults,’ is this because God gave Moses an imperfect document? Had not God established the first covenant? Yes, however, as I’ve explained before, imperfect mankind interprets God imperfectly; contrary to the proponents of inerrancy, the Law of Moses reflected this. Furthermore, and more importantly, as Paul tells us in Rom.8.3, the Law had faults because of, 'the weakness of the flesh'.
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,“
The problem is never with God but only with man's interpretation of God’s heart. Because of the doctrine of inerrancy and organized religions need to keep the Bible paramount in Christian lives, the church has difficulty maturing beyond doctrinal unity. Instead of believers learning to have a heart for God, to love Him with all that is within them, the law must dominate their lives; however, the law will always fail to bring us to maturity; that place where we actually have fellowship with God.
Because much of the Bible's source came from men’s interpretations of God’s will; and they believed all they had to do was (as it is today), follow the religious cultural laws, rules and commands. Instead of seeking God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, with a result of the Holy Spirit guiding them, they default to robotically following laws.
I read once that ‘ideology is idolatry.’ Nothing is more true. When we follow ideology we are actually following man, not God; hence our life is guided in another direction rather than love for God.
Yes, this direction looks like faith; and just as the Jews during Christ’s time, men will ultimately fail to see God’s purpose on this earth — ‘love for God first, and love for our neighbor.’
As I have often pointed out, John Calvin propagated one of the greatest heresies of all Christian history: The idea that God ordains a minority of mankind to everlasting life, and by default, the rest of mankind are ordained to an eternal torment in hell. This to me is an assault on reason and common sense. More so, it is an assault on God's character, and blasphemy at its worst. Only by years of indoctrination by religious ideologies does this doctrine become palatable to those who embrace it.
The dominating premise of this view is the doctrine on how God is obsessed with justice, and the needed wrath against “original sin” (another necessary doctrine to make hell more reasonable). The cornerstone of Dark Age theology is the belief that God is hyper-critically just, and SO holy, when someone misses the mark there must be a severe cost. I call this the, 'Someone's got to die for this, doctrine'. In theological circles, this doctrine solves God’s need for revenge. This doctrine is called 'Penal Substitution Atonement'. Reason tells us, God did not send His Son to die on the cross to satisfy God's thirst for blood! Neither did Christ die to satisfy God's sense of justice. Justice cannot be appeased by someone’s dying. Dying for someone else does not appease the courts on earth, neither does it make sense for heavenly courts. This doctrine is patently false! ¹
One might correctly ask, “isn't God, just?” Yes, He absolutely is, but not to satisfy something in Himself! The following is how justice actually works:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus
said to him, “You shall love the LORD your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This
is the first and great commandment. “And the second is like
it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two
commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Mat.22.36-40
If all the law and prophets are comprehended in, love God & love your neighbor, then breaking the law is simply a violation of love. It would then follow, judgment and justice are not to satisfy a vengeful and demanding God, Who wants us to act robotically, obeying His commands; rather, to ultimately correct us, so that our nature becomes aligned with His…even ‘at one’ with Him.
His purpose in this life is to bring His fallen children back into Love — the essence of who He is.
Love is the only ground where we can actually fellowship with God, for ‘God is Love.’ And as we grow in love, what automatically follows is repentance for past acts. It is here where revenge and justice actually takes place.
“For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” 2Cor.7.11 (KJV)
To the extent our lives are controlled by love, not, as I have stated, robotically doing commands, is the same extent we may have fellowship with Him. As much as we allow Him to accomplish love in our hearts, we are 'partakers of His divine nature' (2Pe.1.4).
This is His ultimate purpose for all mankind. And all our religious exercises should be for the purpose of making us more like God, specifically, changing our nature to one more like His.
Jesus said,
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I
did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to
you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle
will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Mat.5.17-18
How then, is Jesus going to 'fulfill' the Law and the Prophets? Paul tells us in Romans 13:
“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Rom.13.8-10
Because we must all eventually stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and judgment/justice is meant to adjust our life into the nature of love, NOT to punish us for past deeds.
It is also in the realm of possibility, God may have similar plans for the unrighteous dead! We know it is appointed 'once for man to die, then the judgment' (Heb.9.27) Christ died once, furthermore, it is said in the Apostle's Creed (not the Bible²) that Jesus descended into Hell, where the Creed assumed Jesus preached to those held captive in Hell. By the way, this belief stems from the prophecy in Psm.16.10, which Peter quotes on the day of Pentecost (Ac.2.27). Then later, Peter continues his premise in his epistle:
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust,
that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the
flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went
and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were
disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited
in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in
which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through
water." 1Pe.3.18-20
Whether He was in hell (Ps.16.10) or not, Jesus preached to the souls who were disobedient at the time the “ark was preparing”. Those same souls whom Noah preached to, only “eight” were saved from the flood (Noah and his family). Yet those disobedient and lost in the waters, Jesus preached to, and led them out of their (apparent) imprisonment. Can you see, how this is a picture of what might happen when the 'formally disobedient' are confronted on judgment day by that same merciful God —
"that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those
in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Phil.2.10-11
Regardless how we describe it, however we dress it up, we cannot hide how irrational the ‘Dark Age’ doctrine of Hell is. But God, as the scripture says, is plentiful in mercy and forgiveness.
"Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you
with lovingkindness and tender mercies," Ps.103.4
"For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth
endures to all generations." Ps.100.5
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² The noted Apostle's Creed takes the scriptures above (and others) and comes up with, “[He] was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead.”
³Systems of Law were common among Bronze Age cultures, several predating Moses Law from Mount Sinai; for instance, the Code of Urukagina, 2380 BC. The Law is a product of civilized mankind and their universal need for order. Moses Law came about through worship of Yahweh, God. The establishment of Law is generally good, however, this does not mean God is the proponent or endorser of every law of Moses. Regardless, when Jesus nailed the Law to the cross, it is because He now had introduced a new system. This system now has put a type of law in our hearts, through the infilling of the Holy Spirit, we are able to live out love.
"...He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Rom.8.3-4
This could mean ‘the desire to sin, its control over us — has been condemned!
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The Purpose of the Law
However negative I always sound about Organized religion, they do have their good parts. The negative sides, are common to every type of religion:
You must believe as the organization believes.
It gets its beliefs from its traditions and/or its favored theologians
All organized religions have some sort of law, and expectations of their adherents.
The good side of organized religion, believe it or not, are also their laws. There are expectations of the adherents, and continual pressure to:
Go to church
Pay tithes
Do community service and work in the church.
Honor the preacher
Teach Sunday school
Obey all the laws and commands of scripture, or traditions which are relevant to their group
Don’t smoke, drink, cuss, don’t be immodest, on and on……
Why can this be good?
For the simple reason, average humans are like sheep. Look how citizens of every country, whether good or bad, honor their own country; their sports teams; their leaders; some even though their policies are failures.
There once was a country, which at the time, probably had the highest intelligence average of any nation on earth; amazingly they would follow a man like Hitler! The simple conclusion we must come to: Even the most intelligent and all mankind have a strong sheeplike nature which, regardless of IQ, can fall prey to lies or popular beliefs.
Typically people who belong to a church aspire to do good; they have put themselves (for the most part) in a place beyond the public cultural norm, and are taught morals, and spiritual values. However, to thoroughly escape the traps of worldly systems, they must, as sheep, follow and honor God above their culture & denomination. I personally believe, though not all are successful, those who sit in the pews of organized religion can often do this.
But let’s face it, for the most part, the followers of man’s religions are often still in a stupor. When they don’t love God, and truth above all else, rather than increasing their love for God, and allowing the Spirit of love to guide them, they usually will, like children, resort to simply following commands; this makes for, what is called ‘a civilized society.’
For the worldly, and those outside the church walls, since they don’t love God, and they don’t think Jesus is relevant to their lives, because of their nature, they still need some kind of law to control them. So, as with raising a child, though not ideal, and though the law is actually meant for childlike mentalities, the law is still a practical and good thing, even in churches. But remember, only if they fail to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
However, for the mature Christian, those who honor God above all else, LOVE is the guiding force in our lives, not the law.
Finally, it should be noted, many Christians in churches are mature; they cooperate with legalism, but they don’t need it. But these types are far more open to “sinners” and non adherents to their faith.
“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.” 1Cor.10.23
Paul is saying here something like this: In You can get away with anything with our loving God, but He has provided the means to overcome. If you're serious about your faith, and wanting to grow, chose things that edify; this will fulfill the law in our hearts; the thing Christ came to accomplish.