Oct 14, 2024
There is
another New Testament writer of just one
book, who sometimes seems to counter Paul’s arguments relating to
the law. I’m talking, of course, about the book of James, written
by the brother of the Master, though I understand his real name was
Jacob or in Hebrew Ja’akov. You make the point that many of
James arguments mirror those of the Master, and that James did not
have a pharasaical background as Paul did. Why is this
important and what can we learn from James about our understanding
of the law?Your chapter titled “The Sacred Law” begins perhaps ironically
with a quote from Paul, Romans 7:12 “So then, the law is holy, and
the commandment is holy, righteous and good”. You then devote
about 11 pages to just a portion of the many scriptures that
describe the law as good, holy and something we should try to keep.
Not to bore our listeners who don’t get excited about arguments
based on the original Greek and Hebrew meanings, but you make a
fascinating point about the use of the Greek words nomos and entole
referring to the law and the commandments. Walk us through
this observation and it’s implications for our understanding.
You are intellectually honest, as they say, in your book, and
note that modern Christianity’s understanding of the law is not
without reason. You list several verses commonly used to
support a certain viewpoint. I’d like to read these verses
and then ask you to respond.
The first verse is 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold
all things have become new”
The next verse is Hebrews 8:13 “In that He says a New
Covenant, he has the made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming
obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away”
And third is John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you that
you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one
another”.
What is your response to these verses?
When asked for the greatest commandment, Christ said basically
to love God and love others. Why is it a mistake to think of
this love as an emotional love?
No debate on this topic is complete without a reference to
Acts 15. Talk to us about what happened in Acts 15 and what
we should learn from it as it relates to our relationship with the
law?
Another phrase used in this debate is the New Covenant.
Now, I realize we could devote multiple podcast episodes just
talking about the concept of a covenant and all its uses in the
Bible, but to cut to the chase what is your understanding of what
the New Covenant is and how it should impact our faith and our
understanding of the law?
You use an interesting analogy of a Rubik’s cube to describe
the puzzle of understanding what Christ described as weightier
matters of the law, those of justice, faith and mercy. What
is the relationship of these three concepts to each other?