Why Christians Follow Some Old Testament Laws But Not Others

Introduction
Jesus is the most amazing person who ever lived.  His teachings are revered by people all over the world—even by those of other, non-Christian, world religions.  We find His core teachings in chapters 5-7 of Matthew, what is called the Sermon on the Mount. 

In this message series, we are working our way through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, lesson by lesson.  Today, we come to Matthew 5:17-20 where Jesus explains His relationship with the Old Testament.

Matthew 5:17
¹⁷ “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 

What is Jesus talking about here?  What is the Law of Moses and the prophets?  The “Law of Moses” is the first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.  The “prophets” (sometimes called “the writings”) were all the other sacred Scriptures—which included historical, liturgical, and prophetic writings urging the people of Israel to be faithful to God by obeying the Law of Moses.  Together the Law of Moses and the prophets make up the collection of books Christians call the “Old Testament”.

Some people in Jesus day (as well as some people today) believed Jesus was so radically different that He would throw out the Old Testament all together and make something completely new.  But Jesus definitively clears up that misconception right here.  “No.  I came to accomplish their purpose.”

Jesus did not abolish or throw out the requirements of the Old Testament.  He accomplish them.  Now, if that’s true, the question people today always ask is, “Then why don’t we still follow all those crazy rules in the Old Testament law?  Why do Christians eat pork and shellfish?  Why don’t Christians still stone people to death for certain crimes as the Old Testament Law commands?

Types of Old Testament Law
Part of the reason people misunderstand is they don’t understand the Old Testament Law.  We can put Old Testament law into three broad categories.  Now these are modern ways of categorizing; the lines were more blurry for the ancients.  But I believe these categories can be useful to help us consider the ancient Law and how it applies to Christians today.

First of all there were civil laws.  These are laws to help maintain order in civil society.  We have civil laws today.  We have traffic laws like the speed limit that help keep us safe on the roads.  We have property laws about trespassing.  We have laws about contracts that help protect us in our business dealings.  

And we also have some laws that have become irrelevant.  On the books today in Georgia, there is still a law that says, you can't keep a donkey in a bath tub.  Now I don't know why in the world we need a law that says that. I don't know anyone today who is keeping a donkey in a bathtub.  But apparently, at one point in our history, that was a problem so they made a law about it.  

Residents in Acworth, Georgia are legally required to own a rake.  I suppose at some point in history, maybe there was a problem with people having untidy lawns in Acworth in the fall.  So they made a law that if you were going to move to Acworth, you have to own a rake.

In Gainesville, Georgia, the made a law that you must eat fried chicken with your hands.  Don't be all fancy trying to eat your fried chicken with fork and knife.  Just pick that greasy goodness up with your hands!  Now, there's a reason for that law.  Gainesville has a big chicken industry and they wanted to pull a publicity stunt (I guess to promote the down homeliness of eating fried chicken) and so they made a law that says you have to eat your fried chicken in Gainesville with your hands.

Israel was a civil society that needed rules to live together in an orderly, peaceful manner.  Plus, they had a purpose.  Israel was supposed to represent God to the whole world.  They were to be a royal and holy priesthood set apart as different from all the other nations around them.  So Israel had rules about even minor details of civil life which included:  how to dress, what to eat, how to punish criminals, and even how to treat strangers, foreigners, orphans, and widows.

So why don’t most Christians feel obligated to abstain from eating pork and dress like ancient Israelites?  Because we don’t live in the ancient kingdom of Israel.  That kingdom no longer exists.  Some might say, “Well, Israel still exists.”  Yes, but even that modern country is not the ancient kingdom of Israel.  That do not have the same purpose and mandate from God.

Then there are ceremonial laws.  These were laws about religious rites and festivals for ancient Israel.  How and when to sacrifice a goat.  How to ordain a priest. How to heal a leper.   And there's also a reason Christians aren’t obligated to follow the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament.  We believe Jesus fulfilled everything that those laws required.  In simple terms, those laws no longer apply because Jesus achieved everything those laws foreshadowed.  For instance, we don't have to sacrifice a lamb to celebrate Passover because Jesus is THE Passover Lamb and His blood shed on the cross covers our sin once and for all.

Finally, there are moral laws.  These are laws about right and wrong, good and bad behavior.  In this category we could put the laws found in The 10 Commandments--do not murder, do not steal, do not worship idols.  We could also include rules about sexual immorality and prohibitions against the exploitation of widows and orphans.

Now these moral laws are universal.  They apply equally for all humanity regardless of where you live and when you live.  It doesn’t matter if you live in America, Africa, Iran, Russia, or China, it’s still wrong to murder (and everyone knows it).  It doesn’t matter if you’re living in the 1^st century with Jesus, the 18^th century with John Wesley, or the 21^st century in Whitfield County, it’s always wrong to steal, to bear false witness, or to commit adultery (at least according to God’s way of living spelled out in the Bible). 

So these morals laws we find in the Old Testament, that Jesus lived by and taugt his Disciples to follow, still apply to us today.  That is why we believe there’s nothing wrong with eat pork, but we still believe sexual perversion is an abomination to God and harmful to human society and degrades human beings who were made in the sacred image of God.

Matthew 5:18-19
¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. ¹⁹ So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus Fulfills the Law
Jesus fulfills the Law and the Prophets.  He came to satisfy the demands of the Old testament and he fulfills everything it pointed to.

The purpose of the ancient kingdom of Israel was to be a royal priesthood to bring all nations back to God.  That was their real purpose.  I’m not making that up.  It’s spelled out throughout the Old Testament—time and time again.  I don’t have time to spell out all the Scriptures.  Let me just share a couple.  Isaiah 49:6 spells out God’s hope that it won’t just be the people of Israel who are reconciled to God, but Israel will be a “light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”  Another example is the Book of Jonah.  God sent Jonah to preach to the Ninevites—an evil and violent people—to call them to repent.  You see, God wanted everyone—not just the Israelites—to be His people.

Israel was supposed to be a holy nation set apart to represent God to the whole world and to invite everyone everywhere to turn away from sin and let God be Lord of their life.  Yet Israel was self-absorbed and full of sinful pride—thinking God loved them more than everyone else.  All they wanted to do was enjoy their status as the chosen people without ever obeying the Law to actually live as a people chosen by God to reconcile the world to God.

Although Israel failed in that mission because they constantly turned away from God and broke God’s Law, Jesus fulfilled everything the Law said, including the purpose the Law was given.  Jesus is the only person who ever lived who never sinned, never broke a single commandment, never violated the spiritual purpose of the Law.  Jesus life, death, ressurection, and ascension is the fulfillment of even the smallest details of God’s Law.  Everything the Law pointed to, Jesus accomplished.

Matthew 5:20
²⁰ “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

Jesus ends with a stern warning that’s meant to make us realize how desperately we need Him to save us.  Think about it.  Unless you are more righteous than the Pharisees in the Bible, you can never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  The Pharisees strived to be absolutely obedient to every single letter of the Law.  When the Law says, “Don’t work on the Sabbath Day,” they wanted to know exactly what that meant.  So they determined you could walk no further than ¾ of a mile on the Sabbath.  And they had rules like this for all 613 of the laws in the Old Testament. And they had them all memorized to help them obey all the laws completely.  They were considered the holiest, most perfect people in Israel.

And Jesus says, unless you are better than them, you will never enter to Heaven.  What!?!?  Here’s the point:  Jesus is pointing out it’s impossible.  You can’t do it. 

Conclusion
You can’t do it.  But Jesus can.  And Jesus did.  Jesus fulfills the Law.  And Jesus paid the penalty for your failure to keep the law.  Jesus offers you grace and mercy.  All He asks is that you repent of your sin and believe in Him. 

To repent means to turn away from your sin.  It means to turn away from your rejection of God.
It means to stop living however you want to live and start living the way God wants you to live.

Believing Jesus means trusting Him.  It’s not just believing it with your head. It means trust Jesus following Him—living the way He teaches you to live.  

So I plead with you, repent of your sin and believe in Jesus today.  

The Sixth Commandment

Exodus 20:13

Introduction

            Today, We'll get back on track with the 10 commandments after being on a a break for the past few weeks.  We've already covered commandments 1-5; over the next 5 weeks we will look at 6-10.  I had to giggle as I was preparing because school starts back Friday in Whitfield County, GA and the commandment today says do not murder!  So teachers (and students), remember that this school year!
             I challenge you to memorize all 10 commandments this summer.  How many of the commandments can you name by memory so far.  Here's the whole list:           

The Ten Commandments:

1.     Do not worship any God except the Lord.

2.     Do not make idols of any kind.

3.     Do not misuse the name of the Lord.

4.     Remember to observe the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.

5.     Honor your father and mother.

6.     Do not murder.

7.     Do not commit adultery

8.     Do not steal.

9.     Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.

10.  Do not covet.

Today we will look at the Sixth Commandment as found in Exodus 20:13

¹³ “You must not murder.” 

What is Murder?

            The commandment says, “Do not murder,” and everyone knows that.  Almost every culture throughout history has inherently understood that murder was unacceptable.  Do we really need to be told?  I think everyone can agree you should not murder.  But what is murder?  The Bible also teaches that murderers should be put to death.  Wouldn’t killing a murderer also be murder?  And what about warfare?  Isn’t a soldier sometimes required to kill in the midst of the battle?  Is  that murder?

            Merriam Webster defines murder as “the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought.”  The online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, goes on to elaborate, “Murder is the killing of another person without justification or valid excuse, and it is especially the unlawful killing of another person with malice aforethought.”

            So there seems to be some circumstances that justify the killing of another human being.  The Law of God in the Old Testament spells out some circumstances where killing are justified.  For instance, Exodus 22:2 says, “If a thief is caught in the act of breaking into a house and is struck and killed in the process, the person who killed the thief is not guilty of murder.”  This biblical idea goes along with our modern idea of justifiable homicide, also known as self-defense.  In other words, if someone is attacking you and posing an imminent danger to your life or limb, you may be justified in taking their life in order to protect your own.  That would not be considered murder, but reasonable self-defense.

            In other places in the Bible, God clearly commands soldiers to attack a city or to defend a city during times of warfare and killing is an inevitable part of warfare.  Yet this is not considered murder.  This biblical concept as part of our understanding of the rules of modern warfare; the killing of enemy combatants during warfare according to the rules of war is not considered murder.

            Furthermore, capital punishment—taking the life of someone who has been convicted of a serious crime—is also part of God’s law in the Old Testament.  Such punishments would not be considered “murder” as they are justified by God’s law.  There is much debate about whether capital punishment is acceptable in our world today, but the prevailing thought in America at this time is that execution for convicted criminals is not murder.  It would be considered by law a justification or valid excuse for taking another person’s life.  (Keep in mind, capital punishment is not a punishment an individual meets out on a criminal; it is applied by the state and only after a fair trial and conviction followed by numerous possibilities for appeal by the criminal.)

            Now, I am not a lawyer and my goal today is not to clarify all the inner workings of America's legal system.  I’m simply trying to dig down to a clearer understanding of what murder is.  Murder is willingly and with the deliberate intent to do evil, killing another person unlawfully.  And I think almost everyone can agree murder is wrong. 

Jesus’ Teaching on Murder

            As I have said in previous sermons, the Ten Commandments teach us basic rules for living a good and pure life that is pleasing to God.  However, they do more than just that.  The Commandments also show us how we fail to live justly and thus desperately need God’s grace and forgiveness throughout our life.  And yet some will come to the Sixth Commandment and try to hang on to traces of self-righteousness.  We might try to justify ourself and say, “Yes, it is true that I have not always put God first in my life (so I have broken the First Commandment).  I may have broken other commandments too, but at least I am not a murderer.” 

The implication of this kind of thinking is that we might be bad, but we’re not that bad and God should cut us some slack.  This kind of thinking ignores James 2:10, which says, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.”  However, in our human thinking we still try to justify ourselves and make levels of righteousness. 

I think it is helpful to hear what Jesus taught in regards to the Sixth Commandment about murder.  In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus said, “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.”

            You see, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Commandments.  His role is never to point out just how far we can go and still get away with “murder.”  Jesus challenges us to live up completely to God’s standards and realize it is impossible.  (For is there really anyone among us who has not become angry with another person?  Is there any among us who has not called someone an idiot (or had a similar thought in our heart)?  There are few—if any—who have not done all of these or worse at some point in our life.)  And Jesus points out—rightly so—that if you have not been completely perfect, as he is completely perfect, you have fallen short.  You are guilty.  You deserve punishment.  You are not worthy of God’s glory.  You have no right to put yourself above anyone else.  We are all sinners.  We are all in the same boat—in desperate need of God’s forgiveness and grace.  Therefore, let us get rid of any notion in our heart that we are good, or “not that bad” or at least “not as bad as some.”  We are all just sinners.  Period. 

The Good News

            Jesus points out that we are sinners.  His perfection illuminates our imperfection.  His purity, our impurity.  But that is not Jesus’ whole purpose.  He did not come to condemn us, but to save us.  He points out our failings only so we will cry out for grace and take hold of his salvation.  The bad news of our sinfulness draws our attention to the Good News of God’s forgiveness in Christ. 

            So Christ comes to us today and he challenges us to see our sin and desperate need of God’s grace and forgiveness.  And Christ himself, offers us God’s grace.  It was purchased by his death on the cross.  Though we were the ones who deserved death, he paid the price for us.  Will you accept his gift?  Will you cry out to God and say, “I am sorry for my sins!  Please forgive me!  Wash me clean and make me new!”  Perhaps that is why God brought you here today. 

            Perhaps you would like to pause for a moment of silent prayer so you can confess your sin and ask God’s forgiveness.  Then, let me offer my own prayer on our behalf. 

Silent prayer…

Directed prayer:

            “Father God in Heaven, please forgive us of our sins.  We know we have failed to live the way you asked—sometimes by what we have done wrong and sometimes because of the right things we have failed to do.  Forgive us for breaking your commandments.  Through Your grace, help us to begin today to be your people by following Your son Jesus, learning his teachings, and living like him as best we can.  Amen.”