This Sunday's reading from Galatians 3:23-39 contains some of Paul's argument about the meaning of Old Testament "law" and its place in determining our salvation.
"Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise."
I have heard it said by former members of the Episcopal church's Executive Council that this verse can be taken to mean that we are free to make up our own rules.
Generalization of, "we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian" from its specific reference to having to follow Old Testament law in order to please God to mean freedom from following its moral codes is perhaps the most egregious error that those who "belong to Christ" can possibly make. After all, if we belong to Christ, we must strive to follow his rules, and He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.
When a Christian tries to justify some non-Biblical innovation by using, "We are no longer subject to a disciplinarian", you can try to reason with them by asking, "What are we subject to?" They will usually counter by saying, "The Holy Spirit", and we all know what that means. It means the spirit of the age, a spirit that as it runs counter to scripture can not be considered "holy" by any means.
So here we are slaves to Christ whose words have told us the discipline we might face if we deny Him.
"But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 10:33
Now that is one serious disciplinarian.
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As I have always understood it, Christians are not bound by the ritual law, but we absolutely are called to follow the moral law. Shrimp, yes, murder, no, sex outside of marriage, no.
ReplyDeleteThose who read the rest of Galatians find that out. Even those who hear next Sunday's reading from the Revised Common Lectionary learn this if they connect the dots.
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