Gods plan of Salvation throughout the Bible:

The Law and the Prophets

Reading Matthew 5v17-20

1. Introduction

Two weeks ago we discovered that God's plan of salvation was apparent in the Garden of Eden, particularly in the references in Genesis 3 v 15 - last week we saw that God's plan of salvation was not a plan B, a plan made up when plan A went awry - we also learned about God's promise of blessing to Abraham and the fact that God's promises are wholly reliable - this week we turn from the promise to the law - while God gave to Abraham a promise, he gave to Moses the law - the emphasis in the promise is on what God will do, whereas the focus of the law is on our obligations - what we must do - Luther said that the promise sets forth a religion of God - God's plan, God's grace and God's initiative - but the law sets forth a religion of man - man's duty, man's works and man's responsibility - the promise only had to be believed, but the law had to be obeyed - God's dealings with Abraham were in the category of 'promise', 'grace' and 'faith' but God's dealings with Moses were in the category of 'law', 'commandments' and 'works' - to consider the law and the prophet is an enormous topic and can do no more than scratch the surface - for reasons of time will concentrate on the law.

2. No discontinuity

The first point to make is that we cannot cast the law and the prophets to one side on the ground that they are no longer relevant - Jesus himself stated in the passage we have read that he had not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfil them - further he upheld the significance of the law by underlining the importance of obedience to the law and the enduring nature of the law itself - so it would be plainly incorrect to state that the law is no longer relevant because we live in an era of grace so that the law is no longer of significance - equally, it would be incorrect to state that what the prophets said can be consigned to the dustbin of history.

3. When we talk about the law what do we mean?

The law was given to Moses after the people of Israel had escaped from Egypt - turn to Exodus 20 - see 10 commandments - but law was much more detailed than that - see chapters 21 - 23 - covers a range of issues which concern individuals, their relationships and their property - laws unfold through Leviticus - some of these rules were, until recently, part of the law of western legal systems - also detailed rules laid down relating to the tabernacle and the system of sacrifices

4. What was the purpose of the law?

Its primary purpose was to tell us God's standards for our lives - sets out our duties and our responsibilities - but the purpose of the law was not to offer a means of salvation to the people of Israel - they had already been freed from Egypt prior to being given the law - see Exodus 20 v 2 - so God redeems them before He gives them the law - their obedience is therefore not an attempt to earn redemption but a response to the redemption which they have already obtained - so obedience is not a means to earn salvation but rather is required in order to obtain the blessing promised to them under the covenant - God's blessing was therefore tied to their obedience - within the OT can find different types of law - can distinguish between the rules which prescribe the standard which God expects and rules which provide for the sanctions for non-compliance - take Exodus 20 v 13 - lays down the primary rule but does not prescribe a sanction - but there were sanctions - see Exodus 21 v 12 - here it is important to take account of the sacrificial system - the OT sets out in enormous detail the sacrificial system by which people could seek forgiveness for the wrongs which they had committed - the OT law contained within it a complex set of primary rules which set out God's standards, remedial rules by which people could seek redress from wrongdoers in respect of wrongs committed but it also contained within it a system according to which people could seek forgiveness from God for wrongs done.

5. What was wrong with the law?

Nothing wrong with the law as such - the problem was that we could not obey it, not that the law was somehow deficient in and of itself - there are three problems with the law

it is expressed in words and words inevitably give rise to interpretative difficulties - take Exodus 20 v 8 regarding Sabbath observance - then if you turn to Mark 2 v 23 where the Pharisees took issue with Jesus because the disciples picked some ears of corn - this was, according to the Pharisees, unlawful - this seems very petty - but if you make the assumption that you really believed that you had to comply with the law it seems less petty - what does 'work' mean? - either rely on a broad discretionary standard or try to itemise in detail what does constitute work and what does not - gives rise to hair splitting distinctions of the type which the Pharisees were attempting to draw
it depends for its administration on judges who are fallible human beings - look at the history of the judges and you can see that Israel was ruled by some very dubious people - even if you have a judge who is upright, the task of administering the law is no easy task - take the example of Solomon
the law, being external, could not change the heart of man - we cannot obey it - and the law can thus become a means of enslavement - Paul in Galatians 3 v 23 states that we were 'held prisoners by the law' and in verse 10 that those who rely on observing the law are under a curse - what the law did was to expose sin and to condemn it - purpose of law was therefore to disclose what man was really like - sinful, rebellious, guilty, under the judgment of God and helpless to save himself - in this way the law led us to Christ because it causes us to realise that we are wrongdoers in God's eyes - thus Paul states in Galatians 3 v 24 that the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ - the book of Galatians is a book for our times - so often we believe that we can solve a problem by passing a law - but the law does not change human nature and very often it does not achieve its purpose because it cannot deal with the underlying problem, namely human nature - many of us are prisoners of the law - move from the welfare state to the regulatory state - we are ensnared by rules which impose a huge cost for a small return - in so far as our problems are relational etc we will not resolve them by simply passing a law.

6. What is the role of the law today?

Sometimes implied that the law is of marginal significance for us today - we are under grace not law - but as Jesus observed in our passage he did not come to abolish the law - the law is not a means to our salvation so compliance with the law is not a pre-condition to our acceptability in God's eyes - on the contrary, the fact that Jesus died to save sinners, clearly shows that our wrongdoing is assumed because grace is given to one who does not deserve it - but the law is still relevant in so far as it tells us the standard which God expects of us in our day to day lives - but the problem is which OT laws are relevant to us - some of the rules on hygiene in particular seem out of date today and no longer applicable - can have debates about tithes - clearly an OT requirement but does it apply to Christians today? - some believe it does, others that it does not but that the tithe lays down a basic minimum - can have more complex examples such as interest - complex issue but starting point is that God's laws should not lightly be cast aside.

7. Should all of God's law be transposed into the law of the land?

This is a tricky question and believe we should be careful because we are on safer ground when we state that some form of conduct is contrary to God's law and we should not assume that an infringement of God's law should automatically result in a breach of the law of the State - take Exodus 20 - v 13 murder breaches both God's law and the law of the State - it is a criminal offence - then move on to 14 adultery - this more difficult - it is not a criminal offence - but it does have civil consequences in that it is a ground on which a marriage can be dissolved - then move on to v 17 you must not covet your neighbour's house - such conduct will frequently not involve a wrong as far as the law of the State is concerned - here we can see that it is a more straightforward matter to work out whether or not something is consistent with God's law - it is a much more difficult task to work out whether or not a breach of God's law should also have consequences in terms of the law of the State.

8. What was the role of the prophets?

There are 17 prophetic books in the Bible - three are major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) the rest are minor - so called because their books are shorter - painting with a broad brush it can be said that the work of the prophets had two major strands - first they spoke of God's judgment but they also had messages of hope and of blessing - look at the book of Haggai - in the first chapter we see the reminder of the sorry state in which God's people had allowed the temple to fall - they are told to give careful thought to their ways - the second chapter develops the theme of future glory and blessing - God declares through the prophet that he will be with his people and that the glory of the new temple will be greater than the previous temple - this combination of coming judgment and of blessing is also to be found in the New Testament - judgment is coming in that we will have to answer for our lives - but blessing is also promised for those who are in Christ because Jesus once and for all satisfied the demands of the law and provided a way by which our sins could be forgiven through his death for us on the cross - he satisfied the demands of the law once and for all - and it was to this perfect sacrifice that the prophets looked forward - the prophet Isaiah spoke in chapter 53 of the man who was despised and rejected who was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed - that prophesy was to find its fulfilment in Jesus who was pierced for our transgressions - so we cannot neatly separate out the OT and conclude it is no longer applicable to us - on the contrary, the two must be seen together because the OT points to the NT and finds its fulfilment in Jesus.

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