Moses, Christ or the Law of Love Trailer
Welcome to “Called to Glory,” the cutting-edge weekly podcast dedicated to helping you know Christ, the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.
In this episode, we’re going to answer one of the most important and hotly debated questions in all of Christianity. And, for that matter, Messianic Judaism in all of its various forms.
What law are we under as blood-bought disciples of Christ?
At first blush, that may seem like a no-brainer as I think most believers would readily agree it’s the Law of God! Which of course is absolutely correct. After all, one of the great promises of the New Covenant is that God will place His law in our minds and write it on our hearts. And if that’s as far as you care to take it, everyone can generally get along just fine.
However, the minute you start asking exactly what that means and looks like in real life – not to mention when we all stand before Christ as Judge - it’s a very different story altogether! If you’ve been a believer for any length of time, you know exactly what I’m talking about. There are almost as many opinions about this as there are versions of the Bible! It’s literally a theological and spiritual minefield. The good news, however, is it doesn’t have to be this way.
The truth is God has committed all judgment to the Son and the Bible declares that He will judge everyone – Christian, Jew or otherwise – not only according to what we do, but also according to our motives, thoughts and even our words. Paul - the apostle of grace – left no doubt about this when he wrote that God “will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness — indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Yes, God most certainly is love but the Bible also declares that the foundation of His throne is righteousness and justice. He is just as concerned with holiness, justice and righteous behavior as He is with mercy, grace and forgiveness.
So in light of the apostle John’s warning that, “He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him,” I think we would all do well to get this right. Fortunately, God has not hidden the ball from us and neither has He shrouded this in such mystery that no one can possibly understand it. Just as no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, there is only one correct answer to this question and praise the LORD, He has not left us to our own devices to figure it out.
Join me as we take a quick look at some of the main schools of thought about this in Christianity and Messianic Judaism before answering this most important question:
What commandments was Christ referring to when He said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments”?
Soundtrack music:
"Awakening" by LNDÖ
"Revolution" by Shimmer
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Yes, God most certainly is love, but the Bible also declares that the foundation of his stone is righteousness and justice. He is just as concerned with holiness, justice, and righteous behavior as he is with mercy, grace, and forgiveness. So in light of the apostle John's warning that he who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. I think we would all do well to get this right. Fortunately, God has not hidden the ball from us. And neither has he shrouded this in such mystery that no one can possibly understand it. Just as no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, there is only one correct answer to this question. Praise the Lord. He has not left us our own devices to figure it out. You see, both the Old and New Testaments are full of exhortations, instructions, examples, and yes, commandments that show us exactly what it means to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. And don't let any smooth talking preacher deceive you with empty words and flattery. Christ did not lower the bar. He restored the law of God to its original glory and power, and in doing so, he raised the standard of righteousness to a level infinitely higher than anything we see in the law of Moses, or for that matter, anywhere else. And it's much more difficult, demanding, and glorious than what multitudes of professing believers have been taught, or for that matter, want to believe. And there are few who find it, you know, it's a lot of money.