October 14, 2007

“That’s not part of the New Testament therefore that is not binding on Christians today” he said. He continued: “the Law of Moses has been done away, so we are not to appeal to the Law of Moses to learn what we should or should not believe or what we should or should not do.”

No, he was not answering someone’s argument who was using the Psalms to justify the use of instruments of music. And, no, he was not trying to convince someone who used Moses as proof that we need not be baptized in water. Instead he had in mind the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). He was affirming that the gospels and their content were not binding upon Christians today. His position is this: “The things Jesus taught all pertained to the Law of Moses during His earthly ministry and those things do not regulate us (Christians) since they have passed away.”

I am finding that this belief has legs. That is, many are accepting this doctrine. One man wrote: “The things Jesus taught about the kingdom during His ministry were not law (for us today, jrb). They were facts about the coming kingdom . . . The truths Jesus spoke about the kingdom, however, do not constitute commands to be obeyed by Christians. The commands Jesus gave during His lifetime were the law of Moses.” Let me summarize for you what this man and others are affirming. All the teaching Jesus did while on earth (Matthew thru John) was an explanation of the Law of Moses, thus Jesus was only teaching the Law of Moses. Therefore, nothing Jesus personally taught (Matthew – John) is binding today. Thus Jesus gave, according to this doctrine, no commands to be obeyed, no examples to be followed and no instructions to be inferred.

It is truth that Jesus was born under the Law of Moses (Gal 4:4). But Jesus said: “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it,” (Lk 16:16). Jesus kept the Law of Moses and He taught His disciples who also lived under that Law to keep it (Matt 8:1-4). The

obvious reason for this was because while the Law of Moses remained in force those who were under it were bound to it (Rom 7:1-4). Therefore, until the Law of Moses was done away, Jesus kept it and taught others to keep it. But that does not mean that what He taught was the Law of Moses or that He just explained the Law of Moses.

The reason Jesus came was not to make clear the Law of Moses; He did not come to teach the Law of Moses or to teach the true spirit of Moses’ Law. His purpose was clear. “Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent. And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee,” (Lk 4:42-44). What is not remembered is that Jesus concurrently taught “the gospel of the kingdom of God,” (Mk 1:14) while obeying the Law of Moses.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Lk 19:10). This was something the Law of Moses could not accomplish, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,” (Rom 8:3). The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God revealed a transition from the Law of Moses to the Law of Christ, (Lk 16:16).

The Law of Moses continued until the sacrificial death of Jesus (Rom 7:1-4; Heb 9:16-17). Upon the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus; when Jesus ascended to the right hand of God, the gospel He preached would be binding. This began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:36).

What is behind this unusual doctrine? Why would there be those who wish to remove the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) from the New Testament? There is one reason for this and that is to remove from the New Testament what Jesus said about marriage, divorce and remarriage. Many are feeling the sting of the Lord’s direct teaching about marriage, divorce and remarriage and instead of obeying what Jesus said these people seek to simply remove the gospels from the New Testament.

All that Jesus taught about marriage, divorce and remarriage is binding today. None of what Jesus said was merely illustrating the intent of the Law of Moses. Moses permitted divorce for “any reason” (Duet 24:1). The Law of Moses also allowed for the put away (divorced woman) to remarry (Deut 24:2). The obvious teaching of Jesus was contrary to what Moses and the Law permitted. And that teaching of the Lord is binding today.

“But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery,” (Matt 5:32).

“And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery,” (Matt 19:9).

“So He said to them, whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery,” (Mk 10:11-12).

“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery,” (Lk 16:18).

These verses contain the Lord’s teaching in the gospels about marriage, divorce and remarriage. Jesus taught that there is one reason for divorce and that is sexual immorality (adultery). When a man or a woman divorces an adulterous mate, he or she has a right to remarry.

Jesus was not teaching the true meaning of the Law of Moses, He was teaching His law.

-- jrb

As I See It

Sitting across from the teenager I heard her tell a familiar tale. She came to meet with the local preacher where I was holding a meeting and with me. Her mother and the preacher’s wife both sat nearby.

“Lately, I have been having doubts,” she said. Then she wove a tale of why she was now beginning to question the existence of God. I had heard it all before from many just like her. In school her faith had been challenged by atheistic teachers. Many of her friends proudly proclaimed their disbelief. And she told how she came upon a website with an article denying the existence of God.

She told me that the article didn’t immediately have an impact upon her but after thinking about it, she decided it made a lot of sense. She told me the article asked: “If God exists then why are there so many wars and so many bad things happening?”

This is the ploy of unbelievers, never deal with the evidences, instead use diversionary tactics; divert attention to an area that many people struggle with. But to help this girl, we began addressing her concerns. There cannot even be bad or evil in the world without first acknowledging the existence of a

Are the Gospels part of the N.T.?