The Law
I've been busy tonight preparing for a series I'll be leading in a small group at my church on the ten commandments (I'm quite the party animal). A couple things that I ran across while studying:
- The central point of Christianity really is not inner, personal morality. As Michael Horton states, "Christianity is not a message about inner peace or being born again or having Jesus in my heart. Whereas there is an unmistakable personal aspect, the message of Christianity is Christ." - The Law of Perfect Freedom, p. 27
- The crux, focal point, hinge, etc. of the law is Jesus. This is one of Paul's primary points in Galatians and Romans. The law, like a glaring neon Las Vegas light, points to Jesus. In turn, Jesus gives grace so that Christians might be indwelt by the Holy Spirit to then be "slaves of righteousness" (Rom 6:18) and thus truly fulfill the law.
2 Comments
Maphet, let me recommend to you two "essays" on the law that I think you'll find quite stimulating.
Lee Iron's Married To Another
and
Bill Baldwin's "Three Uses"
[cut and paste URL... the strange @ messes with the href]
http://members.surfbest.net/pages@surfbest.net/bible/papers/threeuses.htm
Thanks for the links. The articles were helpful and thought provoking.
I'm not quite persuaded by Iron's argument that the Mosaic covenant was a covenant of works, though. I definitely need to think through this some more.
Pondered by maphet at March 22, 2004 10:00 PM