Something that the Lord has been trying to get through my head over the past few years is; What is the Law or how do I follow the intent of His statement, "If you love Me keep My Commandments" and where does Grace come in to play.
In going through this, the Lord has opened my eyes to many of the so called "Traditions" that I was used to practicing or following. How many of these things have nothing to do with our Savior and many have deep roots in satanic rituals and practices. As I came to realize what these things were and remove them from my life, it left a void that needed to be filled. I, and many of the people around me started looking to the first century "church" and attempted to follow in their footsteps.
The problems that I found with this are that it is open to interpretation, just what went on in the early church. And many of the customs and "Traditions" that were finding their way into these groups are still just traditions or habits that were developed by the Jewish community long after the time of Christ.
Don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that there is anything basically wrong with a tradition. But what I have been searching for is, "How do I, in this day and age, follow Yeshua and show Him that I love Him by keeping His Commandments.
First of all, most of us will readily associate the word commandment with the word law. We also know that the word Torah was translated into the Greek as Law. This sets into play a whole lot of preconceived ideas about Law and arguments that I do not intend to address here.
Lets look at one commandment that most people will agree applies to us today. Thou Shall not Kill. Most of us will agree that you don't go out and kill your neighbor or your brother just because they have something that you want or because they did something that you do not like.
But wait a minute. What if they do something really rotten? Didn't God make provisions for killing someone who is a murderer? And what about during times of war? Is it O.K. to kill then, or should we be claiming a conscientious objection based on our "religious" beliefs? And what about in the "Old Testament", didn't God tell people to kill at times?
Lets look at Saul's great sin for a moment. Why was Saul removed from being King of Israel and His family destroyed? It was not because he broke the commandment "Thou Shall not Kill". It was because Saul was instructed by God to go and wipe out a race of people. He was to wipe out the people and their belongings. Instead Saul saved the best of the flocks and treasures and even their king.
So Saul's problem was not that he violated a written "Law" of God. Saul's problem was he disregarded a direct instruction of God to Saul.
Many people point to the "New Testament" and use it to form what "Laws" they should be following. Some groups point to Paul and his writings to say that we are no longer under the "Law" but under grace (except when it comes to tithing of coarse which we all know is a perpetual Law that overrides any other considerations).
In enrolling my daughter into a "Christian" school she must agree to follow their set of "Laws", some of which I agree with and some I do not. The point is, many groups that say they are under Grace and not under the "Law" have come up with their own set of laws that they get very religious about. Some of the usual restrictions have to do with dancing or drinking ect.
Others point to the time Paul went to Jerusalem and submitted himself to a purification process as proof that Paul observed the "Law" his entire life. The two sides of this argument both point back to the Bible and say these are the "Laws" you have to follow. Some say we need to observe the 613 "Laws" of the "Old Testament". Others say you just need to Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and Love your neighbor as yourself. Others pick and choose and select some written "Laws" from both Testaments.
The problem is, that this is not what Paul said to do, nor is it what God said to do.
Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Paul tells us that Peter was living like a Gentile. Then when other "Jews" came and started separating themselves from the Gentiles and compeling Gentiles to live as Jews,Paul had to confront Peter and straighten him out. Paul tells us that he tried to be all things to all people so as not to offend and to get the opportunity to lead them to the Lord.
So this brings me back to the point. How do I show the Lord that I love Him, by keeping His commandments. The problem that was in Paul's day, or Saul's day, or Peters day, or any day is that the minute you take something that our God has Commanded and write it down into our earthly language, you have confined and restricted the will and intent of our Lord and Savior. If this statement is true then how can I possibly know God, walk with God, follow God, and keep His Commandments.
This is the real key. This is what all the fighting and denominations and disagreements between believers is all about. Paul addresses it, Jesus told us about it, the Old Testament was a picture of it, and we still don't see it.
It is easier for me to have a set of rules, some guidelines, a procedure to follow than to have to trust in the Lord. If I can follow the rules and traditions I do not have to take my thoughts captive and turn over everything to the Lord. If I'm not in the mood, I can still look holy to the people around me as long as I do the right things.
So here is where the error comes in. I have Gods Law saying not to kill. So when something out of the ordinary happens, I have to determine how to apply God's Law. But it is difficult for me to tell if this is a righteous war that I should participate in or one that I should object to and not get involved in. So we add this and we add that to what we understand God's Law to be so we can handle all of these different situations.
But what God really wants us to do is to go to Him at every time in every situation to seek His will and to trust in Him and not to lean unto our own understanding. Jesus told the disciples to go forth and not to worry about what they were to say or what they were to eat or what they were to wear. He said that He would take care of their needs and that the Holy Spirit would tell them what to say. When was the last time you went into a church where the leader of the group got up in front of everyone without any preparation and just opened himself up to whatever the Lord wanted to say.
Yes, the Law was given as an instruction and as a way for us to know that we have fallen short and do not meet up to God's expectations. But what God wants us to learn from this is that we need to depend on Him, moment by moment for every little detail of our lives. When we can truly do this, then we have finished the race. Until we can do this, no amount of following "Laws" or attempts at being holy that are dependent on us following a rule will bring us into any kind of a position before God.
As we learn to walk before Him. putting every thought under His control, we will find that His Law is being written in our hearts and that we naturally do that which pleases Him. An outward process of keeping the "Law" will not conform our hearts and our lives to Him. An inward process of submitting our every thought to Him will conform our outward lives to reflect His will in our every move.
David P. LaSelle
