A few additional comments
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org
Sent: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 10:04:45 -0500
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Christ and the Law
Regarding the recent discussion about divorce and remarriage:
My advice to couples finding themselves in impossible or difficult situations includes admonitions to try to work things out. I do not view the Sermon on the Mount as a legal document. My God is not a legalist. And a thorough going exegetical study of Romans 2 and 3 ( those comments discussing "law" and "the Law") gives the student reason for resisting the temptation to turn the Sermon into nothing more that a statement of the "New Law."
"You have heard it said" is a passage of thought used in the Sermon. It refers the listeners (and readers) to what was said in the Law of Moses. "Eye for an eye" is a part of the law as found in Leviticus. Divorce for reasons other than adultery was a part of the Old Law. Walking the second mile was a change from accepted cultural values. "Sin" in the Law of Moses was not defined as a matter of the heart - it was an event. Christ teaches us how we should pray, yet not a single prayer in scripture is of the pattern example including the Lord's prayer in John 17. He speaks of perfection as the Heavenly Father is perfect (substitute "maturity" -- it makes no difference) and in so doing, presents an impossibility.
; Christ challenges all of this and more.
In this sermon, Christ intensifies the burden of law - knowing that in time and in Him we will not be called into account for law's violations. Additionally, with this Sermon, He establishes the radical nature of His thinking, of His Lordship. The Sermon is never referred to as NT writers seek to establish their teachings.
When was the last time you plucked your eye or cut off your hand or gave your clothing to your enemy? He knows that no one under the law is "holy" (7:11) and His teaching just makes things worse. If you do not tie this Sermon to Paul's discussions on The Law and law in general; if you do not accept the teaching that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, that Spirit leadership frees us from the Law and law in general -- then you will miss the point of the Sermon entirely.
The time and content of this sermon is critical to understanding just what the Master had in mind in terms of ultimate purpose.
Jd
