Hammer on Anvil '

We see it all the time.  Christians use Old Testament verses in an attempt to point out the misdeeds of others while non-Christians spout verses right back that serve to prove the hypocrisy of the Christians.  This never happens more frequently than with the issue of homosexuality.  I myself have shared Leviticus 18:22 in my post about gay marriage, so I am not without blame.

I find this picture to be funny in its irony, but it also cuts straight to the heart of an issue that many Christians struggle with.   How much of the law do we believe?  How much should we follow?  Surely you’ve noticed that there are many laws that just don’t fit with our culture any more.  What material is your shirt made of?  Hopefully it’s not a blend of more than one material, because that would violate Leviticus 19:19.  And how do you like to have your steak prepared?  Hopefully well done, because Leviticus 19:26 tells us not to eat any meat with the blood still in it.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Of course there are also the laws that address behavior that can be almost universally agreed upon as “bad.”  Do not steal.  Do not lie.  Do not murder.

So what are we, as Christians, to believe?

Take your pick: all, some, or none.  If you choose all, why are you not striving to follow even those parts you do not like or understand?  If you choose some, how do you justify which parts should stay and which should go?  If you choose none, why have you rejected God’s commands?

Not an easy choice is it?  But you’re not alone if you have trouble expressing your beliefs on this issue.  The choice that is most founded in the Bible is both all and none.  Allow me to explain.

All.  As Christians, we believe that all of God’s law must be followed perfectly and to the letter in order for us to earn our way to Heaven on our own merit.  But we have to be absolutely perfect at all times or it won’t work.  “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”  -- James 2:10

When the Law is presented in love rather than hate, it demonstrates that we are ALL incapable of living up to God’s perfect standards (“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” – Romans 3:23) and it leads us to the only method capable of making up for our shortcomings, Jesus Christ (“and [we] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” – Romans 3:24).  We must always remember that Jesus didn’t come to die for “religious” people; He came to die for sinners.  “But God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  -- Romans 5:8

None.  This is how much of the law Christians have to follow.  None.  The law was the Old Covenant and Jesus Christ is the New Covenant.  By proclaiming Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we choose to live under the New Covenant.  It’s a pretty good deal considering everyone falls short under the Old Covenant.  But it’s also not a free ticket to sin.  “What shall we say then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” – Romans 6:1-2

In many ways, being under the New Covenant is actually MORE difficult.  We no longer have a set of rules to follow.  We have to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and we need an actual relationship with God in order to learn to interpret and follow the Spirit’s lead.

For several years, I have struggled with a question.  The question – what is the role of Old Testament law in a Christian’s life?    It may seem like an odd question to struggle with, but it is a pivotal question when we want to look at a definition of sin.  After all, I am a gradually maturing Christian who is trying to purge as much sin as possible from my life in order to become more Christ-like.  In pursuing that, it is crucial that I know what sin actually is.  And Paul tells us in Romans 7:7 that, “I would not have known what sin was except through the law” and in Romans 3:30, “through the law we become conscious of sin.”

So, if the law defines sin, why don’t Christians attempt to follow it?  This has been the issue I’ve had so much trouble with.

It’s important to note that I am not talking about earning salvation.  The Bible makes it very clear that we cannot earn salvation by following the law.  (“A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.” -- Galatians 2:16a)  Of this I have no doubt.  But now that I have accepted Christ, I want to please him, which means eliminating sin from my life as much as possible.

So what is sin?  I’m afraid I’m still a little hazy on that myself, but I do feel as if I am getting closer to the answer.  Let me give you some preliminary conclusions that I’m coming to.

It seems that there are two definitions of sin – one for non-believers and one for believers.  For non-believers, sin is defined by the law.  This is supported by various New Testament scriptures including Galatians 4:23-24 (emphasis mine), “Before [faith in Jesus Christ] came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.  So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.”  In other words, until you are justified by faith (i.e. you accept Christ), you are under the law.

But what about believers?  Paul goes on in verse 25 to say, “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”  He also offers an illustration/metaphor in Romans 7:2-3 when he talks about marriage: “By law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.”  Paul then compares that to the Christian’s relationship to the law.  Before we accepted Christ, we were “married” to the law.  But once we came to Christ, the law died.  So Christians are no longer bound to the law.

So if, as Christians, we are no longer under the law, where do we get our definition of sin?  This is a tricky one to answer.  A Christian’s definition of sin comes from the Holy Spirit.  Sin is doing what the Spirit commands us not to do AND not doing what the Spirit commands us to do.  Paul says such at several points in Romans, starting with Romans 7:6, “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”  And in Romans 8:4, Paul describes Christians as people who “do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”  The importance of the Spirit is all over Romans 8.  For now, I’ll just share one more part, verses 26-27, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

I find it very interesting that my struggle with this question has enhanced my understanding of the importance of the Holy Spirit.  This is the second time that I have struggled with an issue and come to a better understanding of the Spirit (the first is outlined in my post about predestination).

I know that this doesn’t completely answer the question of the definition of sin for a Christian, but the fact is that there is no definition, only a source – the Holy Spirit.  It is important that we continually work to be sensitive to that Spirit that we may know and follow God’s will.