Life Ministries

    Well, let me continue with my thoughts on the fact that Jesus said he did not come to “abolish the law.”

    Under that old system, God was distant and separated from the people, and the practice of their faith was actually a burden. Now, some people think it is a burden to get up and drive to church on Sunday! Jesus came to replace rules and regulations with relationships. No more trembling mountains; no more veiled rooms and walls of separation; no more animal sacrifices. Now we can “draw near to God by a new and living way” (Hebrews 10:19-20) which is why Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by me.”

    The first principle of the new law which we need to understand is this: We keep wanting to DO something and God keeps wanting us to BECOME something.      

    Jesus wants to internalize our relationship with God. It is a transfor-mation of the heart, mind and attitudes. The issue is character. In the Old Testament the law was something written on stone tablets. It was something you did or did not do. Your relationship with God was based on performance. Obeying the law of God was your duty. However, in the New Testament the law is written on your heart. It becomes something you want to do, not what you are obligated to do. It becomes a love relationship with God.

    The Old Testament law changed what you did; New Testament law changes who you are! You become a different person. You become changed from the inside out. The focus becomes the interior life. It has to do with thoughts and motives, desires and intentions, love and surrender. This is a whole new way of understanding what it means to live for God, because this means that you can be a perfectly moral person and miss the whole point of what Jesus was saying.

    The old law was much easier because it was observable. You could see if a person was stealing or being violent. You could eventually catch them cheating or lying. But the new law has to do with the person inside which no one sees. We often think of the Old Testament law as being hard, demanding and difficult, but we need to understand that of the two, the New Testament standard is much more difficult.

    The Old Testament said that 1/10^th of what I have belongs to God; the New Testament says that everything I have belongs to God! The new law of Jesus not only speaks about what I am doing, but about who I am becoming. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” (Matthew 5:21-22)

    I have been able to control myself enough that I have never become violent with anyone. I have never physically attacked anyone. But I have not been as successful with not being angry at people. I have never murdered anyone, but I have thought very bad things about them in my mind and called them names in my head.

    Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)  I have never committed adultery, but I have not been as successful at keeping lust out of my heart. I have never stolen anything, but I have not been as successful at not wanting what someone else has.

    This new law is difficult for me. Yet, this new law is how I will be judged. The Bible says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:12-13) This means that even if you haven’t been caught, you still haven’t gotten by with it. It means that even if no one knows what you have done, it is still wrong. This means that even if you have done the right thing, but have done it for the wrong reason, you will be held accountable. That is much more difficult than the old law, because now I am not only judged for what I do, but why I did it. This is where the conviction of the Holy Spirit and God’s forgiveness and grace become the overwhelming hope of my heart.

     God is asking that even my intentions and motives need to be transformed by the Holy Spirit and come under his control. God judges the attitudes of my heart as well as the actions of my hands. The part of me that nobody sees needs to belong to God. I need a new heart. The beauty of this is that when I allow God to change my interior life, I begin to experience spiritual health in a way I have never experienced before. God begins to change me from the inside out, and my actions – the exterior and my interior life come into harmony. I am no longer a spiritual schizophrenic. A new genuineness takes over my life.