What About the Law?

Psalms 119 praises God’s commandments. Verse 105-“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Apostle Paul said, Rom 7:12 “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

The Law given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai was good and holy. There is nothing wrong with God’s Law, which reveals righteousness. But a righteous Law brings condemnation upon those who break the Law. Violation of righteous principles is sin, and sin produces death. The wages of sin is death. 

The foundation of respect for the Law given by God is faith that He is our creator, and thus we believe that He knows what is best for us. Advocates of evolution as the origin of mankind have a different idea. They believe that social laws have evolved by trial and error, and they condone most things that are done by mankind naturally, especially in the realm of human sexuality.

If mankind’s activities are only natural, then what happens in human sexuality is natural, and so one form of sexual expression is just as natural as another, from the secular humanist perspective. I know that some animals practice homosexuality, especially hogs. I once owned a boar that spent his time and energy having anal intercourse with other boars. His actions may have been natural, but were not useful. He went to slaughter. Even in the area of nature, we should practice some sense of values.

There is a natural conflict between those who believe in the Creator God {the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob} and those who believe in time and chance as the cause of all things. Paul describes this antagonism as two kinds of odor in 2 Cor 2:14, A Ministry of Life or Death, 14 But thanks be to God, who always puts us on display in Christ and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To some we are an aroma of death  leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. And who is competent for this? 17 For we are not like the many who market God’s message for profit. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God. Holman Christian Standard Translation

Yes, to believers and those who seek God, God’s message brings the smell of life. To the unbeliever and arrogant secularist who hates the mention of God, we bring the smell of death. Yes, if God is right, the secular humanist is headed to destruction, and is dead while he is living. This does not mean that God hates them personally, it is just that God knows how things really are, and wants the best for the people He created in His image. How we live, especially in the realm of human sexuality, has a huge impact upon our lives, for good or evil. We should not challenge our Creator on the issue of what is in mankind’s best interest. The One Who made us knows us, and we can trust in Him.

Yes, homosexuality is condemned in the Law, and in the New Testament scriptures. When Paul said that all things are lawful, regarding foods and other things forbidden by the Law of Moses, he did not include sexual immorality. Rather, he calls attention to the need for self control in exercise of human sexuality. 1 Cor 6: Glorifying God in Body and Spirit, 12 “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be brought under the control of anything. 13 “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both of them. The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh. 17 But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

18 Run from sexual immorality! “Every sin a person can commit is outside the body.” On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. 19 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

Paul reinforces the need to keep God’s law about human sexuality, even within the context of freedom from some requirements of the Law. In the beginning, God joined one man to one woman, and told them to multiply, and fill the earth. The perfect rule for human sexuality is one man married to and loyal to one woman so long as they both shall live. And procreation is one of the important functions of marriage. Those people groups who procreate will inherit the earth, if they honor God with their lives.

Yes, God still loves those who disobey Him, but He disciplines them so that they may come to a realization of what is good. And He protects His family by destroying those who willfully reject Him and practice evil. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life to all who trust in Him.

The agnostic and atheistic culture has been making war on God for 200 years. They have currently chosen as their mantra that homosexuals should be encouraged to practice their unnatural proclivity as a basic human right. Self control is not part of the humanist agenda when it comes to sexuality. “If it feels good, then do it” seems to me to be the gist of their agenda.

Many things that come from basic impulses and are not modified by self control are destructive. Maybe the secular humanist community is not in favor of man-boy sexual relationships, or beastiality, or whatever, based upon their concepts of what is acceptable behavior. But their opinions are always changing. Culture shaped by secular human will is fatally flawed. The evidence of history is a wasteland of failed societies that were based upon mankind's human reasoning rather than God’s righteousness.

Greek and Roman men in power preyed upon boys to satisfy their sexual lusts. Pagan temples existed for the purpose of glorifying homosexual lust. How close we are to returning to the pagan principles of lustful living! This is the humanist agenda, live for the experience of the moment without regard to what edifies and builds up a blessed society. They call it existentialism, but it is self destruction. There is a way that seems right to mankind, but the end of that humanist pursuit is destruction.

How close is our great nation to being destroyed? Too close for comfort! It is time to cry out for righteousness instead of defending the right of humans to practice degrading sexual impulses. People are not born homosexual. People are born with myriad human impulses, many of which are destructive. We are supposed to learn self control, we are supposed to learn to deny our destructive impulses, and practice righteous principles that bless other people.

Jesus did not practice any sexual perversions. He lived a pure life under the Law, and died to save us from ourselves. Yes, He was friends with sinners, but He always encouraged them to repent and practice righteousness. Sexual sins get much notice in scripture because they are destructive to the blessed relationship of one man joined to one woman so long as they both shall live.

Apostle Paul was taught by direct revelation from Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and this is what he says about human morality. Gal 5:16, Keep in Step with the Spirit, 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. ESV

And just in case you do not understand the language about human sexuality, Paul makes it plainer in Romans 1: The Righteous Shall Live by Faith. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Yes, the secular humanist not only practices such things, but gives approval to those who practice them, and they hate those who dare support the righteousness of God declared in scripture.

It is no sin to contradict human wisdom, but in fact true wisdom requires that we measure everything by God’s proclaimed righteousness. The Law is good, and holy, and just. Men are sinners, and left to themselves, they encourage the practice of unrighteousness. It is not hate, but love, when we speak the truth. Yes, we must love sinners, but to do so we must speak the truth in love.

Affluenza

affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by the pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. (PBS)

This catchy name for an old malady connects selfishness with a prevalent virus caused illness, flu. It is an appropriate name, as both are very contagious. Eve had the malady, as she wanted to be in charge, and have whatever she wanted, without regard to the words of her Creator. The plague is still with us, and most evident in the nations that have been blessed materially.

Three fourths of the world’s population struggles to have food and clothing, while others are being destroyed by too much food, and too many things. Mankind has a history of destroying himself with abundance and greed. Truly there is no satisfaction in getting things. The more one has, the more one seems to need, in order to continue the quest to find fulfillment in possessions and self satisfaction of worldly desires..

The world’s greatest teacher addressed the quest for possessions while speaking from a mountain in Galilee, Matt 6:19-21--Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. NASU

Matt 6:24-33--No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? ---- Do not worry then, saying, "What will we eat?' or "What will we drink?' or "What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. NASU

Jesus said that putting God first is the way to escape from the disease affluenza. It sounds easy, to put God first, but doing so goes against our inherent desire to be in control of things. Man wants to be his own god, and finds it difficult to fall at the feet of an invisible Creator. But the evidence of history reveals the truth of the words spoken by Jesus. God became a man in Jesus, and Jesus is approachable. His life defines what it means to give to others. We find contentment in being like Jesus.

The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy, 1 Tim 6:6-11--But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. NASU

So the cure for affluenza is loving and trusting God in Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote, Phil 4:11-13--Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 

Also involved in the cure of affluenza is sharing what we have with others. Instead of seeking more for ourselves and never being satisfied, we should seek to share with others, and find true blessings.

While visiting Nepal in Dec 2013, I stayed in the home of a family who are believers in Jesus. A brother’s home was nearby on the top of the same hill. He is also a believer. These two families carry their water almost one kilometer from a spring that is seventy meters elevation lower than the homes. The women carry the water on their backs, in a metal vessel in a basket with a support strap across their foreheads.

They can have water in a tank at their house by the expenditure of about $2500 for submersible pump, two polyethylene water tanks, 600 meters of polyethylene pipe, and 600 meters of #10 UF electric cable. They will do the installation themselves. When I think of our convenience to have running water and water heaters in our homes, I feel compelled to help these people have a water system, because I know them. They are part of my spiritual family.

Water system installed in 2014

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_GzxeVCXng6SlBjXzRFanRkVHc/view?usp=sharing

More critical than the need for fresh water is the supply of the water of life. The message about Jesus, savior of all who trust in Him, can save those who have no hope. The most precious gift we can give is to tell someone about Jesus.

The Brass Snake

The Brass Snake

God’s people were complaining again, blaspheming God and Moses, because water was scarce and they did not like eating Manna every meal. God was providing their needs, but God's provision did not suit them, so they complained. Num 21:5-9—The people spoke against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food."

The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live."

And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. (scriptures quoted from the New American Standard Updated)

Are you complaining about what is on your plate? Does God's way of doing things not meet the level of your approval? God does not like for His people to complain.  Speaking against God is dangerous.

1Co 10:5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." (Aaron's golden calf)

8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.

9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.

11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

But He does provide salvation from the death penalty for sin when we look to Him.  The gospel is God's provision to produce faith in all who will heed the message. Rom 1:15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.  16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." 

The preaching of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, seems foolish to many. Some think that salvation based on the shedding of blood is somehow out of place with modern thinking. But the scriptures are clear, that the believer’s salvation is purchased with the blood of Christ. As Paul wrote to Christians in Ephesus, Eph 1:5-8—“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.” ESV 

Thus a sinner does not contribute anything toward the purchase of our salvation. Salvation is freely provided in Jesus Christ. But some do not agree about how we get into Jesus Christ. Many people who follow a concept known as "Faith Only" (Sola Fide) deny that immersion in water has anything to do with the new birth into the kingdom of God. The reason used for arguing against water immersion being connected with the new birth is that salvation is a gift, not of works, so that we do not think we are earning our salvation. But submission to the commands of God is not about earning something, it is a demonstration of faith which is fidelity. 

Peter clearly shows that baptism is not just about immersion in water, but about faith, our submission to the command of God. 1Pe 3:21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. ESV

An appeal to God for a good conscience?  A good conscience comes from doing what God commands. What if immersion in water is counted as faith, because it is the simple command of Jesus? What if being born of water and the Spirit includes immersion in water by faith in the command of Jesus? 

It is true that being immersed in water cannot remove sins, any more than looking at a brass snake can heal anyone from snake bite. But what would have happened if those Israelites, bitten by the serpents, refused to look up at the bronze serpent on the pole? What if they had stayed in their tent, praying for healing? Would they have been healed in their refusal to obey a simple command to look up at the bronze serpent? 


When they looked at the bronze serpent on the pole, they were healed of their snake bite. Jesus compared the lifting up of the brass snake with His crucifixion, John 3:14-15-"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.”

It was Jesus who said, Mark 16:15-16--"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

Baptism, according to the record of scriptures, is immersion in water. It makes no more sense than looking up at a brass snake. But faith is completed in submission, and without submission there is no faith.

Stop arguing with Jesus by substituting man's ideas for what Jesus commanded. He did not command a sinner to pray a prayer to demonstrate faith, but He commanded repentance and immersion in water. It was Jesus who said, John 3:5--"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

We do not have to understand, but we do have to submit, to demonstrate faith. Without submission to the simple command of Jesus, there is no faith.

Please review the recent debate at the Southern Baptist Convention over the "Sinner's Prayer."
http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2012/juneweb-only/baptists-sinners-prayer.html

God's people can have unity on the subject of baptism when we reject our reasoned arguments about "Sola Fide", and submit to the clear teaching of the scriptures.  Please reject the popular teaching about "Faith Only" and realize that faith includes submission to the commands of Jesus and the apostles. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_fide

See the reaction of believers to the first preaching of the Gospel. 
Act 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."

40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."

41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. ESV

As Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia, Gal 3:23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

Repentance and baptism are the commands of Jesus and the Apostles, recorded by the Holy Spirit.  Repentance and baptism are part of faith, which is loyalty. Fidelity means loyalty, and refusal to honor and teach a direct commandment, recorded in scripture by the Holy Spirit, in no way demonstrates fidelity. There is no "sola fide" that brings salvation without looking at the Cross, with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus pictured in baptism. Rom 6:1-4, 1 Cor 15:1-4.

Jesus Lifted Up